Spring 2016

Spidey loves gardening

We are comfortably settled in Denver.  With the routine of our daily lives, we forget to update the blog, even though in retrospect, we have been pretty busy.  So we have several to post and this is the first of several.

As is usual during our time in Denver, we are delighted to spend time with Charlie.  He's four and the changes and development are fun to watch and enjoy.

Language development is always a challenge.  At four, we notice that he is now comfortable with time and understands past, present and future--but sometimes his language skills don't always keep up, especially irregular past tenses.  Doesn't every past tense verb end in 'ed' ?

Mowgli (ignore larrge foot)

He sleeped over with his friend Oden the other night and cutted his finger and bleeded.

A few weeks ago, Oma, Opa and Charlie went to see Disney's new version of The Jungle Book. Even though the movie comes in at close to two hours, he was transfigured for the entire time.

When we got back to the condo, he asked Oma if he could be Mowgli and if she would make him Mowgli pants and hair.



We won't reveal the secret to the costume, but needless to say his Mom and Dad do not want him to wear it out of the apartment--but when he is visiting with us, he whispers to one or the other of us, "will you call me Mowgli forever ?"

Mowgli with hair and apron

He even insists on wearing his Mowgli costume when helping Oma or Opa cook.

And now we have Batman

Other superheroes, like Spiderman, Batman and Ninja Turtles make their appearances, depending on what is clean at the moment, but the Jungle Book is definitely a favorite right now.

First day of "Train to the Plane"

Getting onboard

If you read this blog with any regularity, you know what big Denver boosters we have become.




In late April, the city opened up its "Train to the Plane" rail line, and on Opening Day, April 22, the three of us waited in line with a lot of our fellow Denverites, to catch a free ride on the new train.

Larry's Mom with new Great Grandson, Gus

Thirty-seven minutes from Union Station to the airport--leaves every 15 minutes and for us seniors only costs $4.50 each way.

Larry used the train a week later when he flew to visit his Mom in Georgia.

His Mom will be 88 this July, still lives on her own and drives around her small town, Danielsville, to church, the grocery store, etc.

Larry's sister Sandra lives just a half a mile away, so is there whenever she is needed and his brother Dale and sister, Glenda are close by as well. Their being there makes our being 1500 across country easier.

Gus, his Grandma, Glenda with Bradleigh and Dad, Brian

While in GA, Larry and his Mom were able to visit with his sister, Glenda, and Glenda's son, Brian and to see the newest Great Grandson, Gus, and his big sister, Bradleigh.

Brian and his family had just moved into a new home and it was an opportunity to visit and see the new addition(s).

NC Ladyslipper

Larry also attended an English Country Dance Weekend at the Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, which is about a two hour easy drive from his Mom's home.

Although Larry still enjoys Scottish Country Dancing and attends classes a couple times a week in Denver, we are both finding English enjoyable--a little less active and easier on the aging body.

Springtime in the NC mountains is always beautiful and one of the favorite and most interesting sights as you walk through the woods is the Pink Ladyslipper (a native orchid).

Larry at Denver's Botanic Garden

Springtime in Denver can be a die cast--one day it is 75 or 80 and the next day there is a blizzard.

This spring we had a full blown blizzard that shut down the city and brought two feet of snow to the surrounding area--and that was just one of the four snow storms we had in April.

More Denver Botanic Garden with close-ups below

Still Spring does triumph over Winter eventually and we always enjoy spending a mild spring day in the Denver Botanic Garden.

What a treat and what a great boon to the city and its citizens and visitors.

Pretty scary !!

Besides the Botanic Garden, we have a fantastic Art Museum which we enjoy.  Recently they have had a special exhibit of Japanese Samurai paraphernalia placed in rooms with enlarged (huge) photos of portions of silk screens.

The detail on both the armor and the silk screens was amazing.  Who would have thought that going to an exhibit, basically, of armor could be so engaging?

As we always say, come visit !