Where are you now?!

Aughhh, finally. I found a quiet spot in my life to sit and update the family blog. It's been a crazy, wonderful, overwhelming couple of months, and I'm more grateful than ever to be sitting here...in our new home, writing about how far we've come.

I'll start with FAQ's because I realize how confusing we've been lately...so I'll get the basics out of the way.

Where are you? 
Ha! Sounds hilarious to type that...but it's a common question I get these days. Are you done traveling for the year? Are you "home" now? WHERE is "home" now? All legitimate questions. We are indeed done with our big one-year adventure, and are back in Colorado. We did sell our previous home in Arvada and bought another home in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Wheat Ridge is one step closer to the city than we were before...only about 10 minutes from our Arvada community. We decided upon moving back that we wanted to shift gears a bit with a few things in mind. We wanted a smaller home, and we wanted our kids to be in a Montessori curriculum. Fortunately, all three boys got into the lottery at a wonderful Montessori charter school, near Wheat Ridge. And...we found a 4 bedroom...a wonderful fit for us. So, although we have swapped neighborhoods, we are able to see old friends and neighbors just the same and reconnect with our Colorado family.

I thought you were moving to Texas?
Aughh, yes...we did too for a minute! The last few months away, we felt so happy to be near our family in Texas...so we considered (actually agonized!) over whether we should live there...instead of moving back to Colorado. Since Owen was born, we've felt a tremendous amount of guilt about living away from family while raising kids...and this was an opportunity for us to figure out whether Texas could be home again for us as a family. So, we test-drove it...we explored many areas as possibilities to settle down, and we spent time hanging out with the people there we love so much. We almost bought a house in Austin...we almost bought some land and built a farmhouse...we almost lived in Denton. But ultimately, we came back to Colorado to sell our Arvada home and instantly realized that Colorado has become a huge part of who we are now...and has always been a gift we've wanted to give our kids. The appreciation for nature, the mountains, the outdoor activities...all that Colorado stands for...we want it for our kids. It took us a few days to finally say it out loud...but Colorado is our home away from home...and we decided to stay here, but committed to visiting family a lot more often to stay connected. One thing we re-learned when we were in Texas is how important our family is to us...how wonderful they truly are and how much we want them in our kids' lives. So...both are important and we will try and make both a huge part of our lives forever.

What about the house in Denton?
We own the little house in Denton still, and it's being rented for two years. Our plan is to keep it as a rental property for a long time.

Do you still have the Airstream?
Unfortunately, no. We sold it a few weeks ago to a lovely family in Boulder. They are enjoying it very much on their land (we've gotten several pics of them having morning coffee and evening cocktails in it), and plan to rent it out on Airbnb and use it as a family camper. We couldn't have handed it off to better people! Instead, we bought a pop-up camper for regular family camping trips. So far, it's been the perfect fit.

Where is Macy?
She is back in Colorado with us...despite my mom's best efforts to keep her on the ranch! ;) She is struggling a bit...getting old (12) and now has Addison's Disease, but we are managing and trying to keep her comfy.

Kipper's job?
Same. Still at NREL, going into the office three days a week now, and working from home the other two.

School?
The boys all go to Compass Montessori at the Wheat Ridge and Golden campuses...including Sawyer! He started preschool there, and he loves it (most days). The switch to Montessori has been a seamless progression for them from homeschool. For so many reasons, we feel so content and relieved with this opportunity for them.

Now what?
Currently, we are working on making a few updates to our new home, but it's all coming together. I am still home full time and keeping Sawyer home with me some days to enjoy alone time with him. Eventually, I will ease back into working part time. I'm excited about the next phase of my career...but also grateful to not have to feel rushed into that decision in this moment. I hope to find something that fits my schedule and fulfills my passions by next year, after Sawyer turns four.

In retrospect?
This past year was a gift. We will never take one second of that opportunity for granted. To be honest, I didn't know exactly why we unplugged the way we did, when we made the decision to do so, but in hindsight, it was exactly what we needed. Our kids needed it. Our marriage needed it. And, as individuals, Kipper and I needed to spend some time on who we were becoming vs. who we wanted to be. It sort of felt like when you clean out your garage...you take it all out and put it in your driveway. Then, thoughtfully you put only back what you know you'll use and organize it in a different way. It's a fresh start. It's change, which is cleansing. It's hard to make a change to something when life is moving so quickly. So, for us, it was best to stop completely to change lanes the way we wanted to.

