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| Proud Mom Suzanne with Maddie and Sam |
My niece Madison graduated from High School in May and I flew to Denver to attend the ceremony. You may remember that Bob and I were supposed to be in Ireland this summer and Maddie was disappointed that we were not going to be there as we had been when her sister Sam graduated. But, as you may also know, with Bob's colon cancer diagnosis in February (he's going into treatment #8 this week, with 4 more after that!) we had to postpone our plans and hence, I was able to go to Denver. Bob couldn't come with me because he was having chemo that week and needed to be at home.
My brother came too (sans spouse) so we were three siblings together without spouses for the first time in, well, forever! My sister's husband Bruce passed away 10 years ago, which brought a note of sadness to the event, that he couldn't be there to see his baby girl receive her accolades. His sister Marsha came to represent the Harrod family from Kansas and we all had a great time cheering Maddie on, telling stories, eating good food, drinking wine and sightseeing this gorgeous part of the country.
Graduation took place on Friday, May 23 on the beautiful Boulder campus of the University of Colorado which made an excellent backdrop for our photos. On the 24th we did some drive-by sightseeing of the area, stopping in lovely Evergreen, Colorado and ending up at dramatic Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater.
On Sunday, I got to celebrate my 65th birthday with my brother and sister and nieces and got phone calls from Bob, Chris, Jessica and Kyla, wishing me a happy day. Fred treated us all to a delicious brunch before he and Marsha headed off to the airport for their respective flights home.
Silliness always ensues when I'm with my sister Suzanne and her girls and this time was no exception. There is a yummy ice cream/candy store in their little town of Arvada called "Scrumptious" and as you will see, we were quite silly! My birthday ended with a generous scoop of the most delicious cup of made-on-the-premises ice cream that was to die for. Probably all that sugar made us loopy!
Here's my "photo essay" of our sightseeing travels around the Denver area - I'll follow this post with another and show you some of the watercolors I did during my stay, both in my journal and on paper. I spent some time by myself journaling and sketching and driving around both with Sam and with Maddie and with my sister Suzanne. It was a most excellent adventure!
Suzanne gave me a fun gift for my birthday - a class for both of us in making books! We learned Japanese Stab Binding and each made a small book to take home.
This is such a gorgeous area, I hope you enjoy!
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| Fun window shopping and lunch in Evergreen, Colorado |
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| Driving around the area, the scenery is breathtaking! |
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| Bear Creek in Evergreen, Colorado |
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Cactus Jack's Saloon and Grill on Bear Creek in Evergreen, CO.
We had fun listening and dancing from across the bridge
as a band played all our favorite oldies. |
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| Fred, Suzanne and Me along the creek in Evergreen |
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Fred shooting the scenery at Red Rocks Park and Amphiteater
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| Maddie and Fred standing in front of the rock formations for scale! |
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| Beautiful Red Rocks Park |
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| Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater where you can sit under the stars and listen to a concert |
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Entrance to Red Rocks Amphitheater - seating is below, to the left,
reminded me of Roman or Greek amphitheaters! |
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| On my 65th Birthday - Maddie helping me show a 6 and a 5! |
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Sister Silliness at the ice cream/candy shop in Arvada called "Scrumptious" - it was!
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In Denver they say, "if you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes."
After beautiful days, we suddenly had hail! |
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| My Sammy - my niece, my sister's elder daughter. The writer. |
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At "Scrumptious" - Suzanne asked me how I liked my ice cream
and I said "It's Scrumptious!!" We all laughed. |
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| There are no words. It's just plain silly. And fun. |
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