Capital Two

If you remember my post from earlier this year titled Capital One, you will know I enjoy visiting some of the same locations as 5th grade social studies field trips.  While in Denver earlier this month, we took advantage of some great weather, family assisted parking, and free public transportation to have an amazing day at the Colorado State Capital Building, the newly renovated Union Station, and a Christmas Market. 

We enjoyed the hourly tour filled with 5th grade social studies facts like when Colorado became a state (1876! - first state admitted after the Cavil War), visits to the House and Senate chambers, and a greeting by the Governor as he came back into work after lunch!  The tour culminated with a 99 step trek up to the top of the capital dome for some great views of the city and the mountains. 

Sam doesn't care so much for the views, he enjoys exploring.  

 

 

There's a family at the top of that enormous Christmas tree.  

 Denver is the Mile High city, and there are in fact 3 markers on the west steps of the capital to prove it.  The original inscription carved into the steps when the building was finished in 1909, a brass marker placed in 1969 when a revised elevation was calculated and placed 3 steps above the fist inscription, and the latest brass marker placed in 2003 when the GPS constellation of satellites was used to get the most precise elevation to date - 2 steps below the original inscription. If you look closely, all three are visible in our photo.

 

The downtown free bus runs from the capital to Union Station along the 16th Street Mall.  Buses run every 2-3 minutes.  We claimed the entire  rear bench seat and were treated to a show when the police motorcycles who pulled in behind us began making faces and flashing their lights when they saw the kids. 

We also stopped at a Christmas market for a photo op.

UNION STATION

     

Beautifully remodeled architecture to gaze upon, delicious ice cream courtesy of Grandma and Papa for the kids, delicious local beers from the bar for the older kids, and a second giant Christmas tree.   All in all, a pretty epic day.

Denver Snow Fun

Day at the (Blizzard) Beach

After Alabama, we took the kids down to Orlando for more family visits.  We also took them to their first water park.  Disney's Blizzard Beach is a great place for swimmers and splashers of every age to have a great time.  We recognize they are both strong swimmers, and as much as I enjoy the water, and as much as Sarah enjoys the sun, we jumped at the opportunity to share both with these kids in the temperate climate of Florida's fall.

After hitting the wave pool, the family raft slide like 4 times, once around in the lazy river, and having lunch, we finally made it over to the kid zone.  There Grace and Sam were able to pretty much play unattended. 

After a day of that much fun, it took mere minutes for them to drop into snooze mode on the way home.  

  

The South

We recently made a trip south to Alabama to visit family.  Mimi loves doting on her great grandchildren and we all love enjoying warm hospitality, family gatherings, and roving farmlands and forests. 

Just down the road is Tannehill Inronworks Historical State Park.  I visited there many times as a child and looked forward to showing the kids a few places.  One in particular was the Grist Mill.  My aunt took a great photo of me in front of the mill when I was just a few years older than Grace and it still hangs in Mimi's house.  Someday I might put a copy of that up for Throwback Thursday.

 

We also hit a geocache or two!!!

The Farm...

We take the kids to zoos all the time, but the closest we get to domesticated animals is generally the petting zoo at the Puyallup Fair.   Getting up close to live large animals while you are in the same fenced area is not a regular occurence for Sam or Grace, and the cows and week old calf held their attention for some time.  Thanks again to their Great Aunt for giving us the keys to the Polaris.  We even gave the kids some driving lessons the same way their Grandmuhie learned; an open field and no traffic, sans clutch these days of course. 

And then, the Polaris turned into a jungle jim...  Kids.  

 Later folks.

Leaf Diving

I don't have those classic memories of diving into piles of leaves when I was a child.  That's probably because the leaves in Florida just don't lend themselves to large fluffy piles like the crinkly collections of Maple leaves I raked together this past weekend.  Standing there with rake in hand and garbage can ready to receive the fallen fauna, I was struck with childish inspiration.  I coerced both children outside to dance in the wonderful enjoyment of making a huge mess.

       

 

It took some time to get Sam to realize how much fun we were having, but he quickly caught up on the fun.   

 Then he helped me stop to make more room in the can.  

Over the Rainbow

Halloween this year was special.  It was the first time we dressed in costume as a family.  I'll admit, only a few years ago I would have rolled my eyes at families whose costumes were themed together, but having kids of my own unleaded my inner child - and I think we pretty much rocked it with our thrift store costumes.  (Sam even got some polar bear ear muffs!)

Of course, the Frozen phenomena was in Grace's mind when we were trying to decide what to be this year.  So, one evening when Sarah was working, I had a pizza picnic in the basement with the kids and we watched The Wizard of Oz.   Getting Grace to buy-in on something other than Ana or Elsa was tough, but once she saw Glenda the Good Witch of the North, with sparkling crown and star wand, I knew I had convinced her to flip. 

We carved pumpkins,

...got dressed, and hit the town.   Our awesome neighbor Jesse helped complete the theme and was our Scarecrow. 

The week prior, we participated in a fun run organized by Metro Parks Tacoma called the Black Cat Fun Run and had a few photos captured by the event photographer.  The run was 2.5 miles, and as it turns out, both our kids ran about half the course.  Sarah and I were both pleasantly surprised.  Looks like we can start signing these kids up for their own races!

Dahlia Garden Kid Shoot '14

We just barely got our annual garden picture taking done before the weather turned. A quick walk down memory lane:

2011

2012 

2013

2014

It is actually quite a debacle trying to get photos of these kiddos. Well, ones where they both look at the camera and smile, that is. For anyone with young children, this is not a surprise or revelation. For those without young children or experience with them...let me try and give you a running commentary to illustrate.

Okay kids, smile and look at the camera...oh, yeah, I guess doing both at the same time is asking too much.

Lets try it again, SMILE! Sam...Sam...SAM!

Alright, lets try a new spot. Can you two hug? Good job Samuel. Grace can you hug your brother?

Uhhh, easy, easy. I don't think he likes that Grace.

Yeah, he didn't like that.

Dad, can you help me out here?! Okay kids. Smile! Oh well, maybe a little too much.

Phew. This will have to do.

As irritated as I get trying to get that "perfect shot" I realize the ones we end up liking the most are the silly ones and those that capture our kids personalities. Here's to getting my camera out more for the moments they are not looking at the camera.