Flat Stanley Adventures

A few months ago, Jeff's cousin's wife contacted us about participating in their son's Flat Stanley project. Their son, Wesley, is so loved by Boone whenever we are able to get together with them in Missouri. We have done this once before for another friend, while we were in Canada, and enjoyed writing the letter and reporting back to the class, so we gladly said we would help.

I just finished writing up the letter and compiling all the pictures, so I thought I would put it up here.

Here's the letter we just finished typing up to send to the class:

Dear Wesley,

We had so much fun with Flat Stanley while he visited us in Colorado. Thanks for sending him to us! 

First, we took Stanley to downtown Denver. We showed him the Colorado state capitol building. That is where people called politicians make laws for the state. It is a really big building and it was really busy the day we were there. The building has a large dome in the middle that is covered in gold.

Next, we took Flat Stanley to the Denver Botanic Garden. All the flowers are starting to bloom and there are so many colors. There is also a children's garden with all kinds of flowers and a playground. It is so fun to play in the children's garden! 

Then, we took Flat Stanley skiing at Loveland Ski Area. We had a great day for skiing. There was lots of snow and sunshine. He went down all kinds of runs, and especially liked the Black Diamond runs with the moguls. Loveland Ski Area is built near, and partly on top of the Eisenhower Tunnel. It is a huge tunnel that goes through a mountain so that cars can get to the other side. It is the longest mountain tunnel. 

Next, one weekend, we took Flat Stanley to a family member's cabin in southern Colorado. The town that the cabin is in is called Cuchara. We did some hiking and drove to Cuchara Pass in a jeep! The elevation there is 9,995 ft. Some people have trouble with the elevation and it causes them to have a headache, but Flat Stanley did great.  This last week, we took him to the library and read some books there. We love going to the library every week. (In case you are wondering why Boone has a stethoscope around his neck, there is a veterinarian kit to play with at the library.) :)

Thanks again for sending him to us! We had a lot of fun with him! Hope to see you soon, Wesley!

Love,

Boone Robertson (and Jeff and Emily Robertson) :)

**In case you want to know more about Flat Stanley, check out: http://www.flatstanley.com/

Boone's First Easter Egg Hunt

Boone was only 7 months last year around Easter, so he hadn't started crawling or walking and wasn't very interested in anything having to do with the holiday. This year though, we knew he would at least be excited to run around and chase after the brightly colored, chocolate-filled eggs.

The church we attend in Colorado had a hunt on the weekend before Easter. We dressed Boone up and took him to the event. They had a neat puppet show prior to the hunt that presented the Gospel in a fun, kid-friendly way. Then, they divided the kids up into age groups of birth to 3 years old and 3 years old to 5th grade. I thought that was really smart because I fully intended to see Boone get run over by the older kids, so it was nice to avoid that. We had brought in some eggs filled with candy to contribute to the hunt earlier in the spring and you could tell so many others had as well because both areas of the hunt were FULL of eggs. The younger kids probably didn't need quite as many because even after the older kids had collected every single egg in their territory, the little ones were still roaming around their area and it was still littered with untouched eggs.

Boone was sort of interested in the eggs and with a little coaxing from us, he would pick one up and begin to try to open it. After about 15 minutes though, he was mostly just interested in playing on the playground equipment in the area, which was absolutely fine with us.

Boone was oddly drawn to the Chick-Fil-A cow, but he didn't want to get close 

enough for me to get a good picture. Jeff says we are "regulars" at our local Chick-Fil-A, 

so Boone probably recognized him!

Before the puppet show started.

So interested in what was going on upfront.

The hunt begins.

Boone was watching an expert, trying to pick up some skills.

Once he realized the shiny things inside the eggs contained chocolate, 

he began to take a little more interest.

Enough of this egg stuff, let's play!

Already enjoying some candy on the way to the car.

I thought I should throw this picture in to show that he got into the Easter egg spirit 

and chowed down on some chocolate once we got home. 

More on our actual Easter weekend in another post! Thanks for reading!

Baby Animals

Back when we first moved to our hotel in Denver, we met another family that was living at the same hotel. They had a little boy and Boone and their son Sawyer always seemed to be interested in each other every morning over breakfast. I started talking with the mom, Haylie, and we found that they would be moving to a home near where we would be living. We've been able to keep in contact and hang out quite a bit. It really is neat to see the people God brings into your life in sometimes very random ways.

