Trip to Littleton, CO

We flew to Denver last weekend with the kids. They had a day off of school for parent conferences, so we decided to take advantage of the three day weekend. We left Thursday night after work and school and flew into Denver, arriving at our Hyatt House late in the evening.
The next morning I loaded the boys up early into the rental car and took off so that Michael could have the hotel room in which to work. As the boys and I drove west, with the sun behind us, we were treated the most amazing view of snow capped mountains ahead of us and bright gold, yellow, orange and red trees all around us. We had arrived in the peak fall foliage season and we were very impressed.
We were in town to let the boys get to know Littleton and Denver and to do some house hunting. We started our morning by driving around the neighborhood. There are lots of parks tucked in everywhere in Littleton and mature trees. It is a very pretty town. We had an appointment at the local STEM school and had a very thorough tour after which Davis declared that the school was made for him and that he HAD to attend. Samuel liked it too.
Then we drove over to the local elementary school which is ranked extremely high. We toured that and were all impressed especially Samuel. A hop, skip and a jump from there we met our real estate agent, Kelli to look at the first of four houses. The house was beautifully updated and in a great neighborhood, but the master had NO closet space and it only had a one car garage. Then we saw two more houses that were not good fits at all. The last house was one of the very first I had earmarked when looking back in August. It has a four levels and is very modern looking inside. We all fell in love when we visited it. The boys told me it was their favorite and I agreed.
We left Kelli and went home to get Michael. We told him about our day and then we drove out to Aspen place in Littleton to check out Michael's priority, the Alamo Drafthouse. It was a very nice Alamo and Michael declared it sufficient. We went to downtown Littleton after the movie (Goosebumps) and bought some chocolate at the chocolate shop and enjoyed the pumpkin decorated light poles. The downtown of Littleton is absolutely adorable and full of wonderful shops and restaurants.
The next morning we got up very early and drove an hour north to Erie, Co and the Anderson Farms Fall Festival. This was the best pumpkin patch I have ever been to. Arriving as it opened was perfect as we beat the crowds and had the most popular activities to ourselves. The boys rode go carts, sifted for rocks and gems and fossils, took a hayride and explored the corn maze and playground. We all had a great time launching gourds at targets and eating festival food and listening to blue grass on the main stage. The weather was crisp and cool, but the sun was shining. It was a glorious morning.
That afternoon we drove out to meet Kelli and show Michael our two favorite houses. He liked both of them and we were very pleased. After house shopping, we went back to downtown Littleton for snacks and margaritas at Merle's. The kids then donned their capes and masks and we joined in the Main Street Trick or Treating. The kids walked up and down the street, stopping at each store to trick or treat. It was great fun and so interesting to see all the families and all the costumes.
We had an hour to kill before meeting my friend Tate and his family for dinner, so we drove over to Cherry Creek and found a wonderful playground. The kids played and Michael and I sat in the setting sun and watched them and talked over our future.
We had a nice dinner with my friend and his family and got to introduce our children to each other. They were very excited to hear about our house hunting and made us feel very welcomed.
Sunday morning, we got up and checked out of our hotel and drove to downtown Denver. We wanted the kids to see the city as well as Littleton. We parked near 16th street and took the street car to the end of the line and walked back. We found a little park which had free foozball, pingpong and mini golf and we enjoyed playing in the sunshine. Then we made our way to the tattered cover bookstore to browse before ending at the Union Train Station which has been beautifully redone. We had lunch there before getting back into our car and driving to the airport. It was a wonderful trip and really solidified our love of the area.