Hritz Family: Our Grand Adventure

Terry and I were lucky enough to attend the MoTab's Christmas party held at The Grand America Hotel. Delicious. Inspiring. Wonderful. President Monson has the best facial expressions to set a crowd laughing! While we were there, I spotted window displays portraying a story of a little penguin, but with the amount attendees, I didn't have the opportunity to discover their purpose. In the middle of the foyer was this unbelievable gingerbread house, lo and behold the little penguin was asleep inside! As Terry and I left, we snagged a quick photo and I made a mental note to bring the kids back to discover more about little Maurice the penguin.

To start the day off right, we constructed our own gingerbread houses to compare what we would see later.

Before we hopped on the train to the hotel (our kids have become quite accustomed to Trax) we walked over to Temple Square while the crowds were low and were able to see the Christus statue. As we approached this beautiful statue, Allie was in awe with the wall mural and asked if we were "out of earth." After the photo, Matthew tried desperately to scale the statue and give Jesus a hug - he was rather persistent I might add, so we lingered a little longer and allowed Matthew to give him 'air hugs.' Can you imagine the second coming - children will flock to Him and what a sight that will be!

I was so happy we were able to see the statue with our children, we came down to Temple Square last week to see the lights and were smothered with people. We learned our lesson, and now know when the best times to visit are.

We hopped on Trax to the Grand America Hotel. As we rounded the corner, we were greeted by a staff member of the hotel and were given our scavenger hunt cards and pencils (this was a bigger deal than I thought). 18 window displays spread throughout the hotel held a story of a penguin named Maurice who was craving a Grand America Hotel star cookie, so he made his way to the hotel only to find a special star had gone missing. Maurice then started a journey to find the star. As we read each display, we were to answer the clues that matched the display. Only, we did it wrong for about 9 displays (reading the directions has never been Terry and I's strong suite).

Now, The Grand America Hotel staff is quite a clever breed. Maurice the penguin displays, as I mentioned earlier, were strategically placed throughout the venue to ensure maximum exposure for their guests, particularly guiding children to their toy store: JouJou. This store was wicked cool. Their window displays were interactive, reminding me of the extravagant displays seen in New York City. The Ferris wheel was in a constant twirl, robots moved and talked, and picture frames moved as if characters within were live (imagine the newspapers and photos from the world of Harry Potter!).

These windows captivated our attention for some time!

Naturally, we ventured inside the store and beheld some serious eye candy - pun intended. Terry and I really felt we were back in NYC, this store rivaled FAO Swartz, just miniature size! Beneath the candy canisters was a mock 'piano' like in FAO Swartz, as you stepped on it the music began, step off it stopped, you get the idea. You can see at Makenna's feet, the music board lights up as well when you stand on it.

We pulled our kids away from the store of wonders and completed the journey with Maurice the penguin.

Upon completion of the scavenger hunt, children are awarded a sticker of Maurice and then they have one more stop to make: La Bonne Vie, a sweet shop "modeled after the great European confection houses" where they were given one of the star cookies little Maurice craved (remember the reason he came to the hotel in the first place?).

By this time, dinner was needed for the kids and the route placed us conveniently at the Garden Cafe. Clever, no? At any rate, the food was delicious. The girls made a stop to the ladies room and came back completely in awe. Makenna claimed all doors and knobs were real gold and they were both astounded that instead of paper towels, REAL towels (soft, too) were given to dry their hands. The girls both puzzled over the multiple utensils on the table (Matthew's were taken from him, I am pretty sure The GAH frowns on sword fights at the table) and ooed and awed while drinking their juice out of glass.

What an grand experience!

Executive Pastry Chef Jeffrey De Leon took two weeks to build the structure, then over 10 hours to place candy trimmings. Ingredients: 400 lbs of gingerbread, 200 lbs. of royal icing, 5,000 gumballs, 3,000 mints, and much, much more! The floor is one of my favorite features, checkerboard rice krispie treats. I wish I knew how long it took De Leon to make just the windows.