During our stay at The Broadmoor, I didn’t demand much from my kids. Well, except for things like, “Eat your gourmet steak.” “Go on this amazing horseback ride through Pikes Peak National Forest.” “Let’s go paddleboating to see the baby swans.”
Sucks to be them, right?
One of the highlights of our stay is always The Broadmoor’s legendary brunch (consistently ranked one of Colorado’s best) and we have always posed for pictures in our Sunday best. Except this day. Remember Hadley’s I-don’t-want-to-smile-for-your-pictures phase? That morning, it was an all-out revolt because all she wanted was brunch. And all I wanted were pictures of my happy, smiling family. See the issue here? She was given the ultimatum to smile and go to brunch or just go back to the room.
She chose to semi-smile and go to brunch. A couple of the family pictures turned out so badly I won’t post them but we’ll take it.
With Aunt Lisa
By the time she walked into that gastronomical wonderland, all conflicts were forgotten. She was the first to the buffet and quickly came back loaded up with pastries.
“I couldn’t get past the first row of all the breads,” she confessed.
Bode and I took a different approach and we piled our plates with delicious fruits. “I want to eat healthy for my first round,” he explained and I agreed.
When he left for Round 2, like any sugar-loving kid, I expected him to come back loaded up with cheese blintzes with berry sauce or maybe those waffles with Grand Marnier caramel topping. But he arrived with Cheerios.
I thought Jamie’s veins were going to bulge out of his head.
“What is this?”
“Cheerios. I like Cheerios.”
“Son, let me explain something to you. You can eat Cheerios every day of your life. There are literally hundreds of things in that buffet to eat that you will never see again. You need to try all the delicious new treats.”
“But I want to eat healthy and I like Cheerios.”
Now, lest you think Bode has turned into a health nut, I assure you he has not. I’m constantly harping on them to make good food choices but this was not the time to finally do it.
“Bode, don’t take one more bite of those Cheerios.”
The waiter approached at that moment. Jamie demanded:
“Please take those Cheerios away. Bode, you’re coming with me.”
Confused, the waiter grabbed the bowl as sensitive Bode looked like he was going to burst into tears. The horror! Parents telling you to eat sugar!
A few minutes later, Bode’s plate was appropriately loaded up and its crown jewel: his very first bananas foster (the top left picture below was taken at the very moment Hadley tasted hers for the first time). Little dude never looked back. In fact, he was so inspired he stole my iPhone and took literally a hundred (blurry) pictures of the spread.
And not one of them was of Cheerios.
But the story gets better. After Hadley’s fourthish trip to the buffet, she tugged on my skirt.
“I have something I want to show you.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
I followed her out of the Lake Terrace Dining Room to a majestic overlook of the property.
“Isn’t this the most magical place, Mom? Here. Take my picture.”
And then she smiled.
The Broadmoor really is a place where miracles happen.
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Stay tuned tomorrow for the details of The Broadmoor’s famous pool, which Hadley deemed “paradise.”
In case you missed it: The Broadmoor’s Birthday Bliss and an Apology to My Daughter’s Future Husband.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 