Indiana Jones inspired a generation of archeologists, but the fact is, most archeology is fairly dry and dull work. Brushing off dirt in the middle of a desert for hours at a time, just to find that amazing pottery shard is from 75 years ago, not 1700 years ago can be a bit disheartening. But imagine that it’s the middle of the 1940’s and you’re a Bedouin shepherd. A sheep from the flock strays off…Read More

When I grew up, we went bowling maybe once every few years and I was, of course, horrible at the game. If there was a prize for gutter balls, I suspect I would have been in the running at any alley we attended. Then along came the Nintendo Wii with its terrific bowling simulator and that turned out to be super popular with my kids, particularly the practice bowling areas where you could watch the…Read More

It’s an annual tradition in my family, heading out to Anderson Farms in Erie in October to enjoy a pumpkin patch and, of course, a huge corn maze. What’s a corn maze, you ask? Well, imagine you have a big field of corn that’s past its prime for the season. Acres upon acres of dried brown stalks that are 6-8 feet high. Now plow through it with a small bulldozer and you can make a walkable…Read More

I don’t know where all these cool sports and activity camps were when I was a kid but the range and breadth of options children have nowadays to learn a new skill are amazing. From space camp to math camp, computer programming to acting, golf to tennis, if your child has an interest – and you have some money – there are plenty of choices out there. Not to mention the traditional sleep-away camps that…Read More

While on a road trip in early July, my 13you daughter and I decided it would be fun to spend a few days as tourists in Kansas City post-Independence Day, and of the various things we did, by far the most fun and engaging was our visit to the National Museum of Toys and Miniatures, located smack dab in the middle of the University of Missouri, Kansas City campus in downtown Kansas City. It’s not…Read More

I’ve just spend the last 24 hours just outside Greeley, Colorado as part of a really fun and interesting Nissan Rogue Sport event, and as part of it, we headed as a group to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado. You won’t have heard of Keenesburg, it’s rather in the middle of nowhere in rural Colorado partway between Greeley and Denver, but it’s well worth the relaxing, rural country road drive to get there….Read More

As a big fan and member of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, I’m always interested in seeing what special exhibits they’re hosting and what’s coming next for one of the premier museums in Colorado. When I saw they were doing a Vikings exhibit focused “beyond the legend” I was definitely interested. You know all the myths about mighty, violent blonde men pillaging every coastal area they could reach, not just encompassing the British Isles,…Read More

My 13yo daughter K- and I have had multiple opportunities to visit the lovely Broadmoor Hotel and Spa in Colorado Springs, but never in the depths of winter. With a few days off school for mid-February break, however, we got all the stars to align and headed off to Colorado Springs from our home in Boulder, Colorado for a few days vacation, courtesy of the hotel. We drove a 2017 Lexus NX300h, which added to the…Read More

My extended family seems to be pathologically unable to create travel plans that aren’t complicated. Like “plan it on a big white board” complicated, with lots of moving parts. When we started planning a trip from our home in Boulder, Colorado up to Kalispell, Montana, I knew it’d end up being a tricky puzzle. And so it was. The players: me, my ex-wife Linda, her husband, and our two girls, Ashley and K-. I drove….Read More

There’s a lot to like at the brand new The Wild Game entertainment center and restaurant in Longmont, Colorado. From bowling to ping-pong, arcade games to a full service restaurant, it seems perfectly designed to maximize fun for everyone in the family, and all in a beautiful new facility. We had a chance to go a few days ago and check it out during opening week and while there was lots we liked, there were…Read More

While some of the most modern video games can leave me feeling a bit bewildered with all their input devices, I definitely enjoy the video arcade and always have. I didn’t grow up feeding quarters into machines, but… I did go through some allowance getting good at Pac-Man and trying to master pinball machines, no question. Any time a new arcade opens up, I’m ready to give it a try and see what’s new and…Read More

My Dad was a London cabbie, years and years ago, but his stories have stuck with me and I’ve always had a respect for taxi drivers because of it. Tough job, and while many people are polite passengers, there are always the drunk, hostile or just plain rude. My Dad had stories about celebrities he’d given rides who were jerks, and others who were surprisingly kind to a cabbie. And so, when ride-sharing services Uber…Read More

I’m not being biased by saying that Denver is blessed with some splendid museums and cultural venues, and top of the list for me is the always interesting Denver Art Museum, located downtown by the Civic Center. In fact, I was at the DAM (as we locals call it) just a few weeks ago, enjoying the fascinating Glory of Venice exhibit as a chaperone for my daughter’s 7th grade class field trip. This time, however,…Read More

I was reading an article on the CPR Law site about how dangerous sports are for children where it ranked various sports and started to think about my own experiences as a sports Dad with children that have played three primary sports: basketball, volleyball and lacrosse. Add to that bike jumping, as my son loves to head over to the (world-class) local bike park for some adventures and that’s four primary sports. So how dangerous…Read More

I had a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science‘s upcoming Mummies: New Secrets from the Tombs exhibit this morning. Through a wonderful coincidence of timing, the tour not include Michele Koons, DMNS Curator of the new exhibit but both JP Brown and Dr. Ryan Williams from the Field Museum in Chicago too, the two people who conceived and created the exhibit based around Field Museum Egyptian and…Read More

It’s not news to readers that I’m a big fan of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and find myself there for every new exhibit and sporadically just drag the kids there for a fun afternoon of hands-on and exhibits. Sometimes it’s me and my friends – as with the recent Chocolate exhibit – but with robots in the mix thanks to the new Robot Revolution exhibit, I brought along family: My sister, visiting…Read More

Last week my 12yo daughter K- and I had the opportunity to spend a few days at one of my favorite hotels in the world, The Broadmoor, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. “The Springs”, as it’s known, is about an hour south of Denver and is an interestingly diverse city, home to the US Olympic training facility, the US Air Force Academy and Focus on the Family. To fully enjoy our stay at one of the very…Read More