Red Rock Amphitheater and Dinosaur Ridge

Today was another hot day (although Matt tries to convince us it wasn't as hot as it felt).  We visited the Red Rock Amphitheater.  We did not attend the band performance (Slightly Stoopid) but did hear a bit of the sounds check from their crew while we were there.   

In the smokey area is downtown Denver.  Trust me...

It is really amazing to see the surroundings and the sound!  

Then we headed to dinosaur ridge.  We had lunch and started on the walk.  You can see some of the tracks uncovered in the rocks.  

And the ripple marks.  

Mason, Matt and I left Anna and Olivier in a shady (but still hot) spot and kept going up the hill to the lookout points.  

Proof Mason made it!

Olivier missed seeing the race track!  We think they were doing warm up runs.  

And then we went to the other side and could see the amphitheater in the distance.  

The clouds were very cool in the distance.  

Mason taking in some shade while he could!

We enjoyed dinner back at the house and after dinner we watched night at the museum (seemed fitting after visiting so many!) and we heard thunder and saw lightening but no rain.  
 

Museum of Nature and Science

Today we visited the museum of nature and science.  They had some really cool interactive exhibits and this is one we spent a lot of time testing.  It had an infrared camera and items that were warm and cool in different shapes so you could see how the camera picked up the different temperatures.   At one point Olivier had a rocket shape on his forehead!  It also looked rather interesting with the masks and at the points we took a breath or were exhaling.  

This is what they actually looked like.  

When we were in St. Louis the kids really liked playing this game called Mind Ball.  They also had it and there were some rematches.  

They also had a cool exhibit on health with a lot of interaction.  One piece had this camera that gave you an idea of what your bones or muscles or veins looked liked as you move.  It was decent except when Olivier bent down!  Ha ha!  

Look at the size of those moose antlers!  

And check out the size of those dinosaurs!  

We also saw a show at the planetarium on black holes.  We thought maybe we would understand them a bit more after the show...but nope!  Still super confusing but it was a cool show!  We went back to the house for pizza and movie night.  After dinner we did have a bit of excitement, the handle on the room the boys were sleeping in broke and poor Mason was stuck inside.  Thankfully the window was a decent size and we were able to get him out that way and Matt in to unscrew the handle.  Whew!
 

Colorado State Capital

Today we headed to the Colorado state capital.  Yes, that is gold on the outside of the dome!  

We made our way inside and found a cool briefing room that the kids enjoyed using the podium.  

The boys did well with the tough questions for Anna!

She discovered they had a stool built into the podium which made her feel much more official!

The home we are staying in is located on Carr street and we saw this informational sign about Mr. Carr that we very impressed by.  

We went on a tour of the capital building and saw the old Superior Court chambers.  

With a massive chandelier (it weighs over 2,000 pounds).  There are replicas in the house and senate chambers that are slightly lighter.  

Here is the house chamber.  

The end portion of the tour included 99 steps up to the dome.  It was so worth those steps!

This is the new Superior Court building.  

Pike's Peak is behind this smoke.

This is the transit station at the civic center.  

Information within the dome.  

Fun picture of us in the dome and Olivier outside.  

After the tour we visited the Senate chambers.  

And Olivier wanted to see this phone booth.  There was no phone so he used his iPod.  

For various reasons there are three mile high markers on the capital steps.  Matt was standing on one facing us, the kids are on another, and I am on the third.  

Our view of Matt!

We really enjoyed the visit!