Denver
Contest: See The Colorado Ballet’s Dreamy “The Nutcracker”
Sink yourself into the glow of a dreamy, witty production of “The Nutcracker.” There is no better way to hit the pause button on a frantic holiday season. Year after year, Colorado families have folded “The Nutcracker” into their traditional celebrations. Why? The Colorado Ballet breathes fresh, innovative life into Tchaikovsky’s charming Christmas fantasy. These aren’t your kids on their tippy-toes leaping around your living room to “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” As fun as that is, The Colorado Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” showcases strong, athletic dancing while remaining lovely, delicate, and enchanting. The choreography is inspired, along with tiny elements of whimsy. A facial expression, a sip from a shimmering champ...
First Look: Grand Reopening of Children’s Museum of Denver
If you can think of a happy adjective, you can use it to describe the Children’s Museum Denver Marsico Campus: It’s engaging, beautiful, whimsical, clever, delightful, yummy, charming, eye-candy, eye-popping, challenging, silly, lovely, splashy, splooshy, amazing, and accessible. That might seem over the top. Nothing could possibly be that much fun, but somehow they did it. It’s almost as if the team of big kids at the museum asked actual kids what they like to do and waved a wand. They kept the familiar classic and beloved features and exhibits, of course. The exhibits they added not only enhance what is there but take the museum to a new level of awesome. It’s a truly top notch must-see destination for all ages to enjoy. Eighteen exhibits are divided into four typ...
Cirque du Soleil’s KURIOS is a Can’t-Miss Summer Spectacle
Here in Colorado, we are used to seeing peaks surrounding us. Most are rocky and snow-capped. Our major airport reflects this in it’s iconic white-tent roof. The newest and most colorful is located in the heart of Denver meaning one wonderful thing: Cirque du Soleil has returned to the city with yet another whimsical, jaw-dropping show. KURIOS-Cabinet of Curiosities is tumbling, flying, and bending in steampunk style until July 26, 2015. If you’ve seen a Cirque du Soleil show, you might think you know what to expect. Cirque experiences are always packed with humor, oddities, fearless feats, joyful music, and eye-candy costumes. KURIOS delivers all these treasured elements. I’ve seen other Cirque shows and was continually surprised by creative innovations in this new-to-De...
Get Freaky and Fanciful at the DMNS Mythic Creatures Exhibit
From sea, sky, and land, they’ve come! Mythic Creatures have invaded the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. From now until September 7th, your family can encounter some of the most legendary beasts concocted by the human imagination. Some are really scary. (Chupacabra, I’m looking at you.) Some are majestic, like the Unicorn or Griffon. Others are comical, colorful, creepy or all of the above. The newest exhibit at the DMNS brings together history, geography, oral tradition, mythology, and the fossil record in one of the most innovative collections I’ve ever seen. Massive life-sized creatures rise from the floor, swoop from the rafters, and pose as if they are about to kick off the best fantasy epic this side of Lord of the Rings. Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns, an...
Your Guide to Celebrating Easter and Spring in Denver
When I was growing up, Easter meant that the crocuses were in bloom and we were going to look for a new dress to wear to mass and brunch on Easter Sunday. What I looked forward to the most, however, was the scavenger hunt my father put on for us, with challenging clues we had to answer to move on to our next treasure. And the fact that spring had arrived. In the Christian faith, all over the world, Easter is a celebration of the resurrection of Christ. This celebration merged with pagan beliefs in 15th century Germany. The Teutonic deity Eostra was the goddess of spring and fertility, and feasts were held in her honor on the Vernal Equinox. Her symbol was the rabbit because of the animal’s high reproduction rate. When German immigrants settled in the United States, they brought with them t...
Happy Thanksgiving From the Mamas!
Today’s inspirational quote: Thanksgiving comes to us out of the prehistoric dimness, universal to all ages and all faiths. At whatever straws we must grasp, there is always a time for gratitude and new beginnings. ~J. Robert Moskin Today’s not-so inspirational quote, as shared by Mile High Mama Connie via Twitter: Ordered my Fresh Free Range Thanksgiving Turkey…feel good knowing it was raised in a caring environment before it was beheaded. We’re grateful for your continued support of Mile High Mamas. Happy Thanksgiving!
The Ultimate Family Activity: Geocaching!
