New Discoveries

The Nature and Science Museum closed Marina's favorite play are for renovation a few months ago. This month is the grand reopening. This afternoon they had a special members only time, so Marina and I took advantage to check it out. Marina decided to bring Kaya along since she hasn't been to the Museum before.

Our timed entry was late in the afternoon, so we spent some time in the other parts of the museum until then. We started in the Native American exhibit so Marina could show Kaya around. We looked around, but didn't see any artifacts from the Nez Perce tribe that Kaya is from. But Marina still enjoyed the Navajo homestead and seeing dolls from many tribes.

We looked through the many animal dioramas the museum has. we spent most of our time looking at the animals from South America and Africa today. Next we went into the health exhibit, one of Marina's favorites. It wasn't crowded, so she was able to go through many of the activities easily. We still had time before our tickets, so we went into the space exhibit for a little while. Marina got to search for hidden plates in sand, drop asteroids and experiment with heat cameras before it was time for us to head out.

When we arrived in the new kids area we were astonished. It was really amazing. The new area has a huge dinosaur dig site, an elaborate water play system, construction zones and art stations. Marina spent time at each station, having a great time at each. She generously shared each station, especially when there was a much younger child waiting. Then not only did she give up her spot, but she spent time to show them how to use it. And the same as the old play area, I had a hard time getting Marina ready to leave. I'm sure we'll be back soon!

Star Wars Summer

The Disney Store has scheduled a series of summer events this year. I thought we might try to attend some of them. Today’s scheduled event was Mike Wazowski’s Trivia Challenge from Monsters Inc. So we headed over to try it out.

They had a slight change of plans and the event was Star Wars Story Time. Marina hasn’t had much interest in Star Wars, so I wasn’t sure what she’d think of it. The event was well done. The cast member told the story with special video clips added in. Each child got a mini light saber and they went through training on how to use it. Then they had several chances to use their new skills. The story ended with a medal presentation for the kids.

Each week a special character button is given to the kids who attend. Today was supposed to be Sophia the First, but they hadn’t gotten those, so they got a Marvel button instead. Last week, lanyards to put the buttons on were given out, but they had some left, so Marina got one. She also got last week’s button – Mickey and Minnie. Once she had all her goodies, we headed home. Marina said it was “the best day ever!” We seem to be having a lot of those lately!

Country Dance

Marina has been taking ballet for six years now. It's hard to believe that! She made great strides this year with her teacher Miss Erin. Marina was the oldest girl in the class and she took up a bit of a leadership role.

The theme of this year's recital was "American the Beautiful."  Marina's class had a country theme. They danced to "Turkey in the Straw" in blue gingham dresses. It was a fun combination of ballet and square dancing. The girls knew the routine well and went through it without a hitch.

After the performance, I found Marina backstage. The stage mom had given each girl a bag with an activity book and puzzle from Frozen and some snacks. Miss Erin gave them water bottles filled with candy. I had flowers for Marina as well. We also picked out some for Miss Erin. She had six classes in the recital, so she had a lot of flowers from her students!

Kicking off Summer

Today was the Broncos Bunch annual Summer Kick Off. Marina always looks forward to this event. She wore her Bronco jersey and a hat from Super Bowl XXI.

When we arrived we headed immediately for the field activities. She started by running a football drill with Bronco player Charles Mitchell. She fell down during that one and wasn't happy about it. So we moved on to the inflatables which she always likes. The lines weren't long there, so she played for a while.The large slide was wet to make it more slippery, but Marina didn't like that it soaked her shorts.

When she was tired, we moved inside where we saw the Broncos and the visitors locker rooms. We also took a look at the two Lombardi trophies on display. After that we headed back outside. Marina ran more drills, including one with offensive lineman Ryan Miller.

We went back inside and met cheerleaders, alumni players and Miles, the mascot. We also took some pictures in the media room. We went back outside where she ran a drill with Bronco Stephen Johnson, who seemed to have as much fun posing for pictures as he did running the drills.

Marina spent the rest of the time playing on the inflatables. The slide was no longer wet, so the kids slid very slowly down it. That was funny to watch.

After the event was over, we drove around the stadium to a spot I had read about. After they tore down the old stadium, they marked in the new parking lot where home plate was. We found the spot and took a little batting practice before going to our home.

The Tempest

Over the past few months, Marina has shown an interest in William Shakespeare. I'm not sure where it started. We read a book called A Lion to Guard Us which is based on the story of a group of English colonists who were shipwrecked on Barbados. The afterward said that Shakespeare based his play The Tempest on the same story. Marina thought that was really cool. She also was excited to recognize the Shakespeare toy in The Lego Movie.

So, because of this interest, I looked into the Shakespeare Festival schedule this year. The Tempest was on the schedule. It seemed like the perfect play to introduce Marina to Shakespeare, so I got us tickets to the preview performance. Marina has been looking forward to it.

The Shakespeare Festival is held on the campus of the university I graduated from, but it's not close to home. So we were prepared for a long night. The campus has changed considerably since I went there, so I had trouble finding the right place to park. Finally we got there.

We had seats in the front row, so we got to see the set and the actors up close. Marina had a bit of trouble following the dialogue, especially when the characters discussed the background of the story. But she loved the comedic parts, special effects and the acrobatic choreography of Ariel, the sprite. She also liked the ice cream we got at intermission!

Once the show was over, she said she liked it. A film crew was asking people to give their thoughts of the show. Marina was happy to volunteer. She told them she liked the show but didn't really understand what happened. She also explained why Ariel was her favorite character.

As we walked across campus to the car, Marina told me she'd probably fall asleep on the way home. I told her that was fine. And she was right, she fell asleep a short while into our trip.

Celebrating Summer

To get off to a good start on our summer, I took Marina and her friend Ainsley to the water park today. Marina was so excited this morning that she got up early and was ready to leave before I was. When we picked up Ainsley I heard the same from her family.

When we arrived we found a lot of other people had the same idea. It took us a while just to get into the park. But once we were in, we headed right for the water. We started off on the tallest slide. Ainsley was a bit concerned about the height, but she loved the slide. We relaxed on the lazy river before heading to more slides.

We took a break for lunch which we all needed. Then we went into the wave pool. The girls spent the rest of the time playing in the waves. Once they were done there, we headed home. We got ice cream on the way to finish our celebration. Marina said, "Today was the best day ever!"

Maleficent Movie

Today was Marina's last day of fourth grade. To celebrate, we had lunch with her best friend's family. Of course, Marina was happy to do that!

After lunch, Marina and I decided to go see the new Disney movie, Maleficent. She considered wearing her Sleeping Beauty costume to the movie, but decided the costume wasn't comfortable. So she brought McKenna along and dressed her up instead.

We decided to see the 3D version. It was much more intense than the animated version and at times Marina seemed to have difficulty focusing. But overall we both enjoyed the movie. It was a good way to kick off the summer!