Lifelong friends...

One of the advantages of going to Colorado was being able to visit our friends. We've met up with them several times over the years; when they lived in D.C. we went for a visit, we visited their home in Omaha, they came to see us in Milwaukee, we've met in Nauvoo as well as in McCall. Each time we see them it seems as though our families have grown by a couple kids. Our visits were so much quieter when we both had just one baby!

Our kids line up in ages fairly well and every time we get together we wonder why we don't live closer. Luckily Denver is a much easier drive than Omaha and hopefully we'll get to see them more often.

I already went through the fun free things we did with our time in Denver - but here's a few more pictures with the Owens family on the first half of our vacation.



We explored the trails near their home and enjoyed the beautiful fall foliage - a disadvantage to our Arizona living.













We stayed up late most nights and talked for hours about everything under the sun. As tired as we were, we couldn't pull ourselves from the conversations. Our kids became reacquainted after the first 20 minutes and played well for the duration. We left their house reminded how much we love their company. It made us grateful for all those years ago when I worked with the husband and Steve worked with the wife and we started that friendship!

Free things to do in Denver with kids...

Traveling with kids can be complicated, stressful and expensive. When we were making plans for our Colorado fall break we were very mindful of the activities we chose to do as a family. The hard part with young kids is they are complete wild cards during every activity. They might do great and be happy the entire time and make it an enjoyable experience. On the flip side they could be miserable and make it not worth it.

So when we look at costs associated with activities there is always a cost benefit analysis. We could go to a great museum that cost the family $20 per adult and $15 per kid - roughly $100 for our family, and we could have one or two little ones that an hour in are restless and cranky and require a quick exit. It's not worth the money. I know it's just a stage and eventually we'll get to those museums and enjoy it to our heart's content. But that's not the stage we're in now and both Steve and I are pretty realistic about what the younger kids can handle and what pushes our stress level past enjoyment.

Denver (and surrounding areas) has plenty to offer with minimal cost which is perfect for young families such as ours. Here's a few activities we all enjoyed together.

Hammond's Candy Factory tour
This is a free tour for all ages. We watched a short 9 minute video on the history of the company and then they took us back to the area where we could watch what was being made. This kept all the kids interest, including Cannon's. They specialize in hard candies and watching the candy canes being made was really interesting. I think the entire tour was 30-45 minutes. The only meltdown was walking out of the tour into the candy filled store where the kids each got to choose a candy - such tough decisions!



Flat Irons/Chautauqua Park
We stayed north of Denver for a few nights with our friends just outside of Boulder. If you have not been to Boulder - it's a must see. It's beautiful and unique in so many ways and has so much personality. We explored Chautauqua Park and hiked to the base of the Flat Irons. Cannon was carried in a backpack but Bennett walked the whole way himself and he was so excited to be "climbing the mountain." They have several trails that were easy enough for our young family to maneuver and the views were amazing.





Frisbee Golf
I've heard a lot about frisbee golf from my brother who lives in Denver (or frolf as he so lovingly calls it). They've got so many courses dedicated to frolf (which is free - you just have to have the frisbees) and we checked out one of them. Frolf is fun. I was skeptical, but after I beat everyone I was a believer!


Denver Mint Tour
We got lucky on this one. I wasn't aware, but Mint tour tickets are tough to come by (they are free tickets) and you must have a reservation. They open tickets a month in advance and they said they typically are gone within a couple hours. We checked several days and finally found a time slot that had opened up due to a cancellation. We prepped the kids with what we were doing and what they could expect on the tour. Steve and I were both pleasantly surprised with how well they all did and how long they stayed interested. The talking portion of the tour was only about 10-15 minutes - the rest of the time was self guided and observing of coins being made. We made extra effort to keep the kids interest by talking through and explaining every step of the process. So glad we were able to snag tickets.




Castlewood State Park - South of Denver
This wasn't free - but $8 for our carload is worth checking out. We hiked about two miles through a canyon - stopping to explore whenever the kids felt the urge. A backpack for Cannon would've been handy on this hike - but we didn't have it so he walked and walked. Halfway through his little legs couldn't handle the rough terrain so he was carried the rest of the way. Like most of the scenery we had seen in Denver - this area was beautiful and unique. We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed it sitting amongst the boulders.







National Center for Atmospheric Research
This is a free museum/exhibit in Boulder. It's not very large and doesn't take more than an hour or two to explore but it's hands on exploration of weather and environment. The kids could touch and feel everything and they learned about the environment around them. There's also a hike that has exploration points that we didn't take advantage of because it was getting too close to lunch time but it looked interesting as well. It was a great morning activity that was free of charge.

