The Naughty Monkey!

All of us relaxing after a hot but exciting day at the zoo!  The air conditioner was running on high at the restaurant!

Last summer JJ and her neighbors, Cathi and Becci, came to visit Bob and I in Denver.  While they were there for the week we planned several "touristy" things to do in Denver.  One of these was to go to the zoo.  Of course, we chose the hottest day of the summer for this expedition but we were tough!  Bob went with us but opted to sit in the shade with a cool drink and "people watch" while we went on to observe the wildlife.

I had my camera with me but decided that I had taken many pictures at zoos and they all seemed to look alike so didn't have my camera in my hand ready for the quick shot.  Too bad!  We started around and Becci (16 years old at the time) did take lots of pictures.  Soon we came to the monkey display.  Oddly, we and one zoo worker were the only ones there.  He was standing close to the fence observing a monkey who seemed to be showing off a bit.  Becci thought he was cute and went up to the fence next to the zoo guy to get some pictures.  The rest of us just watched kind of from a distance.  Other people started coming with strollers, little children and even some young people in their 20s. 

Becci shortly after the monkey episode watching an ape, who was NOT naughty!  Too late I realized I should always keep my camera handy.

All of a sudden the monkey became very excited and started running back and forth screaming and then he was throwing his poop at us!!!! (mostly Becci who was so busy looking through the eye of the camera she didn't realize what was happening)  The people with children and strollers began leaving quickly before the questions started which was very smart on the parents part!  The monkey continued to scream and strut around excitedly showing off his "family jewels".  By then I was staring dumbfounded but not with my mouth open!  Becci, I think, was still not figuring it out because she was standing close to the fence.  The crowd had dwindled to just us country folks.   Just then, with a scream the monkey raced right toward Becci, jumped up on the fence with another scream and raced to the back of the enclosure behind the trees!  JJ and Cathi were laughing hysterically and Becci just looked a bit shaken. as I looked around we really were the only ones left to see this weird episode!

I said,  "c'mon you perverts let's see what the apes have to offer!"  They argued that THEY were not the perverts in that scenario.  I kind of wish I had taken a video of our faces during this whole event.  Anyway, we have not forgotten our episode with that naughty monkey!

Somehow I feel like I should add a recipe for Monkey Bread here---or not!

As I said, I didn't use my camera but this is Becci up close getting a shot of the action of otters at the Aquarium similar to what she was doing at the monkey cage.

Not the monkey!  JJ poses with a fake ape!

A Scrapbook of Denver Memories part 1

Bob shows off his "diploma" for completing his radiation.

Bob relaxes outside before going in for his treatment.

 Bob has finished his radiation treatments and we are back home!  The 7 weeks really went by much faster than I thought they would and I do have lots of memories of the new friends we made, the interesting people we met and the adventures we had.  If we had to be away from home and go through this experience, Denver was a great place to do it!  I can't say enough good things about the "Blue Mesa Beauties" and the rest of the staff at The Urology Center of Colorado and the staff of the VQ Hotel down the street from there!  They all took great care of us.

Bob's certificate is signed by the ladies that operated the machine

Bob drinks his water before heading over to get his daily dose of radiation!  As one man said, " I need to get recharged so I can glow tonight!

From the first day we met Bob's radiologist, Dr. Gross and his crew, I knew it was the right thing for Bob to do.  They all have been so caring, reassuring, and lots of fun.  Their upbeat attitude is hard to resist.  The first day of treatments was the hardest due to the unknown, but they all kept it light and set the tone for the rest of the time.  The actual radiation treatments were not difficult--as they put it, the patient just lays there (some even take a nap, they claim)  while the girls do all the work.  There is no pain, nausea, or hair loss as there was in the past.  The after effects are very minimal.

The Blue Mesa Beauties.  Arrow points to the newest one--Iris the receptionist.  Nice stick figure, Iris!  They are posing next to the radiation machine.

The Crew (Blue Mesa Beauties) keeps the men of the Gentlemen's Club in line.  The have a special waiting room furnished with snacks, juice, coffee, and Chocolate! there is a TV, magazines and several books on living with prostate cancer.  The wives are also allowed in the Gentlemen's Club and I went every day with Bob.  I met some very interesting men and women in that room.  The people who went before and after Bob visited with me and we became quite good friends.  The girls had special names for each patient.  and teased some (who could take it) unmercifully.  There was a teacher for the DOD that was going to be 3 weeks late going to South Korea to teach math.  He had a new Ipad and we all gave him a ribbing.  His nickname was Mr. Trouble!  There was a Mr. Potato
Chip and Bob was the Favorite Cowboy.  The men were very interesting to chat with and offered a lot of suggestions for things to do while we were in Denver.  Bob even sold some of Danny and Kathi's chickens and beef to some of them!  Jean actually drove up to their farm to tour it and pick up the meat!  She has become a good friend of us all.

Blue shoe run to benefit prostate cancer research.

While we were in Denver we stayed at the VQ Hotel about a half block down the street from the Urology Center.  They gave us a big break on the price of our room and worked with the Urology Center's Foundation to help us with some of our expenses.  I need to mention the Foundation because they helped us out and I hope to help them as well.  They do free prostate cancer screenings around the Denver area, support reseach and education, help patients and employees when necessary.  They are having The Blue Shoe 5 K run/walk on September 25 at 8 AM and it sounds like it will be a very fun event with a post run beer garden, live music, an inflatable slide and other activities for kids, survivor recognition with channel 7's Mike Landess and free pasta among the events.  I'm guessing they'll also have free prostate cancer screenings there too.  It will be at the Urology Center of Colorado Just north of Invesco Field on Mile High Stadium Circle if anyone is interested.  They have a web sight as well. It is theblueshoerun.com.

The pool at the VQ.  I spent many hours here and got the best tan I ever had!  I also got a lot of reading done!

Back to the hotel, we were pleasantly surprised at the friendliness and care we received during our stay.  Everyone bent over backwards to see that we got the room we wanted, a refrigerator and microwave, shuttle rides and even several complementary meals!  Thanks to Cory, Chris, Gerald, Daniel and the others who were working at the desk and working with the Urology Center. Your cheerful greetings and help were greatly appreciated.  Tammy, marketing, and the catering coordinator, thank you so much for all you've done and especially for the free meals--they were great!  Bill, I had fun picking the crabapples and making jelly and crabapple butter from them.  Your flowers have been beautiful and I especially loved the hollyhocks!  Matthew, Israel, the rest of the wait staff and of course the chef, we enjoyed every meal we had in the Skybox, thanks! Juan, Norma and the other shuttle drivers, you helped us to have some enjoyable experiences while in Denver without having to try to find parking or driving in downtown traffic.  Norma, I loved that you had bananas and sandwiches for the homeless on your route and that you waited for us in front of the convention center while we took pictures of each other with the big blue bear.  Juan , your friendly concern and interesting conversation while shuttling us to and fro to the Rockies games, La Loma, Spaghetti Factory and the Aquarium are greatly appreciated.

Crabapple butter made with Splenda brown sugar for Bob and Juan our favorite shuttle driver.

Crabapple jelly I made from the trees out in front of the hotel.  This one was for Bill, the gardener and pool man.

Here I am picking crabapples.  there sure were a lot of them!

About 10 pounds of crabapples are in that bag.  I picked 2 batches of them.  There's my kindle, too!

These are just a few of the memories we will have.  I still have lots of pictures and memories of people we met and experiences we had but I will save them for later blogs!