Labor Day weekend

A few highlights from our Labor Day weekend...

Mason was 3 months old on Saturday. He's totally lost that newborn look, and is settling into his little self. I think he's losing some of his hair, but what's growing in seems to be dark also; thus I think he will remain dark haired. And maybe some curl? I'm thinking possibly. He's totally rocking the old-man hair look for now. And he is definitely following the big-blue-eyes trend. His eyes seem bigger by the day.

Love that baby. Sweet, good-natured, super champ nightime sleepover (after a rough first couple of months). The other night he slept from 8:45 to 6:15 without one wakeup. Most nights he goes down around 8:15 or 8:30, gets up around 4 or 5, then goes back down for a couple more hours. Super smiley, loves attention, very chatty (also a trend in our home). He loves to be talked to, and very freely doles out coos to a willing listener. He's a doll baby. Still adored by all in our home, who celebrate each and every little milestone.

Had a couple of movie parties with old-time faves:












and some fabulous frozen hot chocolates and popcorn-

On Labor Day we went to Heritage Square in Golden to ride the alpine slide. Fun, fun and fun! Connor loved being old enough to ride alone (the minimum ride-alone age is 7); he even rode the chairlift up all by himself, as Brian rode with Lucas and I rode with Isabel, and there was a 2-person max. Love that my kiddos are adventurers. We went in shifts so someone could stay grounded with Mason.

The kids all completely loved the alpine slide; definitely a hit. The chairlift ride up is very scenic (if you don't have a fear of heights and can turn and look behind you). Once on top, there is a scenic overlook where you can see all of Denver. Beautiful. That haze you see is actually wildfire smoke, more on that later.

Heritage Square also has an amusement park and Victorian shopping village. We let the kids each choose one ride; they all chose the merry-go-round. Simple enough.
Then we had a picnic dinner and an evening hike in Eldorado Canyon just south of Boulder. I hadn't been on an evening hike in a while. It was amazing. Such a pretty spot, especially as the sun sank behind the Flatirons and the lighting was just... wow. These are the things that restore my soul. It was awesome.

But in Boulder, you never know what you'll see. As we stopped for a photo opp, a couple passed us wearing their CATS in hiking packpacks. Their CATS! I will never be called an animal lover, but seriously? Brian and I were a bit freaked out by these huge fluffy feline hairballs staring at us from peoples' backs. You gotta admit, it's weird. I even took a picture. Do you think that's weird???

OK, back to our hike. Me and my 4 little loves.

This neat old house had been built in 1854. Part of it was destroyed by a major flood in the late 1800s, but his part remains as a historic site.
Connor spontaneously hopped up on a stone pillar, channeled his inner Rafiki, and became Zenmaster C. Brian and I were thoroughly entertained. Have I mentioned how comedic Connor can be? I think he attained nirvana. There was a major wildfire burning nearby, just outside of Boulder. Very creepy. We even saw shooting flames from where we were, but because of the wind direction, didn't smell any smoke on our hike. We drove through Boulder on our way home. It was really intense. The sun was glowing a dark orange from all the smoke. The camera doesn't nearly do it justice.

The smoke certainly isn't helping our already off-the-charts hayfever!