Mutton Bustin'

From Fraser, Colorado at the High Country Stampede Rodeo. Video to come...

Greetings from Grand Lake!

Mason's Big Catch

One of them anyway. By my count, he caught seven that day. By Papa's many more. Mason's got to work on the big-fish-stories told skill, though. I overheard him describing the fish he caught as "shrimp" and "so small you couldn't even see them," when he was re-telling his adventure to Dad-O on the phone.

Happy Birthday, Grammy T

Grammy turned the "Big 5-Ohhhh!" today and since we couldn't be there to celebrate in person, the kiddos recorded this little diddy for her:

The Great Outdoors

There was a time not so long ago when our little Mason man was afraid of the grass...poor little city kid! Not so anymore. We made sure to take advantage of Grammy and Papa's yard when we were in Colorado!

Running in the sprinklers...



Bouncing around the backyard...



Catching bugs... (though, he initially called this little ol' earthworm a snake!)



Enjoying the waterfall...



Playing with his guys at the picnic table, where we also spent many a lunch, dinner and breakfast time...

The Cool Pool

Mason is undoubtedly a water lover, so we spent a couple of afternoons at the recreation center near Grammy and Papa's house chilling in the pool and this was no ordinary pool.

For starters, the water was warm and it started at a depth of 0 feet, 0 inches, and reached a grand total of 3 feet, 6 inches. It had three separate play areas -- one with geysers, one with a little spouts flowing through some pipes and the piece de resistance: a jungle gym/slide right smack in the middle of the action. Mason LOVED climbing the stairs and going down the slide right into the water. Mommy loved relaxing comfortably nearby and watching his joy without worrying about him getting in over his head.



There was also a BIG slide and on our second trip, Grammy came along for the ride so she could take him down said slide. While they both enjoyed their one trip down, Grammy was a little freaked out! Mason was all ready to go again, but Grammy was scared to death she would lose her grip on the little guy and decided not to tempt fate!



Mason kept asking why we didn't have a "cool pool" like this at our house and it will definitely be in our rotation of things to do next time we head home!

Check Me Out

We took a trip to Murdoch's today to properly outfit the Mason-man in western attire. It actually started out as a trip for new cowboy boots, as his are getting too small, but turned into a whole new outfit...and a toy to boot!

Grammy, Uncle Kenneth, Aunt Patty and Mommy had way too much fun outfitting Mason in the middle of the store.

Then, we just set him right up on the counter and let the sales clerk scan him from head to toe.

May Flowers

Grammy's favorite day of the year is the day she gets to plant all her annuals, and luckily Mason and I were there to partake in the activity this year.

We got up early Saturday morning to prep the soil.



Then, it was off to the garden center, where Macey helped Grammy pick out all the flowers she needed to fill her deck boxes and planters as well as finding a couple of nice hanging baskets. He was particularly fond of the deer-resistant varieties of plants, despite the fact that Grammy and Papa don't have a deer problem in their backyard.

After we had all our flowers back at Grammy's house, Mason helped Grammy cart all the plants into the backyard with his wagon.



Then we got to work. Mommy and Grammy filled up the planters, and Mason watered them in.





When we were all done...we watered Mason down. He was particularly dirty, but it was lots of fun and here are the smiles to prove it.