Denver Firefighter's Museum

A few months ago, I purchased a deal on Living Social to go to the Denver Firefighter's Museum. I think the deal was $10 for 4 people, so it was really affordable. Plus, I'd never been!

The museum is exactly that: a museum. There are a number of exhibits to look at. Because we were with the kids, we really couldn't stop and appreciate all of them. It was neat seeing all of the old uniforms and equipment, though. Most of the stuff is hands-off, but they have special stations for kids to play that were marked with a fire dog. The main attraction was a firetruck. Kids got to dress up in a firefighter coat & helmet and climb on the truck. It sounds kind of petty, but it was nice that the clothes fit the kids. We've played with the truck at the Denver Children's Museum before, and the coats there are huge! Here, they fit the kiddos properly, and they could easily climb into and out of the truck. Unlike the Children's Museum, this truck didn't have lights and sirens, though.

There were a few other stations for kids to check out. One was an old firefighter's pole. Oliver wasn't too keen on trying it out. Both he and Jo really loved one of the areas upstairs. To teach stop, drop, and roll, they set mats down on the ground. The kids stuck felt flames to themselves, and then they rolled around on the mats until the flames came off. They had the best time rolling around on that mat!

I genuinely had a good time at this museum. It wasn't overwhelming and overstimulating for kids. It wasn't too busy, even though we'd gone on a Saturday. We spent an hour there and felt like we got to see and do everything, and we left feeling happy instead of worn out! I also ran into a friend from high school who was there to use her Living Social deal, too. Funny how those things work out! I'd definitely go back. For anyone interested in checking out the museum, they had a sign posted that their next free day is this upcoming Saturday, October 12.

Here's a video of Oliver practicing stop, drop, and roll!
                                                         

Hudson Gardens in Littleton

Last week, the kids and I met up with my sister-in-law, Jessica, and nephew, Sawyer, at the Hudson Gardens in Littleton. I've actually never been there, despite having gone to college literally across the street from this place for a couple years!

Hudson Gardens has free admission. I think they make their money off of their gift shop, concerts, and classes. Most of the area is natural, and only a small part seemed to be developed gardens.

It was a pretty place to take a stroll, but there was very little shade. The heat in the direct sun got to be a little much. We had fun, but I think Hudson Gardens would make a better stop in the fall or winter--certainly not the late spring or summer!

As is normal for our climate, there were trees along the river. They provided shade in a few spots, so we stopped by the river a couple times to cool off.

After saying bye to the tunnel, we stopped over at the Starbucks in Aspen Grove. It was so nice to have some AC! Oliver got Jo's high chair, and we sat down: the kids with their chocolate milk & cake pops, and me with a coffee frappuccino. Here's my rosy-cheeked boy and my cool-as-a-cucumber little girl:

You can't beat free! I think we'll go back to Hudson Gardens again, maybe in November when the weather will be better for it.

Old South Gaylord Memorial Day Festival

From a Facebook post, I found out about a free festival in the Wash Park area on Memorial Day! It's called the Old South Gaylord Memorial Day Festival. The weather was a little overcast, perfect for a day out and about!

Both kids got to ride in strollers. Lucky!

The festival was small, but it was nice. There were a number of shops who pitched tents, including some artisan shops. There were also some food booths. Andrew loves fair food! The sticker prices were a little steep, but we sprung for the $6 funnel cake anyway. After all, there were no admission fees, so it was OK. Right? That's what we told ourselves, anyway. They had a station to add toppings, so Oliver got to add toppings all by himself!

There was a large bouncy castle and a small one. We paid a dollar for Oliver to jump in the small one. He was too intimidated to go in at first, but we took him around to a quieter part, and then he climbed in.

Unlike her brother, Joanna wasn't afraid at all. She said, "Peace out, guys; I'm going to play!" Well, that's what she would have said if she spoke in sentences.

Here's Jo watching Oliver from above.

I wouldn't say this festival is worth a long drive, but, if you're nearby, it's a nice way to spend an afternoon on Memorial Day weekend. Jo's favorite part was all of the dogs. Oliver's favorite part was topping the funnel cake. Not a bad day out!

Living Social: Denver Firefighters' Museum

Today is the last day to get four tickets to the Denver Firefighters' Museum for $10. Tickets are normally $6 per adult and $4 per child! Oliver has never gone to this museum before, but he's gone to the fire station in the Denver Children's Museum. It sounds like it's a little similar. They let kids dress up like firefighters, climb on fire trucks, and slide down poles. They also teach kids about fire safety! We're going to take the kids some weekend soon.

