What to do in Denver?

[new_mommy25]

I'm off to Denver in a week. I'm flying solo with my 5yo DS and 2yo DD. I will be staying with family. We will be there for 12 days. Can anyone suggest fun activities/shopping/must sees in the area? I've been googling but haven't come up with much.

We will be staying in Westminster with my sister. I know I want to check out the butterfly pavilion and the science museum. I also have an idea of what stores I want to go to. Other than that, I'm stumped.

My sister suggested an overnight trip to Glenwood Springs and then we could explore Aspen the next day. That sounds like fun (I've been there in the summer) but I think it will be too cold for the pools so I'm not sure it will be worth it.

I'd love to take a train ride.

Is the Lego store worth a visit to? My 5yo is obsessed in Legos.

Any other ideas of things we could do? I am intersted in indoor and outdoor activities. My kids have never seen snow before so they are super excited. :yay:

[himom]

Hey Angie, long time no "see!" Hope you're all doing well.
:wavey:

I've been to Glenwood Springs and Aspen for Thanksgiving, and yep, the weather was cold! Even had a blizzard blow in and strand me there a few extra days.

But we did go to the springs, wearing what I'd normally wear on the beach here, and were completely comfy. The steam coming off the water kept the area around the pool nice and warm. It was a fun and amazing experience. And you know, of course, the weather that I'm used to!

HTH, and have a great trip!

Jodi

[kijip]

T really liked the mint. I am not sure a younger child would. You need to register for the tour in advance. I agree with the pp that you can still do hotsprings in the cold weather.

We also loved the science center and the planetarium show they had there was wonderful- enjoy your trip.

Any chance you could take the kids sledding or intertubing? That's what kids from areas with no snow seem to love the most about super snowy areas.

Trying to remember more, but we go so we can see my grandmother and she's the main focus of the time we spend in the area. That and my half zillon uncles and aunts.

T got a total kick out of using their light rail.

[jenmcadams]

OK, here's a big long list:

**Museum of Nature & Science**
Tons of fun...good kids area, good planetarium and an IMAX theater that's usually showing at least one show that is ok for kids...both my 3 and 6 year old love the IMAX; we have a membership here, so I'm not sure how expensive it is -- if you and your sister and lots of kids, etc. are going, she should look at whether or not she should get a Family Plus membership...crazy deal that split with another mom each year where you can bring in 6-8 guests each time you come

**Denver Zoo**
Right next to the science museum in the City Park area...pretty good medium sized City Zoo; we have a membership here

**Children's Museum**
My kids have kind of outgrown this mainly b/c we used to go there so much, but it's fun and there's stuff for kids from 6 months to 8-9 years old

**Downtown Aquarium**
Actually a pretty good aquarium, but kind of expensive for the size of the exhibits (i.e. you can go through the whole exhibit in less than 90 minutes easy)...if you go there, make sure to go to the kids play area located behind the restaurant...they don't advertise it at all and most people don't even know it's there.

**Denver Art Museum**
It's supposed to have some great stuff for kids, but we haven't been yet

**Boulder**
You could go up to Boulder, walk the 16th street mall, do a small hike, etc. Boulder's just a fun feeling town and the setting is beautiful...it's only about 15-20 minutes from Westminster; there's also another (smaller, but still cool) Children's museum just east of boulder in Lousiville called the WOW museum.

**Downtown Denver**
There's a free shuttle that runs along the 16th street mall from LoDo (lower downtown) almost all the way to the Capitol -- my kids think riding it is kind of fun; I also love the Highlands area of downtown Denver for funkier shops, cool delis/coffee shops and boutiques

**Train Rides**
As far as train rides go, there's the light rail which mainly goes from donwtown Denver south. A great ride would be the ski train which goes from Union Station downtown to the ski area at Winter Park. I'm not sure if it's open yet, but if it is that could be lots of fun. When you get up to Winter Park, you could go sledding, etc. if you didn't want to ski. If you've got a child who is super into trains, there is a train museum in Golden (about 10 minutes west of Denver) where I live. I think it's ok, not great, but my kids aren't really into trains.

**Outdoor/Nature Fun**
There are lots of short hikes in Boulder, but I like my side of town just as well. Lookout Mountain is just 15 minutes from downtown denver and there are some great views from up there, some nice hikes and a great Nature Center (county run) that's free and has some nice short hikes for kids. It would be a good way to feel like you're up in the mountains, but would probably only be a a 1/2 hour drive. Another thing on this side of town that people like to do is Dinosaur Ridge -- you can drive along this ridge and see fossilized dinosaur footprints and other fossils. There's also a visitor center and the whole thing is free too.

**Pools/Indoor Fun**
Depending on where you live and what kinds of facilities you have, you may or may not be impressed, but lots of my friends who visit want to go to one of the many municipal indoor pools. Most of them have cool water features for little guys, zero entry pools and great water slides. Up by Westminster, there's also a bunch of Pump It Up type places that do open gym times for toddlers/preschoolers.

