Fun in the city of Denver

Kevin's days have been filled with his conference while we are in Denver. So, that leaves the kids and I to venture out for some fun and exciting day trips.

Our first stop was the Hammond Candy Factory. They have been making candy since 1920. We were able to go on a factory tour and watch candies being made by hand and with the help of vintage machinery. Katelyn took detailed notes and found it very interesting. Brittany and Jackson were just waiting until they could go to the candy store and stock up on candy! It took a while for the kids to pick out exactly what they wanted. We left with candy canes, lollipops, ribbon candies and chocolate bunnies.

In the evening Kevin joined us for dinner at the Downtown Aquarium. The Aquarium consists of a restaurant and a museum. We sat right next to the tank and all the kids were fascinated watching the fish swim around. After dinner we went into the museum to see aquarium life from all over the world.

We had been to the Downtown Aquarium when we lived in Houston and thought this Aquarium had a better exhibit.
Jackson was excited to see "Nemo" and "Dory" in a tank. Brittany and Katelyn were intrigued by the sting rays that they could actually touch. The only Hill family member who touched them was Kevin!

The following day, the kids and I met up with Michele Woytek and we went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. This is one impressive museum. It is massive - with three stories of exhibits. We spent the entire day there and still did not see everything. This is one museum I would highly recommend to anyone traveling to Denver. The kids kind of ran through it and I wish we could have spent a little more time in the exhibits. Our favorite exhibits were the Gem and Mineral Exhibit and the Space Odyssey Exhibit. Of course all the kids had fun in the Discovery Zone. Katelyn spent most of her time at the dinosaur dig. We ended the day with a trip to the museum store where Katelyn left with a bracelet and quartz keychain. Jackson and Brittany wanted dinosaur masks and more rocks to add to their growing collections. I guess it should come as no surprise that our kids would love all things about rocks and minerals, as their father has a degree in geological engineering!

I think we have spent enough time in museums lately. Although, there are other museums I would like us to visit when we get to Colorado Springs on Thursday. However, tomorrow we will take a break and do some shopping. Katelyn has been really looking forward to this part of our vacation!

The beginning of our Colorado Trip

We began our Colorado trip this past weekend. After a long drive through Kansas we arrived at our first stop - Denver. Kevin had a conference there until Wed. at the Adam's Mark in downtown Denver.

The kids were completely mesmorized by the "big city". How different our lives are since we moved from Houston to the OKC area! We went from living in the 4th largest city in the US to taking the kids to the suburbs of a smaller city and then out to the country. In fact, Jackson has never really been exposed to a big city. The kids all thought that staying in the city at such a huge hotel was really exciting.

On Sunday we headed to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. It was about an hour and a half drive from downtown. We drove through Boulder and made our way to the town of Estes Park. What an adorable town. It sits in the mountains at the edge of the park. We began driving into the park and as we drove further up into the mountains it began to snow. It was a magnificant drive and the mountains were phenomenol.

We decided to be daring and try some hiking. We began a hike with the kids on a trail. It was snowing the entire time and we were hiking on a very densely snowpacked trail. The kids made it for quite a while and then began to get tired. Katelyn was our trailblazer and kept trekking along. She really loved it. We went to Bear Lake which was completely frozen over and snowpacked. Jackson was done with the hiking and he and I headed back to the car to dethaw. Kevin took the girls onto the lake and walked across it.

After our hiking adventure we went to Jeff and Michele Woytek's for dinner. Jeff and Michele recently were married last fall and we enjoyed seeing them in their new home in Denver. They even survived our kids for the evening!

Kevin will be at his conference Monday so I will get to brave the traffic of downtown Denver on my own.

News and Updates - It's been a while!

I realize I haven't blogged in quite some time. February has turned out to be a very busy month. Which means this month has really gone by fast!


Church activities kept me busy -from teaching Sunday School to Voter's Meetings to a fundraiser dinner that I helped to host. The dinner was a very unique idea. The school's parent organization cooked the dinner and asked that each table have a hostess. My friend Brigette and I hosted a table. Each hostess was responsible for decorating the table in a theme of their choice. We decided to go with a Caribbean theme, as you can see by the photo. The best part was the live beta fish in the vases that served as our centerpieces. It was the talk of the evening!

