16th Street Mall {Day 26}

Happy November 1st! :) Thanks for all your kind words on my post about courage. They meant a lot to me. Now, I've got six posts left to finish this series, so let's get started, shall we?

Denver has a really cool pedestrian street called the 16th Street Mall downtown. We drove down there one evening to walk around, explore and eat dinner. We grabbed sandwiches at Jimmy Johns and then just strolled and meandered our way down the street. We encountered all sorts of interesting things!

The first thing we encountered was this lady walking around with her snake. I can't remember what kind of snake she said it was - maybe a python? But she let Javi hold it which totally made his day. My hand is in the picture because both she and I were saying "don't squish his head!"



It looked like during the summer there is a ton of stuff going on at the Mall. It reminded me a lot of Bryant Park in New York City, lots of free events for residents of Denver. We'll definitely be back another time to explore some more. This cow was really cool, covered in facts about Denver. Did you know that Denver has a ton of parks, and gets 300 days of sunshine a year? Eat your heart out Rochester. :) The kids loved "riding" the cow.



Down at the very end of the street were these metal buffalo sculptures "mommy, take my picture with the more cows!" that the kids thought were pretty awesome. Javi wanted a picture with each one, which made me laugh. Javi, by the way, is holding a book on sights and attractions in Denver, which he studied very seriously as we walked the street.





The kids spotted this other cow (steer?) and wanted to sit on this one too, so we crossed the street so they could sit on it. However, there was a couple there, dressed as mimes, that thought we were coming to see them, and they put on a little show for us. They were truly terrible. We couldn't understand anything they were gesturing about, they inserted themselves in the picture of the kids - it was laughable how bad they were :) See how KK is like - who are these weirdos?



Peanut walked a ton of the way, which was really impressive. She insists more and more on walking like a big girl and not riding/being carried like a baby. By the end of the night though, she was getting tired, and spending lots of time snuggled in Daddy's arms. These two melt my heart.



There were some definite characters out on the streets that night. Several people begging (some with clever placards and some just walking up to people) for weed, beer, money or food (in that order!). The terrible mimes. A guy dressed up a in a huge dragon or crocodile costume that made him about six and a half feet tall, who stopped to talk to us about his daughter from inside the creepy costume. The fun just never ends! It was an entertaining evening and a nice way to spend time together as a family. Oh, and then when we got back to the car, Javi wanted to take my picture. So there you go. :)