Nederland, Colorado

My posts are backwards… excuse me for that!  On our way home yesterday, we stopped in Nederland, Colorado, for dinner.  Following are pictures from our experience in Nederland, and the drive home from Nederland.

We stopped at Wild Mountain Barbeque & Brewery in Nederland for dinner.  Nederland proves to be a smaller “tourist” town… it still has a small town feel, but it is very obviously full of tourists.  Here is Adam holding the menu in front of his ski – YES, ski – of beer tasters.

The ski. Of beer.

There is a reservoir outside of Nederland on the way back to Denver – this area is known as the Boulder Canyon.  The reservoir is fed by a large stream/river and feeds a large stream/river that you basically follow all the way down to Boulder.

It is hard to describe just how large the dam is on the reservoir… let’s just say I wouldn’t let the kids out of the car for these shots.

Here is a photo of Nederland across the reservoir.  I wish I could capture the breathtaking beauty – there are mountains (even snowcapped ones) in the background… and the sunset, while not overly colorful last night, was still beautiful.

It took us quite a while to get home from Nederland – not only because the speed limit is around 45 mph, but also because we kept seeing really cool things and having to pull off and take pictures.

Erin

Getting a good picture

Sadly, even after all of this, these pictures aren’t great, simply because it was getting dark and duh, I’m just using an iPhone to take pictures, but still… I hope you get a kick out of this post.

Picture #1: Setting up the shot

Picture #3: Raven has unknowingly firmly planted her foot on Julia’s toes.

Picture #4: We are trying to figure out why she is crying.

Picture #6: Ah, yes, look back a few photos and sure enough, Raven is standing on Julia’s toes… now to try and get Julia smiling again.

Picture #13: Ah, finally… close… close to good.

Picture #19: Probably the best one of the bunch.  (I took 24 pictures.)

Around #21 I switched to portrait instead of landscape, but by that time, the girls were done.  Here’s a great one of Raven, instead of laughing at Daddy, copying what Daddy is doing.

Earlier Adam had taken pictures of the girls and got a semi-good shot on #14; of course this photo is still great because it captures our girls and their spirit so well.

These pictures were taken in Nederland, Colorado (last one), and right outside Nederland at the Nederland at the reservoir.

More to come…!

Erin

Science & Nature

This last week we received a brochure in the mail inviting us to join the Denver Museum of Science and Nature.  Quite honestly, the price for our family to join for one year (which includes free admission and discounted ticket prices to special exhibits, IMAX, planetarium, etc.), was cheaper than the cost for our family to go one day to the Shedd Aquarium, so we decided to give it a roll.

After church today, we thought we’d take the girls over to the museum.  After two hours, we reassessed and decided that with our fancy new membership, we could take the girls for a hour or two at a time instead of attempting to see it all, because very obviously the girls don’t want to see it all.  However, they did enjoy quite a bit of it.

Both girls got a kick out of the space area, and loved the big spinning globe.

They also enjoyed playing astronaut in the Astro Tot area.

We then moved onto a children’s play area where they could look at hissing cockroaches, play with magnets, dig for fossils, and most excitingly, see what wind can do (even though you can’t see the wind, you can see what it does!).

Here are the girls digging for fossils.

We also had a chance to view life-size dioramas of different “ages” of Colorado as well as areas from around the world.  Julia especially liked the eagles and proclaimed, “Look!  A mommy eagle and a daddy eagle and little beagles!!!”  (I’m pretty sure she meant ‘baby eagles’ but she was terribly excited.)

All in all we had a good time and with a little cajoling by the parents, the kids stayed awake on the ride home to take a good nap.

Erin

Happy Birthday, Buscha!

This picture is of Julia, chatting it up with her Buscha this evening after Adam and Julia sang Buscha Happy Birthday.

A very Happy Birthday to my mother-in-law, Marcia!  I hope you had a most fantastic day!

Love,

Adam, Erin, Julia, & Raven

Ren Fest

If you've been following our blog the last few years, you might recall that we've gone to the Renaissance Festival in Des Moines.

After moving to Colorado, we knew we wouldn't be going to DSM anymore so we looked for a Ren Fest here.