**Shopping**
The best mall close to you that has Hanna, Naartjie, Pumpkin Patch, etc. is Flatiron's Crossing in Broomfield (5-10 minutes from Westminster). Cherry Creek (just south of downtown denver) is fun for super high end boutiques, good restaurants and it's Mall is also pretty high end. The Highlands area I mentioned before has some cool kids boutiques and funky baby shops.

Feel free to ask more questions or PM me...I'm just running out the door to take advantage of the F&F sale at Naartjie up at Flatirons :)

[tylersmama]

Seconding a few of Jen's recs...

The Museum of Nature & Science is great. I haven't been there with DS yet, but a good friend recently took her 3 yr old and he loved it. They have a dinosaurs exhibit right now that was a big hit, as well as a special area just for younger kids that she liked a lot.

I really like the zoo (we're members), and have heard good things about the Children's Museum.

We just took DS to the Butterfly Pavilion for the first time a couple of weeks ago and he LOVED it. Loved the creepy-crawlies room and loved the butterflies.

Cherry Creek mall has a GREAT play area for kids...giant rubbery breakfast foods. It can get really crowded if the weather is crappy, but if you're going to the mall anyway, it can be great to have a place to let the kids get their energy out.

The Georgetown Loop railroad is great, but I'm not sure how late in the season it runs. Tinytown is also great for little ones, but it's definitely closed for the winter.

Lookout Mountain Nature Center is great for some really low-key hiking and they have some nice educational stuff for the kids, too. Other good hikes for little ones would be South Valley Park, and Lair o' the Bear Park.

I just had a girls' weekend up in Glenwood and it was awesome. It definitely won't be too cold for the Hot Springs, you just might have to hurry getting in/out of the water. :)

You probably won't really see any snow unless you head up to the mountains. We don't have any right now, and I don't think there's much in the forecast (and it melts quickly usually when we do get it!). You might drive up to Estes Park and into Rocky Mountain National Park. The scenery is gorgeous, and you could do some light hiking if you want.

That's all I can think of right now, but like Jen said, ask questions or PM me! I'll post back if I think of anything else...there's TONS to do around here, I know I'm just not thinking of it right now!

[new_mommy25]

Thank you everyone for the lists so far! I am copying and pasting into my manual. :)

I am so happy to hear about Glenwood Springs. Last time I went it was over 4th of July so definitely a different climate!

I'm stoked to hear about the indoor pools. Do you have any idea which one with a water slide is closest to Westminster? My DS would be over the moon with the waterslide.

We'll definitely be hitting the mall for shopping and playing. My sister has an 18mo old DS so they go to the indoor play area a lot.

Love the idea of Lookout Mountain and Dinosaur ridge!

We are definitely planning to go to the mountains for snow. We can't go skiiing because I think it will be too hard to coordinate with the babies and my parents but we want to play. My sister has one of those big circular disk things. I'll inquire about a sled. Maybe I will buy her DS one so my kids can use it. :)

Jodi, great to "see" you too! Hope you and your family are doing well. (((hugs)))

[rlu]

We were in the Denver area in Sept.

The first full day we went to Estes Park and into the Rocky Mountain parks. There was snow so that was a treat for DS.

Second full day we traveled to Golden to see Buffalo Bill's Grave (on Lookout Mountain). DS really enjoyed the Buffalo Bill area, they have a few things for kids to do in the museum and he sat on the mechanical horse they have in the store. http://www.buffalobill.org/

While in Golden we had hoped to also see the Mineral museum and Triceratops Trail (although Dinosaur ridge sounds bigger and more to see). We did not do the train museum since they had Thomas there that weekend and we've already done that crazy scene.
http://www.americantowns.com/co/golden/organization/colorado_school_of_mines_geology_museum

http://geology.about.com/od/geology_co/ig/triceratrail/

http://www.crrm.org/


Third full day we hit the Denver zoo. DS had a meltdown so we only saw half, but we did see the snow leopard cubs - too cute. And DS loved the alligator snapper.

eta: the Denver airport itself is quite a sight, and it has a "train" you take to get your luggage. DS was intrigued by the sails and we got a close up of the "tie downs" at one point.

[jenmcadams]

I'm stoked to hear about the indoor pools. Do you have any idea which one with a water slide is closest to Westminster? My DS would be over the moon with the waterslide.


Paul Derda Rec Center
There's a great one in Broomfield ... Take I-25 N to 136th Ave and it's just a few miles off the freeway. Some of our friends who live in Superior/Broomfield have had birthday parties there. It's called the Paul Derda Rec Center. The indoor pool is fun, the waterslides are great and it also has an indoor play area that has soft things to climb on and cool hamster tunnel type things and slides for the bigger kidspoo
http://www.broomfield.org/recreation/pdrcinfo.shtml

Apex Center
This one is over in Arvada, but might be as close as Derda depending on where in Westminster you're staying. I think it's little kid pool area is a little more impressive (sort of western themed) and it still has neat big kid slides. Finally, it also has an indoor play area in addition to the pool
http://www.apexprd.org/facilities/apex-center

Have Fun!