KBPI Denver

I'm taking a moment to brag on one more "business"....KBPI (a radio station).

I am an avid listener for many reasons.  Of course, I love the music.  They play songs that I like and the commercials aren't aggravatingly often.  That said, there are more reasons and they stem from the great DJs.

I'm a particular fan of the morning show and Beardo in the afternoons.  The Morning Show with Willie B, Sweet Cheeks and Scoop is a must-listen for me.  Willie is one of the most giving and generous "celebrity" I've seen.  He is always looking for ways to help the community, veterans and anyone else that he can.  Beardo is one of the most humble, nice guys you'll ever listen to.  Just a great array of DJs to share music and personalities.

There are a few more hours left to donate to "The Hand That Feeds" which is a KBPI event with Christopher Dodge World in Golden, CO.  They are accepting non perishable goods to feed families in need this holiday season.  Be there and do what you can!

Amazing Dance Studio

I'm not so big on the name drops but the next couple posts are gonna highlight a couple of amazing "businesses" in the Denver area.....

Destination Dance LLC is an amazing little dance studio nestled into a great location in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.  The teachers are all friendly and just as concerned with making class enjoyable as they are with teaching technique.  The small class size allows great one-on-one interaction and makes for a fun learning experience.  The classes are affordable, especially compared to other studios in the area.  There are great opportunities to perform as well as compete in National competitions.

Currently the classes range from ballet and lyrical to jazz, hip hop, cheer/pom, musical theater and everything in between.  There are individual lessons available at a reasonable rate.  There are also family discounts for those with more than one child involved.  A trial class is offered to any and all perspective students and they love seeing new faces!

Here is the information....

Destination Dance LLC
4550 Wadsworth Blvd Unit H
Wheat Ridge, CO
303-941-9554
www.destinationdancellc.com

KBPI Rock N Roll Car Show 2016

This is not my first trip to the KBPI Rock N Roll Car Show but it was my best.  They never seem to disappoint.  Though the gates opened at 7:00, I didn't roll in until about 9:15.  Admittedly, I was trying to avoid just a little of the baking heat and get a decent parking spot.  I succeeded.  My parking spot was not fantastic but it was pretty good.  The parking attendant I dealt with wasn't exactly a ball of f***ing sunshine but she was okay and the other parking attendants I spoke with were very nice.  I'm gonna give her the benefit of the doubt that she was having a shit morning and that's not her usual demeanor.

Having scored a $3 off coupon, I spent only $7 to get in.  The lines moved quickly at the box office and they gave you an information sheet/map.  The bag check went quickly and the staff, as always, was very polite, kind and efficient.  I did visit a concession stand to get a water today but didn't indulge in food.  I did check pricing as I went around, though, and the prices were not outrageous for some pretty decent eats.  They had a pretty wide variety and you could easily stay on a budget and eat there.  You can also bring in coolers (no larger than 12x12 I think), as well.

I started on the lower lot which may have been a mistake.  With my somewhat early arrival, some of the cars weren't there yet and weren't set up and by the time I got done with the upper lot, I didn't feel like trekking back down to the lower lot to look at a couple of rows that I hadn't seen.  That said, it didn't disappoint.  There were some gorgeous cars and the owners were like proud papas.

The upper lot was my favorite though.  I walked every row from my least favorites (the Subaru's) to some of my favorites including the movie cars, the Corvette Club, and the jeeps because, let's face it, I'm a jeep girl at heart.  I explored some, but not all, of the booths and was impressed, as always, at the layout and the efficiency in planning for the show.  If you can't find a car you love at that show, you're not looking.

Then there was the grudge races.  Oh sweet Lord, the grudge races.  I can't see how anyone could NOT want to watch these.  The burnout contests, the performances from School of Rock and Lola Black (I missed the last act that closed things out).  I mean, if you think that you can find better entertainment for $7, I challenge you to tell me what that is!?!

Once again, I will be giving the Rock N Roll Car Show a HUGE thumbs up and promising that I'll be back next year.  Maybe I'll get there sooner and walk it a little different but I'll be back.

**Words to the wise:  1) Hydration, hydration, hydration  2) Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen!

Review of Broncos Training Camp

I'd previously been to Broncos training camp at Sports Authority Field (when Dove Valley's was being worked on) but I got to attend training camp at CSUHealth Training Center at Dove Valley this week.  Here's what I thought.....

Cons:  Seriously, my ONLY con was that there were virtually no autographs at the end.  They had us go through this whole protocol of sitting still as they moved back the rope, moving slowly and waiting.  Only a few players actually came out and signed and they literally signed for about two minutes.  This sucked.  None of us expected an hour but at least coming over and doing a few would have been nice.  With that being said, if I'd have spent 2.5 hours practicing in the blazing sun, I would not have felt like signing autographs either.  If THIS is the only con, it's not bad.