One area we didn't end up making it to was the Rocky Mountain National Park - which would've been free with Hallie's park pass. We decided with all the driving we had already done, another 2 1/2 hour roundtrip excursion wasn't in our cards. The cost-benefit analysis again!

After visiting Denver I get why it is consistently ranked in the top 10 most fit/active cities in the US. They have outdoor activities everywhere and everyone seems to participate in one way or another. We explored and played, they had beautiful parks and trails we took advantage of, we spent more time outside in one week than we had in the previous two or three months!

Free National Park Pass...

Did you know that starting this school year - all fourth graders in the United States - get a free national park pass for the year with the new initiative Every Kid in a Park?? Kids are being encouraged to get outdoors and gain a love for the land we call home and gain a new appreciation for all the federal lands that have been preserved for our enjoyment.

Our family visited Zion National Park over the summer and I was surprised with how much the kids enjoyed it. Hallie's now in fourth grade and we picked up her pass this weekend when we were traveling to Colorado for fall break and we planned our trip around a quick visit to Arches National Park in Moab, UT. Go to www.everykidinapark.gov and click "get your pass". Print out the paper with a barcode and take it to any national park to get your child's annual pass.

This was our first visit to Arches and we only spent a couple hours before continuing on our journey to Colorado. I wanted to spend more time. I had four hikes that I wanted to complete with the family - we made it to two of them - but the kids were having so much fun climbing around the arches that we didn't rush to do more.



The landscape of the park was unique. I think I was expecting something similar to Zion where just driving through the park you were taken back with the beauty - this wasn't the case. Don't get me wrong, there was beauty but there was a lot of driving through desert landscape and then we'd come across some cool rock formations. I think Arches is an exploring park. The arches are amazing. But they're not what you see just driving through the park. You hike to them. The most recognizable is delicate arch which is a ways off the beaten path. I want to go back when we have more time so we can spend less time driving through the park and more time really seeing what the park has to offer.







Hopefully we'll find a way to use the pass again this year to see more parks!

Road Trip....

We just returned from a week long vacation (fall break) to Colorado with a brief stop in Moab on the way. Today alone we spent 12 hours in the car with three very well behaved kids and one not so happy child. It was a long day to say the least and we're all happy to be back in our own beds tonight.

We were gone for 9 days.

We spent well over 2,000 miles in the car.

Went to one national park, one state park and five city parks.

Carried Cannon on two hikes.

Nine fill-ups at the gas station.

Ate McDonalds just once.

Visited four states.

One throw-up incident in the car. (Poor cousin!)

One sketchy motel room.

One canceled trip to a cabin in Colorado.

Thousands of beautiful fall trees to enjoy.

Too many late nights.

Six exhausted bodies flopping into their own beds tonight with great memories from a week with friends and cousins.

Successful on all accounts.

Carousel for Missoula

The Missoula Carousel is a must every time I'm in town. I'm not a fan of carousels in general, just this particular one. My grandma took a special interest in this carousel (which has a unique story of how it came to be) when it was being built in 1995 and every time we went to visit her, she would tell us about the different ponies they added and we'd go for a quick ride. It became a sentimental experience. It still is...and I'm passing on the tradition.


Last time I was in town we took grandma for a ride, she sat proudly in the chariot with my mom and we all nervously watched as the carousel picked up speed!



But this is more than a kid's carousel, it's a competition for all who ride. There's a dragon named "Lucky" and he dispenses rings which people on the outer edge of the carousel reach for as they go round and round. The very last ring is a gold ring and whoever grabs the gold ring gets a free ride. Adults and children alike reach out with excitement in hopes they'll be the one to hold the gold ring.

Hallie tried and tried and a few times she barely missed it. She had fun regardless.


We had to pry the kids off those horses and they rode many times!

Each horse is "adopted" by a family and they help design the horse. In the gift shop after our rides I was wanting to buy an ornament. They only had three horses and I didn't like any of them. I shared that with the lady working the counter and she expressed how expensive it was to carry a larger selection. I pulled Hallie over to help pick the ornament and she landed on "Silver" pony. As soon as she picked it, the lady beamed. It was her adopted horse and she shared the details of the horse that included her kids initials and grandkids names. I quickly put my foot in my mouth. Of course it was her horse after I just finished saying that I didn't care for any of the options. Just my luck!


There's a park right next to the carousel called "Dragon Hollow". Along the perimeter of the park is a fence with names carved into each slat of people who donated to build the park. I told you my grandma was a big fan of the carousel and my grandpa's name is proudly displayed in his memory.



I'm pretty sure Hallie was just as excited about the carousel as I was. It's magical. It always has been and probably always will be.