We left on Thursday morning with Severe Weather Warning and yucky roads, heading to Denver. I woke up at 6 a.m. to find 4+ inches of snow covering the Black Hills... we wondered what we were in for, driving to Denver; but after a quick check on the weather radar/online we could see the storm was only covering the Rapid City area. Once we headed south on Hwy. 16 the roads cleared up and we had great travelling the rest of the way. It was even sunny and warm by the time we hit Colorado!
Grandparents Morrison
had arrived the night before and planned to help with the kids for the weekend in Denver... our BIGGEST plans... to meet Dirk there!! It was extremely helpful to have extra sets of hands with the 3 kids.
Dirk found a great hotel for us on the north end of Denver (so I didn't have to drive too much in the big-city traffic) -- the Greystone Castle
in Thornton/North Glen area. Dirk and I splurged on Turret Room (King Suite) for ourselves; Justin and Annette offered to let the big kids stay with them in their Queen/two bed room. Waking up each morning with only Liv to greet us was almost like a 2nd honeymoon!
We were all checked into the hotel and swimming in the pool
when Dirk arrived on the Shuttle from the airport! He barely had time to get his swim suit on before the kids attacked him, covering him with pool-water hugs and all! Liv was very excited to see him... but then took a little while for her to absorb what was really going on. She sat on his lap very quite for more than an hour... then all of a sudden jumped up and was back to her normal two-year-old self!
I had made a batch of lasagna in our crock pot, and had a bag salad for our first supper together. I thought we might all be too excited to want to have to load up and go somewhere... and we'd be eating out for the next 5 days... so a homemade supper the first night seemed worth the effort of dragging the crock pot down to Denver. I just need to learn how to make smaller batches of stuff, so we don't have any leftovers on trips like this!
We wanted to be sure we would have the option of a complimentary breakfast, so we didn't have to run out first thing in the morning... the hotel had a unique take on the "free" breakfast.
It was a full service, sit-down, made to order breakfast... as you can see from our pics, the kids LOVED the "jester's pancakes." I had the Queen's Omelet the first day -- YUM-o!
After breakfast we load up for Downtown Denver to the Aquarium.
Anika was most concerned about seeing the sharks -- though we tried to explain that all the fish would be behind a glass "wall." She knew that, but still didn't want to see the sharks! We took our time roaming through the various "rooms"... and were MOST surprised to see a Tiger in the Rainforest room!
Thor was extra happy, as this is his favorite wild animal, and had just done his first official "report" for school on the Tiger. There was more than one room for the "ocean" area -- with a very large tank(s) for the sharks, sea turtles and other interesting sea creatures.
I liked watching the turtles swim -- so different from the large turtles at Reptile Gardens (here in RC) who move sooooooo ssssslllllllooooooowwwwwwwww.
The sharks were probably the most intriguing -- the "room" guide in the ocean area explained that sharks can sense your presence becuase of our heart beat and the eletrical impulses in our brain. (They can sense our brains "working!) He said the sharks would likely swim up to the glass and even swim up the length of the glass wall to "check us out" since the brain activity is something different... they are very curious creatures! (And the sharks did often swim up and down the glass when someone was standng near it!) Great opportunity to see their teeth! (yikes!)
My favorite areas of the aquarium were the rooms where the tanks were all around us (3 sides) or had a "scoop" area where you can stand under the area where the fish/etc. were swimming. In the lakes/streams area Liv was enjoying watching the ducks with daddy.
Each day were were in Denver, the kids hit the pool as soon as possible when we weren't out and about sight seeing... I think they were about 1/2 pool-water when we were all done!!
Friday evening we wanted to head out for one real sit-down-out dinner and celebrate Liv's 2nd and Anika's 6th birthdays. It also just happened to be Justin and Annette's 39th Wedding Anniversary that day. After a large, but good supper at TGIFridays, we all splurged on dessert to celebrate the multiple occasions!!
The girls opened a couple of gifts... including dresses tailor made by Grandma Annette -- Anika's even included an exact match of her dress for her American Girl doll! (pictures of that to come later)
Saturday morning we decided to check out the Children's Museum (kids educational, activity center).
It was also a great and fun place for the kids -- though definately the younger ages. There were only 2 areas Thor really enjoyed, the Basketball court, and the "Tinker Lab." He and Dirk sat for at least 30 minutes creating an SUV out of recycables... Liv was most attracted to the kids grocery store and the ballet center complete with princess dress-up outfits!
Anika loved the ballet center as well, and the Arts A-La-Carte (a painting center) and pretty much everthing there! It was thier Easter Celebration day, around noon things got pretty crowded so we moved outside to the park for a while.
We happened to see the North Platte Trolly
coming down the track, and decided to take a ride ... it was a quick, 30 minute route, but gave us a chance to sit down together, hear a little more history about the city of Denver, and get a nostaligic ride on an authentic trolly. I'm pretty sure that was Granpa Justin's favorite moment of the trip... well, either that or dinner at Culvers that afternoon?!
The next day was Sunday... the day we weren't really looking forward to. It was Easter Sunday of course, but it was also the day Dirk would fly back to NM and we would drive back home. We spent the morning together enjoying our last bit of family time. By noon we were all packed and ready to go, said our goodbyes to Dirk and headed north for the 7 hr drive home.
Knowing my side of the family was gathering at Ted's home in Hot Springs (only the Black Hills portion of the family). I decided to call and wish them a good holiday. Ted figured we would be driving through Hot Springs about the time they might be eating supper... so they invited us to drop in on our way home. Knowing there wouldn't be many places open on the road between Denver and RC on an Easter Sunday... we thought it was a great idea (and great food too!!). Ted and Jan had just finished getting a new hardwood floor installed... it was fun to see the finished product (very beautiful, of course!!).
We were home by 9:30 p.m. and Dirk was home just about the same time. At least I didn't have to rush right back into my week, as the kids had Monday off from school!!
I guess I was a little busy this week, with unpacking and laundry. This blog entry is only a full week late!! Plus this week was the MAJOR fundraiser for MOPS... and the MAJOR fundraiser for Thor & Anika's school. I was "co-chair" of the MOPS fundraiser... so really didn't participate much at Zion... but anyway... that is where my week "went"... no time for extra projects I guess!!
I'm looking forward to a NORMAL week!! Home on Monday; MOPS on Tuesday; Home on Wednesday; Mom's Coffee(at Dove) on Thursday; Home on Friday!!
Dirk and I had not contemplated her wanted this in her younger years... not to say that many families haven't chosen to pierce ears earlier in life... it's just not the way we were raised. Actually, neither of our mothers like the idea of ear (or any other form) of piercing at all. 
First she cleaned her ears with an alcohol rub.
Then they marked the exact spot on each ear with a fine point marker. After mom gave the "OK" on placement... we were ready to go! Can you see the "stress" beginning to show on Anika's face? She went back and forth between this and a cheesy smile the whole time!? 
She counted to 5... but actually pushed the earring through on "3"... Anika didn't even flinch!! Even for the 2nd ear... She cries more when she gets a shot at the pediatrician's office!! 
When we were all done, she was very happy!! And couldn't help but tell EVERYONE we saw, the rest of the day... that she had just gotten her ears pierced!
