Halloween Is Here !!

Charlie trying to get Opa in the mood for Halloween.

 One marked change from our childhood is the incredible growth in the popularity of Halloween and the the desire to dress up--for all ages.  We recently read that Halloween is second only to Christmas in its  commercial impact.




Here in Denver, there seem to be all kinds of ways and places to get in the mood.  One of the most fun for us was going with Bryn and Charlie to a close by neighborhood shopping street, Tennyson, which was hosting a family dress up and candy give-a-way this past  Saturday.  (Reminded us of Mt. Vernon Ave. in
Alexandria.)

Charlie learning the concept of getting candy from strangers

Charlie didn't want to wear his dragon outfit, but thought Opa looked great in it.  He opted for staying in his jack-o-lantern themed jammies!

This creative fellow said it took two weeks to make this robot costume.

With bright blue skies and warm temperatures in the 60's it was a perfect day for a family outing.  We saw an incredible array of costumes for both children and adults--but what was so nice about it was that it was really all about the younger kids.  It was a real "treat" for us to walk the eight or so blocks admiring so many sweet little tots in all their varied get-ups.  The turn out was fantastic.

Coiffured Lioness

Some little girls still want to be princess

Everywhere you looked there were lots of smiles and laughter.  Don't recall seeing one child misbehaving, or for that matter one parent.

While others like to be Super Heroes like their brothers

Mom & Dad: I'll never forgive you for this!

Best costume & shtick by a merchant

The Scream & sad fairy

Charlie--enjoying a dumdum with Mom & friend, Shanna

Doesn't this little fellow look just like Harry Potter?

A great family day

Costumes for the entire Family, including Dad

Charlie was happy to share his loot with a friendly witch!

Hope your Halloween is fun!!!

Watching Charlie Grow

A Broncos fan in the making.

We haven't been very diligent about posting these last few weeks.  We are settled in here in Denver, enjoying our nice little bungalow.  We thought we had found a place that we could return to regularly, but our landlady, who has decided that she is tired of Colorado winters and is heading to Florida, put the house up for sale last week and had several offers in just three or four days, so we have to find another place when we return next to Denver.

As the photos accompanying this blog attest, our favorite activity is being with Charlie and watching him grow and develop. A couple of times a week, we watch him on our own for three or four hours--and then need to take a day or two to recover.  How can a 20 month old have so much energy and curiosity?

 The big event in Charlie's life has been starting day care in September. Leave taking was the big issue--those transitions are tough!

The teachers tell us that he quickly adjusted and settled down--but you can imagine how it tugs at your heartstrings to close the door on a little crying boy--clinging to his "Clyde the Frog" stuffed animal.

It has been over a month, now, and he loves it--even gets excited when he knows he is going to "school".

Health wise it has been hard on all of us...in the first four weeks, Charlie has had three colds and a case of pink eye.  Each of us--Mom, Dad, Oma & Opa, Nanna and Pops--have had one of more colds, but none of the adults fortunately contracted the pink eye.

Playing fireman at the Children's Museum

Other activities with Charlie have included:

 

Walks through the neighborhood--each day there is something new to discover & enjoy.

Playing with our digger in the backyard sandbox

Playing with any iPhone or other electronic device that comes into our hands

Using the digger toy at the neighborhood playground

Visiting the Botanical Gardens with Opa & Oma

Indulging Opa with his McDonald's addiction!

Exploring with Greg & Shirley

Greg & Shirley Llafet

Our time in Denver has also allowed us the opportunity to get to know our son-in-law's parents--Greg & Shirley Llafet, aka Charlie's Pops and Nanna.

Recent retirees like us, they moved this July from California back to Colorado.  Besides sharing a mutual love and admiration of Charlie, we also have a lot of other interests in common, including travel and exploration, history and politics, and independent movies!

Facing the wind on Pike's Peak.

Shirley and Greg, although they have been away for many years, are Colorado natives.  They know the area really well and are always willing to act as tour guides, for which we are very grateful.  Recently on a sunny Wednesday, we all drove to Colorado Springs to visit the Air Force Academy and Pike's Peak.  Both were new to us and very interesting!

