Elitch Gardens/Happy Birthday, Kristin!

  What a hot day in Colorado. We walked to Perkins again this morning for our breakfast. And it was an excellent breakfast. Russ wanted pancakes and I wanted half of another chocolate muffin disguised as a cupcake. It is wicked yummy. I had a two egg omelet with toast. Russ's pancakes look real good, too.  We continued our morning with another walk, but not too long 'cause we would be walking around Elitch Gardens in Denver.

You gotta love Perkins for their most excellent pancakes.

It even had frosting on it.

We took a break back at the hotel room while I googled for any craft stores in the area. I FOUND ONE! It called Archivers. I had never heard of this store,but it has an online store, too. We are going to check this place out tomorrow 'cause it opened at noon today and we were going to be at the park.

We were a little hungry by this time, so we used the Garmin to find Gunther Toody's. It was only a about ten minutes away. What a lovely place to have lunch. Russ loves their vanilla shakes.

A step back in time.

   We drove to Kristin's house ready to explore Elitch Gardens for her birthday.  The day was going to be a hot one, but there was no humidity. Thank goodness!
 

We were there!

This theme park reminded me of Universal Studios in Florida. The rides were thrilling and the air was full the smell  of buttery popcorn , pop music, and loud screams. It was very exciting.

Walking towards the rides.

 

  We came upon the Mind Eraser. It was way too high for me and I could not believe it when Russ, Kris, and Mike said they wanted to go on it. They are certainly  brave people , or just plain crazy. But there were a lot of crazy people on that ride, or waiting to get on. Check out the video I took of the ride. Don't watch it on a full stomach. I know I had to sit down after watching it a few times.

They survived this ride to go on the Half Pike. Another thrill ride that looks like a large skateboard. Russ opted not to go on this one as the back and forth motion tends to make him sick. I get sick just looking at this ride. I am impressed with anyone who gets on it of their own free will . Crazy people!' Take a look at this one. Kris and Mike really liked this ride.

 

 

 They went on a few more rides. I went on the Tilt -a-Wheel. I thought it was a gentle little ride. Mercy, it was a whole lot faster than I remembered. My stomach kinda lurched once I was on solid ground. Ugh! Not my favorite ride. We ended the day on the Ferris wheel. It has gondolas which I can do. Loved this ride.

We were  ready to eat at Red Lobster for dinner. We were all tired and hot. It was a lovely drive there in an air conditioned car. 

We love Red Lobster almost as much as my brother-in-law, Tom. The food is good and tasty. It was a great way to end the day. Our waiter gave Kristin a little whipped cream cup when he heard it was her birthday. Check out our meals:

Admiral's platter

Shrimp dinner

Nothing better than cheddar biscuits.

Broiled haddock






It was nice to help Kristin celebrate her birthday.

 

 

 

                                                         



Georgetown Loop Railroad Day!

   Wow! Am I pooped! What a wonderful day we had with Kristin and Mike. They took us to Silver Plume to catch the Georgetown Loop Railroad and to take a tour of a silver mine.
   We started the day out with Russ and I walking to Perkins Restaurant which was just .2 of a mile from our hotel. We had a lovely walk over there on a walking bridge to avoid the highway traffic.


Love these walking bridges.

    We could see Perkins ahead. We had a great breakfast of muffins,
fruit, and an omelet. Healthy right?  We plan to go there for breakfast tomorrow, too.


Mark will want to see this healthy meal.

    We walked back and had a lovely morning stroll by our hotel. It helped to settle our breakfast.

  We then headed to Mike and Kristin's home which was only a few minutes away. Kristin gave us a tour of the home. It is just the right size. They are working on it a little at a time.

   Mike and Kristin are runners. They have participated in many half marathons and have some medals to show for it. Mike is also a snowboarder who flies through the air and has a picture to prove it. They both are quite athletic and are committed to a healthy life style.

That is Mike flying through the air.

Great way to display

   Kristin drove us all to Silver Plume to catch the train there. We passed some pretty countryside. The mountains are so gorgeous. I am in awe how majestic they look . I forget that you can look up and see that you are surrounded by such beauty.
It was a lovely drive.

Lovely drive

 

      We reached the Railroad and Russ got the tickets. We were told to take water 'cause the high altitude could make you sick , if you get dehydrated. We brought jackets 'cause it gets cold inside the mine. We were ready. The whole experience was informative and fun. We learned a lot.

