Things to Do - Random Links & 5 Hours 'Til Bedtime

Another shot of chaos from our hotel room in Kansas. Have a great weekend everyone!! And, if you have a chance, don't forget to check out this week's awesome on 5 Hours 'Til Bedtime!

RANDOM LINKS:

* I cannot wait to see this movie!

* Amazing photos of Mexico.

* For local folks, my kids CANNOT WAIT to see Raina Telgemeier at the National Book Festival (their whole line-up this year is pretty fantastic). Both girls binge-read her newest novel, Ghosts, the day it came out (and have read it over and over again since then).

* Loved this video on The Night Of (such a good show) and the rule of thirds.

* This mom/daughter text exchange regarding tampons is just awesome.

* Pinksourcing. Funny. Kristen Bell just keeps getting better and better.

* "Ketchup sandwiches and other things stupid poor people eat."

* For photographers, this is a really great class. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Things to Read - Book Reviews from a 4th Grader

As you've probably noticed, we spent a lot of time in the car this summer. Without internet. Luckily, we had kindles. Here are P's reviews of some of her favorite reads:
________________________

Ms. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is full of wonders - both creepy and great, with lots of imagination and suspense.

As a young boy the main character finds a collection of odd photographs. And when he is 15, he sees a monster after witnessing his grandpa's bloody death and every one thinks he is crazy. The thing is - was he? He always knew his grandfather was different, but how different? Then he found out something that blew his mind - it started out like a dream and became a nightmare. A remote island, odd children, and monsters - find it all in Ms. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
__________________________

The War That Saved My Life is a great book that will leave you on the edge of your seat.

This book takes place during World War II. The main character is a girl named Ada who is abused and hit by her mom because of her club foot. She soon finds out that all the children are being sent away in case the city gets bombed. But her mom will only let her brother go, not her. So even though Ada can't even walk, she sets out with her brother. When she arrives in the countryside things being to change for Ada - she learns new things, makes friends, rides a horse, and even stays with a nice person. But there are problems she didn't know about too. Read about Ada's journey in the War That Saved My Life.
___________________

Brown Girl Dreaming is a award winning book with a series of poems and chapters about a little girl and her life.

The book begins when the girl was little and she lived with here grand parents in the south. It describes her experiences there - how she loved everyone and everything was perfect. So it was hard for her when she moved to New York. It is a wonderful story about a girl, her 3 siblings, and her life, including the Civil Rights movement.

Places to Go (Vacation) - 5000 Miles in 5 Weeks - Week 4 - Denver, CO - Kansas City, KS

DAY 22 & 23 - Broomfield, CO (Denver suburb) - Catching up with friends

Before attending law school at Michigan, I lived in Denver for a few years and loved it so much that I planned on returning and staying forever. But then I met Dan and my life moved in another direction (i.e east).

Even though I've been gone for many years now, I still consider Denver a home of sorts. Maybe because it was the first place I ever lived on my own. Or maybe I still connect the city with a carefree life - full of happy hours and camping trips. Or maybe because some of my favorite people in the world still live there.

Really, it's probably all of these things. Plus the mountains. I miss those mountains.

Anyways, this summer, I really really wanted to spend a week in Denver with the kids (Dan had to fly home) and convince them that it's pretty much the best city in the world. I think I succeeded (well, F still favors Paris, but that's a pretty great place too).

We spent our first days in Denver staying with my friend, Sarah, and her family. The girls were so happy to meet Sarah's daughter and the whole group quickly became fast friends, thus allowing us adults to drink wine and debate politics on the porch. After three weeks of traveling, I can't even explain how wonderful it was to have a homebase full of awesome people for a few days.



Despite plans to spend our second full day meandering through the Rocky Mountains, I realized that my kids needed a break. So we saw the new Ghostbusters movie (so much better than the original), browsed used books, and ate Chipotle. Because, by this point, my children needed a vacation from their vacation.








