The Robisons: June - Black Hills, Basketball & Boxes

One of the main reasons we chose to live where we live is the community pools. There are 5 or 6 to choose from, a few within biking distance.

Luke knows the drill

Morning swim means guaranteed naptime.

Afternoons are best spent in the front yard (if it's not hailing).

This is the bird that almost put me into early labor. I was going out for a morning jog and he came after me, trying to perch on my shoulder! There was screaming, arms flailing, and neighbors onlooking. After a couple of failed attempts, he decided to follow me on foot. That was better.

This is the gymnastics carpool - boys along for the ride

I wouldn't say she was made for gymnastics, but she throws a good headstand!

And here's the hail! We had frequent afternoon showers (almost daily), with the hail an extra special treat

That's when we swim inside

Chalk Festival

Larimer Square

nooo- not the rain today! there went all the chalk art :(

Ruth, Karlie, Sloan & Scott went from the festival to a Rockies game

Where Sloan ran into my cousin Nate Budge

From there, Sloan & I met up again and walked along the river to the Mile High Stadium...

to the Luke Bryan Concert.
Denver definitely has a cowboy culture - this is when you get to see it in its full glory

"Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey
Whiskey makes my baby feel a little frisky...."

How do country singers get away with it??

The next weekend - Yard sale with friends

June 11th, we went as a family to the anatomy (gender) ultrasound. Great news - he was looking healthy, I found out my due date was week earlier than I guessed, and ...

it's a boy!!

Ruthie cried on the spot. She was so heartbroken. She was hoping for a sister.

Her tears got worse as we drove home and tried to make light of the situation, even after a call for help to Luvy. By the time we got home, she was in full fury. The toilet paper went flying.

After a couple days, and with some creative reasoning (you'll always be daddy's special girl! you get to be the princess!), she cheered up and was back to climbing trees again

and hanging with her bro's

Sloan took me to see one of our favorite bands, The Weepies, in Boulder

The next day we loaded up the trailer and drove north to the Black Hills in South Dakota

Beautiful, short hike around Sylvan Lake near our campsite

we picked up a couple more on the way

Bike museum

Along the scenic loop through Black Hills National Forest, we pulled up next to these beauties

magnificent!

From there, Sloan dropped Ruth & me off at the Crazy Horse memorial. I had just finished reading "The Journey of Crazy Horse" and was thrilled to be there. We walked through the museum, watched a movie, cheered on the hoop dancer, and enjoyed the sculpture museum where other works by the Dutch sculptor were on display.

My paternal side has Sioux Indian ancestry, which seemed very obvious to me as I watched the video and saw the resemblance to my grandpa. My heart was soft as we walked the grounds and soaked up the culture.

Here's a model of the sculpture with the work in progress directly behind:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Crazy+Horse+Memorial/@43.836102,-103.624096,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1s73389382!2e1!3e10!6s%2F%2Fstorage.googleapis.com%2Fstatic.panoramio.com%2Fphotos%2Fsmall%2F73389382.jpg!7i1600!8i1066!4m2!3m1!1s0x8762cc001c5578df:0x7a29925e509a0c7!6m1!1e1

That night we set up at the Mt. Rushmore KOA (the 2nd biggest KOA in the USA).

Kid heaven.

until you get the stomach flu :(

Sloan and Ruth were out of it (between trips to the bathroom), for a day, but we managed a short visit to Mt. Rushmore

We warned him... going down to the stage meant coming back up!

Still had energy to love on dad

and Ruth

Luke was in rare form

4 months

That night we did the KOA's chuckwagon dinner

The next morning, we did a hike near Mt. Rushmore

Honestly, it was just ok. But we had fun singing "goin on a bear hunt" over and over and scaring the kids.

That afternoon we moved the trailer up a little ways north to explore one more area...

the playground at this site kind of blew our minds

explored infamous Deadwood. This is the only working gold mine in the area - what an eye sore!

The big kids & I did a gold mine tour which was fascinating! Plus we panned for real gold.

Load em up, head em out. Not sure why, but the kids decided to wash Sloan's truck at the gas station.

stopping to get the wiggles out in Wyoming

so we can plug 'em in the rest of the way home

Happy Father's Day!

our Sunday afternoon hang out spot, under the bridge

backbirds?

yep Luke, they're backbirds

Papa saved the day by coming through on his way home from New Orleans to pick up the boys (Reggie was gung ho - Luke was a little timid) so we could get through moving week.