Our last stop was the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs--a Grand Hotel built in the early 20th century that still knows how to provide a truly unique experience. Sipping dirty martinis on the lakeside patio, listening to the evening piper and watching the sun set was a great way to end the day.

Family Wedding

At the wdding

This month, we also took a short trip back east to visit with Larry's family in North Georgia.  The occasion was the wedding of our nephew, Will Ryder to his beautiful fiancee and now wife--Sammi. We were delighted to be included in the celebration.

Larry with his Mom and siblings--Glenda, Dale & Sandy.

The reception was out of doors under a tent pitched beside a small lake. What's so nice about weddings is that it brings families together for a happy occasion that includes visiting and catching up. The wedding was sweet and we really enjoyed our time with everyone.

Sammi & Will Ryder--the newlyweds.

 

In a couple weeks we are heading to Mexico with our friends, Mart and Bob Larson, for six weeks.  We are looking forward to showing them some of the beautiful places we visited when we stayed with Erin last year.  We will try to blog more frequently, so you can travel along.  We hope everyone will enjoy the coming holiday season...and that all are enjoying this lovely autumn.

City Park--Denver

Denver bungalow

Thanks once again to AirBnB, we have found a delightful place to spend the next three months here in Denver.  We are now ensconced in a little bungalow in Denver's City Park neighborhood.  Situated on a quiet street, the house is perfect for us and includes a nice sized living room, dining area, bedroom and a great, fully functioning kitchen, with all of the modern conveniences, including a dishwasher and ice maker.

Gazebo

What makes it so nice, though, is the wonderful backyard and deck. The deck features a tent gazebo, where we live most of the time.

Denver's climate is so great--warm sunny days with low humidity--or at least low humidity compared to the steamy East, so we often eat all of our meals on the deck.  That sometimes means donning a light fleece or jacket on cool mornings or evenings, but also turning on the fan during the heat of the day. Seriously we feel like we have landed in our own little piece of paradise.  After our first day here we were already making plans for perhaps returning again next spring--but alas that is not to be as our landlady, Cindy, tells us that we are her last AirBnB guests--after we leave she will put the place up for sale.  What a bummer.

The house next door has been converted into a small African American church--The Grace and Truth Tabernacle.  We have gotten to know the caretaker, Sam, and he recently invited us to attend a Sunday service.  This past Sunday we were Sam's guests and we were welcomed with open arms and loving smiles.  Having never attended a pentecostal church before, we were unsure what to expect.  It was a joyful service with lots of singing and praise giving, stand-up swaying and hand clapping to the beat of the drum set and electric organ.   We were even treated to a funny skit performed by some of the parishioners. Although the service lasted close to two hours, the time went by quickly, and we left feeling buoyed and joyful.

Charlie on his bike

As we have repeatedly said, one of the great joys of being in Denver is the more frequent contact with Charlie.  He and his Mom came over for lunch and a visit recently. Afterwards, we all decided to take a walk to the playground nearby.  The playground was closed--but all was not lost--on the street running by the school, the city is installing a new storm drain line.  Lots of big pieces of equipment--diggers, dump trucks, backhoes, etc.  Charlie was in heaven.  We watched them dig up and move dirt, lay pipes, and fill trucks for close to an hour.  The three adults were ready to move on long before Charlie got tired of the goings on.

Cirque du Soleil

One evening we went to a performance of Cirque du Soleil:AmaLuna.  Although we have seen countless TV shows about Cirque du Soleil, we had never been to a live performance.  It was very different.  The traveling shows still perform under a Big Top holding three or four thousand spectators. There is one ring or central stage, and unlike the traditional circus, there is a unifying theme or storyline.  AmaLuna (Mother Moon) is loosely about a young girl's birthday and meeting her first love.  The costumes are fantastic and the acts include contortionists, jugglers, acrobats, aerialists and clowns.  The two hour performance is quite entertaining and at times enthralling--but in the end, we both felt that once was enough. 