   My niece's husband, Rob, would have loved this trip 'cause he is into trains. I thought of him the whole way. Check out the pictures in this slide show:





          


 

  We got off the train at the mine site and met our guide. We were going inside the mine. Yikes!
We  put on jackets. We had to watch our feet from slipping and our heads from hitting the top of the mine. Hard work for me. I got a greater appreciation for how hard it was back then for silver miners in Colorado in the 1890's. It was tough work to drill by hand.

We were with 24 other people.

Looking good in hard hats

It was tight in some places.

Mom would have hated this tour.

  
We were tired and ready for something to eat so  we headed to Idaho Springs to a hotspot called BeauJo's.  The pizza there it amazing. We ordered the large honey wheat dough pizza. Yum. 


Good eats

 We walked the streets of Idaho Springs after eating to settle our stomachs. We came across another old, old train. We were able to look inside at how it was back then.  It made me a little sad for times lost. 

   We had a great day, but it was time to head back to the hotel and get some sleep for our next adventure at Ellitch Gardens. I don't think I am spelling it right, but I am too pooped to look it up.

Here are some more  pictures of times gone by.



The only train of this type left in existence today.

Kristin and I thought this was an interesting set up for plants. They bolted the pots to
the old painted ladder. Neat.

Okay... is this eerie or what? I think this is what made me kinda
sad when we looked in the little window in the door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Denver Bound!

   What a great day to travel to Denver, Colorado. The weather was beautiful in Maine and it has been gorgeous here in Westminster, too.
    We flew on Southwest Airlines and the traveling was smooth.... The trip has been easy  with no problems at all. Nice! I love the logo for Southwest. I think I could use it for one of my cards.


I love the heart in the  middle.

  We were on the second leg of our flight for
about 4 hours. I was looking at that logo for
for quite awhile.
   The airport in Denver is quite lovely.  It reminds me of tents. Kristin tells me that it is suppose to be a "reflection" of the mountains. Anyway, it really is a pretty airport and easy to get around, too.

Denver airport

  We were pretty tired from our all day travels, so Kristin ( Our daughter ) and Mike ( Kristin's boyfriend) suggested eating at Salt Grass Restaurant. It was just down the road from our hotel.
  We had a great time. The food was good and it was nice to catch up. I am sorry, Mark. I forgot to take pictures of the food.  I will next time.  

Great restaurant






 

  Tomorrow we all are planning on taking the Georgetown Loop Railroad. It will show us "the beauty of the rugged Rocky Mountains" as we travel on an old-time locomotive. We will pass by the remains of gold and silver mines with "breathtaking views". I can't wait. I know Rob ( My niece's husband) would love to be taking this trip. He loves trains.  I will be taking plenty of pictures. Yes, Mark, including the food.
  We are "hitting the hay" early to help us get ready for a fun day.   Check in tomorrow night for an update of our vacation. 

The Month of August!

  Wow! August has been wicked fun so far.  My brother, Hal and his wife, Charlotte, and their daughter, Cindy , came up from New Jersey for a short visit. We had fun. It started out with giving Hal his birthday card. I loved making it 'cause I used punch art. I cased a card I found on Pinterest.

Love the bird!

Wacky Bird!  Here is the link to the blog that gives you more info on how to make it. I did a little change here and there 'cause I didn't have all the same punches and dies. I think he came out pretty good.
   I love making my own cards to fit the size of my card. The envelope punch board is great for that.
 

Looks yummy...

   I also made Hal a birthday cupcake box and bought him a yummy cupcake at Hannafords.I wanted to take a lick wicked bad, but I held myself back. The box was so easy to make. I got the directions from a blog I found, guess where? Pinterest: Surprise, surprise!
 Here is a link to that blog. Her video is quite good. Cupcake Box  I decided to glue my corners inside the box and for some reason the top did not fit. It was too small, so I scored the top a little smaller than an inch and it worked fine.

Side view

I borrowed some glass beads from my sister, Chris, and put one in each corner for the legs. I had seen that done on a box at Stamped Designs in New Hampshire. It looked great. Here is a picture of the legs on this box.

You can just see the glass legs.

  Well, we decided to take everyone to Shaw's Wharf in New Harbor. What a gorgeous day to go eat at a wharf. It was a beautiful drive down on a wonderful summer day. We ate lobster rolls, seafood casserole, and  lobster and fish chowder. We were full of the bounty of the ocean. Yum!