All summer long there is a Fest in Larkspur, Colorado, about an hour south of our home.

On Father's Day we dressed up (me and the girls) and drove to Larkspur to attend. Much to our enjoyment, the Fest was rather large and there was lots to do and see.

Adam was a big fan if the comedy shows and the girls were huge fans if rides... Thankfully we found a free one.




We saw a lot of cool things... Elephant and camel rides...



A cool glass blowing demonstration (my fave... Wish I had more money...)



An amazing acrobatic duo... (yes, she is hanging from fabric...)







All in all we had a great day and are excited to go back again next year!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Boy-C

This weekend the family and I are in Boise visiting Adam's friend, Dave, who he met in Beer School. It was a long drive... 12 hours + stops... But worth it.

Dave's house is cool... Neat layout... Built in the 50's and decorated to match the style. They turned their steep lawn into beautiful stepped edible gardens and even keep chickens (I want).

We arrived yesterday and ate lunch at one of Dave's restaurants. We hung out last night.

Today we went tithe farmer's market and then to Rec Fest. We're currently enjoying the kids at the park. Tonight Jamie's parents are watching the kids so we can go see a Shakespeare play. Fun! (Jamie is Dave's wife.)







My apologies for blogging more... My iPhone has been my main source if Internet lately and today I finally downloaded a blogging tool. Yay!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Yak & Yeti

I am pleased to announce that late this last week, Adam was hired as the new head brewer of the Yak and Yeti Restaurant and Brewery in Arvada, Colorado.

I'm very proud of Adam for taking a leap of faith, leaving his stable position with Pella Corp, and going back to school.  It wasn't easy for him to decide to leave his job, and it wasn't easy to turn down a potential job offer to take the open position at Siebel.  It wasn't easy to leave his family for three months, and it wasn't easy to return to the United States having had his world turned upside down, with his family in a different state and in a different "home".  It wasn't easy for Adam to be without a job for four months (Some days I think it might have been harder on me than him!  Ha!).  Some days he wondered if he had done the right thing, some days I wondered if he was going to survive "unemployment", and on those days, we both prayed.  A lot.

 

But, my man's got perseverance.  My man's got confidence.  My man's got faith.  My man's got the Lord.

 

So, honey, congratulations on your new position as head brewer!  I know you will make them proud!

 

erin

Sleepy Toddler

Raven is constantly moving these days... apparently even as she is falling asleep... she is turned 90 degrees in her bed with her legs up against the bars and her feet stuck in... too funny!  And she is fast asleep!  Daddy had to pry her feet out and straighten her up.  Hee, hee!

Pajama Day!

The girls have a pajama day as part of their summer fun, but this last week Raven’s class had their own pajama day.

It was cold and rainy this last week, so I picked out Raven’s fabulous flannel owl jammies for her Pajama Day.  Daddy added to the Cute Factor by putting her hair in two pig tails – too cute!

Raven’s pajamas were the hit of her class that day.  As her teachers wrote on her sheet, “Cutest PJs ever!”

Beautiful Morning

Today when I stepped out of the apartment, a ray of sunlight shot my eye out.  (Okay, not really, but that's what it felt like.)  It was awesome to see the sun today, but what was really cool was the low blanket of clouds and the sun just peeking through the clouds from the east.

So I got in the truck and turned down W 123rd to hit my main road, and oh, my, goodness, if the sun peeking through the clouds was gorgeous, you should have seen that sun hitting the mountains... the mountains who were thisclose to being completely enveloped by the clouds... it was awe inspiring.

Add to that the song that I posted yesterday (City Harmonic - Manifesto) was playing on the radio... wow, yah, what an AWESOME way to start the morning!

And, it didn't stop... even though my drive to/fro work is completely traffic filled and I spend about 1.5 hours total in the car every day, it is an awesome time of praise and worship... here's a new one for today... another Kristian Stanfill-led song... The Stand... (Adam pointed out to me last night that Kristian Stanfill doesn't necessary write all of the songs we might hear him sing, but seeing as he was/is a worship leader at a large church, he's fairly well known for his worship leading skills... check this one out because, MAN, this song makes my heart leap into my throat...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1GXQfVToNQ&feature=related