Pros:  The facility was beautiful.  Bathrooms were clean.  Concessions (aka soda and water) were only $1 each, which is unheard of.  There was a place to refill water.  Free rally towels and flags. You really couldn't pick a bad seat on the hill.  The staff was incredibly nice.  Parking wasn't bad at all. Oh and BRONCOS PRACTICING!  Yes!  Seeing them up close and personal, running drills.  Awesome.

Recommendations:  Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen!  Don't forget a blanket or something to sit on.  Don't forget that bag policy (clear bags, etc).  Bring water or cash to purchase water.  No video allowed and no professional lenses.  ENJOY it!  Don't spend your whole time looking through a little viewpiece.  Take it all in instead of shooting pictures the ENTIRE time.

Review of the Dragon Boat Festival at Sloane's Lake

I attended the Dragon Boat Festival for the first time on Saturday.  While we were only there for about 2.5 hours, I feel like I can give a relatively complete review on what I saw while I saw there. Here goes.....

Parking:  I started with this because, well, it's the first thing you have to do.  This was, perhaps, my only complaint.  Parking was atrocious.  Now I'd like to make a few points about it, though.  1-After we got in, we found out we could have gone to Sports Authority Field and shuttled in.  I feel like this could have been better advertised but have a feeling that this would have made the parking situation more doable.  2-It's a festival and parking is expected to be wonky.  3-We went on a Saturday afternoon when, I'm guessing, there was a peak number of people.  With that said, I think there should be handicapped options available (or better advertised if they already are).  I'm betting if we'd have gotten there first thing in the morning, there would have been more available parking.

Staff:  All of the staff that we encountered were great.  It was watched over carefully by the police and security.  There was a first aid tent that was located in a convenient location.  No complaints, for sure.

Food/Drink:  I have to say, this was one of the widest varieties I've seen at an event recently.  They passed on some of the traditional carnival/fair food to have a more complete array of appetizing food. There were still funnel cakes and berry kabobs but there was also chicken teriyaki and wobbly coconut drinks.  The food is still "fair" prices, though, so bring your pocketbook...and bring cash.

Vendors:  I was actually pretty impressed with the level of merchandise they had.  Instead of it just being tent after tent of Mary Kay, essential oils sold from home, and other work from home businesses, there were many hand made and unique options.  There was a massage tent as well as some tents from Denver's Fox channel and Comedy 103.5.

Entertainment:  We got to watch only a portion of the entertainment but it was definitely very neat.  The martial arts demonstrations were incredible.  The dragon "dances" (as I don't know what they're called) were absolutely amazing to watch.  It was a tiny step into a beautiful culture.

Favorites.....
Disciples of Funk were one of my favorites.  They were energetic and had so much pop in their step.  As a dancer, myself, I love to watch performances and their creativity and funk were enough to get everyone's attention.  We were able to watch their performance of dances through the 80s and 90s.  The neatest part was that they would show the dances (for those that didn't know how) and encouraged people to join in! Here is a link to their facebook page: Disciples of Funk

My other favorite was the AARP lip sync/karaoke tent.  We stood outside this tent over and over singing along with "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Shake it Off", "Let it Go" and other memorable tunes.  It was a fun and goofy way to entertain a crowd!

Recommendations:  Come early for good parking.  Bring cash as most of the vendors don't accept credit cards (at least the ones we visited).  Sunscreen, Sunscreen, Sunscreen! (I can't stress this enough with the Denver sun and hot weather) Either bring a parasol/umbrella or find shade regularly and STAY HYDRATED!  Have fun!

The Littleton Museum

Denver locals, if you have opportunity to explore the Littleton Museum with your children, I encourage you to do so.  Though they may roll their eyes and act bored in the museum, I believe that it will build a nice platform to discuss some of the entitlement issues of the current generation.  Here are some talking points from the museum.....

*The Printing Press: Yes, that's right, kids, the internet didn't exist back then.  In fact, the only way people could get their news was to read the newspaper.

*Milking Stools: You couldn't just go to King Soopers and buy a gallon of milk.  The milk had to be milked by hand from the cows.

*Butter Churn: Buying a stick of butter wasn't so simple.  You had to churn the butter with a crank.

*Old Farm Equipment: Nope, no engines to run tractors and such.  Everyone was run by either pushing it by hand or by horses pulling the equipment.

*The Old Schoolhouse: All the kids, regardless of age, were in one room.  There was no AC and the heat was from a wood burning stove.

*No Air Conditioning:  Period.

*Wood burning stove: If you wanted heat, you had to chop the wood and keep your eye on the wood burning stove. If you wanted to cook, you had to chop the wood.  If you wanted to boil water, you had to chop the wood.  Manual labor was required at every turn around.