DAY 24 - Broomfield, CO (Hiking Indian Peaks Wilderness)

After our day of rest, I could not WAIT to spend a day outside. But, our trip to Indian Peaks Wilderness area proved a little tricky. First of all, P came down with altitude sickness (so. much. vomit). After drinking a ton of water, we powered on. Unfortunately, storm clouds and thunder kept of us from reaching Blue Lake, but at least we made it to Mitchell Lake.



DAY 25 - Waterworld (the best waterpark ever)

After leaving Sarah's family, we stayed at my friend Carolyn's house, where she made us fabulous dinners every night (thank you!) and my kids learned every line to the Hamilton musical (sort of thank you).

We also spent the day at Denver's Waterworld, possibly the best amusement park ever. Okay, so the fast pass system is crazy annoying and we had to wait 1.5-2 hours for one slide. But does anywhere else offer a Jurassic-park like waterslide? I think not. We, of course, closed the place out.




DAY 26 - Broomfield, CO to Lone Tree, CO (40 miles)

Unfortunately, while we enjoyed the bliss that is Waterworld, someone keyed and destroyed the minivan's locks. So the next morning we headed to Target to buy new batteries for the car's remote. And then the kids begged to return to the bookstore. After which, we drove to my friend Allison's house, the third stop on our Denver trip. Allison has four kids, but all three boys (the same ones we vacationed with in Durango and Mesa Verde) were out of town. So the girls played with Allison's gorgeous 4 year old daughter. And, for the most part, we relaxed.




DAY 27 - Denver Art Museum

I had not been to the Denver Art Museum in 15 years and, in the years since my last visit, the building has undergone a huge makeover. This place is HUGE. And full of kids' play stations and activities. So. much. fun! Plus we all loved the Women of Abstract Expressionism Exhibit (actually that's a lie, T was bored out of his mind), but the girls and I loved it (plus, how cool to see the work of so many amazing females presented together).



A cool exhibit on art and dance. The photo of me on the left perfectly captures how I feel as a mom (i.e. frazzled).










The new building is full of triangles and jutting angles. We especially enjoyed the outside spaces, where the balconies offer creative frames of the city views.





Seriously, there were so many kid-friendly art spaces.









DAY 28 - Lone Tree, CO to Salina, KS (440 miles)

After a FANTASTIC week with friends in Denver, we started the long drive back towards Arlington. There is nothing as anti-climatic as seeing the Rocky Mountains in your rear view mirror and the Great Plains in your windshield. But we made it through.

On the way out of Denver we stopped at Castlewood Canyon State Park, in order to get some exercise in before the long long drive ahead. Unfortunately, the kids made it clear that they WERE NOT in the mood to hike, so we didn't stay long, but still we saw a beautiful waterfall.






In Salina, we stayed in a hotel. And we made it through. But the experience of three kids in one room with no backyard made me so thankful that, for most of our trip, we'd opted for airbnbs. How wonderful that cheap rental houses and apartments are so easy to find now.



DAY 29 - Salina, KS to Great Wolf Lodge, Kansas City, KS (165 miles)

Two waterparks in one week did seem like overkill. But this was a long vacation. And, for the most part, my kids made it super fun. So GWL was my thank you gift to them. Plus, who doesn't love a lazy river?

___________________

So that concludes week 4. Next week I'll post on our last five days of vacation (mainly St. Louis, which is such a great city, especially with kids).

Happy Monday everyone!!

Places to Go (Vacation) - 5000 Miles in 5 Weeks - Week 3 - Embudo, NM to Broomfield, CO

DAY 15 - Santa Fe, NM to Embudo, NM (43 miles)

At the beginning of week 3, we checked out of our airbnb in Santa Fe and drove to New Mexico River Adventures for our "24 Hours on the Rio Grande" guided rafting trip.




We arrived at the rafting headquarters a little early, so we walked across the street to Blue Heron Brewery (beer for Dan and me, root beer on tap for the kids).




And then the adventure began! Unfortunately, I don't have any photos as DSLRs don't pair well with water. But the scenery was gorgeous and we all learned how to paddle (the first day was a float down the river, whereas we hit the rapids on the second day).





