Denver and Home!
Our last stop before home was Denver. Knowing we’d have monstrous drives before and after this stop, we decided to stay here an extra night. Check out the bugs we picked up on the way! There were parts of the drive where it sounded like it was raining, only it wasn’t rain splattering against our car, it was bugs! I wonder how bikers do it?…that’s got to be disgusting.
I’ve spent time in Colorado Springs before, but this was my first time in Denver. We yelped for different places to eat…and this one “Lao Wang Noodle House” kept coming up. All the reviewers loved it…and one went as far as to say that the Lao Wang Xiaolongbao could go head to head with DinTaiFung. What!? We had to try it after that. Guess what? It was actually really good! All the food was good, but the Xiaolongbao were really tasty. Total mom and pop hole in the wall armpit of a place…but great food! That one in the middle front is dumplings in a hot chili oil soup…wow, that was good.
The weather in Denver was great, and allowed us to spend some comfortable time outside. We went to this area called “Confluence Park” near downtown. It’s along a river where they found gold, which started a gold rush, which ultimately led to the founding of the city of Denver.
Platte River in Confluence Park, once the site of gold seekers, now the site of thrill seekers. You can wade along the banks or brave the rapids in inner tubes or blow up rafts. It looked really fun, and the kids were dying to get in the river and try it out. Once we got close though, the intersection of nature and urban life became all too apparent. The water was disgusting and smelled horrible. The girls didn’t even want to risk putting their feet into the water. It still made for great pictures. For all you REI buffs, the building on the left is the REI Flagship store.
More of Platte River. If you look closely, you can see an inner tube rider coming down the rapids on the left.
The Platte River Trolley runs parallel to the river…and was a total highlight for Noah. Riding in an open air trolley on a set of real life train tracks…he was a happy camper.
Kay testing out a bouldering rock at REI. Not bad for wearing flipflops!
Spending that extra day in Denver also allowed us to spend our 12 year anniversary over an Old Spaghetti Factory dinner…as opposed to a 10 hour drive. Happy Anniversary Em!
After dinner, we had a final swim in our hotel indoor pool planned…but instead, we surprised the kids with a trip to the local AMC to catch Toy Story 3. This was a HUGE family event. Up till now, we’ve NEVER taken the kids to a movie theater before. They had no idea what a movie theater insides even looked like. Kay kept asking how big the tv was going to be…and when she saw it, it totally blew her away. It worked out perfectly. We had seen Toy Story 1 on the way to LA. The kids caught Toy Story 2 in Vegas at our hotel with Ben and Eunice. They were primed and ready for part 3…and it was a blast.
For the first 30 minutes, Noah dug into the popcorn NONSTOP. Kay thoroughly enjoyed herself. Bekah got nervous on some scenes, like when Buzz and Woody die. Just kidding!…they don’t die, haha…don’t worry, no spoilers here. Noah climbed back and forth between all of us…and stayed close to mommy on some of the more intense scenes. But they all made it!
Here we are, packed and ready to return home. We used just about every cubic inch of our car! What you see are three large suitcases and 2 duffel bags, sitting on top of an IKEA crib we picked up in LA. Since our old crib was a recalled crib due to safety issues, and you can’t beat a crib for under $100, and there aren’t any IKEAs near us in KC, we decided to haul back a crib! The crib is sitting on top of Kay and Bekah’s old clothes we picked up from Liz for our baby due in a couple of months, as well as bags of dirty laundry. At Noah’s feet, was a huge picnic basket of snacks. At Kay’s feet was a huge picnic basket of toys and the special surprise bags from Helen. At Bekah’s feet was a mini ice chest, full of juices for the kids, water for Emily, and Red Bull for me. The stroller was folded up and “hung” between the suitcases and the back door. Add to that a couple of pillows and a handful of neck pillows…and we were SNUG.
