Family Fun Day

At one of the Comfort Dental golf tournaments, Jeremy won a free night's stay at the Grand Hyatt down in Denver.  Well, we completely forgot about it and needed to use it before it expired at the end of the month.  We had considered making it a romantic get away for the two of us, but because it ended up being so last minute we ended up taking all the kids with us too.  The kids love any kind of hotel stay so they had a blast.  It complicated things a little bit that this was a nice hotel.  I didn't want the kids running around too crazily or being too loud and disturbing the other guests.  They couldn't help running to the elevators, jumping on the beds, and having a general good time.  When it came time for breakfast, we had access to their exclusive club upstairs.  I felt a little guilty hauling our family in, but the food was fabulous and free so I couldn't complain.  It reminded me a lot of our China hotel stay with Bruce's perks.  

We had all day after our stay to hang out downtown.  The girls and I went on a morning walk to the state capital.  On our way we walked down 16th Street Mall and the girls played on every piano we passed (about six of them).  Cambrie played "Firefly" and McKenzie played "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" with a little help.  Some of the folks on the street already were playing too and it made for a really fun atmosphere.

After our walk we decided to go to Cherry Creek Reservoir.  Since we don't have immediate access to an ocean beach, we hoped that the kids would like this just as much.  The sand was awesome....but the water was green.  Not a pretty, clear, refreshing green...but pond scum green.  I wasn't too disappointed that the kids were happy playing on the sand and didn't spend much time in the water.  

I really liked Jeremy's version of a beach side babysitter for Kelton.  I can't tell what that expression on Kelton's face is exactly.

Of course they had to build a sand castle.  

After McKenzie and I built the complex, she laid down to take a nap...

...while Cambrie and Jeremy added the moat, waterfall and nearby lake.  

Then it was Kelton's turn to add his special touch, destruction!  He thought smashing those towers was awesome.  

It's a good thing McKenzie wasn't awake to see the final product.