The Durango Project - Day 3

Ahhh. Our first true, full day of vacation. We most naturally slept in. That is, as late as two little boys would allow. And breakfast was, where else? On the deck.

The plan going into this trip was that Monday would be Jeremy and Brian's day for themselves while Ashley and I kept the boys. Our girl-day was to be later in the week. They had ample time to plan, but plan they did not. So they hung around the house for a good chunk of the morning. They finally ventured out for some lunch and whatever they might stumble across. At which point, we fed the boys then took them to the park we had visited the day before. I believe they had great fun.

The day was much warmer than we had anticipated, so when we were about to the leave the park, I ask Ashley, "You know what sounds good?" And she responds, "Ice cream." A girl after my own heart. We wonder sometimes if we don't share a brain. Thanks to the "around me" app on my phone, we found a yogurt place downtown and treated the boys (and ourselves) to some froyo.

Bowen, sitting sweetly

Cutler, insistent on feeding himself


We got back to the cabin to find the big boys napping. Apparently, their adventures out were less than exciting. But hey, what are vacations for if you can't relax, right?

The events for the evening included a night out. I'm a total sightsee-er, so I did some extensive research to find the perfect unique restaurant that was also kid friendly. The result? Diamond Belle Saloon at the historic Strater Hotel. The atmosphere comes complete with rag time piano music and a staged gunfight at 7:00. So Ashley finds a number, Jeremy calls for the reservation. And we dress and load the boys for a night of fun.

But my plan was not to unfold as intended. Upon walking into the Diamond Belle Saloon, we find that it is, indeed, a saloon. And not much bigger than the office I'm sitting in right now. Tiny round tables, elbow to elbow people, and rag time music that is quite loud considering the small space. We tell the saloon girl of our reservations and she sweetly replies that they don't take reservations. Hmmm. And then she offers us this little round table that would barely fit two... much less 4 plus 2 highchairs. So we politely excuse ourselves and quickly come up with a plan B. You're probably wondering about the reservations we made. Turns out the Strater Hotel has two restaurants. Our reservations were made, unbeknownst to us, at the swanky steak place. We did NOT use those reservations. Especially considering that Cutler was throwing quite the fit about being constrained in his stroller. We moseyed down the block and found a local Mexican restaurant that was fairly empty. One might generally be concerned about the lack of crowd, but when you're the parent of a squirming toddler, empty is fantastic.

Here the boys are. Bowen, quietly coloring. Cutler, right before the major meltdown. The face might be cute, but don't be fooled. I took him back to the bathroom to get in trouble. Jeremy took him back to the bathroom to get in trouble. Finally, Brian says, "I'm done. I'll take him outside." Bless his heart.
After dinner, we decided to loiter a bit to catch part of the gunfight at the Diamond Belle. Only to find that it would be held inside. So we decided to head home. But as we were loading the boys in the car, we suddenly hear gunshots. Yep, the gunfight had moved outside. My sight-seeing adventures were not to be. We could only laugh.