Well, we have experienced a bit of summer finally, not all just work trainings. Three of our 4 member family went to Denver over the 4th of July weekend. Here I am with my lovely daughter at Garden of the Gods. It was so hot and a record setting weekend for attendance so we ended up just doing the visitor’s center. The line just to drive through the park was outrageous! Lillian fought some dinosaurs while we were there…
Instead, we headed to The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We hadn’t been there since Lillian was a toddler.
Lillian and I fed the giraffes, which is awesome to do at this zoo. The Giraffes are right at face height so you can look them right in they eyes. They are so happy you brought them lettuce that they almost kiss you!
We also fed an African Elephant. Her name was Lucky and she was 37 years old. This was a magical moment for me as Elephants are one of my very favorite animals. I would have been happy to climb right in the fence and live with Lucky! What a sweetie!
Lillian is even more of an animal lover than I am but I think her favorite were the Grizzly Bears. They looked so sweet and cuddly from above. Even with those claws, they have to be completely harmless, right?
One of the best parts of this zoo is that you can ride the tram/sky line and see all of Colorado Springs. It’s beautiful up there. You also get a bird’s eye view of the Grizzlies, mountain goat, and Tiger.
We got to spend a day with my brother and his fiance. We went to the Downtown Aquarium, spent the afternoon shopping some great little antique and gift shops, and then had dinner at the tiki bar- Adrift.
Lillian got bitten by the ray- here favorite animal so she was thrilled that he mistook her finger as part of the fish she was feeding him. of course she did choose the largest one in the tank to feed.
This is one of the river otters. They were so fun to watch- underwater acrobats and crowd pleasers for sure.
This may be my most favorite picture of the trip. They both look like they are having a lot of fun and you can see exactly who Lillian looks like- not me at all though that’s what people tell me if they have never met my husband.
We had some great culinary experiences while we were there. Blue Moon brewing company was awesome. I came away with a growler of Apricot Berliner and I don’t even like beer!
The food and atmosphere were both great!
My brother took us to the Denver Biscuit Company which was amazing- biscuits, fried chicken eggs, gravy sausage, all in one sandwich and then french toast biscuits too! YUM!
The tiki bar was awesome …really great cocktails and wonderful food!
I even have some sewing to show. I made myself a shirt. I never make clothes and the fact that this came out good enough to actually wear in public is a big deal. I might even get around to making another one or two from this pattern.
And, looking at my pop belly in these pictures, I resigned myself to finally joining a gym again. The heat is killing my running and this gym is close to home so I can force myself to go there first thing after work. Not allowed to come home unless I am sweaty! Jack is going to miss our runs so I will have to commit to dog park visits to make it up to him.
4 weeks left of summer vacation and I am going to make the most of them and keep the focus on vacation! Quilting, reading, gyming, relaxing, cleaning…but there also has to be some preparing for my AP US History class.
Right now I am off to make some new doggy pillows because I have moved my laptop perch back into my office and the dogs would really like to lay at my feet but not on the hard tile. Oliver is currently perched behind me in the chair. He has been clingy ever since we came back from vacation. Didn’t help that the day we came back was loud boom day. He still hasn’t recovered from being afraid of going outside. Guess his old age is making him vulnerable.
Alive and Piecing 