Summer Bucket List Update: Sidewalk Chalk

Jo was mad that Oliver had a piece of the chalk.

She recognized her name!

* Watch a fireworks display on the Fourth of July.
* Bake a berry stars & stripes cake with Oliver.
* Run through the sprinklers.
* Go to a splash park.
* Play in the "creek" at the Children's Mordecai Gardens at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
* Watch our first parade.
* Ride the outdoor train at Belleview Park.
* Visit a petting zoo.
* Take the kids for a swim.
* Have a real outdoor picnic on the grass with a picnic basket.
* Watch a sunrise.
* Go for a hike in the mountains.
* Go on a road trip.
* Go out for an ice cream cone, and eat it outside!
* Make our own ice cream, and let Oliver choose the flavor.
* Pick and eat vegetables out of the garden we're growing at Grandma Judy's house.
* Eat cherry tomatoes right off the vine at Aunt Bonnie & Uncle George's house.
* Throw water balloons.
* Go tent camping overnight.
* Look at stars in the sky.
* Visit Andrew at work for lunch.
* Take the train downtown to visit Grandpa Larry for lunch.
* Go to the Fireman's Museum.
* Use sidewalk chalk.
* Blow bubbles.
* Take Father's Day photos with the letters that spell out "DAD" again.

                                                         

Summer Bucket List Update: Taking the Train Downtown

I took the kids on the light rail. We went downtown to visit my dad for lunch! Oliver has recently developed a strong interest and love for trains, and he watches Thomas the Train almost every day when Jo takes her nap. I knew he would love taking the light rail, but I worried he would expect something a little more like Thomas the Train and be disappointed in the commuter train. So, the night before, I told him about our plans to ride the train. I also explained that it wouldn't be like Thomas. This would be a train that had lots of cars to hold people.

The next morning, Oliver chatted endlessly about the train. I reminded him a few times that it wouldn't be like Thomas. I was worried he was getting his hopes up. After what probably seemed like ages to Oliver, we finally left to catch the train and take it downtown. It cost me $8 to have a 6 hour ticket for the light rail. Thankfully, Oliver and Jo were both free because they're under 5! As we waited for the train, Oliver kept telling me what to expect. "Remember, Mom. This is a real train. It's not Thomas." 

This kid is going to totally flip out when he finds out we have tickets to ride Thomas the Train at the train museum in a few weeks. I'm pretty sure it will be the greatest day of his life. At any rate, he was so enthusiastic when the light rail train pulled up! It is as ordinary as can be, but Oliver was thrilled! He quickly learned about all the stops the train would make, and he'd announce to the other passengers when the train was stopping. He also explained, "We have to stop so people can get off, and other people have to get on the train." He memorized all the noises and dings and sound effects on the train. The half hour ride downtown flew by!

We caught my dad as he walked to meet us at the train. He took us on a little tour of his hotel, The Grand Hyatt. I've seen it many times and have stayed there a few times, but I haven't been there since its recent renovation. It's gorgeous! The whole lobby area has been redone in natural wood. Oliver was mostly interested in the elevators. We rode them all over the place! We checked out the pool and a couple of the ballrooms and meeting rooms. In one ballroom, all of these elegant glass decorations were hanging from the ceiling. There had to be 1,000+ of these things. I laughed as I imagined my dad hanging them. I love my dad, but he isn't the most patient person when it comes to repetitive, tedious work. I asked him if he'd broken any, and he answered, "A few. Then, a few days later, a bride threw her bouquet and broke a bunch more." Thankfully, he saved have back-ups ;-)

After touring the hotel and riding the elevators a number of times, we stopped for lunch at the Hyatt's Starbucks. That's one of Oliver and Jo's favorite places!

We loved our lunch downtown. It's something we'll have to be sure to do again soon. It also completed another item on our summer bucket list! We have less than two weeks to go, and there is still so much to do!

 Watch a fireworks display on the Fourth of July.
* Bake a berry stars & stripes cake with Oliver.
* Run through the sprinklers.
* Go to a splash park.
* Play in the "creek" at the Children's Mordecai Gardens at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
* Watch our first parade.
* Ride the outdoor train at Belleview Park.
* Visit a petting zoo.
* Take the kids for a swim.
* Have a real outdoor picnic on the grass with a picnic basket.
* Watch a sunrise.
* Go for a hike in the mountains.
* Go on a road trip.
* Go out for an ice cream cone, and eat it outside!
* Make our own ice cream, and let Oliver choose the flavor.
* Pick and eat vegetables out of the garden we're growing at Grandma Judy's house.
* Eat cherry tomatoes right off the vine at Aunt Bonnie & Uncle George's house.
* Throw water balloons.
* Go tent camping overnight.
* Look at stars in the sky.
* Visit Andrew at work for lunch.
* Take the train downtown to visit Grandpa Larry for lunch.
* Go to the Fireman's Museum.
* Use sidewalk chalk.
* Blow bubbles.
* Take Father's Day photos with the letters that spell out "DAD" again.

