Welcome to 2026, friends, and welcome to February! I hope you have incredible adventures planned, lots of time for relaxation, plenty of opportunities to hang with loved ones, and a realization that you’re incredible just the way you are.
Sorry. Feeling my feelings, guys. Let a girl live 😉
Anyway, my little family spent our entire January livin’ that mountain life. Chris and I decided to enroll all three girls in full-day ski lessons in Winter Park every Saturday in January and it was incredible. Not only did the girls’ skills improve drastically, but Chris and I had SIX HOURS every Saturday in January to be by ourselves.
Life changing.
Not only that, but Winter Park is also the sweetest little spot. It’s only a little over an hour from where we live, the base is full is fun shops and restaurants, and the girls pretty much got to know (and love) the mountain like the back of their hands.
Time (and money … sheesh, the money) well spent.
Bis bald, friends!
Dry January, anyone?The mountains are also the perfect place for a little self care.Self-care includes hot tub time, of course!These girls have gotten so good! Grace even unlocked her hidden talent — skiing backwards 😉On our second weekend we stayed at a ski-in-ski-out condo that was super close to the mountain. This was the most fun, even if ski-in-ski-out is a bit of a misnomer because you often have to be a pretty good skier to get down the runs that get you to your home. Emilia couldn’t have done it, but it was fun for the rest of us when we got the chance.This girl served up some real looks in the month of Jan 😉Snowman — Emilia’s beloved stuffie that used to be my mom’s — has seen some real adventures.Emilia truly fell in love with skiing on that second round of lessons and she was so good!My whole crew <3<3<3<3 … minus me. Hah.The girls actually didn’t have ski lessons on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, buttttttt … we didn’t know that. Wah wahhh. So, back we were! Emilia actually took a bit of a scary fall at the bottom of this run (and ended with a nice shiner to show for it). It was the wake-up call we needed to realize that although she’s getting better and is totally fearless, she is brand new. My brave girl was back at it the following day, but on easier runs where she could practice speed control and pizza stops!I didn’t mind the easier runs to hang with these ladies (who are WAY faster than me on anything thing else we do).It was a delightful weekend, despite the head injury. I think the whole no-snow and fear of crowds thing kept the crowds away. The mountain was EMPTY and it was a delight!On our fourth and final weekend stay, our VRBO had a VCR player. WHAT?! Despite the fact that we can – and do — watch all the movies that they had on demand, the allure of popping in a CD, watching the trailers, and hitting “Play” or “Scene Selection” was such a treat.Just a couple of parents with kids in ski school! (Despite how freezing we look in this picture, the temps actually weren’t that bad, and the fresh snow was very welcome. It’s been a DRY season out here, friends …)Ending a full ski day with a mocktail and a hot tub soak is always a good idea.We’ve become big fans of stopping at a little hole-in-the-wall donut and coffee shop in Georgetown on the way home. Their donuts are truly the definition of delicious. I had a book event on the final Saturday of ski lessons, but the girls finished out strong, and Chris used his solo time to take a tour of the mountain with a guide. (It’s free!)
It was a long, long January, friends, but spending every weekend in the mountains certainly helped keep it entertaining and gave us something to look forward to.
Now … we’ll be taking February off! So until our next trip … bis bald, friends!
The weather in Denver has been less-than-springlike. (Well, with the exception of just this past weekend!) We’ve had snow two of the past three weekends, and it’s barely gotten above 60 degrees for more than a day or two at a time. Not that I’m complaining.
(Okay. I’m complaining a little.)
I’m just sayin’ … spring, if you ever feel like showing up, we wouldn’t be sorry!
In the meantime, here’s a bit of what we got up to over the winter.
