Days 16-23: Denver

I was really slacking on the picture taking this week, so you can either be bummed, or count your blessings! We decided to stay 8 days with my brother, Ben, in Denver to visit friends and family.
On Monday, we visited Jaycine Heintz and her kids. She lives only a couple miles from my brother and use to live near us in Oregon, so we were excited to see each other and catch up. (Yep, I forgot to take pictures that day.)
Our kids pulled out some board games with their cousins and Nicholas loves Monopoly and was excited to play this version:
He said, "Mom! They play this with credit cards! It is so fun!"

Tuesday, Ben took us on a tour of the engineering building at University of Colorado at Boulder (where he is currently a PhD student) and we saw some cool hands-on things the kids enjoyed, and then Ben took us on a hike up the Flat Irons. Yep, those mountains you see behind us in this picture are the ones we climbed!
(Brooke, Eva, Zach, Mike holding David, Rachel, Ben, Nicholas)

And we made it to the top! Check out this view:

These "flat irons" were some sheer rock that we zig-zagged around, but we did see a guy climb right up the face of it!
Yes, Dairy Queen was calling our names after that hike!

The kids usually ate dinner on the front patio:
(clockwise) Zach, Eva, Brooke, Nicholas, Spencer, David
Our week also consisted of watching Eva's tennis practice at the park, seeing The Wizard of Oz play, picnic dinner at the park during a jazz concert, getting kicked out of a waterpark due to lightning, but then going back after the storm, the boys learning the pogo stick and how to drive an electric scooter, and various sleeping arrangments for the kids around the house and in the trailer.

We also toured the Hammond Candy Factory where the candy is made by hand:

Ben also got this crazy idea that since the Flat Irons had such a cool view, let's hike it again and watch the sunrise! I used the good excuse that Brooke and David really wouldn't enjoy that and stayed back with them. So Ben and Mike took the 3 boys and left at 3:45am to hike it again. And they made it in time for the sunrise:
Just from the pictures, it looks like a much prettier view than during the day.
Nicholas, Spencer, and Ben at the top:


The boys enjoying the view:

Ben and the sunrise:

Friday afternoon we went to see Mike's grandmother's and his uncle's gravesite who were buried in the National Cemetary. Here is Zach, Mike, and Nicholas with his grandmother, Hazel Lemon's headstone:
That evening we had dinner at Mike's cousin's house and I forgot to pull the camera out for that one too.

Saturday we met up with the rest of his cousins and their kids at a fun park that had toys, a little river, and water fountains:
Zach, Nicholas, David, Kiley, Arilyn, and Brooke (and some random kid)

David spinning on a toy with Kiley and Arilyn:


Ben took us back to the UC Boulder campus for dinner at the C4C cafeteria which had yummy buffet food. Here's Spencer and Zach pigging out:

And after seeing the planetarium and walk around campus, we're relaxing on the grass:
Rachel, Brooke, Eva, Ben, Spencer, Nicholas, Becca, Mike, David, and Zach
The night before we left Denver, we had dinner with Mike's old Navy buddy, Keith and his family, who he has known for 19 years.

The kids enjoying popsicles outside: Zach, Brooke, Daniel, Nicholas, and David
Good times in Denver!