Summer Bucket List Update

We've crossed a few more items off of our summer bucket list! Last weekend, we took the kids for a swim at the local rec center. Jo was in heaven! She loved the walk-in pool with the splash features. We also went and visited Andrew at work for lunch (photo above). Finally, we didn't make it to Bonnie and George's house, but they came out this way to visit us and brought us some of their home grown tomatoes.

I'm starting to worry we won't get everything done by the end of summer! I'm giving myself until the literal last day of summer (September 21) to try to get everything done. We shall see!

* Watch a fireworks display on the Fourth of July.
* Bake a berry stars & stripes cake with Oliver.
* Run through the sprinklers.
* Go to a splash park.
* Play in the "creek" at the Children's Mordecai Gardens at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
* Watch our first parade.
* Ride the outdoor train at Belleview Park.
* Visit a petting zoo.
* Take the kids for a swim.
* Have a real outdoor picnic on the grass with a picnic basket.
* Watch a sunrise.
* Go for a hike in the mountains.
* Go on a road trip.
* Go out for an ice cream cone, and eat it outside!
* Make our own ice cream, and let Oliver choose the flavor.
* Pick and eat vegetables out of the garden we're growing at Grandma Judy's house.
* Eat cherry tomatoes right off the vine at Aunt Bonnie & Uncle George's house.
* Throw water balloons.
* Go tent camping overnight.
* Look at stars in the sky.
* Visit Andrew at work for lunch.
* Take the train downtown to visit Grandpa Larry for lunch.
* Go to the Fireman's Museum.
* Use sidewalk chalk.
* Blow bubbles.
* Take Father's Day photos with the letters that spell out "DAD" again.

Belleview Park (Updated Summer Bucket List)

Belleview Park (north side of Belleview, east of Santa Fe) is almost always packed full of families! Kids play in the creek that winds through the park, and there is a playground, a train, and a petting zoo. We go here to ride the train semi-regularly. Oliver currently loves trains. I guess we'll have to go to the railroad museum sometime soon, huh?

Jo was thrilled to play in the creek! Truly, to Jo, there is nothing better than standing in water, throwing rocks. She spent over an hour in the creek.

Oliver wasn't interested in the creek this time. He told us he was too big for the creek and just wanted to ride the train.

Oliver was so excited to ride the train! Tickets now cost $1.75 each, but Jo rides free (because she's under 2 years).

We made it back to the petting zoo for the first time this year! It also costs $1.75/person. It was kind of a dud, to be honest. Jo was afraid to pet any of the animals. Oliver checked them out for about 5-10 minutes and then wanted to go. Oh, well!

Summer Bucket List 2013:

* Watch a fireworks display on the Fourth of July.
* Bake a berry stars & stripes cake with Oliver.
* Run through the sprinklers.
* Go to a splash park.
* Play in the "creek" at the Children's Mordecai Gardens at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
* Watch our first parade.
* Ride the outdoor train at Belleview Park.
* Visit a petting zoo.
* Take the kids for a swim.
* Have a real outdoor picnic on the grass with a picnic basket.
* Watch a sunrise.
* Go for a hike in the mountains.
* Go on a road trip.
* Go out for an ice cream cone, and eat it outside!
* Make our own ice cream, and let Oliver choose the flavor.
* Pick and eat vegetables out of the garden we're growing at Grandma Judy's house.
* Eat cherry tomatoes right off the vine at Aunt Bonnie & Uncle George's house.
* Throw water balloons.
* Go tent camping overnight.
* Look at stars in the sky.
* Visit Andrew at work for lunch.
* Take the train downtown to visit Grandpa Larry for lunch.
* Go to the Fireman's Museum.
* Use sidewalk chalk.
* Blow bubbles.
* Take Father's Day photos with the letters that spell out "DAD" again.

Hiking the Braille Trail in Genesee

We celebrated my mom's birthday a few weeks late this year. She was in New Mexico over her actual birthday, and we were off in Utah the following week. So, this past weekend, we decided to take her out for a hike to celebrate!

I wanted to find a nice, family-friendly hike for the kids, and I stumbled upon a great list by Mile High Mamas! You can find their list of hikes on their blog here. They recommend different hikes based on the age of your kids, and for little walkers, they recommend Lair o' the Bear (which we've already been to a couple of times), Lookout Mountain Nature Center (which we just went to on Mother's Day), Alderfer Three Sisters, and Genesee Park: Braille Trail.