A few weeks ago, Haylie asked if we would be interested in going to a farm with them. Someone in their church had some baby chicks, a lamb and some kittens that they would let us come check out with the boys. We finally found a day that worked out and the weather was perfect. We had a really fun time and Boone loved seeing the animals. He's able to make the noises for most animals, so he ran around yelling "Bawk, Bawk!" for the chickens and "Baaaaaa!" for the lamb. Thanks Haylie for inviting us. It was fun to get away from the 'burbs for a bit and get some fresh air out on a farm.

Boone and Sawyer checking out a basket full of kittens. They were

still too small to be adopted out! And I can only imagine Jeff's face 

if we had brought home another cat!

Boone loved sitting under the table and checking them out.

Outside near the chicken coop.

Boone and the lamb.

Boone and a big, old dog that the owners have had for a really long time.

Baby chickens. They weren't tiny chicks, but still too small to be out in the coop.

Boone found a squirrel tail. I know most moms wouldn't let their kid carry 

around a dirty, old squirrel tail, but he thought it was the coolest thing.

Boone and Sawyer admiring the chickens. Sawyer can't quite walk yet, 

but he loves trying to keep up with Boone.

Boone with the lamb again. He seemed so sweet.

Playing in the front yard.

The little dog wanted nothing more than to play fetch with Boone, but Boone didn't understand why the dog kept wanting to take the ball.

There was an epic power struggle. The funny part is that the dog 

was so sweet and playful, but Boone just didn't quite get it yet. Too funny!

So we found another ball and everyone was happy.

The Robertsons Spring Breaking in Denver

Jeff's parents snagged some super cheap plane tickets a few months ago and made plans to come up to Denver during Carol's spring break. It was fun to see them again, and fun to have a little time to see Denver with them. The last time they came up, we had just moved into our house (three days prior), so it was bit chaotic.

We went to Boulder on Wednesday and Thursday we decided to check out the Colorado state capitol. The Robertsons had been there before on a visit when Jeff and Sam were young, but it had been quite awhile. The tour is free and it was actually pretty neat to see. The building is busy with all kinds of people since the state congress was in session. Here's a few pictures of the tour.

Main area where you meet for the tours.

The dome of the capitol. The blue tarp near the top is

 for some repairs they are doing to the dome/

The Colorado Supreme Court Chambers

The House of Representatives chambers. The Senate was full of politicians 

as they were debating a bill while we were there.

Jeff's parents were nice enough to watch Boone for a night, while Jeff and I went to Winter Park to ski. It was a fun, quick getaway and they seemed to do well with Boone while we were gone. Once we got back on Saturday, we hung around the house for a bit while Jeff did some projects with his dad in the garage, and then we went to check out White Fence Farm in Lakewood, CO. We had seen an ad for the restaurant, but didn't know what to expect. It was a huge place and we got there a half hour after it opened for the evening and it was already packed. The best way I can describe the place is if you took a lot of things in Branson, MO and jammed them into one restaurant. You had fried chicken and lots of comfort food, a petting zoo with farm animals, a big playground area, a little lake with ducks, live country music and lots of random things to buy in their store. It was fun and we would definitely take Boone back again.

Checking out the goats. When we got there we were given the #207 and I think 

they were seating #140. We were told it would take about an hour to get seated and 

I thought that would be horrible, but the wait flew by with all the things we had to check out.

Grandpa Robertson bought some goat food for Boone to try out. 

He wasn't even shy and got right up to feed the animals. 

Robertson guys checking out the tractor.

After a huge dinner, we burned off some energy at the playground.

 I think Jeff enjoyed this toy more than Boone. But he has done a great job indoctrinating

 our child into the world of trucks, construction and building.

Jeff and Booned climbed to the top of the tree house at the playground. 

At one point Boone stuck his head out of the window and made the funniest noise and face. 

I don't think Carol or I caught it on camera, but it had us all laughing.

The restaurant has served over 5 million chicken dinners.

Checking out the ducks. 

A fun truck outside the restaurant.

We had a great second visit with the Robertsons. Looking forward to summer and more adventures around the area.