Denver Trip - Hotel and 16th Street

Our hotel was right on 16th Street which is a fun street in Denver that is blocked to all traffic except a free bus system, bike-pulled-carts, and horse-drawn buggies. The night after we went to the museum we went out for a stroll (and bus ride) along the street.

The kids spotted a chess match in progress and wanted to watch for a while. As we walked up, the game had finished which left an empty seat. Ethan slid right into the empty seat without even blinking an eye. The man sitting across from him laughed, shrugged, and proceeded to set up the pieces. Ethan put up a good fight and then lost. Thomas really REALLY wanted us to stay longer so he could play, but we decided we needed to move on.

Every few blocks there was a piano sitting on the side of the road. Each one was painted differently. The kids enjoyed pounding on them as we walked by.





After our stroll and some ice cream, we hung out in the hotel basement playing games. Jackson was trying to take pictures of me and I was halfheartedly resisting :)

Denver Trip - Museum of Nature and Science - Human Body, Space, Dinos, Gems

GEMS- I was surprised when I asked the kids what their favorite thing at the museum was (besides the Pirates) and Thomas and Nicholas both enthusiastically said, "The Gems!" They really liked looking at rocks.











DINOS


SPACE


HUMAN BODY


This was a pig heart, not a human heart (they are very similar, however). They had a few others that were cut up in different ways. I now understand the way the heart works better than I did before. I have to admit, though, that I felt a little bit squeamish even though I tried to pretend that I didn't. I think it was the smell that got to me.


I'm not quite sure how this came to be, but somehow this was once a real human arm. Everything is gone except the veins and arteries and capillaries and whatever else carries blood.

Denver Trip - Museum of Nature and Science - Pirates, Mummies, Animals, Sculptures

The next day we went to The Museum of Nature and Science. We brought food and planned on staying all day. We were glad we did. It was full of great exhibits that kept the kids and adults interested all day.

ANIMALS- These were some of my favorite exhibits. I loved how they created lifelike scenes. I would start out thinking that there were only one or two animals in the scene. Then, as I looked closer and spent more time looking around carefully, more and more animals would 'appear.'







REAL PIRATES- This was the voted favorite exhibit. It is a traveling exhibit and just happened to be in Denver while we were there. We paid extra to go in and it was worth every penny. Pictures weren't allowed inside the exhibit (It was really hard for me to restrain myself!). We got to touch some of the actual treasure that was recovered from off the bottom of the ocean.

The story goes like this (as far as I can remember). There was a young man named Sam Bellamy who was in love with a beautiful girl. She returned his love and they wanted to be married. Her father wouldn't allow his daughter to marry a poor man, so Sam was compelled to seek a fortune. He decided to do it the fastest way possible at that time...through piracy. He was a very successful pirate and was on his way home in a stolen ship called the Whydah with treasure stolen from over 50 different ships (if I remember correctly). There was a terrible storm and within days of home the ship went down. Captain Bellamy died along with most of the crew. We loved this exhibit!





GEM SCULPTURES- These were miniature sculptures made out of precious gems. They all depicted life in Russia.




Jackson actually did this on his mission. It was some type of bath house where everyone went. Among other things, you went into a steamy room, laid naked on a wooden table and someone slapped your entire back side with sticks. It was supposed to make your pores open up or something. He said that everyone got really hot in the steam room and then went outside and jumped into the snow before running back inside again.




MUMMIES- We love learning about mummies. This one interesting because when it was found, there was the body of a rich woman inside the casket of a poor man. Why?...they don't know exactly.






MORE ANIMALS