Denver

     We spent our 4th. of July over the mountain in the big city of Denver.  We arrived Sunday in time to enjoy the 16th. Street mall.  During our visit to the mall we exposed our children to a humidor at Jerri's.  They were pretty impressed by the care that it takes for cigars to be optimal and were amazed at the wide variety of cigars that are available.  After we left Jerri's, Mike was pretty thirsty and wanted a beer. We just happened to be walking by the Coyote Ugly Saloon when a gentleman at the door said that the kids were welcome until 7p.m. and domestic drafts were two dollars, so we took him up on his offer.  Josh was definitely not impressed with bartenders that were working this particular shift and I have to say that I agree with him!  We ordered our drinks plus an appeitzer but the appetizer never came because our waitress was to busy playing flipcup at the bar with several of the male patrons.  Unfortunately, that left an extremely bad taste in our mouth and I can't say that we would ever frequent another Coyote Ugly Saloon.  Sorry Lil!
   Not having an appetizer to hold us over we decided we would hit up the Hardrock Cafe.  We enjoyed great food, drinks and conversation about music from the different generations that were being broadcast on the tv above us.  We had a fantastic waitress named "Blackwidow".  Of course that wasn't her real name but it was the nickname she had chosen for herself since she had truly been bitten by a blackwidow spider a couple of years back and survived. 
     We waddled out of the restaurant and back to our hotel to retrieve our vehicle.  By the time we reached Invecso Field we were caught in a trencheral rainstorm.  After parking the car, Michael realized that the driverside door was not locking so the children and I proceeded into the stadium as he proceeded to stay and  fix the door in the middle of the parking lot.  Thank goodness he packs a toolkit whenever we travel.  By the time Michael arrived at the beginning of the second half  I was cold, bitchy and extremely irritated because I had forgotten a jacket!  I know! Shocking isn't it! After several minutes of arguing and trying to find me something warm to wear, we settled back into the game only to have it called for a 30 minute lightening delay with  only 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter.  Go figure! 
     The Outlaws went on to win 12-10.  Following the game and with tears in my eyes, we witnessed another fabulous fireworks display full of honor and extreme patriotism for our beloved, free country! 
     The next morning we found a yummy place to eat breakfast.  I believe the name of the place was Sams.  Very busy but worth the wait.  We then tried to find our way to the zoo which of course caused a huge arguement between Michael and I but in the end I got a purple, fuzzy, love monkey and a new GPS application so that this type of situation won't happen again!  Yeah, right!!!!  I must say and I think my children would agree with me......the zoo is no longer as much fun as it used to be now that they are older.  Although, I believe this was Jaxson's first time to visit a zoo.  By the end of the afternoon my "dogs" were barking and we were all ready to head back home but we had to make one last stop, famous BeauJo's Pizza in Idaho Springs but as our luck would have it.....they were packed!  Thank goodness for Tommy Knocker's Brewery a few doors down!