Denver Aquarium

Colleen and I wanted to go checkout the Denver Aquarium in downtown Denver. It used to be called Ocean Journey, but that went bankrupt hence the new name. Well, it’s now been remodeled and a new restaurant has been added. Neither of us have been since all the changes have taken place so we decided to go check it out.

I think the changes have been good. First of all, it’s now open until 10pm Sun – Thurs and 11pm on Friday and Saturday. Secondly, after 6pm you get a discount which makes it cheaper than going to a movie. Finally, the now have live tigers that hunt the fish in this one section of the aquarium. Needless to say that was my favorite part.

The Denver Aquarium is the biggest aquarium between Chicago and California so it’s got a lot to see, however I was hoping for more. They did have six foot eels swimming with giant sea turtles and sharks that got up to 7 feet, however I wanted to see a whale or something. The stingrays that they had in the sandbar that you could feed and pet were sans barbs. Although they did have coconut trees that you could climb up which looked fun.

It took us an hour and a half to walk through everything and the restaurant looked good however they were catering a private company party when we were there so we didn’t get to try it out.

Bottom line: If you are looking for something different to do, since it’s open late, the Denver Aquarium would be a good place to go on a date, however if you want to see whales and dolphins, you will have to go to California.

Baby Ticker

Alright. I admit it. I’m excited about our baby. Colleen was mentioning the other day about how we had countdowns for the marathon and getting married, but I hadn’t put up a countdown for our baby. So it now should appear above on the main page.

So far we’ve bought this super sweet stroller. Check it out.

The baby seat attaches to the stroller and also detaches so you can carry baby directly out of stroller and into the Flex-Loc 5-point front adjust infant car seat and base. (Which was one of the two to pass the Consumer Reports safety test!) The stroller itself has a hand brake and tether strap to prevent the jogger from getting away from you. And it has a fully adjustable 5-point harness to keep the baby from getting away from the jogger! While the baby enjoys the smooth ride of the 16-inch, full ballbearing chrome quick-release all-terrain bicycle tires it can recline in its multi-position reclining padded seat. The ride is even further softened because the entire frame is steel, not aluminum. Of course it has a large storage basket and parent tray with 2 cup holders along with a removable child tray with cup holder. To top it off it has an oversized tilt-top ratcheting canopy with covered sunroof and two zipper pockets. Finally the trigger fold system reduces the stroller to a compact unit for storage or travel. WHEW!

We also purchased a crib. It’s not nearly as fancy but here’s what it looks like.

Here is the matching dresser that we have *NOT* bought yet….

Colleen goes for her next checkup on Monday. Hopefully we will hear the heartbeat again. That’s always exciting. Anyhow, just thought I’d give a baby update!

Marketing 101

So, Colleen and I were at Barnes and Noble (one of our favorite hangouts) slurping the pure sugar goodness otherwise known as Starbucks…when it dawned on me that if any subset of books should grab ones attention to read, it should be the books on marketing. Right?

Truly if the author of the book knows anything about marketing, he/she would know what to put on their cover to attract my attention. Being a small business owner, I should be their target customer. Yet, after glancing through the ENTIRE section, only three books stood out enough for me to flip through. Two made it to the all-too comfortable chair where they might as well install Latte IV drips, and one book made it home with me.

I’m sure there were many good books that I passed over in the process but the whole point in marketing is to NOT be passed over.

Ok, enough said, I’ll step down off my soapbox now.

Nuggets Game

On Monday night, Colleen and I went to the Denver Nuggets game at the Pepsi Center to go see their new player Allen Iverson. We wouldn’t have normally gone but since Colleen won tickets from work we decided to pay for parking and go see a NBA game.

During the game, I couldn’t help but notice all the lights and flashing graphics and loud music, a perfect place for an epileptic to have a seizure.

After the game, Colleen and I discussed how the rap music they play at the NBA games isn’t very family oriented, and instead of playing music for the fans, I think they play music for the players themselves. Because, what baller wants to hear some ’80′s song while they are dribbling?

It was good, but I wouldn’t go back unless it were for free or a playoff game. At least they won, but we left during the 4th Quarter so we could beat the rush.

Am I getting old?