I thought the Braille Trail sounded interesting. The Mile High Mamas say it was originally meant as a trial for the blind. It's supposed to be a flat, one mile loop. Perfect! So, we decided to take my parents there. As a warning, most of the signs posted for the trail actually call it the Beaver Brook Trail.

The hike was beautiful, but it wasn't what we expected. The ground was flat, but I learned they didn't intend for that to mean without an incline. The ground was mostly flat in the sense that you don't have to step over large rocks in the way, but there absolutely were inclines! I think we did the circle the wrong way. We found ourselves going down steps, and, at the end, we went up a fairly substantial incline that was difficult to do with little kids. We huffed and puffed a bit, but holding a 30 pound child on top of that made it strenuous! All four of us adults were switching off with the kiddos.

I thought the area was stunning, though. I think I can honestly say that it's the best forested area of Colorado that I've ever been. The trees were really dense, and I was surprised to see almost no pine beetle damage. It had rained the night before, so the smells of the pines were good and intense for us, too. 

It seemed perfect for hikers who are visually impaired. There was a rope on the side of the trail that went around the entire trail, so you can follow that with your hands. Also, all of the plaques contained a braille translation, too. The plaques mentioned where the benches are in relation to the plaque, so you can stop and sit. They also described what you might hear or smell instead of only focusing on what to see. Seriously, it was cool! On a side note, Oliver also thought it was cool that we let him pee in the forest. So, all around, it was very cool.

Summer Bucket List 2013:

* Watch a fireworks display on the Fourth of July.
* Bake a berry stars & stripes cake with Oliver.
* Run through the sprinklers.
* Go to a splash park.
* Play in the "creek" at the Children's Mordecai Gardens at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
* Watch our first parade.
* Ride the outdoor train at Belleview Park.
* Visit a petting zoo.
* Take the kids for a swim.
* Have a real outdoor picnic on the grass with a picnic basket.
* Watch a sunrise.
* Go for a hike in the mountains.
* Go on a road trip.
* Go out for an ice cream cone, and eat it outside!
* Make our own ice cream, and let Oliver choose the flavor.
* Pick and eat vegetables out of the garden we're growing at Grandma Judy's house.
* Eat cherry tomatoes right off the vine at Aunt Bonnie & Uncle George's house.
* Throw water balloons.
* Go tent camping overnight.
* Look at stars in the sky.
* Visit Andrew at work for lunch.
* Take the train downtown to visit Grandpa Larry for lunch.
* Go to the Fireman's Museum.
* Use sidewalk chalk.
* Blow bubbles.
* Take Father's Day photos with the letters that spell out "DAD" again.

Road Trip to Utah + Updated Summer Bucket List

We just got back from a last minute road trip to Utah! Andrew's brother lives there, and we'd hoped to go visit them in June. Things got delayed and then cancelled due to conflicting schedules. Last week, Andrew's work sent out a memo that said they would be closed on Friday, July 5, in addition to July 4. With four days off, we decided to make the trip to Utah happen. We went on lots of adventures including our first family tent camping trip in Wyoming! I wrote about our adventures here: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/WhirledPeas/Trips/23214

Here are a few photo highlights of the trip:

With the trip came lots to mark off for our family's summer bucket list! We got to watch a fireworks display on the Fourth of July in Hyrum, Utah. The fireworks came with a view, as they were right in front of a backdrop of mountains. Oliver and I also made a stars and stripes cake. Uncle Zach didn't have a mixer, but he gave us an immersion blender to use. Oliver thought that was really cool. Of course, we got to mark off going on a road trip as well as tent camping. I'll be honest: the kids didn't sleep very much when we were camping. They really had a great time, though, and Oliver has already asked to go back to the sleeping bag and fire.

Other items that I don't have pictured (yet...) that I've marked off are blowing bubbles and running through sprinklers. We totally did those things this summer, too. We're making progress on our list!

* Watch a fireworks display on the Fourth of July.
* Bake a berry stars & stripes cake with Oliver.
* Run through the sprinklers.
* Go to a splash park.
* Play in the "creek" at the Children's Mordecai Gardens at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
* Watch our first parade.
* Ride the outdoor train at Belleview Park.
* Visit a petting zoo.
* Take the kids for a swim.
* Have a real outdoor picnic on the grass with a picnic basket.
* Watch a sunrise.
* Go for a hike in the mountains.
* Go on a road trip.
* Go out for an ice cream cone, and eat it outside!
* Make our own ice cream, and let Oliver choose the flavor.
* Pick and eat vegetables out of the garden we're growing at Grandma Judy's house.
* Eat cherry tomatoes right off the vine at Aunt Bonnie & Uncle George's house.
* Throw water balloons.
* Go tent camping overnight.
* Look at stars in the sky.
* Visit Andrew at work for lunch.
* Take the train downtown to visit Grandpa Larry for lunch.
* Go to the Fireman's Museum.
* Use sidewalk chalk.
* Blow bubbles.
* Take Father's Day photos with the letters that spell out "DAD" again.