*Gardening and Hunting: If you didn't know how to do it or "didn't like it" you didn't eat.

*Blacksmith:  The amazing things they can do with metal are so neat to see.  To listen to them discuss how many things they were used for was incredible.

*No bathrooms: Not a single one.  Go look at the 1860s and 1890s home.  There was a bowl for water in the bedroom to wash your face, etc but no toilet in the house...why?  Look it up.

These are just a few of the talking points you can discuss with your kids.  It's a great way to give them a true start to appreciate what they have now and the conveniences our generations have.

Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum

I took a little trip to the "Wings Over the Rockies" Museum yesterday just to explore and ended up falling in love with the facility.  Here's why....

Facility:  It was clean, open and spaced well.  There were so many planes to look at and, yet, I didn't feel like I was crowded at any point or that I was unable to fully explore the details of the plane.  You may not be allowed to climb in to the cockpit but you are definitely close enough to get a very real understanding of how big and gorgeous these planes are.

Content:  I felt like there was an incredible variety of planes to look at.  The placards by them gave thorough information and very interesting little tidbits, as well.

Staff:  While I didn't have a ton of interaction on my self-guided tour, the interactions I did have were pleasant and very able to give me information, not only about the planes but about other exhibits that might peak my interest.

Bathrooms:  The bathrooms were clean and well-stocked.

Favorite exhibit:  By far, my favorite was the unexpected but awesome Star Wars X Wing fighter.  It was so cool to see in person and life sized!

Negatives?  I honestly can't say that there were any.  The admission was $12.50 for adults and they offer annual memberships if you want to frequently return.

Will I be returning..... Absolutely.  No question!

If you would like to visit, here is the website address to learn about the location, admission prices and more.....
http://wingsmuseum.org/

Destination Dance LLC-Wheat Ridge, CO

I'm a big promoter of reviewing the businesses you love so I'd like to take a moment to review one I'm personally a HUGE fan of.....

Destination Dance LLC in Wheat Ridge, Colorado!

The staff at Destination Dance is dedicated to making certain that they give your kids a fun experience and that they learn while they're at it.  The kids enjoy going to the classes and have the opportunity to perform in various recitals, shows, and so on and so forth.  They keep their costs to an affordable rate and their recital and costume fees are also reasonable.

If you haven't got a dance studio, I encourage you to try them out!

Review of "Thunder from Down Under" in Denver

On a Girls Night, we headed out to see "Thunder From Down Under" in Denver.  I can honestly say that the show was a pretty fun night but there are a few things you should know....

1.  Sorry, girls...it's a male revue but they do NOT get naked.  You definitely see some tight buns but no hot dogs.

2.  You're allowed to touch but the women are savages.  These women will stampede to touch the men when they come down the aisles.  Seriously, it's crazy.

3.  Some of them are better dancers than others.  As a trained dancer, I was a bit picky and persnickety about the dancing but, all things considered, they were pretty good.  Some were better than others.

4.  They smell incredible.  If you are lucky enough to get a touch in, they aren't sweaty and gross.  They smell incredible.

5.  They will stay after to take pictures with you.

6.  You will stand in line FOREVER to get a picture.

7.  If you have a chance at your theater, try to get an aisle seat on the middle.  They ignored the outside aisles, for the most part.

8.  They are completely different guys than the Vegas guys.

9.  It's a good time.  Seriously, even for the people that aren't big on it, it's fun.

10. They definitely live up to their  names.  Check it off the bucket list, girls.

Side note:  Though the Paramount was a nice place and the staff was pretty nice, I lost my credit card there and was told LESS than 24 hours later that if they did find it, they would be canceling and destroying it.  I didn't even get a chance to see if they found it within a full 24 hours.  Not a fan of such a policy (though I'm sure there's a reason for it).

Review of Hammonds Candy Cane Festival

I took a little hiatus in order to deal with some personal stuff.  All is well on the shutterbug front....just very very busy.


Today I'll be discussing the 2015 Hammonds Candy Factory Annual Candy Cane Festival.  Hammonds is located at 5735 Washington St in Denver, CO.  Year-round, they offer free tours of the factory where you can actually watch candy being made.  On our spring/summer visit in 2012, we got to see candy ribbon being made.  On this particular visit, during the festival, they were already making Easter bunnies!!!  We also found out that most of the cotton candy that is distributed in grocery stores (even if it doesn't say Hammonds) is actually made in the Hammonds factory.  Hammonds personally packs and packages each package of candy instead of just having a conveyor belt and machine that does it all.  Every member of the staff I've met is fantastic, super sweet and very knowledgeable.