Camping with our guide, Brandon, felt like such a luxury - he cooked us a crazy good, multi-course. After we ate, Dan and T could not wait fish the river, F read her book, and I hiked the campground trail with P (so pretty). At night, we saw river otters and beavers.








Hiking with my middle child as dusk came in over the mountains = complete and total happiness.




The guys were pretty happy too.




DAY 16 - Somewhere on the Rio Grande River to Durango, CO (200 miles)



In the morning, we packed up and headed into the rapids. On the downside, the low water made the river somewhat tame (in my eyes). But the low water also meant that we had to navigate around huge rocks and boulders, causing us to work together. Though I think T put it best when he said our family was best at the "mellow" forward paddle.




Of course I paid for the photo package. Are you surprised? These are my two favorites.



The drive to Durango was crazy beautiful.



But the kids were too exhausted to see any of it.



One of my favorite parts of the drive was watching the scenery change from reds and oranges to blues and greens.




DAY 17 - Durango, CO (Hiking the Colorado Trail)

In Durango, we met up with my friend Allison and her three crazy thirteen year old boys.







How awesome to be hiking with this crazy crew.



DAY 18 - Durango, CO (Hiking the Animas Trail)




Unfortunately, it was HOT outside. And we kept losing the trail. And the kids complained constantly. But now they have grit, right?




Some much needed downtime.



And tourist shots. We loved our airbnb on the outside of town.






DAY 19 - Durango, CO to Mesa Verde National Park (36 miles)

On the way to Mesa Verde, we stopped at Durango's Fish Hatchery and Wildlife Museum.



Thousands of fish can be mesmerizing to watch.





In Mesa Verde, we met back up with Allie and the boys. Since the cliff dwellings are another 40 minutes drive from the campground, we decided to spend our afternoon chilling by the tents (plus, tour tickets were sold out for the day).



Because F was a fourth grader last year, our whole family had free admission to all National Parks. We didn't use it as much as I wanted to, but we still felt rather cool pulling up the the pay station and showing off F's National Park card.



P slowly adjusted to having three older brothers. And by adjusted, I mean she rolled her eyes a lot.



Whereas with three older boys around, T had the time of his life.








Seriously, how crazy beautiful is this trail? Located next to the campground.




Group shots at dusk.

DAY 20 - Mesa Verde National Park (Tours of Balcony House and Cliff Palace)



Love that morning light!





For me, day 20 day was probably the highlight of our trip. In order to enter any of the cliff dwellings, you need to buy tour tickets through the National Park Service. At first this seemed like an inconvenience, but the tours (for Cliff Palace and Balcony House) were two of the best tours I've ever been on anywhere. And the older kids all had a blast learning about the Paleo-Indians and climbing the ladders. On the downside, it was hot. As in REALLY HOT!!!



During out in-between tour downtime, T insisted on "driving" the car.



The view from Cliff Palace. Based on the remains found, they think the space used to be a nursery/daycare of some sort.





The girls were THRILLED about all the ladder climbing, but poor T was scared to death. So we bribed him with promises of coke and ice cream.



The boy and his trophy.



On our last night at Mesa Verde the kids were all driving us crazy, so we orchestrated a series of races around the campground's loop. Some kids took the challenge more seriously than others.

DAY 21 - Mesa Verde National Park to Broomfield, CO (380 miles)




Our last morning at the campground, I planned on hiking, but everyone wanted to hurry up and begin the drive to Denver/Broomfield.



Throughout the drive to Denver, we watched storms come in over the mountains and marveled at how lucky we'd been with the weather.




Stopping to stretch our legs for a bit.



F contines to rock the feminist t-shirts.




The rain came just a few minutes after I took this photo. So we hopped in the car and finished the drive to Broomfield/Denver, where we arrived to an awesome bbq full of friends (thank you Sarah & Lyle)!

____________________

So that concludes Week 3, soon I'll post photos of our week in Denver (week 4).

Happy Wednesday everyone!!