Blue & Gold Banquet (2104)

The annual Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet was last Sunday. Since Jeff is the Cub Master, he got to set it up & run it this year. He was super excited. ;0)

All of the scouts got certificates of recognition. Riley's was for being "The Most Helpful Scout". :0)

Zach's, and the rest of his den, were all for 5 years of scouting. I can't believe we started this journey 5 years ago!!

Jeff & I got certificates of recognition as well for all of the volunteering we do. (As did some of the other parents.) Jeff also got a special thank you pin for his work as Cub Master.

Riley's den turned into Weebelos 1 this year! (Only 2 more years of cub scouts.) He got his bear badge (what they worked for all year), a new neckerchief & slide, and the ribbon pin where they can put activity pins that they earn.
I asked another mom to take pictures of him getting these since I had to be up there (because Jeff is their den leader & he gives them out), but she didn't actually take any pictures....I saw her with the camera though so the only thing I can think of is that she was just constantly focusing it & not pressing hard enough for actual pictures. I guess. LOL!
Anyway, he here is with his new stuff:

Zach's den got their Arrow of Light badge. This means they have completed the requirements for Cub Scouts & can now move on to Boy Scouts! 

Then they had some funny skits. The first one was put on Riley's den. He & another scout, Britton, laid in & out of a tent. Then two "bears" (other scouts) came & tried to get Britton out of the tent. This went on until Riley & Britton switched places. Well, then the "bears" decided to get the one on the outside this time, which happened to be Britton again, and they drug him off! The boys thought this was hilarious! 

I only saw one of Zach's den's skits because I was helping Riley change for his next skit. I did see this one though. One scout called 911 and said that there were a bunch of dead people at Philadelphia & Washington. The 911 operator told him to spell the streets. After a few times of trying without succeeding, he said, hold on, I'm going to go over to 2nd & Elm. ;0) 

Riley's den's other skit was where each scout came out & Jeff asked him where they got a piece of clothing he was wearing & they kept saying, "JC Penny!" Then Riley came out & he asked where his scout uniform was & who he was & Riley said, "I'm JC Penny!!" :0)

The last thing that happened was the ceremony where they boys cross over to Boy Scouts. All of the other people attending make two lines & the boys cross through it with their parents. (Jeff had to narrate with the Boy Scout Master, so he didn't get to walk with Zach.)

And now Zach is a Boy Scout! He started going to meetings last night & is excited about going camping in March & this summer!

Zach with Jeff, Jerry Bauer, the Boy Scout Master, and one of the head Boy Scouts.

The boys (and Jeff) work so hard to achieve these goals each year. I am so proud of all of them!

Denver Trip

Last week, Jeff & I headed off to Denver for a work conference/mini-vacation. We got there Wednesday afternoon & Jeff promptly went over & set up the booth for his exhibit for the conference. Then we met up with some people that Jeff does business with for drinks & dinner. Then we went to a bar so some of them could shoot pool. I used to be SO nervous to go to these things because I didn't know anyone & it was uncomfortable for me. Now I know almost everyone we go out with, and they are so nice & fun, that it makes it a lot easier!
On Thursday, Jeff spent the day at the conference. I spent the day sleeping in, checking Facebook, watching TV, ordering room service..... You may all feel sorry for me now. ;0) After the conference, we went out to dinner & another bar with people and had a lot of fun.

The conference was only one day, but the next day was Valentine's Day so we decided to stay and make it a fun get away!
The first thing we did on Friday, was get up & walk around the 16th Street Mall. We saw an ice skating rink, & thought that it looked like fun! So, we put some skates on & headed to the ice. Jeff was great! He got right to the ice & skated around the rink!

My skating prowess was embarrassing to say the least.....



Let's just say that I didn't fall down, but the wall is as far as I got..... ;0)

After more shopping and wandering around, we headed back to the hotel & got ready to go out for Valentine's dinner.

After dinner, we took a horse drawn carriage ride!!

After that, we went to a place called The Tilted Kilt. It was fun & we got Irish Coffees. (My favorite!)

On Saturday, we went to the Denver Aquarium. We had never been & it was awesome!!

These otters were so fun to watch!! They kept doing flips!

I love the different colors of the star fish!

In the middle of the aquarium was a tiger.....
Not sure what that was all about......

I loved how bright these fish were!!

They had a big shark tank too!

Jellyfish!

The last thing we saw were mermaids!

They were cool to watch. When we showed Lily the pictures, she was super excited!! This is definitely a place she wants to go now. ;0)

After the aquarium, we went to the Coors bottling plant for a tour.

It was really interesting.
Here is Jeff with his first tasting:

After the tour, you got to taste 3 beers.

Each glass was this big!

I'm not a big beer drinker, so Jeff happily sacrificed & drank some of mine. ;0)

The last thing we did that afternoon, was drive up to lookout point on one of the mountains.

It was very pretty!
On the way back down, we saw these deer crossing the road & going up the mountain:

We went back home on Sunday. It was a fun get away for both of us!