Clickety!

I wanted to share LOTS of pictures and the easiest way to do that is to tell you all to click--

Here

...and here

...again here

...and, one last time, here.

Enjoy! :o)

The Picture Update Post

I just realized that I haven't posted pictures on my blog or Flickr in a long time. I have just been posting to my Facebook account. It's easy to download the pictures to Facebook from my iPhoto, so that's all I've been doing and thus, neglecting my readers from seeing the latest pictures. So...without further ado...links to some new photos! Just click on the title to check them out. :o)

Our "hike" to Lookout Mountain

Christmas with my side of the family

4 of 4

I should be telling you about our adventures on the Western Slope, but I'll save that for another day.

I found this little bit of fun over on Judy's site. Here's what you do:
- Go to the folder in which you keep your digital photos.
- Choose the fourth folder.
- Find the fourth picture in that folder.
- Explain.
- Tag four people.

Here is my 4th picture, in my 4th folder.

This whole folder is dedicated to our excursion to downtown Denver for the 5 Points Jazz Festival. 5 Points is one of many "ethnic" (in lack of a better word) neighborhoods in Denver. This particular neighborhood thrives with African American history, pride and culture. We ventured downtown both to hear the music, see the art and also meet my wonderful fellow hydro-mama, Vidya, for the first time.
The picture is of the Blair-Caldwell Library, a branch of the Denver Public Library, which is smack-dab in the middle of the 5 Points District. We stopped in to browse their collection and ended up discovering that they had a great board book selection, so we came home with bags full of books. I also found out that they have a great permanent exhibit on African Americans in the West on the 3rd floor of the library. Caitlin, Cara and I walked through the exhibit, learning what life was like for African Americans at pinnacle times in our nation's history (homesteaders, infantrymen, etc). If you're ever in Denver, I highly recommend that you stop by and visit the library and this exhibit.

As for the four people I'm tagging:
Four people who have digital photos, need blogging material, and want to share.

Birthday Recap

Boy am I glad that I can still get away with a low-key combined party for both girls. I know my years are limited and soon, I'll be inviting all of the kids in Caitlin's class, making goody bags and reserving the local indoor play area. I'm counting my blessings!

That said, here is what went down for the girls' birthday celebration last Wednesday.

My parents made the trek over from the western slope to be in town to help us celebrate. We started off the festivities by taking Caitlin shopping for some much needed school supplies. She had fun watching the cart fill up with markers, glue sticks, construction paper and the like. She's so excited for school to start.

As a special treat, Caitlin got to sleep over with my parents at their hotel complete with a swim in the hot tub and continential breakfast in the morning.

Cara & I met up with everyone and we prepared to head to the zoo for the day. One of the girls' gifts from my parents was a family pass to the Denver Zoo. Despite the sorching temperatures, we had a lot of fun looking at the animals and riding the train and carousel. I cannot wait to make many return trips as there were a lot of exhibits that we didn't get to see that day.

After the zoo, we met Ben at Chuck E Cheese for some fun & games. Caitlin and Ben had a blast playing the games together and racked up quite a few (almost 300 tickets). Even my parents got into the fun and played a few games. Cara loved the toddler rides, especially the mini carousel. We ate pizza, sipped on soda and had fun pressing our luck at the wide variety of games. I have to say, that the Aurora Chuck E Cheese was one of the better ones I'd been to in a long time. A lot of new, interactive games and all of them were in working order.

We wrapped up the festivities at Chuck E Cheese and headed home to our place for presents, cake and ice cream. The girls had fun unwrapping their gifts and were thrilled with all of them. Caitlin's favorites being her new bike and the Let's Go Fishing Game. Cara loves her Fisher-Price Gumball Machine and her Duplos.

The party was a hit! I just loved watching their eyes light up with excitement throughout the day. That's what it's all about! You can look at pictures from the day-long adventure here. Feel free to leave comments.

I cannot believe that another year has come to pass. My girls are growing up entirely too fast. It is fun, yet sobering at the same time. Makes me savor each and every moment and memory.

Big Bang!

We were pretty uncoordinated (yes, I know, a shocker for those that know me) in terms of our 4th of July plans this year. It has been a semi-tradition to go to Ouray, CO for the 4th because they have one of the coolest fireworks shows. The fireworks echo off of the canyon walls...trust me, it's a one-of-a-kind experience. For several years, my side of the family has gathered in the city park with a picnic and waited until dusk for the display to start. We'd wander the streets of the touristy town, get some delicious ice cream and watch the water fight in the middle of main street. Good times were had.

This year however, gas & lodging prices (and out-of-control medical bills) forced us to stay local. We found out that Aurora's city fireworks were shot off just down the road from our house, so we packed up the car with a blanket and set out to find the perfect spot. We found a vacant field across from the local library branch and found a spot. Unfortunately, it wasn't grass that we sat on, but some of the local prickly-type weed. So we sat amongst this and dirt. Poor Cara was coughing a lot because we were sitting right in one of the weeds that she is allergic to, poor thing.

All that aside, we had fun watching the display. Aurora puts on a good show, with a fantastic big bang at the end. Because we were up on a little bit of a hill, we could also see several displays for neighboring suburbs, which was really neat. Watching the girls' expression to the colorful explosions was priceless. I wish I had thought to bring the video camera. This is the first year that Cara has really been into watching and exclaiming. She kept tapping me and Ben and saying, "Ooohh" or "Ahhh!". Next year, we hope to find some place a bit better to go and also take in a parade or other celebrations.

Here are a few pictures--



I just thought this looked cool. It's the street light, lights from the concert by the municipal center and the municipal center itself, using a funky mode on my camera.

Caitlin & Ben making '08 with their hands.

A few of the better shots that I got of the fireworks. The shutter reload speed on my Freecycle camera is so slow!

A Glimpse @ the Craziness

I was challenged by Lauren to capture 24 hours of my life, in photographs. Well, I'm proud to say I did it! It was actually kind of fun, even toting my not-so-light Kodak DX 6490 around. We had a fun 24 hours, well, at least up until about 10 o'clock last night anyway. So, here is the my set--"A Glimpse Into My World".

(I wanted to upload a picture to go with this post, but Blogger is being dumb and keeps giving me an error. I will try again later.)