Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Carson gets ready for fall
Carson, always the best accessorized of the Bessers, models his recently acquired Old Navy fall outfit, a study in greys. It was cold last week! I made lots of hot tea, puttered around in slippers, wrapped myself in my favorite winter sweaters. I really hated it. Really.
Breakfast hike!
Grant took the morning off and we hiked up to the top of Sanitas Trail. Sanitas is my favorite trail right now for these reasons: 1. It is 4 blocks from our house. 2. It is a vertical 1.5 miles up, so it's a quick and challenging work-out. 3. It is stunning. I saw lots of snow in the yonder mountains (a.k.a. the Rockies) last week after our cold-snap.
Shiloh is official!
Shiloh is official....officially part of the Boulder Green Tag program, which means he can be off leash on some trails under sight and voice control (Shiloh on control: "I swear to repress every instinct that I have as a dog, and to live in harmony with wildlife no matter how small or inferior or pathetic said wildlife may be.") Dog hiking permit: done. CO driver's licenses: another day. We do have our priorities straight.
Making blueberry muffins at 5:30 am
Today is warm and blustery. Shiloh and I walked up the lower Sanitas trail, then cut over to Dakota ridge. My lower back has been screaming at me and I know exactly what it's saying: Y-O-G-A. It's so obvious but for various reasons, I'm not yet there. There are more yoga studios here than gas stations, so that's not it. I have three great recommendations of nearby studios, so that's not it. Time? I got it, so that's not it. Yoga takes me out of my comfort zone. When it comes to exercise, I am the most uncomfortable when I am stretching. I am a terrible stretcher. Even my 7th grade PE teacher was shocked by my inflexibility. I give myself a 2 for flexibility. I have no doubt that I will let yoga into my life at some point. But not today.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
CA Boys In The Buff
It all comes down to accessibility. Checked out the CU vs. Wyoming game last week and saw the women's soccer team play Iowa State today. Victorious in both games - go Buffs!!!
-- Grant
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Cole's 10th Birthday, September 13, 2009
Cole celebrated his 10th birthday in Boulder with 10 of his closest new friends. It is a testament to this town’s friendliness that you can have 10 friends to your birthday after being in town for exactly 18 days. I’ll give Cole a little of the credit too; he is a bit of a charmer with the 10 and under set.
We made the mistake of assuming sunshine (many of Cole’s birthdays were record heat setting days in Pasadena and Silverlake) and ambitiously offered to entertain kids from 2pm to 10. We had great visions of bike riding to Boulder creek, dipping our toes in the water, throwing a football in the green park, etc. At 1:30, with rain coming and only one seven-seater minivan in the driveway, we should have panicked, but when the last kids left at 10:30pm, Grant and I went to bed with big smiles on our faces. Somehow we pulled it off, or some combination of the two movies, the kickball in the field at Mapleton Elementary in the rain, the football game in the street at dusk, the pizza and cupcakes, the presents and the gleeful energy of 10 little souls. After all, you only turn 10 once.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Here we are....
Hi All,
Our first couple of weeks in Boulder have been adventurous and rewarding. We've settled into our 1918 craftsman charmer on Mapleton Hill, with enough boxes unpacked to call this our home. We're loving our in-town neighborhood, enjoying walks to restaurants and the company of lots of nice families and friendly neighbors. The boys started school two days after our arrival and have been making friends, riding the bus to school and tasting their first bits of small town freedom, i.e., walking one block home from the afternoon school bus alone. I'm loving the proximity of everything. The three Whole Foods markets all less than a mile from our house almost make up for the total absence of Trader Joe's, almost. We've been biking like the natives, visiting Boulder Creek on the weekends for long, flat bike rides and dips in the frigid mountain water. The plethora of hiking trails next to our house is dizzying; we often see more joggers and bikers on our road than cars. The boys made friends fast, aided by two gregarious nine-year-olds across the street. Our house has two tire swings out front, so between the boys and the swings, our house is a magnet for kids. During our first days, our porch door was opening and shutting so often that I lost count of all the new faces. On the fourth day in Boulder, I made lunch for the all the kids on 7th and Mapleton. On the sixth day, Grant told me we needed to have a discussion about boundaries. Ah, there is a downside to living in Boulder. Boundaries. As in, please call us before you decide to drop your son off for a three hour play date. Boundaries. As in, homework must be completed before you run over to Zoe's house to feed her pet frogs. Boundaries. As in, Grant, please give me a holler that you've invited our new friend Phil over for coffee at 8am Sunday morning so I can put on my robe. Boudaries. You need boundaries in Boulder. The other Boulder basics. For a family of five you need: one car, one dog and five bikes. So, if your second car happens to die 60 miles outside of Vegas on a dangerous freeway with no shoulder, it's not the catastrophe that you thought it was. Other things of note. In our busy, in-town, residential neighborhood we have been humbled by the diversity of the wildlife walking by our front porch. Here's the tally to date: three raccoons, one skunk, two foxes and one 300 pound bear. I was good up until the bear. Welcome to Boulder!
Love,
The Bessers
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
