Denver Zoo & Coors Field Rocks!

Today we decided to divide and conquer Denver, by splitting into two teams. Hubby and son went to Coors Stadium to watch the Colorado Rockies battle it out with Arizona Diamondbacks. Daughter and mommie went to the Denver Zoo, one of the 5 biggest zoos in the U.S.! The admission here is much better, just $11 for me and $6 for Abbie!

The Denver Zoo is big and beautiful, less uphill walking compared to San Diego zoo! Abbie and I watched many shows and fell in love with the zoo! We definately have to come back! During the first show, Abbie touched a skink. {Not skunk}

The peacocks boldly roamed the zoo, making "meowing" sounds.

It was really hot at first ~ so Abbie requested a big cone!

Here are some bisons....snoozing.....

Yeay! Abbie found her favorite ride ~ Merry-go-Around! Coincidentally, she adopted a baby elephant she named 'Ellie' at the end of the day!


At first she was very scared, then she had a blast feeding the Lorikeets some nectar!

Strangely, at 4pm it started to rain hard! So we ran for cover!

Rocky Mountain & River Crossing

Today we went to the Rocky Mountains National Park. It was a 45-minute drive from our cabin to the park, and the scenery was gorgeous! We drove around looking for trails, and we discovered Colorado river too! We all ended up 'crossing' the Colorado river, and had a blast! We hiked two trails, one of which was very, very steep. The 15 minute hike up the Alpine trail resulted in an elevation os 12,100 ft. above sea level! I almost gave up!



Looking around, we saw a magestic view of unmelted glaciers and flower-covered tundras and we sat down to savor the fruit of our labors!

We also went on the Coyote River trail, a 1-mile hike alongside of Colorado river which boasts of wildlife and moose crossing. Well, what I ended up getting was mosquito feasting on me and no sight of a single mammal. That night, I itched and itched and became "Sleepless in Colorado".



The kids, mama and baba had a blast walking and playing in the Colorado River, and Caleb even had a little accident using his treking pole! We had to 'baptize his knee' in the river!

Moses had his helpers Aaron and Miriam to assist him in crossing the Red Sea. Here Papa Mark also has his faithful sidekicks "Abigirl and Caleboy" ~ and the 3 of them crossed the Colorado River!

Denver's Museum of Nature and Science

Today we drove 1.5 hours to Denver to visit Denver's Museum of Nature and Science! Abbie was very excited to be visiting, as she calls it, "A Night in the Museum". It is a big, beautiful museum and we took our time strolling the different galleries!

Colorado is known for its love for nature and wildlife, and we could see the displays of lifelike animals in the displays!

We loved the spectacular real (but dead) dinosaur displays ~ it reminded us of the movie, "Night in the Museum"!
The real (but dead) butterflies and insects were very fascinating too!

Caleb liked the gem displays and asked me to show this post to his teacher, Mrs. Nowell, who taught him and classmates about rocks and gems in 2nd grade.

There was a gallery called, "Health ~ The Mysterious YOU", in which we learned about the human body. It is very interesting to learn about our bodies and how they work together to regulate temperature, move about, and relate to our surroundings!

We had so much fun at the museum!

Colorado ~ Here we Come!!

Last night we finally arrived in Winter Park, CO! It was a long and slow drive...as we crossed the hot, blazing 111 degree Nevada desert. I finished all 12 of my chinese soap opera dvds within the first 10 hours of our 14-hour drive!

Thank goodness for portable DVD players....the kids didn't fight or whine in the 2-day drive and enjoyed all their cartoons! The rock mountains are so beautiful and we couldn't help but give praise to the God who created such awesome works of nature. People were river rafting down Colorado river as we drove alongside them. One day, we will be like them, going down rapid water and holding on to dear life!




When we arrived, 9110 ft. above sea level, our 2-story cabin welcomed us. Inside, the furnishing was cozy and cute! We stepped into a virtual model (cabin) home, and everything from chairs, TV stand, table, to fireplace mantel, dressers and beds were decorated with a spectacular "Big-Bear" theme! This was a dream come true!




This place had little dust (due to high elevation?) and looked brand new! We could consider retiring here! The air is so fresh....the trees so green! The kids watched Spongebob Squarepants all day long and enjoyed the board games generously provided by the owner. We cooked our own chinese-style noodles too! Mmmm........




Forgetting all I learned from my chemistry class, PV=nRT happened and I popped open Abbie's formula...and powder flew everywhere! Then we opened the luggage and hubby screamed, because Abbie's jar of lotion exploded and 'moisturized' hubby's King James Bible. Now we open everything from yogurt to shampoo gingerly...as we learned that there really is more pressure when you're high at the top!

Child Labor & Animal Control ~

I wonder how other mommies come up with creative ways to keep their kids from tearing down the house or injuring one another in this long, hot summer!

As for our family, we have been busy fighting ants and mice, who have taken a special liking to our home. It's either the heatwave, or our unkempt home has too much sweets laying around. Yesterday both kids were put to work, cleaning up dead bodies left by hubby's ant spraying rampage. Hope the child protection agency doesn't see this blog post!

I have a garden with cucumber, bell pepper, and bitter melon plants ~ which yields NO veggies! Grrrr.... I realized this was a very "organic" garden because we found a little critter enjoying our veggie plants! No wonder we have no veggie....this critter probably ate it all! For dessert, these mice (and their entire family tree) will nibble on colorful fruit bits and rainbow colored pellets dropped by Kobee & Jubee bird! Grrr.....






Aside from these unpleasant critter-disasters, the kids keep themselves busy with their backyard water play, fight-over-the-TV-time, tickle-me-Elmo-time, 'No-Piano' tantrums and 'That's-Mine' Rivalries.

On rare occasions (once a day?), there's actually a "precious moment " in which they work and play together kindly. That makes my day and reminds me how blessed it is to be a SAH mommy (^_^)



One of verbose Abbie's favorite activities is conversing with her imaginary phone pal. She's a natural blabber and hubby says she's mimicing what mommy does all day (*_*) This may be a preview of what is yet to come when she blossoms into a chattering teenager!

We are one month into summer vacation! Time flies!

Caleb's Tooth-Pulling Ceremony!

Last Monday, Caleb decided that he's going to have a TP Ceremony! No, not Toilet-Papering, but Tooth Pulling Ceremony. He even suggested that we do it in a dramatic fashion, via the "Tooth Tying, Door Slamming" way!

Caleb's grandma, auntie, and cousin Kyle were coming over for Shabu-Shabu at our home that day, so he decided it was going to be a public event.
We first had a big lunch, then surprised little Kyle by singing and celebrating his BIG 2 with our baby-sized apple pie with a dinosaur candle on top!

In the afternoon, grandma Kathy tied a red string to his big front tooth and while I went to get a longer string, Abbie walked by and.....see for yourselves!

This was the last resort.....


This was indeed a VERY memorable day for all of us!