More Boulder

Today and yesterday we squeezed in all we could of Boulder. On Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market, visited the Dushanbe Tea House, ate lunch by the ampitheater, visited the library, walked the labyrinth by the stream. Then today we went to the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster and walked around the Cochran's neighborhood and found bunnies and prairie dogs. We re-celebrated Oliver's 5th birthday with his friend Riley who turns 5 in two weeks. He is beaming in the picture with his new Cracken shirt! We are all looking forward to flying home tomorrow to our own beds and to our own kitties!

Tea Tour/NCAR

Friday we enjoyed taking a tour of the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory. The mint room cleared our sinuses and the gift shop took our money. :) We found a letterbox at the edge of the tea factory's parking lot, so we stamped in. Then we let the kids play at the Scott Carpenter Park, named after the famous astronaut. A family of 5 deer crossed the road when we drove up to NCAR - the National Center for Atmospheric Research. CD's friend Raj Pandya, an old friend from his high school in Rockford, works there and gave us a tour. We enjoyed the views of the Flatirons and Devil's Thumb and ended the big day with a dinner at Red Robin.

Denver Zoo

Thursday we spent the afternoon at the Denver Zoo. We enjoyed the Komodo Dragons, Polar Bears, and more. The weather was hailing in the morning, sunny at noon, cloudy and windy in the afternoon, so we mostly visited the animals in the buildings! Then at night we got to meet up with Geetha and Mark for dinner. Oops! We forgot to take their picture, so you can't meet them. We had just been at their wedding last Labor Day weekend and saw them again in San Diego last October. The kids enjoyed seeing their condo and meeting their cats , Chance and Prudence. Oliver especially enjoyed Mark's Godzilla toy!

Garden of the Gods

Wednesday we stopped by Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs while on our way north. We enjoyed the amazing geology and took a little hike. We saw some beautiful magpies nesting in the trees at the base of the rock formations. We were amazed by a lot of brave rock climbers attempting to scale the rocks that they were allowed on. At the Visitors Center, Oliver found some prehistoric squid painted on the mural above our heads. Then we drove up to Denver and met our friend Lyn Davies and her daughter Brynn at a restaurant in Englewood. Unfortunately, Jeff had to stay at home because he was sick. Then we drove to Superior, CO to stay with our Friends the Cochrans who moved here from Knoxville last summer.

Santa Fe Revisited

Monday we left ABQ and headed to Santa Fe again. Before leaving we took pictures of the kids Favorite Easter eggs before eating them for breakfast, in case you're wondering what those pictures are. Once in Santa Fe, we headed for the plaza. The kids enjoyed the Daffy Duck bench outside the Chuck Jones Gallery. We enjoyed the Georgia O'Keeffe museum. The kids used Daddy's sketchbook to try their hand at drawing a buffalo skull. Tuesday morning we went to Loretto Chapel to see the famous spiral staircase. We also enjoyed the Dancing St. Francis sculpture outside the Cathedral down the street. Natalie and I visited the Palace of the Governors which she had read about in her Josefina books. I stuck my head in the new state capitol building and enjoyed all of the amazing art, esp. the new art quilt exhibit. Then we all headed to the Museum Hill to take in the amazing International Folk Art Museum and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. Both places had really fun children's areas and amazing exhibits. Note the fun adobe playhouse in the pictures. Then we found a playground for the kids in a remote area east of town near the Santa Fe National Forest. Even this remote play area had a St. Francis statue looking across the mountain toward a cemetery on the hill.