My first blog! Denver vacation

Well, other than MySpace, I have never blogged before. Please be patient with me! I thought it was time to do this because I have so many random thoughts and ideas and things to say and I just can't get it all out. This way, I feel like I've gotten things off my chest :)
I need to chat about my recent trip to Denver with my family. We had SOOOOO much fun! We rarely take a real vacation, but decided we needed to go this year because Ash is going to be a senior this year. She probably won't wanna hang with the fam too much longer so off we went. We borrowed my mom and dad's van for the trip so we would have plenty of room. Headed out on Monday and drove to Casper, WY. I went to school there and I wanted to visit one of my friends. Also, it's half way to Denver, so the trip seemed shorter! Side note... I highly recommend the Quality Inn in Casper! We had lunch with Jodella and then headed off to Denver. Stopped at Centerra and the Loveland Outlets to shop a bit then headed to our hotel. Holy crap! It was such a ghetto Super8! I have stayed in some decent Super8 places and thought I had been to this one. WRONG! This place had quite obviously had the door kicked/forced in several times. The ceiling out in the room leaked anytime someone showered. I'm pretty sure the nightstand had a worn-out spot from where several "transactions" had taken place. We survived one night but then I had to lie to the front desk and tell them there had been an emergency at home and we were checking out. My poor husband thought we were going to be shot or robbed so he slept with his gun in his hand (or so I think). We DID have fun that night though because we went to Casa Bonita for dinner. I hadn't been there in oh, say, 25 years and funny... It hasn't changed a bit! The kids loved it and so did we. The sopapillas alone are worth the visit!
Let's see, next day we hit the zoo. THAT was sooooo much fun too! The best part of this whole week is that Denver kids were already in school, so there weren't a bunch of people or crowds to contend with. I can handle kids in strollers... I can see over them :) Ash loved the snakes which was really quite disturbing to me. I took a ton of pics for her, but I was just waiting for one of those things to get loose and kill me. Macy and Tia loved EVERYTHING! Jamey and I had a great time watching the girls get so excited and I think Jamey really liked the monkeys. One of the things we said we would do on this trip was eat only at restaurants we don't have at home and for 6 days that is what we did with the exception of 2 breakfasts. McD's and Perkin's. Not bad! So, zoo night, we checked into the Radisson Gray Stone Castle which is such a trip! It's a trip cuz I lived in that neighborhood when it was built and had never been inside. I had to call my folks and say, "I'm staying in the castle!" Anyhow, we then had dinner at Hooters. They make the VERY BEST grilled cheese on the planet! After dinner, we hit the hottub and pool and then crashed on Sleep Number beds. That was kinda fun. Oh, I almost forgot... We drove through my old 'hood! We went by my old house, down by my grade school, the place I played soccer, some friends' houses, and my junior high. I get a little sentimental about that stuff. It was fun to show my girls where I spent so much time. And, yes... I walked uphill both ways to and from junior high!
Thursday we went to the museum. Jamey was kinda ADHD that day and we sort of ran through a few of the exhibits. But, the space odyssey part was REALLY cool! We played with all kinds of cool stuff and then we went to the Planetarium to watch a show about astronauts. Amazing how you can feel like you are falling when you are sitting still :) We had some lunch then checked out a bit more of the museum before hitting the IMAX. I was so excited to go there but it was a bit disappointing. It was a film about flying, but it was old and sort of lame. BUT we do get to say we went to IMAX. Overall, a lovely day! Oh, for dinner, we hit Dave & Buster's. Such a blast! We spent entirely TOO much money on food and games, but a good time was had by everyone. It was entertaining to see Jamey and the girls driving NASCAR cars against eachother. I would be in trouble if I didn't mention that Jamey won ;) We switched hotels that night again and stayed for the last 3 nights at the Ramada Plaza in Northglenn. Again, in my old neighborhood and a very nice place. The beds were GREAT! I slept great all three nights.
So, Friday we didn't really have a lot of plans during the day, so we shopped. And shopped. And shopped. We needed school clothes for the Chix and Jamey needed stuff too. He was such a crabass that day! Pouted the ENTIRE time. Found out 2 days later he was really not feeling good. Anyhow, shopped at 16th Street Mall, Cherry Creek, and ended up at Flatiron Crossing. Had a delicious dinner in the food court (I had Panda Express YUM) and headed off to a Rockies game. We had great seats just left of homeplate and not far up. They played the Reds and lost, but it was fun. I enjoy baseball, Jamey hates it, and the girls didn't really care. By the end, Macy was yelling for the players like she knew them personally. "Go, Matt! Good job, Ryan!" It was hilarious. Even Jamey ended up having fun! Got back to the hotel at 11 and needed to rest up for...
Saturday... WATER WORLD DAY!!! This is the day that we had all been looking forward to. I had rented us a "King of the Beach" cabana for the day and that might be the best investment I have EVER made! We had a nice little cabana next to the wave pool and a great hostess, Desi. We got 5 meals with cookies AND Dippin' Dots, 10 bottles of soda (not cans!), 2 water world towels to take home, some sunscreen, the tube rental was included, and so was a locker! It was SOOOOO relaxing to just chill out away from the crowds if we wanted to in between rides/swimming. It started pretty hot n sunny, but then a storm rolled in. Not a really big deal, cuz we had cover from the rain and wind. As it started raining, people headed home so after they re-opened 30 minutes later, there were no lines and it was nice and warm again! The best part is, they use heated water, so the wave pool was nice and cozy. That was an AMAZING day and worth every single cent! We will SO do that again! By the time we were done with this day, we had a little more shopping to do and then had to eat. Nobody felt like going out, so we ordered room service from Damon's Grill. OH MY GOD!!! FANTASTIC food! I had the best steak and salad and potatoes. And, not terribly expensive :)
Finally, we headed home on Sunday. Had lunch at Chili's (a peppery Applebee's) and headed out. Stopped at Levi's outlet again in Loveland to buy more stuff and then off we headed to home! Had a quick dinner in Casper and got home around 10 that night. The girls got kinda goofy on the ride home and broke out the makeup. When we stopped to get the dogs, I looked at my kids and bout died laughing... hair ratted and dark scary makeup on all three!
Overall, I am so glad we did this crazy trip! And I'm REALLY glad I bought tickets online ahead of time and had a bit of a plan. The only thing I didn't do right was the game Friday night. It didn't even occur to me that the Broncos (my fave) would be playing the Packers (Jamey's #2) just a mile away!!! We love football and would've had such a great time! BUT, my girls got to see their first Major League anything that night and Macy is the Rockies newest #1 fan!
If you read this... I'm Cathie and... Welcome to how my mind works! It has a general path, but gets a bit sidetracked now and then :)