Denver Thanksgiving

With a full week off from school, we drove south to Denver to join up with Oma, Papa, Aunt Loni, and Uncle Lampe. It was already winter in Wyoming; we had to slow down on the highway from the ice and blowing snow in 10 degrees F, but we still made it in about 11 hours. The kids did great on their long car day!

The first day there, we went to the Denver Aquarium to meet our cousins (my aunt, cousin, and her kids) from Colorado Springs. These are the same kids we met at Craters in August, and they all get along great!

The exhibits were pretty good; our favorites were the enormous shark tank and the octopus. It was a little difficult to keep the large group together throughout the aquarium, so it was great to have Papa there to keep an eye on Owen, while I stayed with Hadley!

There was a restaurant on-site, and while we waited for our table, Hadley sorted the gift shop's stuffed animal collection. They were all out of order, so she paired up the same colored animals. I think this may have been her favorite part of the day.

Just as in 2 years ago, we made a stop at the Wings Over the Rockies museum. Owen is very much into all things military and was very happy with this activity.

They still had some Star Wars stuff up, but the new temporary exhibit was about theoretical space travel. It included a simulator for a space vehicle (like a video game), and the kids thought it was pretty fun. Let it be said that they are not the best drivers, however, as their rover went careening off of several cliffs.

November/December are cluttered with family birthdays - 6 now (welcome William!), and we had 3 present in Denver last week. Aunt Loni found a fun cupcake place for everyone to decorate their own cupcakes in honor of the birthdays.

That afternoon a carload of us took advantage of the gorgeous weather (warmest Thanksgiving in Denver in 20 years!) and went to investigate a farm museum in Littleton. Although the reenactors had already checked out for the holiday, we still had a nice walk around the 1860s and 1890s farms. The volunteer at the desk informed us that it was set up that way to illustrate the effect of the railway on farm life in the intervening years.

This is the 1860s original farmhouse. It was basically one room downstairs and a sleeping loft upstairs. Owen said he would like to live there, except for the walk to the outhouse!

There were lots of animals in their pens: oxen, sheep, cow, chickens, goats, enormous pigs. But, I did love the proud strut coming from this handsome turkey the day before Thanksgiving. I guess he felt pretty safe in his enclosure!

There were some glimpses into the life of a child 150 years ago, too. The one room schoolhouse (and its outhouse) was a bit of an eye opener for them.

Thankfully, I don't think this was a use for kids, even back then. (I think it's an oxen-pulled sled for winter transportation?)

We are thankful to have such a nice place to stay in Denver! Thanks Lampes! The kids love the dogs.

They got pretty spoiled in the mornings with smoothies and cartoons!

And there are plenty of fun things to walk to in the neighborhood including a school playground, walking path, park field and playground, and duck/goose pond.

I didn't get a picture of Thanksgiving, but it was delicious! We ate well all week, including a grill-out/fire pit night. Great visit - the kids want to move to Denver!