Ski, ski … & more ski! The girls and Chris skied more than 10 times this season, and Lotte & Grace even did their first black diamond runs! I’m so proud of how hard they’ve been workin’ on their skin’ skillls <3I even managed to get out with the fam a few times, which was so much fun!Emilia completed four ski lessons this season, but has yet to decide if she actually likes it. Her instructor recommended snowboarding, so maybe we’ll try that, next.We skied with our neighbors/friends a bunch, too, which was always the most fun <3Back in January we went to a Maurice Sendak exhibit at the Denver Art Museum.It was so cool! We particularly loved the interactive elements.I love these curious little kiddos <3In February, Lotte sang The National Anthem with her school choir at a CU Buffs women’s basketball game.AND she made it to the jumbotron!In April, she sang The National Anthem with her school choir for an opening weekend games for the Rockies!Some cutie friends joined us for the game <3And we stayed at an amazing hotel for a press trip for the weekend … stay tuned for more info 😉Just this past weekend, Lotte sang in the Choir in the Park festival and we got to hang at Elitch Gardens. We had never been, and it was so much fun!This was one of the few springlike days we’ve had lately, and we were HERE. FOR. IT!I had so many amazing events for my kid’s book, “Grace Retraces Her Day”! This is me at the Junkyard Social Club in Boulder …At the St. Patrick’s Day Festival in Olde Town Arvada …Getting ready to read at a story time for My Gym …Reading to the animals (and kids!) at Lil’ Buckeroo’s Petting Zoo in Erie, CO …Reading to all the classrooms at the Kiddie Academy …And us at the 20th Anniversary Kite Festival in Arvada!I took the big girls to an event sponsored by the Boulder Bookstore where we got to hear cartoonists Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud talk about their new graphic novel, The Cartoonist Club.We saw The Wiz at the Buell Theater in Denver!We had afternoon tea at The Brown Palace for Easter and it was so yummy!Same girl. Same.We do fancy well 🙂
And that’s about it, friends. It’s been … busy. To say the least 😉 But such a blast.
I have another book event coming up on May 7th at the Boulder Bookstore. If you’re local, I’d love to see you there! Sign ups can be found here.
And now, we focus on the end of the school year (four weeks left!) and our epic summer plans. It’s been real, winter … see on the flip side! Bis bald, friends!
I know — we all end up saying the same thing every year. The time flies, and suddenly your kids are so old you can’t believe it. It always amazes me.
Anyway, I digress. The REAL news to report this week is that WE FINALLY GOT TO SEE OUR AUSSIE NAN AND POPPA! After far too many years of Covid-induced distance, Chris’ parents were at last able to hop on a plane and fly back to see us. Lotte & Grace had not seen their grandparents since October of 2019, and Emilia had never met them. So to say that this was a monumental event for everyone is an understatement.
The Connor’s trip coincided with the girls’ spring break, which was lovely because we were able to spend a week in Winter Park together, as well as have them experience taking the girls to and picking them up from school.
In other words, we’ve simply had the most amazing time and I refuse to believe that it will be ending soon. Our plan is to head out to Australia for Christmas this year to catch up with all of our Connor family, so we’re all very busy keeping our fingers and toes crossed that that can still happen.
In the meantime, we have no less than 20,000 photos to keep on loop from our time over the past two weeks.
All the happy faces <3This little one has thoroughly fallen for her grandparentsChris and his dad cooked a yummy traditional Australian bread for dinner one nightNan & Poppa bought us ice creams in the park BEFORE dinner one night — doesn’t get better than that 😉Lotte had two ski lessons while her grandparents were here, one of which they attended and cheered her on throughoutPizza tasting at Crosscut in Nederland before skiing in Eldora was a highlight, as well
Besides having Nan & Poppa here to just live our lives with us for the past two weeks, the trip out to Winter Park was so much much. We stayed at this Airbnb, which was the perfect location for viewing the best times to visit the hot tub and swimming pool (a favorite activity amongst our group), and it was a short walk to the sweetest little sledding hill with community sleds to share. The girls also had an absolute blast hanging out in the bunk beds together.
Our itinerary included a visit to Grand Lake, as well, which was one of our stops on our first-ever vacation as a family of five last year. Chris cooked delicious food, we played games, explored a new-to-us ski town, and generally had a delightful little getaway.
Grand Lake is so much fun in the winter!Chris and I snuck away for lunch and margaritas at The Ditch, which was SO TASTY
You might imagine that two visitors from Australia would be exhausted after all of the above, but that’s just not how my in-laws roll. They are up for absolutely any and everything, and they are happy to do as many activities as possible when visiting their grandkids. So, we thought taking them to visit the Denver Museum of Nature and Science would be a fun activity for the girls’ last day of spring break. This place is so fantastic for kids, since it’s created for them to be able to run around and touch whatever they’d like. We had the best day, followed by a lovely dinner at Jack’s, one of our favorite neighorhood joints.
Dinners out with three kids is SO MUCH BETTER with grandparents 😉
And now we’re staring down the final few days of our visit with these lovely people which, to be honest, we’re all a bit in denial about. Seeing family is always the best thing in the world. Saying goodbye … not so much. To have something to look forward to — like our trip in December — does help soften the blow, I’ve found.
I hope you all are having a wonderful start to your spring season. Until next time … bis bald!
