Each place we've lived, after some time we find our groove. Somehow, I don't feel like that has happened here. You have to admit, we've experienced a lot of changes since moving to Colorado. In Florida, Sven was (thankfully) home all of the time. Nikolas was little (the age Emalie is now) and we just hung out....a lot. I don't remember doing a whole lot, but I do remember lots of nice family moments just enjoying time together. Simple and relaxed, the true Southern way. In Washington (both times), Sven was deployed almost all the time. Nikolas and I were used to 'flying solo' and doing activities with our friends. We kept ourselves busy and saw a lot of the area. In Maryland, Sven was again home (yes!) and we did a LOT. We visited here, we toured there, we were busy. We soaked up as much of the east coast history and attractions as we could, because we knew we didn't want to willingly live there again! But, now, here we are in Colorado. We have two kids with quite an age spread. Nikolas is almost to that age where he'd rather not be hanging out with his parents. Emalie is approaching the age where maybe she can miss a nap now and then. Yeah, quite the age difference. I think we 'citied' ourselves out in DC. We have spent very little time in Denver. And honestly, after the likes of DC and NYC, Denver doesn't compare a whole lot. It's beautiful and we love it. We love our camping trips. But, we have yet to find those easy day outings for the family. In Washington, it was taking the ferry into Seattle and walking around the waterfront. We loved buying tea and tulips at the market. We haven't figured out that 'go to' thing here. I have to admit, we haven't looked too hard to find it, I guess. Sven's schedule has made that pretty difficult. Yes, although we've settled here in CO, I don't think we've yet to settle into a routine. There is hope, little by little, that Sven's schedule will shift (no pun intended) from shift work to day work. He had his first day like that yesterday. He was out the door by 6' and home by 4'. It was plain weird after his usual 14 hour days. It was nice though. He played in the yard with the kids while I cooked dinner....and we ate early! How about that?! So, all of this has me thinking-- "What's our 'thing' here in Denver? What's our 'go-to' activity?" Maybe with a little normalcy entering our lives, maybe, just maybe we'll be able to figure that out.
Ok, so that was a REALLY long-winded intro into our outing on Sunday!! Sven had the weekend off (a HOLIDAY WEEKEND OFF!!!). We'd seen a news story about this wild animal sanctuary north of the city. It reminded us of all our trips to Sequim to the Olympic Game Farm (a definite 'go-to' activity from our Silverdale days). The place was quite interesting. It was a mile or so long elevated boardwalk above the large acreage animal enclosures. I'd say there was over 100 animals: bears (grizzlies, black bears, Syrian brown bears), bobcats, wolves, tigers, coati mundi (must have missed that.....it's what the brochure says anyway!), mountain lions, leopards, lions, lynx, etc. The place is non-profit, so it exists simply to rescue wild animals from bad situations. The stories about the rescues are amazing. Examples: the closure of a Russian circus, a divorcing couple, a photography studio that decided having a grizzly for photos opps wasn't lucrative enough, a Georgia roadside attraction, an owner who deployed to the Gulf and left the bears unattended in a small cage without food or water. I mean, come on people!! Really? I wouldn't want to be neighbors with some of these ....umm.....'less-than-smart' people depicted in these stories. Crazy. Just crazy.
I'd say our favorite part was watching the baby black bears play. They were so captivating and funny! Since their enclosure was acres and acres big, they had room to run, play and tackle each other. Who knew big bears could act like little kittens? While the lions and tigers (the cats, of course) were sleeping the day away in the shade, the bears were non-stop bundles of furry energy. When I asked Emalie at bedtime what her favorite part of the day was (thinking she may or may not understand what I was asking) she said, "Emalie likes bears!". What a smartie. We all liked the bears.
So, we had a nice day watching the animals. Will it be our 'go-to' activity here? Probably not. But, it was neat anyway. We love animals.....I say this while I'm watching 2 does and 2 fawns out my office window. Enjoy the pics.......
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| "Pool-side Grizzly" |
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| "Roaming Grizzly" |
This cub had a good, ol' time playing in his pool!
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| "Teeter-totter Black Bears" |
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| "Black Bear Siesta" |
