Happy New Year’s Eve, friends! With the near arrival of a new year comes my favorite part of keeping up with this blog: Reminiscing about our adventures from the previous year.

It was a good one, friends. A real good one. Here’s what we got up to 😉

January

I love this blurry photo of the five of us, chillin’ in a hot tub in Iceland the morning before flying back to the states. Rounding out our European holiday adventure (and here!) with a last day in Iceland on Jan. 1, 2024 was the perfect way to start the new year. The rest of January was spent heading to the mountains each Sunday for the girls’ ski lessons (we made an entire weekend out of it here and here!) and reliving my reporter days with a travel event in downtown Denver.

These girls ROCKED their ski lessons this year! Lotte was even riding lifts by herself by the end. (Insert Mom’s terrified face here!)

Drinking booze back at the lodge was a big hit for Mom & Dad during lessons 😉

I loved heading to the Convention Center in downtown Denver for the travel expo. It made me feel like I was young again, traipsing around NYC to report on events for my editors at various mags.

February

The absolute joy of a cousin’s get-together <3

In February I snuck away to New York with the two big girls for a surprise 5th birthday treat for my niece, Rosalie. We all had the best time. The girls got to run wild, stay up late and eat an insane amount of treats. I got to see my little baby twin niece and nephew who are growing up way too quickly, and my sister and I even snuck away one night for dinner/drinks on our own. Amazing.

Someone wasn’t very happy to be leaving …

March

March was a super fun month that included a Fort Collins staycation with one of our faves and … drum roll please … OUR NATIONAL PARKS DRIVE FROM ARVADA TO THE GRAND CANYON!

These girls are super lucky to have you in their lives <3

I blogged about our Grand Canyon road trip adventures from Arvada to Moab here, from Arches National Park to Monument Valley here, from Monument Valley to the Grand Canyon here & from the Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon —and then on home! — right here.

Horseshoe Bend was a stunning, last-minute addition to the trip!

And Capitol Reef National Park, which turned out to also be such a fun surprise addition!

April

My birthday month arrived so quickly! We started the month off with a bang, heading to Steamboat Springs for a press trip that was truly a delight.

Lotte & Grace had the best time skiing the fun runs on the mountain! Emilia … not so much 😉 We have faith that she will get there!

At the end of April, Chris took Lotte and Grace on his first-ever solo trip with them! They headed back to New York to visit LEGOL AND! Too much fun was had by all.

I’ll never get over this amazing photo 😉

May

I was so lucky to snag the opportunity to grab a girlfriends’ getaway weekend in Breckenridge with some of my neighbors. These ladies are simply the best.

June

June was such a special month for us, as we headed Down Under for the entire month. We started out in Sydney, headed to Canberra, flew to Melbourne, checked out Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island, met friends in Brisbane and then were back in Sydney for a few days before heading home. We even had a couple hours layover in Vancouver on the way home.

What. an. epic. time.

The Vivid light show was on while we were there, and it was so beautiful!

The gang is all here for Auntie Kate’s wedding party <3

An initial Melbourne fam meet-up at Queen Victoria Market.

The Great Ocean Road was so wonderful. All the beaches were gorgeous, but the 12 Apostles were particularly delightful.

Dinner with my Melbourne family was such a highlight <3

We even checked out the fairy penguin parade on Phillip Island!

Beach Baby in the Whitsundays. No biggie 😉

Ready to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef!

We even got to meet up with my bestie from 2nd grade — and her mom! — when we flew back to Sydney before heading home. So. Amazing!

July & August

We made the most of the rest of our summer after returning from Australia, that’s for sure 😉

We racked up the activities after getting back from Australia — concerts, camps, visitors and lots of swimming topped the list — and before we knew it, we had a 3rd & 1st grader, and little Emilia starting 1/2-day preschool!

The kids loaded up on fun camps, including this one at a horse farm where they got in lots of riding.

Some of our NYC friends came to visit for a week, too, and the kiddos went to Muddy Buddies camp together, which was adorable!

September

In September I took a trip back to New York to see Hamilton with my sister for her birthday, and we went to Mexico as a family on a press trip. It was one for the books.

Taking in the sights the first night I was there.

Spending time alone with my sister was definitely one of the best parts of the trip.

One of my many NYC happy places — Bryant Park.

In mid-September, we took a long-weekend trip to Punta De Mita in Mexico, and I was delightful!

October

We very much made the most of fall in Colorado this year. We went to the mountains a couple of weekends, visited Great Sand Dunes National Park and really just Halloween’d out. It was a delight.

Great Sand Dunes National Park was gorgeous.

November

In November we headed out on our last trip of the year — back to New York to spend Thanksgiving with our friends and family. We had so much fun! We spent time in the city (including seeing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in person and checking out the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens Lightscape with friends), and upstate, with stops on the Polar Express (oh hey there, Santa!), seeing Wicked the movie and having a lovely holiday. We hope your holiday season was bright, as well!

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Lightscape with our crew.

And that’s a wrap on the year, friends! It was a jolly lovely one, filled with so much friends and family … and travel!

Until 2025 … BIS BALD!

Ready for a snowy first day of ski school!

Happy Monday, friends! I’m comin’ at ya from the arctic tundra of the Mountain West. Weather.com currently says that our temp feels like -6 degrees.

That’s cold.

All three girls started their ski school lessons this past weekend (there are four total), and when we learned that it was going to be warmer in the mountains (by a whole 20 degrees, almost), Chris and I made a last-minute decision to book a house in Georgetown for a Saturday and Sunday stay. Georgetown is about halfway between our home and Arapahoe Basin, where the girls would be skiing. A winter storm dropped about seven inches of snow in the mountains heading into Sunday (with more falling throughout the day), so the drive to and from lessons — and even more so the drive home on Monday morning — were a bit scary. But we did it! And staying over the Sunday night after lessons was clutch, since everyone was tired!

Now we just need to figure out what we’ll do for the next three Sunday ski lessons 😉

Bis bald, friends!

We did a little helmet practice in the days leading up to Em’s first lesson. Girl does *not* like headgear! But she approved of the helmet! The other gear was a different story.

Ready to rip! Actually, Em didn’t even get her skis on for her first lesson. It was all about prep this lesson (which I could have skipped paying the astronomical fee for, if I’m being honest). Next lessons, they’ll be strapping in.

On the road again! I sure do love my little adventurers. They are up for anything.

We stayed in a little 2-beddy in Georgetown, which was perfect for us. It even meant that ….

All three girls slept together for the first time! After some initial kerfuffles, they did great 😉

Lotte did so great! She’s starting off on greens, and I can’t wait to see where she lands when ski school is over!

Grace is working hard on the basics. She’s desperate to do the chairlift, so hopefully she’ll get there after her lessons this season.

Is there ANYTHING cuter than a 3-year-old in ski gear?! I think not. Emilia was NOT into her lessons to start, and we definitely questioned how it was going to go for three hours. Her instructor had all the patience in the world, though, and I think she’ll do great things over the next three lessons!

The cheeks. The lips. The vacant “what the heck is happening” stare. It’s all too much.

Red face, happy heart <3 (I promise they were warm enough. Dad had them in allllll the gear!)

It was an awesome little last-minute get-away for a snow-filled, holiday ski weekend. Chris got in a few runs, too, which he said was awesome. I need exceptional conditions for snowboarding … inches and inches of falling snow isn’t my thing. But I will get on my board before their lessons out!

Bis bald, friends! Hope you’re staying warm, happy and healthy!