You can find the deal here: http://www.livingsocial.com/deals/644384-admission-for-four-to-denver-firefighters-museum?rui=131309921

Here is a little flash back to last Halloween when Oliver was a firefighter and Jo was a fire dog.

  

Pre-School Cooking Class: Sticky Fingers!

The rec center where Oliver takes his cooking class doesn't offer the class in the spring or summer due to so many athletics and day camps going on. I've scoured the Denver area for a cooking class for his age group and finally found a public one through Sticky Fingers Cooking.

They need a minimum of 8 kids (ages 3-5) to run the class, and it's an 8 week course on Monday afternoons. If you're in the Denver area and are interested in a cooking class for your pre-schooler, check out this class offered through JCC. If you're interested, contact Jill from JCC at JKatchen@jccdenver.org to register.

These are the recipes they used for their winter session:

• Zucchini Oatmeal sandwich Cookies + Apple Pie Smoothies
• Cauliflower tater tots + Egg-cellent Veggie Quiche
• Peach Shortcake Kabobs + Lemon Yogurt Cream
• Quinoa Avocado Sushi + Quick Asian Pickles
• Caribbean Twice-"Fried" Plantains + Tropical Punch
• Japanese Tofu Yakitori + Asian Slaw
• Cranberry Far Breton (pudding cake) + Nutmeg Whipped Cream
• Butternut Squash Pot Stickers + Sweet Soy
• Broccoli Calzones + Gelato Milkshakes
• Pumpkin Tapioca Pudding + Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins
• Sunflower Pesto Mac' n Cheese Cupcakes + Thyme Lemonade
• Black Bean Taco Cups + Super Kid Salsa
• Japanese Tofu Yakitori + Sweet Sesame Slaw
• Warm Indian Kid Curry Cups + Easy Tomato Chutney

Denver Zoo Lights

Andrew and I took the kids to the Denver Zoo Lights tonight. It could have easily been a disaster, and my review of this seasonal treat would have been quite different. As it stands, we really lucked out.

The zoo was transformed into a wonderland. The Zoo Lights were stunning. Everything was lit up and beautiful. The kids, who had been so crabby during the drive, instantly perked up. Oliver oohed and ahhed, and Joanna was lit up with smiles!

I'm not exaggerating when I say I didn't anticipate the kids having as much fun as they did. I'd hoped they'd like it, but they loved it!

 

Honestly, I thought the light displays were just as good (if not better) as Blossoms of Light at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

Here are some photos of the kids having a good time:

Jo was all smiles:

We absolutely want to go back next year. This was one of the highlights of the season! I think we might go a couple of weeks before Christmas, perhaps on a week night, in order to avoid the parking problem and the insane lines. And, of course, we'll make sure to buy our tickets in advance online!

Mordecai Children's Gardens

We had a few gorgeous days at the start of this month. We enjoyed some cloud cover that made spending the days outside pleasant. So, we buckled the kids into the car and set out to the Denver Botanic Gardens. They now have a rooftop children's gardens, which we'd checked out in spring 2011 and loved. We have a membership to the Botanic Gardens and need to make it a point to go more often! Entry for us was free with our membership. Non-member adults are $12.50 a piece, kids under 3 are admitted free, and kids over 3 are $9.

We were a little disappointed in this trip. Most of the rocks in the rock stacking stations were gone. There were still some, but it was mostly barren. No kids played there. We hiked up "Marmot Mountain," which we loved last time. All of the animal bones for studying were gone. All of the blocks made from fallen trees were gone.

We wandered to the man-made creek. They added awnings over the creek to create shade for the children. It was a wonderful addition to the area.

Unfortunately, we found they removed all the buckets and rakes that kids used to play in the creek. There were no toys there anymore. Don't get me wrong; we still had a great time splashing in the water. I just don't understand why they took away the buckets and shovels when the little kids enjoyed them so much!

Here are some photos of us playing in the creek:

I love this candid photo I snapped of Andrew and Joanna:

Check out the clouds!  It was such a lovely day.

