These Happy Golden Days

I work four days a week now, with Thursdays being my day to be home with the kids.  Now that the weather is nice, we try to find fun adventures to do, usually with Jena and David and Andrew (who just turned 1 year old - where does the time go?!).

This week we decided to head West to the little town of Golden, just ten minutes from Lakewood.  There's a charming little local coffee shop called Windy River Cafe that has delicious coffee and pastries and a fun little room for the kids to play in. 

 

The cafe also had comfy leather seating and a table with books, crayons and coloring books.

Fully caffeinated and stuffed with apricot almond scones, we loaded up the double strollers and headed down the riverside path toward Clear Creek and its elaborate playground, a twenty minute walk away.

Normally Clear Creek is a favorite of kayakers this time of year as the spring thaw brings cold, clear, FAST water running down from the high country.  This winter was so dry and so warm that the water level looks more like August, so I was willing to let the kids play in this little side stream trickling into the main waterway.

Staying safely back from the swift water (though still close enough to throw rocks!).

We walked farther down the path towards the playground, only to notice the forklifts and construction fencing surrounding the closed-off area. We continued on to another river access point, this one with old overflow pipes that simply fascinated the 3 year old minds.

Jack was more interested in the contents of his snack cup...

We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then strolled back into town. The boys took nice long naps after that!