I call it a gift...and it was...but honestly, it was also a choice. I believe it's possible for anyone to unplug, and I recommend it. It doesn't have to be for a whole year, with your whole family, away from your life, but it is worth whatever sacrifice you have to make to get what you need. It wasn't easy; a financial planner wouldn't have recommended we do it; no one really understood why we felt the need to do it; and in many phases of it, we felt really vulnerable, scared, irresponsible and doubtful of the next steps...but something in our guts told us to move forward and we listened. As far as I know, we live one time...and I don't claim to know what happens next...but...I do now know that when you create a quiet space in your life, only good comes of it, and contentment follows. Perhaps it's daily prayer, or meditation or a weekly yoga class or a trip away for a year. I encourage it in any form that works for you. Don't over-think it, just sit quietly somewhere, sometime and let the clutter fall away so the fresh air can come in.

In retrospect, we are slowly putting things back "in." We are purging what wasn't working for us before, and cherishing what fits in the picture now. Ultimately, it's been about finding quality in our lives...and learning to really spend time on relationships, passions and goals. Now, as we merge back, we are trying to stay in the slow lane.

We have missed our wonderful friends in Colorado and having a blast reconnecting and hearing how everyone is doing...so if we haven't seen you yet, let's find a time to visit!

So for now, we're soaking up the BEAUTIFUL Fall weather and watching the leaves change. We just returned from a very cold camping trip in the new pop-up camper along Boreas Pass (between 285 & Breckenridge). It snowed on us, so we came home early...but the drive there and back was breathtaking.

For Kipper's birthday, we headed to Utah, hoping for some warm weather for another camping weekend...and we were gifted with the most beautiful Fall desert weather. We biked and hiked and soaked up the sun. We even did a little four-wheel trail in the Landcruiser. Moab is Kipper's happy place, so I was so glad to be there on his birthday. Bodhi was sick one night, but he was such a trooper and it didn't stop him from wanting to hike the next day. We had some yummy dinners around the campfire and made s'mores for the birthday dessert. If you haven't been to Moab, book your trip people! It's a must-see. xoxo

The Big City

Texas in the Spring has been beautiful in every way. No sneaky snowstorms in April, warm weather in the 70s since March, sunny back porch coffee sessions much earlier than we are accustomed to, and everything is so GREEN! I know the summertime here will shut me up fast, but for now...Texas is covered in wildflowers and we are enjoying it!

I am playing major catch up here with the blog, but I'll brief you on our travels in Texas this spring. Mostly, we have stayed near Denton...spending a few weekends at the ranch, Fort Worth, exploring the local museums and spending time with family. But, we did travel south in the Airstream. We stayed in Austin for about a week and visited New Braunfels. We rediscovered all of the wonderful things Austin has to offer, I haven't gotten to explore that city in so long!

Our favorites were The Thinkery, The Wildflower Center, Barton Springs (and Sawyer is obsessed with the Zilker Zephyr park train), the Capitol building tour, the bike trails, the many many snow cone stands and the Mexican food. Yum...Austin has that dialed in! We visited some old friends and caught up with some family. Our RV park was pretty centrally located and we were able to explore in all directions easily.

Then we headed to the East Coast...

The first two weeks in May, we rented a little (aka TINY) apartment in the West Village of NYC, and it was an unforgettable memory for all of us. We planned to stay in New York at some point in this one-year detour from our "real lives" and there were many times along the way when we almost took it off of the table for so many reasons...maybe it's too expensive...maybe it's too much for the kids...maybe it's too much for us with the kids, etc. But...I'm so grateful we plowed through all of that because walking the streets of Manhattan was amazing with and for my kids. It was a wonderful anchor trip for his year, and I sincerely hope we make visiting the city a part of our lives forever. There is so much diversity there...it reminded me that there are so many different types of human beings on this planet with us. They come in every shape and size and color and culture. They are walking the streets with us with ten fingers, ten toes, two arms, two legs and one main purpose generally speaking...to live life and do their best. We really should all be in this together, and sitting on the 1 Train, I felt connected to people. I loved watching the boys watch people. I could tell they were collecting that same data. Owen and Bodhi studied people everywhere we went and I could see that they were thinking..."hmmm, these people are different but the same." That's it...that's what I wanted NYC to be for them, and you can't go there and not feel that. Here's a recap our of adventures there...

The day we arrived, we wandered around our neighborhood, walked a few blocks over to Washington Park and took in the street performers, playgrounds and just enjoyed the scene. (don't judge me on the seatbelt arrangement here...cab rides look like this with kids in NYC.)

We picked up some $1/slice pizza and got some groceries. We just hung out in our apartment and went to bed early...all of this AFTER Kipper made a second trip back to Laguardia because we left the kids' suitcase on the curb...which was waiting in lost and found for us. (whew!)

