Happy almost 2018, my friends! This year has felt both incredibly long and exhausting and like it flew by and was exhilarating. And while we didn’t do any international travel, we did manage to make many fun trips to the mountains and back east, and our epic trip to California to check out some national parks was definitely one of my faves.
Next year we’ll be traveling with two kids, which seems somehow both super stressful and lots of fun 🙂 Either way I look forward to making many, many travel memories with this little family of mine. Travel has become such an important part of mine and Chris’ life together, so I hope we can impart some of that love for travel to Lotte & Grace, as well.
So here’s to a 2018 filled with fun, love, health … and lots and lots of travel!
January
In January we took a quick trip back east for a wedding and to do Christmas with our Pennsylvania family.
February
Feb. was an epic mountain month when we met friends in Breckenridge and then headed to Steamboat later in the month to hang with family.
March
I had a friend visit in March while Chris was in Australia for his brother’s wedding and we had a fun and fantastic girlfriend’s week with Lotte. Then, later in the month, Lotte and I had our first flight alone together when we headed east for a fundraiser in honor of my mom, for Rory’s birthday party and to celebrate my Grandma and great-Aunt’s 95th birthday. Lotte & I also took a little road trip to D.C. to visit my bestie while we were back, and while there we visited some of the amazing monuments in the area.
April
In April we checked out Estes Park for my birthday (which was a seriously fun place to spend a birthday!) and did a little local exploring as well, including a hike at Clear Creek Trail and Lotte’s first trip to the Denver Zoo.
May
I didn’t have any blog posts in May, but we did find out we were pregnant with Baby Grace in May – right on Mother’s Day weekend! So hoorah for us!
June
In June my stepdad sprung for us to fly back East for a quick trip for my brother-in-law’s birthday. We also took Lotte camping for the first time ever in the mountains and checked out gorgeous St. Mary’s Glacier.
July
In July we took advantage of the long holiday weekend to check out South Park and do the Twin Lakes hike. We also headed back East again, this time for my uncle’s retirement party and to have an early first birthday celebration for Lotte. Lotte also visited the beach for the first time on this trip 😉 Later in the month we had an epic first birthday celebration for Lotte that included MomMom and Papa and Grandpa Robert, along with birthday cake at the lake, visits to the splashpad and lots and lots of present opening! We also headed to Keystone to partake in an MS fundraising walk in honor of my mom.
August
In August we finally took a kayak out on the lake that’s right in our backyard (Lotte was not a fan!), and we headed to Beaver Creek for some mountain air, hiking and splashing around in the hotel pool (Lotte was a fan of that!).
September
September was so much fun when we hopped on a plane to take Lotte to San Francisco, Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks. It was a bit of a whirlwind, but our little Lotte was amazing the entire time.
October
October was full of fun when I took a quick trip up to Vail with a visiting friend. We also checked out the same pumpkin patch we took Lotte to last year when she was just a teeny, tiny babe of three months, celebrated our first snowfall and checked out Fort Collins for Chris’ birthday. Oh, and a little something that was the most fun ever — Chris & Lotte & I dressed as smores for Halloween, with Lotte as a marshmallow, me as a Hershey kiss and Chris as a graham cracker.
November
In November my dad flew out to spend Thanksgiving with us, and we started our Christmas celebrations early (knowing that Baby G would be arriving in mid-December and celebrations might be a tad hard to do once that happened) by checking out the lights at the zoo and eating in a life-size gingerbread house and visiting Santa at Great Wolf Lodge in Colorado Springs.
December
Holiday celebrations continued in early December when Grandpa Robert came to visit and we checked out Santa in Olde Town and got our Christmas tree. We also checked out the lights at the Denver Botanic Gardens, which we also did last year with Lotte when she was about five months old. I’m loving the traditions that we’re making with our Littles as a family.
And of course there was the best part of our entire year — welcoming our second little girl into the world on Dec. 16. Chris’ parents are here for a few weeks to help, and Lotte has been having the most amazing time with them!
We love you Baby G, and we can’t wait for you to be a part of all of our traditions starting next year!
And that, my friends, was our year in a nutshell! Despite how tumultuous it may have been at times, I’m hoping everyone was able to find some peace and fun throughout 2017.
And here’s to a fabulous and fruitful 2018! Bis bald, friends!