The Candy Cane Festival is held annually on a December weekend (Friday and Saturday) at the Hammonds Factory.  Admission is free and most of the festivities are included with that free admission.  This year, the only paid parts were professional pictures of Santa (if you wanted to take your own pictures, it was free) and the crafts tent.  Tickets were extremely reasonable ($2) to do the paid events.  Offered at no cost? Meeting Santa and Mrs Claus (which on Saturday included a large tasty Hammonds Candy Cane), bounce houses and slides, free cotton candy, free games that had toys or tasty rewards like Hammonds taffy, horse drawn carriage rides, free hot cocoa, trolley rides, mini tours of the factory and more!

As always, the staff was great.  They braved a very, very cold snowy day in order to make everyone's experiences great.  There were heat posts available to warm up and some of the activities were in tents to get a reprieve from the cold.  We got there very early on Saturday and the lines were virtually non-existent.  As we were getting ready to leave, some of the lines appeared long BUT moved very quickly.  For example, mini tours had a long line but people are let in to the touring area in groups so the line moved quickly forward.  The line for the carriage rides got a little long but a nice big group can fit on the carriage so the line moved quickly.  We didn't stand in line for anything for longer than 5-10 minutes.

The tasty treats offered as "samples" or prizes are second to none.  Hammonds candies are absolutely delicious.  I'm a big fan of the candy bars, particularly the one that has dark chocolate and mint (though these were not one of the items given away, they are very reasonably priced and well worth it).  The taffy and cotton candy are absolutely delicious and the candy canes are wonderful.  Even the hot cocoa was fantastic complete with a delicious homemade marshmallow and a peppermint stick stirring stick.  Hammonds definitely delivers on quality and taste!

The location is incredibly easy to find.  Take a quick jaunt off I-25 and you're there.  Admittedly, parking was a bit of a nightmare.  The parking lot of the factory holds the festival so most of the parking is reliant on surrounding businesses.  I saw one surrounding business charging $15 for parking which, I think, chased a few people off but rest assured, folks...most of the surrounding businesses don't gouge you like that.  I'd also like to point out that some of the festival staff was helping to direct traffic for parking.  I was snuggled into a tight spot and had someone actually come over and guide me out to make sure that I got out safely.  I heard people griping about the parking and would love to point out that when you attend a free event, there will be hiccups and you should be thankful to have just a weird parking situation as the only issue.  I might suggest parking down the road or across the street and just walking over to avoid the parking situation. 

Overall, I would completely recommend this festival! It's an incredible free event by an incredible, giving company.  We will definitely be attending again in the future. #HammondsCandies

Broncos Health and Wellness Expo 2015

Saturday, September 5, we attended the inaugural Broncos (and 9 News) Health Expo and it didn't fail to impress.  Though the expo started at 9:00 AM, we arrived around 8:20 and there was already a line formed.  The line continued to grow and curve in front of the building with most of its occupants decked out in jerseys or orange and blue gear.  The team spirit in our city is incredible!  There were plenty of different people pepping up the line to get them excited about the expo.  We will definitely be arriving again early next year, as well, and recommend it for anyone who wants to fully enjoy the experience.

The expo had a great selection of booths with a wide variety of products to try out or information to hear about.  The businesses (etc) were incredibly friendly and very informative.  We tried out everything from different types of pears to mancakes.  We learned about the Dumb Friends League, the Alzheimer's Association, and essential oils. 

 
 

 

One of our favorite booths was this one.  The kids got to try out making smoothies by peddling a bike to power the blender.  I seriously need one of these bikes in my house!

 

 

In addition to the informative power of the booths, there were a lot of fun things just for the kids.  For smaller kids, there was a Jump Bunch booth with an obstacle course and many fun things to try out.  For older ones, there were several booths from Children's Hospital talking about everything from safety to fire prevention and beyond with great, extremely informative displays.

 

At this booth, the kids were allowed to select where they got their "fake injuries" and they were bandaged up, showing them how to apply pressure to a wound.

 

 

If all  of this wasn't fun enough, we got to do some great Broncos-themed activities from meeting players to hanging out with Miles.

 

 

Seriously, he is the most fun mascot in the NFL, I'm sure of it.

 

We even got to go on a locker room tour which got us not only on the field where we got to learn about Sports Authority field AND got to meet some of the cheerleaders.....

 

 

 

....but we also got to see the locker room.  The kids were seriously amazed!

 

 

 

My personal favorite, though, was meeting the crew of our 9 News team.  Everyone from Belen to Danielle to Gary and beyond.  They were so sweet and friendly, making time for everyone.  They made time to take pictures with everyone, though this one is my favorite....

 

 

Review of the Expo:  Incredible experience.  I will definitely be returning next year.  I will try to make more time to make sure we can meet more players (which, obviously, required lines to stand in) but I am extremely pleased with my experience.  Go Broncos!