The next day, we headed to Times Square to take the boys to the big Toys R Us store because they saw pics of the big ferris wheel online and wanted to see it in person. So, we figured out the subway and headed that way. We arrived excited to be blown away, but unfortunately it was more like the Wally World scene in National Lampoons Vacation because the Toys R Us store in TS closed permanently two weeks prior to arrival (which my "2016 NYC with Kids" guide failed to mention. So...plan B, we headed over to the Star Wars costume exhibit at Discovery TS (all of the real costumes from all of the movies) and they loved it!

That afternoon, I took Owen and Bodhi to an off-bway show (Fantasticks). Since it was an afternoon show, we sat in the front row. It was a small theater, and the wooden stage was about six inches from our feet. We were front and center and could see every detail of the actors' expressions. The theater was small with low ceilings and it felt very "New York." It was a really good production, and we waited outside after the show for the boys to get their Playbills signed. Owen was really nervous to talk to the actors, but Bodhi was first in line and spoke to every single one of them. The male lead asked him if he liked the show, and he said ,"Yeah...but there was a little too much romance in it for me." You can always count on an honest answer from Bodhi...

Through the first week, we visited Eataly (amazing indoor Italian market, grocery store, wine bar, cheese bar, etc), Union Square Green Market (huge NYC farmers market), Washington Square (amazing food trucks), The Lego Store, the Children's Museum of Manhattan (best for 5 and under), walked Central Park (many times and never saw the same thing twice!), attended the Children's Choir at NYC Loewe Theater (a free concert, thanks to a homeschool group I met online) and mastered the subway from the station on our block. At one point on the train, a street performer played the clarinet for the boys on our ride. It was a little crowded and no other kids were on this time. He began playing Itsy Bitsy Spider, then She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain from across the train car...it was kind of a special moment because he didn't talk to them, but they knew the songs were for them. He played for a couple of stops, winked at them and hopped off at his stop. They giggled and looked at me as if someone had just given them a little gift.

We spent an evening in Little Italy (really small these days). We found a yummy pasta joint and chowed down on the family recipe and house chianti, served by some very Italian men. It was like an episode of the Sopranos...and Kipper kept trying to talk like them...and kept saying, "Heeeeyyy, I'm tryin' to eat ova heeereya." It was Bodhi's favorite meal!

We were lucky enough to have K's mom and G'pa Greg visit for Mother's Day weekend, and we all crammed into our little home (surprisingly, it worked out really well). Kipper and I got to sneak out for a couple of date nights. We visited the Museum of Natural History, celebrated Mother's Day at the Loeb Boathouse restaurant on the water in Central Park, walked the Highline (so pretty and such a cool way to see the city) and discovered Chelsea Market (wow!), toured the Intrepid (aircraft carrier/museum with the Enterprise Space Shuttle on it), and went to the top of the Empire State Building. On Mother's Day, Kathy and I got pampered with spa pedicures and brunch by ourselves. We walked around and went shopping, then met up with the boys in the afternoon. We were sad to see them go but were so happy to make those memories with them.

Week two was full of so many great adventures too...there's just so much to see there. The Children's Museum of Art was among our favorites. It's a museum of art for kids, but they have many hands-on workshops including the Clay Bar, the recording studio, (they recorded their own song, which included Owen playing piano and Bodhi making farting sounds, wasn't surprised, ha!) the watercolor workshop, digital art studio and oil painting center. They also offered a weaving workshop while we were there. We spent about five hours at this museum, and we almost went back for a second time! I can't recommend this place enough! The Whitney Museum was a great art museum for kids because they have audio sets for kids, and the exhibits are an incredible use-of-space. Also, you can see all of it in about an hour, so it's not too overwhelming (or long/boring) for them. Owen learned how to read the name plates on each piece and he seemed to really appreciate the artists efforts. He listened to his audio set and asked a lot of questions. We also enjoyed the cafe at the top of the building and took in the view. It was a fun afternoon with my little walking circus.

The NY Fire Department Museum  was really fun. The New York City firemen are so great, and they offered a really cool kids program for teaching fire safety. Bodhi thought they were so cool, and they had the strongest NY accents I've ever heard. Since we decided against taking the boys to the World Trade Center memorial, we opted for the Memorial room at this museum honoring all of the people who lost their lives. We explained that there was a huge fire in the WTC buildings and focused on how brave the fire departments were as opposed to explaining terrorism (it just seemed too soon for them). Bodhi was really moved seeing their pictures and said he wanted to say a quick prayer for them, so we did.  On our way out, Bodhi gave them a hug and said, "Thank you for being a fireman." (that kid has such a big heart) They were so touched...it was a really special visit.

