Summer Adventure 2011

I've fallen in love again... with Denver, CO. Maybe it was the gorgeous weather, the abundance of trees, or the intoxicating energy of the city. Maybe it was the glistening sheen that being on vacation puts on everything. Or maybe it was simply spending so much time with Dan, Jen, Jonah, and Kris (all of whom we miss soooo much!). Actually, come to think of it, it was mostly seeing our close - and yet still so far - friends again that made me swoon for the Mile High City. Denver also has a lot of memories tied to it, including our honeymoon exactly five years ago (awww, how romantic ;)) Either way, it was very difficult to board the train to come home last Sunday, but we did it! And now I'm back at work in the middle of the night uploading the pictures I promised everyone (because we left our extra camera battery and charger back in "Wonderland"). Before the main attraction I would like to say thanks to Dan & Jen for being so hospitable, to Kris for carving out so much time for us, to Nancy & Mac for taking time out of their busy schedules to have dinner, to Katie & Bennett for opening our eyes to the exotic world of African Cats, and (last but not least) to Skip for taking us to and picking us up from the train station in the freaking middle of the night (did that equal three or four pies, I can't remember).

Here's Isaac at the train station at 3:30am... not quite awake

We had two seats in coach for the three of us, but it was still pretty comfy! Isaac's diving into some "train snacks" on the way to Denver

Here's Enoch in the "Sightseer/Lounge Car". There were booth-style tables and single chairs facing the huge windows. This was where most passengers went to be noisy and hear the CO volunteers give fun facts about the trip.

We let Isaac chill on top of the table... nice view!

Told you the seats were comfy!

Isaac and Jonah played pretty well together considering neither of them are used to having other kids around a lot. There was this cool park across the street from Dan & Jen's apt where we took the boys while we waited for Jen to get home from work. Disclaimer: I know it looks like Isaac is crying but he's actually right in the middle of making a very happy squeal.

Isaac loved being pushed in the swing

Jonah wasn't so sure about it

Here are the boys playing in the dirt (Enoch's just out of frame... also playing in the dirt)

We also went to The Tattered Cover, an awesome new & used bookstore near the 16th Mall in "LoDo". Here Isaac is contemplating which title to present at his next book club meeting.

Terrorizing the poor used books! Btw, the first section he went to was the Fantasy/Sci-Fi section... like father like son?

Kris, Jen, the kids, and I went to the Butterfly Pavilion on our last day. My still pictures didn't turn out very good so I'll share some videos later. It was amazing though, to see butterflies of so many colors and sizes just flying around our heads freely!

We also talked Dan into going out for Indian food. Now Jen and Kris have something in common to bond over.

Dan and Jonah... probably saying something law-related (Dan, not Jonah... although you can never be absolutely sure...)

Isaac really wanted the camera...

Kris also took us to the Real Pirates exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Photography wasn't allowed, otherwise I'd have to do a whole separate post for it, it was so fascinating!

This trip was sooo much fun, and there's so much more to write about (including dinner with Nancy and Mac) but I'm running out of time tonight. I'll upload my videos and post more later this week.