After breakfast today we all (
my dad, John, Johnny, & me) went to the Coors Factory in Golden, CO (nestled up against the mountains and not far from the Mother Cabrini Shrine). The Coors Factory offers a free tour to the public and up to three free beers at the end of the tour (to those 21 & older). We had heard good things about the tour and since free beer is appealing to both John and my dad, it seemed like a good thing to do today. Plus, we all wanted to see Golden (which is VERY beautiful and is a small town, which we relate to) and get into the mountains.
(playing with the robotic hamster before we headed to the Coors Factory)
(The view of the mountains in Golden from the Coors Factory)
To get to the tour, you drive to a parking lot inside of Golden that is specifically for people who are going to the tour. You get on a shuttle bus that takes you to the factory (a few minute drive). Everything was fine until we got onto the shuttle bus. The bus was crammed with people and once we sat down, Johnny--who was sitting on Papa's lap--began to cry. Really loud wails & sobs with fat tears rolling down his cheeks. The reason for this was that as soon as we sat down everybody on the bus started staring at him. And then, because everybody kept staring at him, he was unable to be consoled and just continued to sob. I tried everything I could to get him to calm down but I couldn't blame the kid for continuing to cry when everybody on the bus was either staring at him or giving me scathing looks and the bus driver kept stopping his monologue (you could clearly hear her over the crying, so there wasn't any reason to stop) and kept talking about him over the speakers and drawing attention to it. As we were getting off the bus, I apologized for the crying but really I wanted to deck half of the people across the face (the other half seemed understanding).
(John trying to console Johnny after we got off of the shuttle bus)
Once we were inside the tour they had us show our IDs in order to get a wristband that said we could have beer at the end (obviously Johnny was the only one who didn't get one). They gave us these electronic keypads that you use throughout the tour--you type in the number of the section you are in and then hold them up to your ear to listen to the tour. So, everybody gets to go at their own pace. There was also a lot of visual displays and writing on the walls. The tour itself was really interesting--it was cool to learn how beer is made, and more specifically Coors beer. Johnny did good through the whole tour; content being carried by Papa or Daddy (he insisted on walking through part of it). The end of the tour--the beer tasting--was by far John & my dad's favorite part. Surprise, surprise. Luckily for me they also served free soda too (I hate the taste of alcohol--including beer--and I have no real interest in drinking), so I just had a Dr. Pepper. :) They each only had one beer, even though you they could have had three each. After that we had to ride the shuttle back to the parking lot where our car was parked. Johnny didn't cry at all this time: there was only a few people on the shuttle and amazingly they didn't stare. Imagine that. [Read with immense sarcasm] Even more amazing was that my dad made it out of there alive without someone trying to destroy him & his Dallas Cowboys hat. :)
(My dad is listening to the audio tour pad & Johnny was holding his daddy's pad and copying Papa)
(Walking through the tour)
(John enjoying his Coors Light)
(My dad mocking me because I wanted to take a picture of him drinking his Killians beer--nice dad, huh?)
(The guys' beers & my Dr Pepper)
The drive home was nice (except that I had to drive since the guys had beer) and Johnny even fell asleep. When we got back to our apartment John had to leave for work for a couple of hours & my dad and Johnny took a nap. After their nap we ran to the grocery store really quick (and my dad got me a Pumpkin Spice Latte w/ soy from Starbucks--amazing as usual!!) & then I made some homemade pizza (it was yummy) and salad for dinner. Once John got home from work and we were done with dinner, we got Johnny in his lion Halloween costume (after layering him in sweatpants and sweatshirts) and I painted the nose & whiskers on his face (with my dark brown eyebrow pencil since the store ran out of face paint). Johnny made an adorable lion!! :)
(Johnny napping)
(My dad napping--heehee)
(Right after I drew on his whiskers & lion nose)
(Isn't he an adorable lion??)
(Johnny & his Papa)
(Right after he went to his very first house--he is smiling because they told him he was a cute lion)
(He wanted to walk by himself--he is carrying a blue glow stick which didn't show up really well with the flash)
With wagon, flashlight, pumpkin Trick-or-Treat bags, glow sticks, reflectors, camera, cell phone, binky, and other assorted items in tow (never hurts to be prepared??), we were off to Trick-or-Treat! Across the street from our apartment is a big new housing development with large houses, so we decided that was the best & easiest place to Trick-or-Treat. Apparently all of the other people in the neighboring districts had the same idea, since it was crowded and many of the houses had already ran out of candy. It was dark outside when we were finally able to go out so we made sure to be extra extra careful. Johnny was excited about riding in his wagon at first and even let us take him up to the first couple of houses to get candy, but then it all went downhill. He didn't want to ride in the wagon. He didn't want to be carried. He didn't want to hold hands. He wanted to walk...no, run. He just wanted to run and walk briskly down the sidewalk--passing by all the houses with candy. He could care less about Trick-or-Treating, he just wanted to walk. We managed to get him to go to a few other houses, but basically we walked up and down many blocks following a lion on a mission. Until he got tired. And grumpy. Then we (re: Daddy) had to carry a kicking & screaming lion back down the many many blocks to our apartment (past all the very iffy looking people that came over from some iffy neighborhoods & the adults trick-or-treating).
Now we are home safe (and warm), watching Young Frankenstein, because it is the BEST MOVIE EVER. There is no disputing this, so don't even dare try. ;)
"DESTINY! DESTINY! NO ESCAPING THAT FOR ME! DESTINY! DESTINY! NO ESCAPING THAT FOR ME!"
" Roll, roll, roll in ze hay"
"PUT.THE CANDLE.BACK."
Dr. Frankenstein: "Damn your eyes."
Igor: "Too late."
Dr. Frankenstein: [singing] "If you're blue, and you don't know where to go, why don't you go where fashion sits..."
Monster: "'UTTIN ON THE IIIITZ"
Okay, okay, I'll stop with the movie quotes...I could quote the entire movie & every single one of the quotes would be hilarious. :) Just two more words about this movie: Abby Normal. ;) Hahahahaha...
I hope everybody had a fun & safe Halloween! :) We didn't get a single Trick-or-Treater to our apartment (could it be the three flights of stairs??), but we did have fun going with Johnny for his first time Trick-or-Treating. Tomorrow is day three with my dad (he flies home Monday morning) and we're planning on going to Boulder and visiting the Boulder History Museum for their free day (they even serve free ice cream sundaes at the end). John has to work for four hours in the afternoon so we'll be going in the morning probably.
Happy Halloween Everyone!!
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