Behind Oliver is a pair of dress-up wings. It's all that was left in the stage area that used to be filled with dress-up items for kids to play with: 

Oliver loved our afternoon at the Botanic Gardens. Our membership made it was worth the trip. Had we paid the non-membership entrance fees (for our family, that would have been $25), then I'd have to say our trip wouldn't have been worth the cost. I mean, playing in the creek was fun, but kids can play in a nice creek for free at Belleview Park or at Civic Green Park! Hopefully, the Denver Botanic Gardens will bring back all the toys, activities, and learning tools that they offered to kids when they first opened the Mordecai Children's Gardens. As of now, it's just an expensive place to take kids to splash around.

Denver County Fair: Not Worth the Cost

To quickly sum up our experience at the second annual Denver County Fair: it was fun, but it was not worth the money.

The Denver County Fair is at the National Western Complex in north Denver all weekend.  I heard a blip about it on NPR.  From what I gathered, they're trying to mix a traditional fair (picture pie-eating contests, baking competitions, and prized animals) with something a little more modern (cupcake booths, red velvet funnel cakes, gourmet shaved ice, and texting competitions).  It sounded like a lot of fun.  So, we went.

The prices were astronomical. I mean, seriously, we might as well have gone to Disney Land. We took one car, and Andrew's friends took another. It was $10 for each car to park, but there was no other parking available. The light rail doesn't go that far north, and so we had to fork over the money to park. Then, to get into the fair, it was another $10 a person.  

Everything inside cost money. Basically, we dumped about $100 to get into a place to spend more money. Our friends were interested in trying out jousting. They had jousting--American Gladiator style! It was $14 to joust. I'm dead serious. We watched other people joust instead. Oliver was interested in a bouncy castle.  It was $2 to go into the bouncy castle. He ended up being too afraid to enter, but they kindly let us walk him through a little obstacle course instead.  

We spent $5 to buy a single, plain hot dog for Oliver for lunch.  I sneaked one of the chips it came with and found it to be stale.  Really stale.  The "best by" date on the bag was July 3.  I went to toss them but couldn't find a garbage can anywhere.  There were two lunch areas with picnic tables, but no garbage cans in sight. We later learned the only garbage cans were near the bathrooms.  I'm not sure what our $10 entrance fee paid for, but it wasn't adequate AC or garbage cans.

Color Run

We almost missed out on The Color Run!  My mom, Andrew, and I had been planning on running the 5k race together for a couple months now.  We decided we would register at the event instead of doing same-day registration in case the weather was bad, or in case Andrew and I weren't getting enough sleep from the kids waking up at night.  Yesterday morning, I went online to find out when same-day registration opened, only to discover it had sold out!

Thanks to the help of friends and Craigs List, I tracked down three packets.  Andrew drove all over the Denver-Metro area after work yesterday to pick them up.  With Friday night traffic on Memorial weekend, I have a feeling the drives were no picnic.  I crossed my fingers that all our effort was worth it.  The race bags looked promising--we each got a pack of colored powder to throw at the finish line in addition to our race shirts, sweat bands, numbers, and a temporary tattoo!  We couldn't be picky about shirt sizes, of course.  I ended up with an XL, but I ran it through a hot wash cycle and hot dryer cycle to try to shrink it as much as possible.  It was still big, so I decided to just own the look.  I crimped my hair by braiding it the night before.  The morning of, I stuck my hair in a high pony, donned my sweat band, pulled on some leggings and my new neon pink running shoes.  It looked like I stepped straight out of the early 90s.

Oliver wore my temporary tattoo for me:

We met up with my parents at City Park.  My dad took a "before" photo of us, looking so nice in our clean, crisp running clothes:

Oliver's inspecting our dye packets.  He asked me if he could eat them.

This little guy has no idea what he's getting into.  He's also probably wondering why his dad is dressed like Richard Simmons.

Our dye packs were meant for the finish line, but there were lots of people who couldn't resist the temptation of exploding them at the starting line.

I got hit with a stray shot of purple.  It was my first touch of color:

At every kilometer, they set up a color station, where volunteers doused all the runners with a color.  The first kilometer was orange:

The second color station was blue.  Andrew got covered:

The third kilometer station was yellow, and the fourth kilometer station was green.  At the finish, they counted down every fifteen minutes for finishers to explode their packets.  I broke open our orange one to show Oliver how it worked.  At first, he was hesitant, but then he had fun grabbing handfuls and sprinkling it all over the grass and himself: