The view and location were the only two things about this hotel that I actually liked. Other than that, it was a complete letdown. Justin was so confused because when he walked into this hotel it looked like the most ravishing hotel he'd ever seen.. until we left the elevators and entered our room on the sixth floor. It resembled something like a motel six (tad bit of exaggeration with that reference) I mean, the room they initially put us in wreaked of cigarette smoke. I immediately went to the front desk to let them know we couldn't stay in those type of conditions. The second room they put us in had white stains on the bed, pen marks on the sheets, and the balcony was equally as filthy as the balcony in the first room. I thought to myself, is this a coincidence or is this what you get at this hotel room? Then I phoned the front desk to see if we could come up with a resolution. After being on the phone (on hold) for an entire 11 minutes, one of the managers comes to the phone. She personally came up to our floor to take us to a better room. She also made sure that the room would work for us (I'm sure this was her way of seeing if we were nitpicks about everything).

That was truly the best part of our brief stay at the Renaissance. The customer service wasn't terrible, but even that third room.. it became clear that this was not the hotel or accommodations we were used to. The Wi-Fi wasn't included (shame on us for not checking prior, but in my defense it's always included in almost every hotel), Justin had to pay for parking in the hotel's parking garage, and the shower had many strands of someone else's hair. That was a nightmare. I can deal with a lot, a dirty bathroom is not one of them. Since it was already late, we decided to stay for one night. I immediately called hotels.com to cancel the remaining days on our reservation and get a refund for the time we wouldn't be occupying the room. I was really disappointed about our experience here and would never stay at this establishment again.

I'd also like to remind you guys that the service wasn't bad. They did try to accommodate us, but at the end of the day, quality of the room trumped everything else. We didn't order room service from this hotel, we got up bright and early to venture out and find a hearty Denver breakfast. The Denver sunrise was breathtaking and the view of the city was spectacular. I guess that is something else to add to the pros list. All in all, I'm just glad we were able to find a better suited establishment to stay at for the duration of our visit. Denver is a city we are completely called to, so i'm glad we got to figure all of this out now. Here's a little clip I saved from snap chat of the moment we got to the hotel, the entry way and the elevators. Ava enjoyed going up six stops on the elevator because she got to push the buttons each time. I think the last part of the video is of Justin finally making it to the Mile High Stadium!

♥- Leilani

New York Part Two

Our trip was overall stupendous! We concluded our trip with a ride out to New York City, so Ava could meet her Godmother for the first time. Her godmother also happens to be my older cousin that I haven't seen in 4 months. It was nice seeing her again and having her see Justin for the first time in over a year. New York City was CRAZY busy! We were in stand still traffic, paid a toll that was almost fifteen dollars, and people were walking in the middle of the street like there weren't tons of cars driving by. It was definitely a different experience. We saw the statue of liberty, the 9/11 monument, Brooklyn bridge, etc. The skyscrapers were HUGE! I don't think buildings are even that big in Seattle.

                                 (This was a shot I got on our way into the city)

I tried to get as many pictures as I could, but there was always a building in the way, or people, or traffic! Parking was impossible and the parking garages were all valet. It truly is the busiest city I have ever been too. Great experience for our little family though! How many 9 week olds can say they've spent time in Manhattan? After our time in NYC we started our journey back home! After 14 hours of being in the car, we decided it was time to stop. I love technology sometimes. I was able to use my mobile hotspot on my Verizon cellular device to use my laptop our entire trip. I booked a hotel room for our family at the La Quinta Inn after researching the area of Raleigh, North Carolina on yelp. We had a fantastic experience. No pet fee for our dog, Cooper. The area around Raleigh had a great city feel, and the room was very decent. They even give out military discounts, which is always appreciated.

We took our time on the way home and stopped at some special places along the way. Ava was even better on the way back down. ZERO fussy moments. She was more awake this time around, but she was cooing and full of smiles, like always. The biodegradable diapers we used were a HUGE success for us on our trip, including her chemical free wipes.

NO leakage, Ava has had ZERO diaper rash in her 10 weeks of life, and they were super absorbent. Since we've been home she is back in cloth and Justin and I are happy about that. It's so weird, on vacation, my husband made a comment about how he missed her cloth! That made me so happy to hear! We've still quite a few days of Justin's block leave, so our vacation isn't quite over yet! We haven't made up our mind for our next destination. Atlanta or Florida... Either way I'm excited to have all this exploration time with my husband.