Denver

We are finally into the month of August and I can say that the entire month of July was a blur of activity. The highlight of our month was our trip to Denver, Colorado with the boys. We spent 9 wonderful days exploring the City and its surroundings including a trip up Pike's Peak and a day of hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. While visiting Denver our friends, Gabe and Karen (and their sons Colin and Cameron), allowed us to crash the apartment above their garage. It really was the perfect scenario. They lived in a neat planned community called Stapleton that had amazing pools and parks (and architecture!). The boys were in love with the park particularly. Highlights of our trip~

A day in Boulder, CO where we strolled the Pearl Street Mall and had a picnic on the grass. We also saw an absolutely weird street performer put his entire body through a toilet seat!

Altitude sickness at 14K feet! Poor Cole couldn't keep his lunch down when we got to the top of Pike's Peak....or halfway back down. Poor guy :( On the way down, we also got to mine a bag of dirt in search of hidden gems (and gold!).

Crazy white water...everywhere! Every stream, river or trickle of water seemed to have crazy rapids along its length at some point. Although hard to pick a favorite, the stretch of River close to the flagship REI near Downtown Denver was pretty darn cool! There was a large group of kids with inner tubes going down the rapids over and over. Such fun!

Searching for critters and waterfalls in Rocky Mountain National Park. I knew one of the highlights of our trip would be the Nat'l Park, it was one of the main reasons we headed to Colorado! Cole has had a passion about National Parks since we watched a DVD about Yellowstone. The Elk, marmots (groundhog like critters) and deer were really cool. We traveled up the Trail Ridge Road to a Visitor's Center and then back down to hike around Bear Lake and then on to a waterfall. One thing is for sure, our hiking days are just beginning. Both of the boys had a great time, even if Brooks slept in the pack most of the way up!

Free bus rides along the 16th Street Mall in Downtown Denver. A pedestrian friendly, shopping and eating mecca right in Downtown. This City knows how to do it right! Cole loved the free bus rides available from one end of the street to the other. I loved the paving details, planters and the level of activity along the street.

Red Rocks...need I say more? One of our favorite destinations in our entire trip was the amphitheater nestled among amazing and massive red stones. I would have loved to have seen a show there but we'll have to save that for another trip!

Cliff diving monkeys. Yep you read it right! One of our more random dinners was to a Mexican restaurant whose entertainment included a mariachi band and a cliff diving monkey (okay really it was a man in a costume, but it was funny!).

Super fresh brewed beer. I have a much greater appreciation for beer after having learned about the brewing process at the Coors Brewing Company in Golden, Colorado. I cannot believe we dragged our two young kids to a brewery, but even they thought the copper kettles, where they brew the beer, were really cool!

More to come in future posts..............