This past weekend we went to see Lee Daniels' The Butler, and we would recommend it.  Covering more than fifty years of contemporary American history, it is told from the perspective of an African American man who served as a butler in the White House during seven presidential administrations--Eisenhower to Reagan. You learn how he and his family experienced the monumental changes that occurred during that time from the Federally enforced integration of Little Rock schools in 1957 to the election of Barack Obama in 2008. Having lived ourselves through these events, it was very thought provoking to be reminded of the events such as the March on Washington, the Freedom Riders, the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, and the assassinations of President Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

Greg & Shirley LLafet with Sue

B39  Bomber, FIFI

Also this weekend, Grant's parents, Greg and Shirley Llafet, invited us to go to an air show with them.  It was much like a country fair or the Scottish "Highland Games" (which we're familiar with):   exhibitors, vendor tents,  food and drink.  All the activities are centered around airplanes and air history.  Greg, who has worked as a pilot and air traffic controller, is very knowledgeable about the planes and the history.  He made the experience so much richer and such fun. The day's events were capped off with a "balloon glow".  Hot air balloons don't ascend, but are inflated at dusk so that they light up and glow--kind of hard to explain, but neat to experience.  A huge fireworks display at the end of the evneing lasted half an hour and was really fantastic.

Our real thrill was to see "FIFI" the sister ship to Enola Gay.  Either plane might have been chosen to drop the first atomic bombs on Japan.  The two planes were identical.  Enola Gay was chosen, and FIFI moth-balled, but  has been lovingly restored by airplane aficionados.  Greg said we were really lucky to have seen it fly and land.  Not many people get that opportunity.

Erin--Ready for her Pakistan assignment

It feels nice to be stationary for three whole months in one house--so much so that we have rented our usual downtown studio for six months from January to June.  During that time we hope to take at least one trip to see Erin.  She is now in Pakistan beginning her year long assignment.  Please keep her in your prayers, though she assures us it is Islamagood, not Islamabad, each time we talk with her.

We always say we welcome visitors and mean it.  Even in our studio there is room for a blow-up mattress and we have one.  If you haven't seen Denver, you are missing a treat !

Up and down the East Coast

Erin & Charlie

We spent the month of July in Washington DC with a quick trip to NC squeezed in.  Erin, who goes to Pakistan on August 19, had invited us to stay with her for the month of July while she completed some training for her new assignment.  It was great to have this time to be with her as we are not sure if we will be able to see her over the next year--it doesn't look like it will be possible to visit with her while she is in Pakistan, but we might be able to meet her in Bali or Thailand or who knows where.

Mart & Bob at the Folk Life Festival

It also gave us some time to reconnect with some friends from the Library of Congress--Barby Morland and her husband Howard and Tori Hill and her wife, Elizabeth Carl. Mart and Bob Larson also met us several times in the District, including for the 4th of July fireworks, the Folk Life Festival and some great "Jazz in the Park" evenings in the Sculpture Garden on 7th Street.

Mart and Bob also have the traveling bug, and we have agreed to meet up in Mexico in November and December--most of the time in San Miguel de Allende but also Mexico City.  We are looking forward to exploring both places with them, and it was great fun finding apartments to share on AirBNB. We're hoping that the reality is as good as the pictures!

Hannah & Betsy at Rehobeth

Out walking with Abby & Evelyn

Anita, Christine, Sue & Dean in Annapolis

 Being in DC also gave us the opportunity to visit with family and see the nieces and nephews and grandnieces.  With Hannah and Betsy, we took a day trip to Rehobeth for short dip in the ocean and an afternoon at Funland--a 1960's era amusement park on the beachfront complete with rides and games.  According to their Mom, Anne, it is one of their favorite places.

Susie and Jerry asked us to watch their girls, Abby and Evelyn, while they took a much deserved short (two day) romantic break in the Virginia countryside.  That was lots of fun.  Little one and two year old girls have a lot more energy than 60 something Great Aunts and Uncles we discovered.  Regardless, they were both so sweet and it was a pleasure being with them. 