Are you forever on the lookout for something your whole family can enjoy without spending a fortune? Look no further, because I have the answer for you right here in this blog post. Are you ready for it? Here it is…GEOCACHING! Geo-WHAT? Geocaching (jee-oh-kash-ing) is a global treasure hunt. No kidding, although I’m taking some liberty with the word “treasure.” All over the world, including your very own neighborhood most likely, are hidden containers (“caches”) ranging in size from a large snowflake to a 2-3 qt jug. All you have to do to find them is download this $10 app or purchase a handheld GPS device. If you would like a comprehensive look at the pros and cons of the options, this website has some great advice. Full di...
New Dinosaur Ridge Discovery Center opening!
There’s a new kid in town and he is about 65 million years old. The new Dinosaur Ridge Discovery Center near Red Rocks will be officially open to the public on Sept. 23. In 2013, the Friends of Dinosaur Ridge obtained this new property on the west side of Dinosaur Ridge, an ideal location for viewing the western flank of Dinosaur Ridge where Arthur Lakes and his colleagues excavated dinosaur bones from the Morrison Formation. Joe Tempel, executive director of the Friends of Dinosaur Ridge, says the new facility is intended to compliment the main Visitor Center (near C-470) and not replace it. “Whereas the visitor’s center expands upon the environment of the dinosaurs, the new discovery center focuses on the animals from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.” The...
Choosing a charter school in Denver: Fantastic choices abound!
“Have you thought about any of the Charter Schools in our area?” the Preschool Director asked me, a helpful lilt in her voice. I’d told her we were trying to figure out where to send our daughter in the fall, and I knew the process started early. We still had more than enough time to figure it all out, but it was something that had been weighing on my mind. She could tell from the look on my face I had no idea where to start. I looked down at the packet of information in my hands. The preschool had provided us with information they’d gathered over the years on all the different neighborhood schools around us, and for various reasons, we weren’t too keen on sending her to the school closest to our house. As it was, the way the boundaries were drawn, our official “neighborhood school” wasn’t...
Kids in Colorado are having a ball playing youth-friendly tennis
For young children, tennis was always a difficult proposition. The size of the court — 78 feet long, 36 feet wide (27 feet wide for the singles court) — was just too large. The rackets were too big, the balls too heavy and too bouncy. Most tennis players didn’t take up the game until their teenage years, when they were strong enough to handle the racket and athletic enough to cover the court. But thanks to a retrofit of court sizes and new racket and ball technology, tennis has become a kid-friendly sport. And in Colorado, tennis for young children has become all the rage. More than 500 public and private tennis courts in the area have been “rezoned” in the past three years. Instead of 78 feet in length, the newly striped 10-and-younger, kid-friendly dimensions are 60 fee...
Day Trip: Nederland Fun and the Carousel of Happiness
“I’m going to ride the zebra!” yells one daughter from the back seat as we buckle in for our 30-minute drive to the Carousel of Happiness, just up the canyon in Nederland. “I want the mermaid!” cries a smaller voice. “No, the gorilla!” Such is the anticipation as we twist our way toward one of Colorado’s most whimsical, fantastical and affordable attractions. The backstory of the Carousel of Happiness, which opened in 2010, is pretty well known by now — Scott Harrison, a Vietnam veteran from Nederland, obtained a classic carousel frame and motor, then spent 26 years carving 50 animals. The people of Nederland chipped in, raising $700,000 and creating a nonprofit volunteer organization to house and run the Carousel. Four years later, the Carou...
Vela Adventures’ Fantastic Summer Day Camps…for Moms!
Confession: I was absolutely thrilled to send both my kids to overnight camp at YMCA of the Rockies’ Camp Chief Ouray this week…until I woke up in a funk the morning after dropping them off. While they were having the time of their lives, I literally stayed in my bathrobe all day and worked from my bed. My husband brought me breakfast, lunch and we ordered in for dinner. It’s gonna be ugly when they leave for college. Fortunately, I had an outing scheduled the next day with Vela Adventures’ Camp Vela which catapulted me out of my gloom into a world of sunshine, stand-up paddleboarding (SUP), lakeside yoga, gourmet food and new friendships! Why should children get to have all the fun? Last summer, Vela Adventures’ co-founder Heather Fleck registered ...
