Exploring Denver

Tuesday morning after Tommy's birthday, I woke up early with Tommy, Katie and Dancy to go to the Denver Mint. Unfortunately, we didn't wake up quite early enough because when we got to the line at 6:45, they told us the tours were full for the day. Maybe we'll have better luck getting in during the school year now.

I was planning on taking the kids to the Capitol after the Mint, but it didn't open for another 2 hours. At 7 am what do you do? We walked around looking at art and architecture, and talked to some homeless guys.

I saw this facility and immediately heard the 24 beeping in my head.

We played on the musical rocking chairs outside the art museum.

Dancy felt a little uncertain about it.

Katie thought this broom and dust pan were soooo coooool!

Landscaping art.

Blue trees! Painted blue trees!

Can you see the bubbles? There must have been a bubble machine on the roof of this building. They filled the air!

Tommy loved the roof on this building.

Katie thought these looked like the monoliths from Brave. Tommy thought dolphins.

Katie and Tom chased a rabbit by the Native American tribute art.

It's always entertaining to say, "Strike a pose!"

I liked the Roman pillars.

Seeing all the homeless people, I decided to make it a learning experience. We had recently read the Kit American Girl series, which takes place in 1934. Kit went to a hobo camp with a friend where she learned that the people there aren't lazy or dangerous like many people thought at the time. Rather, they were just down on their luck with the Depression and unable to find work. I chose poorly with the first homeless man we approached. He wasn't all right in the head. We politely left him and talked to another man, Ben. Ben is not unemployed, but at $16 an hour, can't afford the high rent prices in Denver. He had had a roommate, but left because the roommate was taking advantage of him. He told the kids to stay in school, study hard, and get a good job that will provide for their needs.

{Tommy, Ben, Katie (with her Addy hat!), and Dancy}

We learned from experience the same thing Kit learned when she went to the hobo camp: homeless people aren't lazy or dangerous. There may be some that are, but that can be said for humans in general and is nothing specific to being homeless.