Mermaid Mania

The kids and I decided to go on a spur of the moment trip to the Denver Aquarium.  I wanted to take them before next week, when they go back to preschool and we don't have time for these kinds of day trips and before Finn turned 3 (tomorrow!) because 2 and under was free.:)  Also, they had a live mermaid show that I wanted the kids, especially Cadence, to be able to see before it was gone.  Cadence thought it was totally awesome that we got to see real live mermaids!  Finn liked them too, but he wanted to see some boy ones.

Poudre River Picnic

We headed up the Poudre River this afternoon for a picnic and splash in the river.

Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo...

Yesterday we decided to go on an impromptu trip to the zoo! It was a cool day, perfect for walking around and looking at animals. So, after eating lunch at home, we packed up and headed down to the zoo while the kids napped in the car.

Cadence wanted to see the sea lions, which turned out to be a very active exhibit, not PG rated. They were barking, diving into the water, jumping up on rocks, and having a little romance. The kids thought it was funny how they were "playing" together.

From there, we headed to Finn's favorite animals, the monkeys. Unfortunately, only one monkey came out to see us, but he was entertaining. I think he enjoyed the spotlight.

Then, it was time for me to feed Aria. So, while I fed her, Brad and the kids went to see the tigers. Brad said that the tiger was walking on top of the edge of his wall and Finn kept saying, with real concern, "Don't fall in tiger. Be careful! Don't fall in tiger." What a sweet and caring boy. On their way out, they stopped for lollipops! Why else would you drive an hour and a half down to the zoo, but for lollipops.

The trip wasn't over yet, though! We had a gift certificate to Cinzetti's, that we got from my parents last Christmas, and we still had to use it before it expired. So, we called up Mimi and Kevin and were able to treat them to a wonderful dinner and have some fantastic company. They are always such a blessing to be around and so tolerant of our energetic kids. We took a nice little walk after dinner so that we could talk more before having to part ways. It was a fantastic day!

Estes Park...again!

Last Saturday we headed up to Allenspark for a morning wedding. The ceremony was at an adorable log church and they played this beautiful Celtic version of Pachebel's Cannon. After the ceremony we headed back down the mountain to Rocky Mountain National Park because we had a 7 day pass that was still good from the previous week's trip. This time, we let the kids play in the water. I felt like a lifeguard again, watching the kids and making sure they didn't get pulled down stream. They really enjoyed throwing rocks into the river. Cadence's rocks were a little bigger than Finn's.

Brad is enviously watching a guy catch a fish. He desperately wants to go fishing again. Hopefully one day. I told him that I might be up for our first family camping trip next summer, so maybe he can fish then. We'll have to get Cadence and Finn their own poles.

These pictures are from our picnic at RMNP the week before. I got eaten alive by mosquitoes. My mom said she thinks they attack me because my legs are so white.:)

The next day, we had a potluck after church and I made this fruit salad. I had fun balling all the watermelon and making apple butterflies. I was originally going to make flowers out of pineapple rings to put on the skewers, but the pineapple kept falling apart.

It was a busy weekend and I am so thankful to live closer to Estes and Rocky Mountain National Park. I think we will have many more fun family trips there in the future!

Zoo Day

So all of my posts are going to be a few days behind when the actual activity happened for awhile because Aria doesn't give me much down time to type. In fact, I'm typing this with one hand while feeding her.

This past Monday we ventured down to Denver to go to the zoo. The weather was beautiful and it was nice to get out of the house. Cadence, Finn and I went on a train ride while Brad strolled Aria around. They loved it! Finn's favorite animals of the day were the monkeys. Cadence's favorite part was feeding the birds pieces of her bread while we were eating. Aria's favorite part was when we got home. My favorite part was the peacock that hung out by us while I fed Aria. He raised his feathers twice! I love how beautiful and vibrant peacocks are. I don't know what Brad's favorite part was. It was a tiring day, and much easier to this activity when we lived in Lakewood, but I'm glad we went and that the kids got to do something fun.