Another highlight was the Brooklyn Bridge. We spent the day in Brooklyn...walking around, exploring Prospect Park, and visiting the NY Transit Museum (which means TRAIN museum to Sawyer). I honestly think Sawyer would have slept there if I let him. It's an underground museum in an old subway station with subway train cars from every era, which you can climb around in...so it was pretty great for my three monkey boys, who climb everything anyway!

Anyway, we found the Brooklyn Bridge, and I've always wanted to see the view of the city from there...so we decided to just walk back to Manhattan via the bridge. It was so fun! It was a beautiful night (no rain!) and such an exhilarating experience. I'll never forget looking across the East River at that bustling city with my kids.

While Kipper worked one afternoon, the boys and I jumped on the Circle Line Landmark tour, which takes you on a half-circle boat ride around Manhattan. It was a really nice way to see the Statue of Liberty without fighting the lines. 

There are 21 playground in Central Park and I think we found about ten of them. We also visited the Central Park Zoo, which I sort of thought was going to be really small and quick...but it's actually a great little gem. We watched them feed the sea lions and walked the Children's Zoo a few times. The weather was gorgeous that day and we walked and walked and walked through the park just finding new climbing areas and picnicking. We ended the day at Dylan's Candy Bar, which Bodhi kept seeing ads for and had his heart set on (he has my sweet tooth). 

A HUGE highlight for me was seeing the off-broadway show Dear Evan Hansen. THIS SHOW!!! I do love theater, but I can't say enough about THIS SHOW. I was really blown away...I had no idea what to expect, but I cried three times and felt uplifted and hopeful by the end. The talent on stage was inspiring. My sweet friend Markus' sister was in the show, so we got to go upstairs and say hello to the cast afterward and I was so speechless, I stumbled through trying to tell them all how wonderful it was...I was in awww! And this week they announced their taking it to Broadway, so if you're planning to be in the city this fall...do not miss it! The other bonus about this night was that my friend from high school, Heather (who now lives in Canada) came down for the weekend with her girlfriends so I got to see her! Loved it so much! 

Other random stuff...

There are pet stores with puppies in the window...although I'm not really a fan of pet stores and the whole puppy mill thing, I will say the boys loved visiting the window on our block each time we headed out. ;) 

Sawyer loved that he could hear the trains from every part of the city...so when he would hear a subway go by, he'd stop and look through the vents to see if he could watch it. 

The food is amazing in NYC, and it's a huge part of experiencing the culture there. Our favorites included...sushi at Tomoe Sushi (on our way we stopped in for a 20 minute foot rub at one of the many massage shops...they are literally everywhere. And, they should be...you walk for days in that city!) We had dinner at Jeffery's (right below our apartment) for Cinqo de Mayo and toasted to being "out" while eating tacos and listening to the mariachi band. We had dinner at Bar Pitti and people-watched over homemade pasta and vino. We ordered in twice from our neighborhood noodle bar Hakata Tonton because of their amazing garlic rice. We spoiled ourselves with our local coffee shops - Chalait for their amazing almond milk cappuccinos and Joe for their homemade coconut cream donuts. (You can't get a bad coffee in NY,  I'm convinced!) We had lots of great street food and bagels too!

Sawyer's favorite part of the city was hands-down the subway train. His love for all trains hasn't faded and the idea of taking a train everywhere we went was like a dream come true for him. When we would walk downstairs to head out for the day, he would say, "Let's take the 1 Train mom!" He just smiles the whole time he rides it and talks about how it works, how fast it's going, how many stops we make, etc. It was our primary source of transportation, mostly for him. We got pretty good at it!

We loved the same-day laundry service, overhearing many different languages being spoken all around us, the many many parks on almost every corner...even seeing the rats on the subway tracks felt authentic to us! Ha...sounds funny, but it's true! When I saw them, I thought to myself, "Hey, I've heard jokes on Jimmy Fallon about rats in NY! Now I've seen them!" Nothing was lost on us. ;)

Overall, New York found its way into our hearts, and we can't wait to go back.

Now, we're back in Denton and trying to figure out the next steps to this adventure. We have decided to sell our home in Arvada, in an effort to find a more simple space with perhaps a bigger lot or small piece of land. Our journey this year has taught us that living simply suits us...whether we are crammed into an Airstream, a tiny two bedroom house or a 400 square foot apartment in NY...we've been happy. Just happy to be together, healthy and in-tune with what really matters.

I must admit that our "one-year" adventure is coming to an end, I am feeling stressed about how to take all that we've learned and apply it without losing sight of it. We don't know if that means we'll live in Texas to be closer to family or back in Colorado with more plans to visit family...but we're taking it slow and trying to listen to our gut feelings. We hope to make that decision within the month! Thanks for following us here this year, it is so fun to share our memories with you. We'll be in touch! xoxo