Aquarium

In the beginning of August, I took the kids to Denver's Downtown Aquarium. It was very crowded that day, as it seems everyone wanted to visit the aquarium before school started.

This aquarium is designed such that there is only one path that meanders through the aquarium building, dictating what order you (and the rest of the crowd) see each exhibit, so it felt a bit like herding cattle. The girls loved it, anyway.

Gabi and Bella were most excited about the "real mermaids" who clean up the oceans and teach us to recycle.

The shark tank was fascinating! At first, Katarina was scared when I put her down on a plexiglass floor with sharks swimming below her, but soon she discovered that it was safe - and interesting.

The shark tank was a bit dark for taking pictures if I wanted the girls in the shot as well, but here you can see a shark swimming away behind Gabi. Not surprisingly, Bella wasn't interested in having her picture taken at all.

On an unrelated note, my Granddad celebrated his 98th birthday at his home of over 50 years last Tuesday! As he said when I called to wish him "happy birthday," just two years shy of 100 is pretty good. Three days later, Mom and her siblings moved him to a nursing home, as he is very weak. For now, he is adjusting well enough, but of course we'd appreciate your prayers.

Renaissance Festival

We donned our Irish Renaissance costumes and took the girls out for a day at the Colorado Renaissance Festival, as recommended by several friends. It was fantastic, although actually quite hot outside (even for us Southerners - who had not yet learned the necessity of bringing a water bottle along everywhere in Colorado).

Bella's first order of business was to purchase a crown of flowers. Second on her list was finding a Renaissance Festival dress - which she selected off the rack all by herself, discovered that it fit perfectly, and declared it hers. She didn't even want to take it off after trying it on, so of course we had to buy it for her. This turquoise dress is now her very favorite outfit.

Gabi and I also tried on some Renaissance attire.

Gabi took pictures of me in Renaissance garb:

We watched jousting, musical performances, and silly acrobatics.

The girls needed to cool off in the fountain.

The girls enjoyed petting animals, riding the butterflies, and playing on a playground in the Children's Realm.

Peek-a-boo, Kati!

Gabi discovered the flying boats, and she and Bella climbed in one named "Caterina" because it sounded like their baby sister.

Bella rode a llama (or is that an alpaca?).

The girls even met royalty!

Gabi made a candle with waxy "sand" art.

Michael shot a crossbow.

Overall, it was a very fun day! We stayed until the grounds closed, and everyone was exhausted.

I think Kati's favorite part was seeing the birds of prey. She can even say "owl" now, in addition to signing bird and imitating various bird calls. Unfortunately, my camera battery died before I got a picture of her watching the birds.

Regency Wedding

My mom came to watch the girls for a weekend so Michael and I could travel to Chicago for Cynthia & Jacob's wedding.

Cynthia arranged for us all to dress up in Regency costumes for her Jane Austen-themed wedding. We ladies helped fix each other's hair in our hotel room:

Cynthia also arranged for English Country Dancing lessons during the reception.

We had a fabulous vacation with our college friends!

And now we shall return to your regularly-scheduled pictures of our little girls.

Summer in Colorado

We are very happy here in Denver! Our summer has been full of fun adventures. Kati is now 17 months old. She just cut her lower right molar (her 4th molar), which means that after several sleepless nights, Kati now has 12 teeth. She is growing more independent, too, and she is very proud of herself when I let her feed herself with a spoon or fork.

All three girls are great friends and play together very well. We are so blessed!

Although it has been a hot summer all over the country, the heat in Colorado isn't unbearable like in the South. Everyone around here, including us, spends much of the day outdoors. We enjoy just walking up and down our street and exploring the numerous parks and playgrounds in the neighborhood. We live only three houses away from the Greenway, which is a long expanse of park land with walking/biking trails and playgrounds and picnic areas and boulder/rock-climbing walls and a skate park... and Gabi's elementary school (less than half a mile away)!

In the evenings, our block is full of children, and the parents sit together on someone's front porch, drinking and chatting. The sun sets about 8 PM these days, so the kids are up late.

The girls have made plenty of new friends already, even though school hasn't started yet. We have met 36 children on our block so far; plus, a new family just moved in across the street, and there's one more house at the other end of the block who hasn't introduced themselves (although I hear they also have kids).

Ella (above and below) lives next door, and she and Gabi play together almost every day. Ella is full of energy and loves to run and play sports. She invited Gabi to her birthday slumber party at the end of July, which made Gabi feel extra-special.

Talia (middle right) and Colette (far right) are also Gabi's age, and they play together several evenings each week as well as on weekends. Talia's little sister, Arielle, is Bella's age. Colette is the ring leader for the young girls on the block, and she always has some elaborate play scheme planned.

We've been busy since moving in, and we only had one free weekend in the month of July. That weekend was filled with spontaneous neighborhood children's activities, including a water fight! We absolutely love our neighborhood!

I have been very impressed with how inclusive the kids on our block are; they always ring the doorbell and invite our girls to join them. Below, Tomás and Marissa (two siblings both close to Bella's age) are playing with our girls after lunch out.

Our neighborhood has four swimming pools that we can use, each a bit different. The Puddle Jumper Pool has large shallow areas with lots of fountains and a giant water play table. The Aviator Pool is just two blocks from our house, and it has a deep end with a diving board in addition to plenty of shallow-end play space. These pictures are from the Aviator Pool, which we reach via a quick walk through the alley.

Sports Camp
Our neighborhood has it's own sports league, too! Gabi and Bella both participated in the summer sports camp, where they were introduced to soccer, baseball, football, and tennis. Gabi scored a touchdown!

Altogether Outdoors Camp
Gabi and Bella both participated in the Rocks and Volcanoes week of Altogether Outdoors camp. I dropped them off and picked them up at the neighborhood Green each day, but their adventures and explorations took them all around Denver, including the Morrison Nature Center, Rocky Mountain Arsenal, and even Eldorado Canyon State Park near Boulder!

One thing we have to get used to here in Denver is always carrying a water bottle around with us to keep hydrated!

Volcano Tag is played such that the "it" is lava, and when you are tagged, you join the lava chain and become part of the growing volcanic island.

Movie on the Green
Every other Friday in the summer, our neighborhood has a movie on the green. We took Bella and Kati there to watch The Princess Bride the evening that Gabi was spending the night with Ella. We ate dinner in the town center and then found plenty of activities to entertain us while we waited for dusk: free yoga classes, music for dancing, desserts on sale to support local kids' camps, and free games such as this giant ball the kids could climb inside and roll.

Bella rolled the ball over her parents!

Denver Museum of Nature and Science
The kids and I have visited the DMNS several times, as it is in City Park, about 6 miles west of our house. We saw the Real Pirates exhibit with artifacts recovered from the sunken Whydah along with stories of the actual pirates sailing in that fleet. We explored the Space exhibit and played seek-and-find in the wildlife scenes with real animals. In addition to the regular dinosaur exhibit, we attended a weekend event for the display of fossils recently found in Snowmass, CO of mastodons and other post-dinosaur prehistoric animals (such as sloths).

Sloth Races!

Denver Art Museum
We also visited my high school friend Kathie at the DAM, which is surprisingly kid-friendly with hands-on activities in every exhibit. We'll have to go there again!

Baseball
Of course we went to Coors Field to watch the Atlanta Braves play the Colorado Rockies!

Dragon Boat Festival
We caught the end of the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival and enjoyed Asian food and dance performances. We'll have to go earlier next year to watch the competitive dragon boat racing and get a better taste of the culture.