Happy Monday, friends! Back to yesterday, when we were spending the second part of Chris’ birthday getaway at Garden of the Gods and on a cave tour at Cave of the Winds. We’ve been to… More
Royal Gorge and Cañon City, Colorado With Kiddos
Happy August, friends! The month started out on not such a great foot for us, so we weren’t in our normal headspace when heading out on this quick getaway. (Well okay, I wasn’t!) At the end of the day I’m so glad we did go. It’s always a good idea to take some time to get out of your own head, recognize what’s so special about your life, bond with your kids, show them new things and, as one friend put it, nature is always healing 😉
The Details
Lodging (Price: $692 for 3 nights)
We stayed at this Airbnb in Cañon City, which was a sweet little three-bedroom place with a large dining area and kitchen. It might have been a tad overpriced for the location (it was about 20 minutes from the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park, which was our main point of interest for this trip), but we still had a blast. It was all one floor (no scary stairs for littles!), and the layout actually allowed us to put Emilia in her Pack and Play at the back of the house so Lotte and Grace could have separate rooms if they needed them (which one night they did).
The backyard was cute, too, with a grill and little table area under a covered patio, where we grilled out and had dinner on our final night.
Entertainment
The kids have a book called Good Night Colorado, and the Royal Gorge Bridge makes an appearance as one of the MUST SEE places in Colorado. When we were planning a final farewell to summer trip (the girls start school on August 16th!), we knew we didn’t want to go any farther than 2.5 hours (exactly how far Royal Gorge is from us), but that we wanted adventure on a low-key, kid-friendly level which, despite the RIDICULOUS photos, the Royal Gorge offers.
This is an amazing place for families … as long as no one is afraid of heights! Travel tip: Most of the attractions, the playground and the visitors center, etc., open at 10 a.m., but the bridge itself is open at 8 a.m., and tickets are cheaper then. (We paid $83 for the four of us over 2 years of age.)
There was also no one there early in the morning, which was delightful, and the weather was so lovely. By the time we ended up leaving around 10:30, it was getting pretty busy and incredibly hot. Honestly, it wouldn’t have been the amazing experience it was if we waited until 10 a.m. to get there.
As it was, we had the best time.
We give Royal Gorge Bridge a big ole’ thumbs up! They have a campground, “glamping” cabins, a dinosaur museum … honestly, we could have spent a week here and not been done exploring. We definitely hope to get back!
Our Friday afternoon was spent hitting up Centennial Park, which had a fantastic splash pad and playground and access to the Arkansas River and was about a mile from our Airbnb. Then it was ice cream at You Scream Treat Emporium.
On Saturday we hit up Skyline Drive — a very narrow 2.6-mile drive with the most amazing views and … wait for it … DINOSAUR PRINTS! — and then did a short hike — the Royal Gorge Overlook Loop — to take in the Royal Gorge bridge from a distance.
We stopped for coffee at The Bean Pedaler in the cute little downtown area before heading home. All-in-all it was a very successful — and beautiful — trip, and I’m so glad we did it. It’s a good reminder that it’s often worth doing something to get yourself out of your head. And travel memories are, for the most part, never a bad idea.
And now it’s back-to-school mode over here! This is the girls’ final week before heading back, and I’m so grateful for our summer trips to Seattle and New York, plus this one. I’m grateful the girls had fun experiences with camps and playdates with friends and neighbors and lots of unstructured playtime at home.
We also celebrated a 6th birthday.
It was one for the books. Hope you guys are having an awesome summer, as well <3
BIS BALD, FRIENDS!
Short & Sweet Trip Back East (the Mommy/One Daughter Version)
Happy Friday, friends! Lotte & I just got back from the sweetest little trip back east where we got to do so many fun things! Some of these fun things included visiting Lake Wallenpaupack, pool lounging with family and meeting more family out for dinner … Steph & I even snuck into the city where we met up with some of my friends for brunch before seeing Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick in Plaza Suite.
It’s been a rough couple of …. years?! Honestly. With our last trip back to New York being the roaring success that it was (ahem…it was not), it was nice to head back this time, even with just the two of us, to see our beloved friends and fam.
Ignoring the news for a few days provided a much-needed reprieve, as well.
Anyway, friends, here’s some of what we got up to …
Bis bald, friends — I hope you’re all hangin’ in there this summer and finding yourselves some happiness 😉
Seattle With Three Littles Day Three — Ferris Wheel, Space Needle, Pikes Place & More
Happy Wednesday, my friends!
Last Saturday was our final full day in Seattle, and we sure did make the most of it! We shopped and ate and wandered around with the best of ’em. Highlights included:
- Heading back to Pikes Place, where we did some shopping, saw the gum wall and watched them throw fish at the fish market.
- Took a ride on the monorail
- Checked out the Space Needle and Olympic Sculpture Park
- Drank more coffee and ate more seafood
- Rode the ferris wheel
- Got take-out from a yummy brewery
- The girls had one last fling with the hot tub
The ferris wheel was the perfect way to end our trip, because the girls (and especially Grace) were OBSESSED. Seriously, you’ve never seen more excited kiddos! Here’s a bit of what we saw on our last day …
And that was our trip in a nutshell, friends. Our car service picked us up at 5:30 the next morning to head to the airport.
Phew.
