Raccoon Clan

/

Open Road

Every Thursday morning we wake up and drive across the breathtaking Colorado meadows into the foothills.

House and Horse

We pass our favorite horse...

Running Free

...and soon we arrive at the place where children run free.

Explorer

...where they find confidence and appreciation for God's creation.

Circle Up

It's Raccoon Clan!

Raccoon Clan is one of the programs available through "Her Feet On The Earth", a non-profit with a "vision to help raise young people who are ready to meet life's challenges and be of service in the world: youth who have a positive sense of themselves as young women and men; who know what their gifts are; feel deeply connected with nature; have strong community support; and are full of resilience and vitality."

So what does Bella do at Raccoon Clan? She explores the mysteries and wonders of nature. She wanders along the stream banks. She searches for good things to eat. She makes tracks, plays games in the field and shares stories.

Each week she has new adventures and nourishes her connection with nature by learning about the animals, birds, plants and trees around her and learns important skills to help her feel at home in nature, such as fire making, navigation, shelter building, archery, and more. (paraphrased from HFOTE)

We drop her off at 9:00 a.m. and pick her up at 3:00 p.m. There is a tipi on the land and so much beauty to explore. Lorene and Mary are fantastic with all of the kids and so mindful about what they are teaching.

I have noticed such a difference in her level of independence and how she interacts with others...and she LOVES her new friends there. She talks about going all week and loves packing her lunch for the big day. As you can see from the photo below...she's pretty excited about it.

We are thrilled to have found this program and hope to continue in it for a long time.

Happy Face

Muller Family + Colorado = Fun

/

The Mullers are in Colorado! That's right...our dear friends from Omaha, NE came out for a few days to visit and we had a blast. These should be familiar faces to you if you've been around my blog for awhile. After spotting each other at the Des Moines Farmer's Market in the summer of 2004 (both of us slinging our babes)...we decided we had much in common and have been hanging out  for the past 7 years.

So...what did we do?

We smooshed into our van so we could drive around together and do fun stuff.

Isaiah stalked all of the best skate parks...and we loved watching his sweet tricks.

We played A LOT.

We drove up to Nederland and enjoyed the mountain views.

Denise showed up sporting brand new baby dreads...how cute is she?! I was so excited to see she finally did it!

We spent time on Pearl Street.

And found cool new shops.

We hiked up the trails at Chautauqua and I only had to stop 4 times to catch my breath. To my defense, I was carrying an almost 2-year-old and a very heavy camera. :)

All smiles on the way DOWN!

The kids loved climbing on the rocks.

We showed those mountains who was boss!

We ate lots and lots of yummy food...John Henry and Annora have celiac disease, so we were on the hunt for gluten-free and vegetarian options. Boulder has LOTS of that...and we were pleased.

But most importantly...we spent time talking about life. Laughing together over tea and other delicious hot beverages. Reminiscing about times gone by. Reconnecting with old friends is the best.

We can't wait to see them again SOON. We crammed a lot of goodness into just 3 days, but there is still so much to do! You can see the full set of photos here.

Oh, and be sure to check out John Henry's company, What Cheer. If you need a website created...he is your man. Seriously. He rocks. And if you live near Omaha...go to one of Denise's classes at Bhadra Yoga. She just started teaching there and she's amazing.

We have two more sets of friends coming to visit in the next 2 weeks...the Hasslers from Indiana and Monica from Portland. Yippeeeee!! I'm more than a little excited.

Hope you're all having a great week!

A Quiet House

/

Our house is quiet today.

Dan and Laura flew home Monday. Nana and Papa left this morning. Bella is out running errands with Jess. Lucy is asleep.

I wanted to share a photo of my new "Happy Wall" with you. I printed out a bunch of photos from our travels taken with the ShakeItPhoto app on my iPhone. Matt hung some ribbons on the wall and then we secured them with some clothespins. I love having our favorite memories out there for us to see every day!

Speaking of photos, I don't even want to think about how long it's going to take to edit all the photos I took this weekend! :) We're slowly getting back into our normal routine after having such an enormous amount of fun!

And now, I think I will put down the computer and settle into my corner for a cup of hot tea and a good book.