They drove in late Saturday night--Joel and I left our house in plenty of time to get to Rhonda's to help get dinner ready. But, in movie-like fashion, it took us forever in the KFC drive-through line--the people in front of us had 3+bags of food! Then, we got caught at the "slow train". Two kinds of trains go through Arvada at all times of the day and night--you guessed it--fast & slow trains! We had to drive around it through a neighborhood. Just as we pulled up, we realized they had already arrived! Oh well, at least dinner was hot & yummy!
Sunday we all went to church and then Charis came over to help us set up our living room & dining room--our projects are about 95% done! Then the rest of the crew came over for Taco Salad on the deck!
Monday we all drove down to the Children's Museum--it was a hit. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera & Ted & Beverly's ran out of batteries just as we arrived! Bummer. Sure was a great museum! Tuesday and Wednesday Joel & I were pretty busy getting work on house projects done & Joel had a lot of school work to do before his Wednesday night class, so they did some fun things as a family and with Grandma J. Beverly left on Tuesday afternoon to head downtown with Kenna for her conference. Wednesday night Joel and Ted got some "guy time" playing cards with Joel's friends.
Thursday we decided to escape the blazing heat of Denver (ironically Thursday turned out to be the coolest day of the week) and head up to the mountains. Joel & I had discovered a great picnic spot while camping earlier this summer. So, we drove up to Echo Lake, right at the base of Mt. Evans with our lunches. Boy were we in for a surprise! It was CHILLY and rainy! Thankfully, Grandma J had packed some of Joel & Ted's sweatshirts from when they were kids (they were a bit big--see Arden in the picture above?), 
but they kept the kids warm! I had to use a blanket from the car (see picture on the right)!We ate our lunches under a pavilion and then walked around the lake--thankfully the rain stopped & it was warmer on the other side of the lake. Haiku was in doggy heaven! She got to play in the lake for about 30 minutes--the kids loved it! I just love their squeals of delight! About 1/2 way through our walk, Arden tripped and fell and scraped his face on a tree branch. Poor thing. He cried for about 2 minutes and was fine! What a trooper!
Friday afternoon we took the kids to our local Rec Center--the Apex. It has a great swim area for kids & adults--a couple of kids slides and then 1 body slide & 1 ride you can do on an inner tube. Charis ended up doing the inner tube ride alone! Arden loved going on the lap of whoever would take him! We had a great time! Friday night was girl & guy time. Rhonda took Charis to a wedding and Ted, Joel, Tobin & Arden went tot he Rockies game. Sadly, it poured down rain on Friday late afternoon/evening. So much so that there was some flooding in downtown Denver. You guessed it--the game was canceled! But, the boys got to have a hot dog and they got new Rockies hats. So, they all just came home without seeing a game!
On Saturday, we all crammed into the van (try taking 4 adults and 3 children in car seats into 1 mini-van) to the Denver Museum of Natural History. I had only been there twice--once for my Sr. High Prom (way back in 1997!) and once with my class of 3rd graders. So, I didn't remember much of the museum. We had fun going through the Space Odyssey--they had cute astronaut costumes for the kids to wear in one section.
Then we walked through the large "Prehistoric Journey" exhibit. AKA: Dinosaurs! The boys especially love this section. Joel & Ted reminisced about how much the museum had changed since they were kids. Here's Joel with a prehistoric beast of some sort. Can you tell who's who? We also walked through the North American Wildlife and Botswana, Africa sections. I like the Africa section because of the books I'm reading, set in that country.
Saturday night we hung around home and the 4 adults got to play some Pinochle. Joel & I won two games right in a row!
Sunday morning Ted left early to go pick up Beverly and Kenna from her confer-
ence. Joel and I went over to make waffles and French toast. We all ate breakfast together and then they packed up and were off!
We sure wish, like all our family, that they lived closer!
3 comments:
Wonderful post! Especially love Grandma Rhonda's shot with the kiddos!!! TFS!!!
Sounds like a fun week!
Wow, great pictures! I enjoyed seeing what all I missed out on! The kids had a blast and are still talking about all their activities with some of their favorite people. :-)
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