We’ve been McKinley-Thatcher parents since 2010. We love the small school and its strong community. We have both found that we can make an impact by volunteering. Scott works full-time, yet he’s the coordinator for the grocery card fundraiser and for the DU sporting events fundraisers. Alise is currently the PTA secretary and her passion is communication through the school and classroom Websites and Thursday e-Folders. She’s also been an auction committee team member for the past 2 years. And as a stay-at-home mom, she pops into the school and helps where and when she can including in the library, printing and collating booklets for students to take home and read, and being an extra set of hands.
You and your family recently got back from living in Spain for 5 months. What did you like best about living abroad with kids? What were some of the biggest challenges/rewarding experiences over there? What did the kids miss about the neighborhood?
It was such an amazing opportunity to live overseas. While we missed the Platt Park community while we were away, we knew we’d return. In Spain we loved the history, architecture, walkability, friendliness, welcoming of children everywhere, the culture, and the food. Trying to assimilate into a Spanish-speaking culture with a traditional 9pm or later dinnertime, at times, proved challenging. But, opening our minds, we tried it out and found that it was incredible to be out for a family dinner at 11 o’clock at night and find playgrounds packed with children aged newborns all the way through teenage years. The kids enjoyed themselves and their bilingual school, but they missed their Denver friends and relatives, they missed their toys, and they missed swimming at Harvard Gulch over the summer.
Tips for traveling abroad with kids?
Our kids did an amazing job of traveling the 21+ hours each way to and from Sevilla, Spain. We made sure to have then run around in the airports as we switched planes. And we had some new toys and workbooks for them to keep busy. Plus, travel days were pajama days. They loved running around in public in their pj’s. Our main trick while travelling around Sevilla and other European spots was to always include playgrounds in the daily itinerary. A typical day of exploration included lots of walking and multiple different playground visits. Another trick was that most places we visited had short narrow streets. We let them each take turns at each intersection to choose which way to go next (left, straight, or right). They loved the ownership they had with making decisions. An ice cream here and there also did the trick to keep them going.
For more information about Scott & Alise's adventures in Spain, check out:
http://teamlawrenceadventure.blogspot.com/
Meet Scott & Alise
How long have you been in the neighborhood and how long have you been parents?
One June weekend 10 years ago, plan A was to try backpacking in Rocky Mountain National Park. At the last minute we backed out because the weather was supposed to storm and have torrential rains all weekend long. Plan B was to do a drive through the park, but it turned out that the road was closed due to snow. Plan C was a hike in Morrison. Just as we arrived, a storm started and we hopped back in the car and turned around to drive home. On our way home via a different route, we accidentally came upon the Platt Park weekly Sunday Farmer’s Market, plan D. We had no idea that the neighborhood nor the market existed. We instantly fell in love with the neighborhood, and while we were happy where we were living at the time (Cheesman Park), we immediately started house hunting in this neighborhood. And that’s when we found our current home. It was a few more years before we became parents. We now have a 7-½ year old daughter and twin 5-½ year old sons.