Fun stories from Hotel Tomlinson

Life here has been pretty busy with visitors. The last weekend of April Shawn went to Vegas and returned Monday with Mike & Nina in tow. We last saw them in Nov, but they hadn't seen Inara since last May. Boy were they in for a treat with all that she does now. They had a great time playing with Inara. I was surprised to see just how good Mike is with little ones and how well Inara was playing with people she doesn't see all the time. She went right up to the two of them and gave hugs from the get-go. It was great to catch up with them since Shawn and I haven't had much time to talk with them like we used to. We ventured out to Golden on Wednesday while Barb watched Inara. We visited Red Rocks Amphitheater, one of our favorite places to drive to, and had lunch at Woody's Wood-fired Pizza. We then headed to the Coors factory for a tour only to find out they're closed on Tue and Wed. Jacked! Our luck. We decided to drive to downtown Denver and then ended up at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. What a great place! We all loved it. I can't wait to take my parents. They have great animal displays with various animals such as polar bears, walrus, penguins. And the displays look fantastic. I was happy to learn the animals aren't stuffed but are man-made.

For one dinner we took them to 3 Margaritas, our favorite Mexican restaurant, and had our friends Brian and Tracy meet up with us. Another night for dinner we had Brian and Tracy over here along with Shawn's old high school buddy Marco. It was fun to have a houseful of dinner guests.

Practically every night Mike and Nina were here we played board games, especially an old one from Shawn's childhood that we all fell in love with called Survive. Basically the gist is to surround Shawn's players and attack them with sharks, whales, and sea serpents. "That's just nasty," was Shawn favorite saying of their visit. Mike and Nina flew out Friday morning and Rob, Kelli and Alex flew in that night. I'm tellin' ya Hotel Tomlinson is a popular place these days.

I was sooo excited to have Rob and the girls come visit. This meant so much to me to share my new Colorado adventure with Rob. One of the reasons I fell in love with my house is the "guest suite" on the main floor, which worked out perfect for Rob. Kelli and Shawn picked up a couple pieces of plywood to get him in the front door and given how open our main floor is, Rob had plenty of room to get around. Inara loved watching Rob rolling around too. It was so adorable watching her watch Rob. She would walk around the house looking for him too and yell out "Rob" very well. She wouldn't sit on his lap, but we did get some great pics, which Shawn is uploading tonight.

Even though they were only here for a few days, we sure packed in a lot of things. Saturday we laid low, and the three of them got to see Inara in action. That night we went to dinner at 3 Margaritas (gotta introduce all our guests to this place!) for Kristi's birthday dinner. Then back to their house for cake and ice cream and for Rob, Kelli and Alex to see Kristi and Thane's house. Sunday we did the drive to Golden stopping at Red Rocks and lunching at Woody's. It was getting close to Inara's nap time, so she and I headed home while Shawn drove the threesome around to see where he grew up and through Downtown Denver. Monday the guys worked from home and us girls went to Park Meadows Mall for some shopping. We did pick up a late lunch on the way back home so we could also introduce them to Noodles & Co. Shawn went into the office on Tuesday, so I got to be the tour guide and show the cousins around. They wanted to see one of the rec centers we have here in Highlands Ranch, so we first went to Southridge only to find out it is closed for maintenance this week. We then went to Eastridge and walked around. I had never noticed, but Kelli pointed out the chair lift in the hot tub, so I asked the lifeguard if they have one in a pool at any of the rec centers and found out there is one in the lap pool at this center too. Perfect for Rob's next visit. They all were really impressed with how nice our centers are and how much they offer. After this, Kelli started talking about moving out here and having Alex apply for college here. Wouldn't that be awesome!!! I'm determined to get some of my family moved out here if it kills me.

Of course during their stay we also had to introduce them to Survive. Alex is now hooked and asked me to keep an eye out for one at garage sales. We also played a couple other board games. I can't remember the last time I played a game with Rob, so this was a lot of fun. Many laughs every night. The best part of their visit, though, was getting to just sit and talk with the three of them. Rob & I had some great talks about our family, especially in light of our grandpa's recent passing. I felt like I learned even more about him and the family, which was awesome. Kelli's fantastic too. We talked about inlaws, kids, everything. And Alex...I just love that Alex! She's growing up to be such a beautiful young woman. Too fast though of course. I feel like just last year she was the flower girl in my wedding. Now she's in high school. Crazy! Inara also had a blast playing with Alex, and Al (as I like to call her...hee hee) did a great job helping me with Inara wherever we went. She's a pro now at getting Inara in and out of her car seat and stroller. We kept joking that Alex is going to come out this summer to be the nanny, but honestly, I would love to have that girl come out here whenever she wants and not just as the nanny. She's a special young lady and I'm lucky to be able to call her my cousin. She's so cute and asked Rob if they could go to CA this summer when the three of us are going to be there. I hope they can work out a trip to SoCal the same time we're there so we can see them again this year. Sadly, Rob, Kelli and Alex headed back to WA today. It was fantastic having them here 5 days and getting to share my new "home" with my cousins. It was so special to be able to do this, especially with Rob. I love you guys and hope to see you soon!!!