Larry, Christine & Thurgood Marshall

Last but not least,  Dean and Anita, hearing we were in town, invited us out to their house in Columbia for an overnight.  After a great takeout Thai dinner, we stayed with Christine while her parents went out for a date night.  Next day we all went to Annapolis to see a children's play.  What fun !

Boone House & garden

After visits with the family, we took a week off to drive down to North Carolina.  Our first stop was Boone, where we attended our friend, Mary Reichel's, retirement party: she was Dean of Libraries at Appalachian State for more than 21 years.  Larry had the great honor of working with her from 2000-2006.

Tom and Kit Fisher were kind enough to host us once again; they jokingly call one of the upstairs bedrooms, the Boyer Suite. Our stay in Boone gave us a chance to check up on the house there. Like other places in the East, Boone has had a lot of rain this spring and summer, so we were a little worried--but fortunately all was well and the gardens have grown incredibly over the last few years.

Maury & Dru

From Boone we traveled across the state and stopped in Louisburg to see Dru and Maury York.  Maury, a colleague of Larry's at ECU, has just retired and they are renovating an older house in Maury's home town.  It was fun visiting with them and taking a tour of historic Louisburg. 

Cynthia in her garden

It was then on to Greenville.  Another one of Larry's colleagues, Blythe Tennent, hosted us.  Sometimes we feel like Blanche DuBois, but instead of depending on the kindness of strangers, we depend on the kindness of our friends to provide us bed and board as well as hospitality during some of our travels. While in Greenville, our friend and Italian traveling companion, Cynthia Adams feted us with a delicious dinner. Since her retirement, Cynthia has been able to devote more time to her garden, and as you can see she is enjoying great success. We loved the tour of the her garden as well as the delicious meal, especially as Nancy Ball--who accompanied Cynthia to Italy was able to make it to dinner with her husband, Lee.  Cynthia's husband, Wayne, was also with us, as well as Blythe, and we all had a wonderful reunion.

Sue and Bea

When we returned to DC, we went to the movies one day and ordered buttered popcorn.  Sue put it on her lap and when the movie was over she had a huge grease spot on her pants.  Thinking this was such bad luck, we started walking back to Erin's apartment.  All of a sudden we heard, "Sue, Larry !"  There, sitting at a streetside table was our good friend, Bea Moulton.  She and her companion had both wondered what that was on that lady's pants.  When Bea looked up, she saw it was Sue.  Without the grease we would have melted into the crowd (no pun intended) !  After that chance meeting we had several nice visits with Bea, including going to our old church, The Church of the Epiphany, and enjoying being there and seeing parishioners we hadn't seen in many years.  Also, we were able to schedule a lunch with Randolph Charles, Rector, and caught up with one another's lives.  You never know what chance meetings are in store as you go through life.

Our trip ended with a visit to Angie and Floyd Godfrey, our dear friends in Alexandria whom we've known since Sue was pregnant with Erin.  We also returned to Maryland's Eastern Shore to spend a night with John, Sue's brother, and wife, Bonnie, who weren't at home when we were there earlier (the Rehobeth trip with Hannah and Betsy).

We were able to spend a couple more days being with Erin and it was hard to say good-bye; the only consolation is that we can SKYPE during the year she is away.  And, hopefully, we'll be able to visit her in the spring somewhere in the world. We left the east coast and flew to Denver where we plan to stay for the next three months.  We're always up for visitors, so if you want to "go west young man", we'll welcome you.

June in Denver

Erin & Bryn

June in Denver was a family centered time.  Erin, on home leave before she heads to Pakistan in August, decided to spend it in Denver, which prompted us to change our plans, come back to the States early, and be in Denver with her and Bryn’s family.

We are so glad that we did.  First, Denver is a wonderful town in the summer.  Although this June was hotter than normal, with the thermometer often topping 90, the dry heat is nothing like the steaming heat of the east coast.

