Best Fireworks Display in Denver

A few months ago, I got an email from the Colorado Symphony Orchestra that they would be playing a special concert on America's birthday.

I'm always on the look out for a fun place to see the fireworks with my family  and this was perfect because we are obsessed with classical music thanks to our fantastic school music teacher.  I immediately bought tickets!

I moved to Denver 14 years ago (holy crap has it been that long?) but I have never been to Fiddler's Green.  I've been missing out!  It's a great venue with seating and a lawn area.  Lots of beer/wine/food vendors and most all of them took credit cards. 

We arrived early, but we didn't need to.  Turns out we were in line with all of the people with general admission tickets that needed a good lawn seat.  I will tell you that the best seats are in the 200 sections.  If you are in the 100 sections you have to move to see the fireworks because the stage will block them. 

We all dressed up but we didn't need to because it is an outdoor concert, but we like to dress for the theatre.  That's just how we are. We looked like we are the type of people that go to the symphony, which we are.  Ha...just the thought of me being hoity-toity is pretty funny! 

Once the sun set at around 8:30 we could see the stage much better and with a light breeze blowing it was the perfect night!  The fireworks started around 9:15 and lasted about 30 minutes.  The Symphony continued to play until the last 10 minutes so that they could step out and enjoy them too. 

If you are looking for a family friendly place for your family to enjoy the 4th of July fireworks and experience some culture at the same time, this is the place for you!

Booze Corner

Yesterday I was watching Channel 4 local news because Entertainment Tonight was being replaced by a special about The Broncos.  Don't get me wrong, I love football and The Broncos but I'm trying to pace myself before the big game.

This story came on about car seat safety.  They had a Mom with a little one and they told me that she has twins on the way.  They showed her buckling her kid into a car seat and then they showed her in what I'm assuming is her kitchen.  Well...here, I took a picture of my TV for you.

Photo taken with iPad from recliner

Was this the best place to interview this pregnant Mom about car seat safety?  Who the hell set this shot up?  Whoever did it....should be fired or sent to work for MSNBC.

This is why I will never let Channel 4 News in Denver interview me for a story. 

Day Out With Jessica

My best friend Jessica was coming to town and I needed to find some stuff for us to do.  I went to Denver.org and put in the day that we'd be spending together.  That's when I discovered that the Great American Beer Fest was going to be that weekend.

This also means that it's Denver Beer Week!  Yeah Baby!

I immediately found the perfect thing for us to do.....a Beer Paring Breakfast!

I asked Jessica if she has convictions about drinking before noon.  She didn't, in fact, she said she encourages it!  I called up Pub 17 on Welton to make a reservation and the nice man that took my information said that my name sounded familiar.  I asked him if he was a member of the PTA and he said no.  He made a big deal about telling me the menu and kept calling me Mrs. Weiss.

Jessica and I arrived a little early for our breakfast and the man I spoke with on the phone greeted us warmly.  I explained to Jess that he thinks I am somebody.  We sat at the bar and ordered Dirty Martinis and he told the bartender that they were on him.  Who does he think I am?

I suppose he could have googled me while we were on the phone.

What do you know!  Google thinks I am somebody!

Jessica and I had the best time and our Beer Pairing Breakfast with Fort Collins Brewery was so great! You can read all about it later this week on The Rookie Foodie.

Free Santa

You may recall that last year, I had a little trouble with a certain elf named Cheryl.

It led me to boycott all Mall Santas!

What I learned about Mall Santa is that he is not FREE.

See this picture?  I took it illegally and the reason that it's blurry is that Head Elf Cheryl was in the process of tackling me to the ground trying to prevent me from photographing my own children.

I'm here today to tell you that some Santas are FREE.

If you live in the Denver Area, I have three FREE Santa's for you to visit.

Larimer Square

next to Cry Baby Ranch

Saturdays 10am-7pm

Sundays 11am-6pm

Paulino Gardens

6300 North Broadway

Denver, CO 80216

December 8 & 9th

11am-3pm

Bass Pro Shop

Now-December 24th

Mon-Fri 3pm-8pm

Saturdays 10am-8pm

Sundays Noon-5pm

Note:  If you are here to tell me what a terrible person I am for denying Mall Santas of their livelihood  then you should just move on.  I heard it all last year and I'm not changing my mind.  I still think Mall Santas are impostors and must be stopped!

Innocence Lost

The last few weeks, we've spent quite a bit of time on the mean streets of Denver.  I think I've gotten so use to the way things are in our downtown area that I had forgotten it can be shocking to a child.

We decided to visit downtown Denver with our children and one of their friends over Labor Day Weekend.  We wanted to go to the Leonardo DaVinci Machines Exhibit because we are all about teaching our children more than what they learn in school.

We are dedicated!

The three musketeers were very excited.

This is right before they lost their innocence.

Soon, I'd be fielding questions like:

Why is that man sleeping on the sidewalk?
Why do I smell the bathroom?
Why is that man dressed like a robot?
Is that President Obama?

THIS is not President Obama

This guy scared the heck out of all of us (except maybe iKeith) and then we had a talk with the kids about talking to strangers.  Then a STRANGER tried to give the kids a balloon animal and they were freaking out because he is a stranger.

As it turns out, Keith is a busker magnet and street performers will call out to him to help him with their performance.  I've seen it many, many times!  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree and my dear son was recruited and then ruined a man's magic career when he cut a rope with scissors that he was supposed to be pretending to cut.  In Alex's defense...who gives a 6 year old scissors?

We did have a great time at the DaVinci Machines Exhibit.  The kids learned so much and not just a slang word for an African American.  Yes.  That really happened.  I'm still in shock over it.

At the end of the day....I was really glad to see Jesus.

And I think it will be a while before a take one of my friends' daughters into the wilds of Denver again.