It was a whirlwind, but a wonderful one. One of our main objectives when we moved out to Colorado was to explore this side of the country more. So glad we are finally able to tick Washington State and Olympic National Park off the list.
Have a great week, friends — and happy summer, for those of you who are in it already, like we are. I hope yours is safe and super fun <3
Seattle With Three Littles Day Two — Olympic National Park
Happy Tuesday, friends!
Back to our second day in Seattle, where we rented a car and hopped on a ferry (with our car!) to head on over to Olympic National Park.
If you’ve been a visitor of this blog for a while, you already know that we’re big fans of National Parks! (See Great Sand Dunes, Rocky Mountain National Park, Moab, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Sequoia!) It’s always a goal of ours to introduce our kids to these beautiful places in America, and to help them gain an appreciation for nature and their surroundings.
We sure are lucky to have these things available to us.
Anyway, back to Day Two. It’s a trek to head to Olympic National Park from Seattle. We caught a 30-minute ferry to Bainbridge Island and then drove another 90 minutes to the visitor center and then to do the Moments in Time Interpretive Trail. That’s a lot to do with three littles, but the car we got was comfy and they snacked and watched videos (and, shockingly, napped on the ride back to the ferry at the end of the day) and all was good. We almost bailed on the trip when the weather looked iffy (it turned out perfect!) and seemed like too much effort, but I’m so glad we didn’t!
Chris and I were discussing how, in most cases, the things we almost bail on usually turn out to be some of our favorite memories. It’s a life lesson, for sure.
Anyway, here’s a bit of what we saw!
After the visitor center it was about a 30-minute ride to the Moments in Time Interpretive Trail, which was unbelievably gorgeous. (And, by the way, FREE! Entry into the park was totally free, too, but you can — and should — make a donation online!) The bluest water, the mossiest rainforest, and all the bird chirping you could ever want in life.
So incredibly serene.
Back at home we made dinner for the girls to eat out on the deck, while Chris and I ordered sushi from Umi Sake House, which was every bit as sensational as advertised.
After Emilia was down, Chris took the older girls for a jaunt on the pier (which we could literally see from our living room window), where they took in the sunset view and played a bit of soccer.
And that was our Day 2 in a nutshell. Our third and final day is comin’ at cha tomorrow … and it was also a big one 😉
Bis bald, friends!
Seattle With Three Littles — Day One
Happy Memorial Day, friends!
We’re back from our long-awaited trip to Seattle and Olympic National Park, and I can confirm … if you’ve had Seattle on your bucket list for a while, BOOK THAT TRIP NOW!
We had the absolute best time on our little 3-day stay. We planned to fly in late on Wednesday, after the girls got out of what was supposed to be their last day of school before the summer. The school ended up closing two days earlier, though, for renovations. We tried switching to an earlier flight but they were booked out. So we didn’t end up getting in until around 9 pm (on what was NOT our best flight), but luckily the Airbnb where we stayed was only about 20 minutes from the airport.
The Details:
Accommodation: We stayed at this Airbnb, which had very many amenities. It was right on the water, and was walking distance to literally everything a tourist could want. There was a 24-hour doorman, garage parking, a pack and play and highchair and childproof locks on the doors. There was a small balcony facing the waterfront, a shared hot tub and a rooftop. All the things you could possibly want for an awesome stay.
Price: $1990 for four nights
Airport transfer: We set up a car service from Starline Town Car & Limo Service to pick us up at the airport and drop us back off, and it was totally and absolutely worth it. With the five of us, three carseats, a double stroller and all our bags, it was a lot less stressful knowing that we’d have door-to-door service in a car that would definitely fit all of our things, and that we would definitely have a ride for our 5:30 a.m. pick-up to head back home.
Price: Approximately $300 (this included tip, taxes and other fees.)
Car rental: We rented a car on Friday to drive into Olympic National Park. We had to get a big one, obviously, so that’s always a bit more pricey.
Price: $260
Food: We spent about $500 for food, most of which was coffee. (Not really, but we did do a bit of a “coffee crawl” around the city, which I would highly recommend.)
Entertainment: We spent about $150 on entertainment, including ferry rides, Olympic National Park and a ride on The Seattle Great Wheel.
In other words, it wasn’t the cheapest trip for three days, but we were prepped for that going in and had saved up. We knew we didn’t want to scrimp, since neither of us had been before, and knowing that ahead of time helped us not feel guilty spending while we were there.
It was also the first time the girls traveled with their own money from their allowance. This was clutch when Lotte would point to a $20 useless trinket and I could say, “Sorry, you don’t have enough money for that!”
Day One:
We knew we’d all be dragging a bit on our first full day, so we decided to take the morning slow and walk around the neighborhood, including seeing the waterfront and Pikes Place Market.
After a short rest (and Chris shopping at the market for fresh ingredients for our dinner), we grabbed a ferry to walk to Alki Beach.
After our afternoon walk/beach trip, it was back to the Airbnb, where Chris cooked up his delightful pasta dish for dinner and the girls hit the hot tub with Chris. Friday morning we would be heading out to Olympic National Park … can’t wait to share that adventure with you tomorrow!
Bis bald, friends!
The Goat, the Farmhouse, the Paint Mines & the Birthday
Welp, friends, No. 39 is in the books.
This past weekend was my birthday, and Chris really stepped up the celebrating. We’ve had a