Grant & Bryn's Garden

Bryn and Grant have been working really hard on their yard and garden.  The perennials that they have planted over the last three years are beginning to mature and put on a good show. This year, they have been concentrating on transforming the side yard into a wonderful showcase.  One Saturday, we all—Grant, Bryn, Charlie, Sue and Larry—ventured out to Santa Fe Rock and Gravel to select some rocks and boulders to place in the garden.  It was a lot of fun selecting the rocks we all liked, and Charlie loved watching the big machinery and equipment in operation. When we got the rocks home, it was a lot of work getting them off of the truck and placed in the garden.  Grant did most of the lifting, with a little help from the rest of us. We all really like the dramatic effect that the rocks provide!

Charlie brushing his teeth

We have, of course, loved the time we have been able to spend with Charlie. We couldn’t believe  how big he was when we first arrived, but he also seems to change and grow with each passing day.

 A week after we arrived, he decided that he was done with his crib and proceeded to climb out of it one morning.  We believe that it signaled the end of babyhood.  He is a bundle of energy; always on the go; bouncing up from every fall like a rubber ball, acting like a true toddler.  He seldom cries when he is hurt; usually only when there is blood.   

With his favorite digger

Reading all about trucks

Each day seems to bring a new bruise, black eye, scrape or cut—but he just keeps on trucking.  And speaking of trucking; he is mad for trucks and cars.  His favorite toy is a large digger we got for him, and his favorite book is a board book about trucks that Erin found for him; he will sit for minutes at a time poring over the book, and he has to read it three or four times before he settles down at night.

At the Children's Museum

Sharing?

At the playground

With Oma

Charlie doesn’t say many words yet; but he is always jabbering, singing/humming, and pointing to things.  If he wants your attention, he takes one of your fingers in his chubby little hands and drags you to where he wants you to be. Bryn is using sign language with him, and it is fun watching him sign “more, all done, milk, and smile” among other things. Being able to sign things seems to help a lot with the frustration that he sometimes feels about not being able to communicate.  And although he doesn’t talk much, he seems to understand absolutely everything!

Grant's Family

Bryn

Grant and Bryn have been welcoming and inclusive as usual.  They seem to find some excuse (welcome home, birthday, first day of summer, etc.) to have a party at least once a week, which means inviting friends and family over for a cookout and beer with lots of music and good conversation in the their backyard—the more the merrier.  In addition to us, that often includes Grant’s extended family, and now his parents. Greg and Shirley have sold their house in California and retired (at least temporarily), and like us, they are thinking of making Denver their base of operations if not their year-round residence.

Erin at Botanical Garden

It was fun being with Erin so much, after her two-year stint in Mexico City.  She has invited us to stay with her in DC in July, while she is in training for her next assignment. She especially wanted to be in Denver to see more of her sister and of course have time with Charlie. We were surprised at the number of her friends who managed to come to Denver to visit her during her stay.  All we met were delightful and we enjoyed being with them.

Even though our initial Denver AIRBNB experience was not the best, we have not lost faith, and in fact have had our trust restored.  After taking advantage of Greg and Shirley’s kind offer to stay in their apartment while they were traveling, we finished our last week in Denver renting a room in a house in the Curtis Park neighborhood.  Brian, our host, is a young man who has been renting out his second bedroom through AIRBNB for more than a year—he tells us that he has hosted more than a hundred visitors in that time.  Since he spends a lot of time with his girlfriend who lives nearby, we often had the apartment to ourselves, but we enjoyed the time when he was their getting to know him.  An Upstate New York transplant, Brian is a great Denver booster; we really enjoyed learning about the Bike Sharing Program (B-Bikes) for which he volunteers and his community gardening adventures. We would recommend staying with him to anyone visiting Denver.

It came time to day goodbye, briefly, as we are spending July on the east coast.  We flew to Dulles on July 4^th and will return to Colorado on August 4^th for a three month stay to see if we like spending a longer time there.  Our travels will continue in November when we plan to go back to Mexico.  Meanwhile, we’re in the U.S. and glad to be here.