We also began new activities for the girls - ice skating lessons twice a week. I know, I'm crazy right? With dance lessons twice a week for Katelyn and once a week for Brittany why add something else? The girls really wanted to try ice skating last semester but I could not fit it into our schedule at that time. We decided to start in February. Katelyn and Brittany love it and have improved dramatically. It's so interesting to watch their different learning styles emerge on the ice. Katelyn still rushes at everything she learns. When her group practices skating across the rink, she is determined to try and finish first. Which means she falls down every now and then! Brittany is a very patient learner. She does not really seem to care that she is the last one to cross the line - just that she does it right and does not fall.

February also brought with it a decision about schooling. It was enrollment time at Holy Trinity and we sat down and decided the girls would return to school at Holy Trinity in the fall. We knew when we began homeschooling in January that it would probably only be for one semester. I still believe homeschooling is the preferred method to teaching the kids. There are so many things about homeschooling that I do like. However, our circumstances mean that I am responsible for practically al aspects of the kids' lives with no other adult help or reprieve for myself. If we lived in town with family and Kevin did not have to work so many hours I would keep homeschooling. However, that is just not our reality. I know there is a great network of homeschoolers out there to help support each other in this endeavor. However, support from friends is not the same as support at home from family. And that is what I need most. Our circumstances just don't provide for that.

I admire everyone out there that homeschools. I know what an awesome sacrifice it is and also how rewarding it can be for parents. Homeschooling is still going to be part of our lives as I will hve Jackson at home with me next year. Kevin and I decided to keep him home and not send him to preschool 2 mornings a week in the fall. I know that putting a child in preschool is the thing to do as soon as they are old enough to go. However, neither of us really believes it is that beneficial for his development at this time.

I am looking forward to returning to Holy Trinity. I have actually missed being a part of the school. I am excited for Brittany because she will have Katelyn's 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Cyr, and we absolutely loved her. She is an amazing teacher. We have also heard great things about the 3rd grade teacher. Of course, there are things about the school I may not always agree with. However, at least I know the curriculum is sound and they are in an environment that I believe is better for them than the public schools.

That being said, we are taking advantage of our homeschooling schedule and going to Colorado for a vacation. We'll be in Colorado for a conference that Kevin is attending and then heading to a rustic log cabin for a few days in the mountains. The kids are excited about seeing the mountains and the snow. It will be a nice little trip for us.

So I have lots of packing and laundry to get done before we head out. I'll try and come back with great photos of the kids mountainside!

The Hannah Montana 3D Movie!

I took Katelyn and Brittany to the Hannah Montana Concern 3D Movie this past weekend. We have been watching "Hannah Montana" on the Disney Channel since it first debuted and the girls have always been fans. I had decided that taking a 7 year old and 5 year old to her concert last December and spending a ton of money on tickets for seats that were not going to be that good was a waste of time.

When we heard that we could go and see her concert at the movies, we decided that was the best way for us to go to a Hannah Montana concert. And it was a lot of fun. Since it was 3D you really felt like you were part of the audience watching the concert from the front row by the stage. The movie also allowed us to go onstage and behind the scense of the concert. We could never have gotten such great seats at a real concert.

Since the girls are so young, they thought this was a great way to see Hannah Montana. The theater was packed with girls in Hannah Montana shirts and wigs. There was clapping and dancing in the aisles and of course, screaming! I think that the Jonas Brothers got more screams than Hannah did.

So far I have been impressed with Mylie Cyrus. Of course, she is only 15 years old and I can only wonder what all of this fame and money might do to her as she gets older. Perhaps her parents can keep her grounded.

All I know is Katelyn and Brittany are now bigger fans than they were before! That evening the girls got all dressed up and gave us a concert. They sang and danced and Brittany proclaimed she was a rock star. At the end of their show, the girls had us line up and they gave us their autographs. It was very cute.

A little Arctic blast

I didn't think we would see snow again this winter but I was mistaken. We got about 2 inches of snow Thursday. Katelyn, Brittany and Jackson were very excited and could not wait to get out in it.

I had bought some snow pants for the kids and we finally got them out and were able to use them. Katelyn enjoyed sledding down a hill near our yard. Brittany and Jackson kept trying to make snow angels. They all thought it was great running through some pretty big snow drifts. We only made it outside for an hour before they all came in complaining that they were freezing!