Great food...

 We got some great pictures of  a working wharf. It was a very busy place with lobstermen, and tourists everywhere.

Selling their lobsters...

Here is a picture of Cindy acting like a typical tourist. Love this picture of her.

Now that is a lobster...

Pemaquid Lighthouse

 

See ya soon!

  We headed to Pemaquid Lighthouse after lunch 'cause they had never been there. Again it was gorgeous. We checked out the gift shop and the locals...

Friendy locals...

 What a great time with family ... The next few days we took them to Ken's in Old Orchard, and  a Sea Dogs game. The time went way too fast. We hope to see them this fall.
  I have just finished my brother-in-law's birthday card. Yes, another birthday in August. He is an avid golfer, so this card was perfect for him. I really loved making this one 'cause it was so easy. I used a scrapbooking pair of scissors for the grass. I also cut out the circle with my  Big Kick and a Spellbinders die. The dotted swiss embossing folder gave the golf ball its dimpling.

Wicked cute!

 I used a Sizzix die for the tag that says "enjoy". That sentiment comes from Tim Holtz. I really like the colors that make this card stand out. I cased this card from another great card I found on Pinterest. Here is the link to that card: Golf Card
  Well, Russ and I are headed to Denver, Colorado to visit with his daughter, Kristin. We are looking forward to seeing her for a few days. When we come back  August will be more than half over. Where has the summer gone?
  Here are a few more pictures of my brother's visit.

View from Shaw's Wharf

Great picture

Good day for a boat ride.

Pemaquid scene

Sea Dog's Game

Summer Fun!

   I have been having alot of fun doing the things I love to do in the summer time: going to the Yarmouth Clam Festival, working in our garden, canning, and paper crafting; just to name a few things.
   My sister-in-law, Bette, is so thoughtful. She was working at the Unity Fair Circle in Sebasco when she spied a table with a number of stamps on it.. She thought of me immediately.. What a sister-in-law. She bought all of them. And what a find it was for me.  Most of the  stamps were from Stampin Up and they were stamp sets where most of them had never been used. Whoopie!  Love 'em.
   There were four angel stamps that I absolutely love. I used one on my altered cigar box ( Check an older post.) inside cover. I used my copic markers to color the cherub and he looks so cute.

One of the stamps Bette found for me

I used a Spellbinders die for the corner embellishment and glittered everything in sight. Love that glitter....
  The sentiment is a stamp from Inkadinkadoo. I have used it before on other projects.

Inside my altered cigar box

   Thanks, Bette, for thinking of me. I am going to enjoy using these stamps on future paper projects.
   I also finished my sister, Rochelle's birthday card. I gave it to  her early 'cause I wanted her to see how clever I was in finding a new type of card I had not made before. When she came to the house to show me her new card, it was the same waterfall card. We had a good laugh about how great minds think alike and all that. She actually made her squares a little bigger, which I liked. She gave me some tips, so I am going to try another one.

Waterfall card for Rochelle!

  You pull the ribbon at the bottom and the squares move up and away. Love it !  I found the tutorial on Pinterest. ( Boy, if you are not on Pinterest, you are missing out on some great ideas and  inspirations!) The tutorial is for a Halloween card, but Dawn really does a great job explaining each step. Here is a link to her video: Dawn's Waterfall card

   I used Graphic 45 paper, which is my new favorite paper. I used brads from Stampin Up. I also used SU stamps from Loads of Love, Flower of the Month, So Many Scallops, and Love Ya Bunches. They all worked well here for a birthday card.
    I really had fun making this waterfall card. Check out Dawn's tutorial, if you are interested in making one of your own. My sister's blog at Creative Corner Studio has more examples of this type of card, too.

Voila! There is the message!

Pull the ribbon!

Keep pulling...

   Well, in between my paper crafting fun, my husband, Russ and I , have been picking cucumbers from our garden like mad. We found a recipe in a canning book Bette and Tommy gave us for Christmas a few years ago. We still have some relish we made last summer to use up this summer.
I don't know what it is about gardening, but we are into it.  Check out these pictures of our canning fun.

All clean and ready to be filled.

Funnel thingie comes in handy.

Good eating this winter!

    Well, tomorrow we are going to have some rain. That's okay 'cause I will continue to work on my paper crafting projects. I hope to be done with my Disney album and get ready to make some more mini albums.