We didn't go stargazing as a family, but I am happy to say that I get to mark something off of my own bucket list. I got to see the Milky Way! We were camping in the Medicine Bow National Forest, and at 1am, things were dark enough and clear enough for me to see the Milky Way and a sprinkling of star dust.
* Watch a movie in the park with the kids.
* Take the kids to Disney World.
* Take the kids to Sesame Street Place.
* Take the kids tent camping.
* Take the kids to the tulip festival in Holland, Michigan
* Build a snowman with the kids.
* Have a tea party with the kids.
* Have a real picnic with the kids (blanket + picnic basket).
* Pick wild berries with the kids.
* Stay in a log cabin for a winter night in the mountains with the kids.
* Take the kids to a parade.
* Take the kids on a drive to see Christmas lights.
* Help the kids with a science fair project.
* Take Andrew on a cheese tasting. 
* Live in an old, brick home.
* Pay off our house entirely. Own it out right!
* Make our very own garden.
* Dress up for Halloween as a family.
* Plant a fruit tree.
* Train and run in another half marathon.
* Sit in a hot tub in the snow.
* Throw a nice dinner party for no reason.
* Go on an Alaskan cruise.
* Go on another tropical vacation, just Andrew and me.
* Go to the National Cherry Festival in Michigan.
* Go to the Mackinac Island Fudge Festival in Michigan.
* Go to the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC.
* See the Northern Lights.
* See the Milky Way. (Medicine Bow National Forest, 2013)
* Go to Hong Kong with Phuong.
* Go to India with Aminta.
* Go to the Dominican Republic with Stasa.
* Get to every continent (So far: North America--including Central--and Europe)
* See Machu Picchu.
* Go to Paris.
* See Mount Rushmore.
* See the Crazy Horse Monument.
* See the Little Bighorn National Monument.
* See the Vietnam Memorial.
* Go to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.
* See the Abraham Lincoln National Memorial in Washington, DC.
* See the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.
* See a whale (in the wild)
* Take a train across country.
* Camp on my uncle's land in Vashon Island.
* Go to the strawberry festival on Vashon Island.
* Go to the original Starbucks in Seattle.
* Go to a coffee plantation.
* Drink espresso in Italy with Andrew.
* Learn how to use a wet saw and lay tile all by myself.
* "Yarn Bomb" something!
* Build a window seat for reading.
* Backpack Europe (Phuong and I backpacked through Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Austria in 2006)
* Sky Dive (2002)
* Get a tattoo (2002)
* Dye my hair a funky color (Purple - 2001)
* Cut my hair super short (2000)
* See Yellowstone (2003)
* Ride a mule down the Grand Canyon (1995)
* Get my degree (2005)
* Train and run in a half marathon (Disney World 2009)
* Have a garden wedding (2007)
* Have children (2009 & 2011)
* Stay in the dorms (2001)
* Live in an apartment (2007-2008)
* Buy our first home (town home, 2009)
* Take the kids apple picking (2012)
* Build a sandcastle at the beach with the kids (2013)
* See the aspens in the Colorado mountains in the fall (2012)
* See the Maroon Bells (2012)
* Explore Mayan Pyramids (Belize 2008)
* Drive along Highway 1 through Big Sur (2008)
* See the redwoods (2008)
* Go for a wine tasting in Napa Valley (2008)
* See the Scottish countryside (2012)
* Learn how to use a jigsaw and use it (1997 and 2013)
* Learn how to use a miter saw and use it (2009, 2010, and 2013)
* Redecorate an entire room (first: 2009)
* Volunteer for a political campaign (Barack Obama, 2012)
* See a President speak (Barack Obama, 2012)
* Hike with the kids in a hiking backpack (2010 and 2013)
* Go treasure hunting! (New Mexico, 2013)
* Throw boxes of tea into the Boston Harbor (simulation, 1996)
* See the Gateway Arch in St Louis (1997)
* See a panda bear (San Diego Zoo, 2003 & 2005)
* See a bonobo chimpanzee (San Diego Zoo, 2005)
* Go to a Renaissance Festival (Larkspur, 2003-2007)
* Ride a steam engine (1997 and 2012)
* Vacation at Cape Cod (2010)
* Host Thanksgiving (2011)