2025: A Year in Review

A very, merry happy New Year to all you lovelies 😉

It’s that time again. An introduction. A blank slate. A chance to start over, continue being amazing, set new goals, or aim to keep the old ones. AND …. it’s reflect-on-the-past-year time, too. 2025 was a good travel year, for us, with lots of love, laughs, cuddles, and adventure. Here’s what we got up to.

January

In January, Chris and I booked it to Florida for a quick 48-hours so he could run his 10th marathon. We hadn’t been away from the girls overnight in about two years, so it was really quite fun to take that time <3

HOT TUB TIME!
Chris ran his marathon in three hours and eight seconds. LEGEND.
I was quite proud, to say the least<3

February

In mid-February, Steph, Rosalie and Robert flew out for President’s Weekend to celebrate Valentine’s Day and Rosalie’s 6th birthday. We had such a blast!

We saw Lyle the Crocodile!
We checked out the Bubble Planet Immersive Experience in Denver!
We went swimming at the Apex Center!
Lotte, Steph & Ro got their ears pierced!
We went to the Science Museum!
Lotte sang the National Anthem at a CU basketball game with her school choir!

March

In March we headed off to Taos, New Mexico, for spring break! It was a new state for the girls, and we had such a blast.

New Mexico!
New Mexico!
We stayed in the most beautiful spot!
Spring skiing is the best!
Pottery at the Imagine Children’s Museum was an unexpected delight.
Such a gorgeous trip <3

April

I posted an ode to winter at the end of April, with highlights including lots of Lotte choir singing at fun events, art exhibits, author events (both mine and other authors!), plays, fancy tea services, tons of skiing .. and lots more!

The Maurice Sendak exhibit at the Denver Art Museum!
Lotte singing at a Rockies game!
The Wiz at the Buell Theater in Denver!
Easter tea at The Brown Palace in Denver was delicious!
Lotte performed with her choir for a festival and we got to hang at Elitch Gardens!

June & July

You guys. June and July were epic. We met up with all three grandparents for a month in Europe that did. not. disappoint. There was the press trip at an insane resort in Portugal. All the culture and food in Barcelona. Italy. (More specifically the Dolomites and Venice. Enough said.) Driving from the Dolomites to Paris, with a stop at the city where I was born. Paris and the French countryside. The shocking adorableness of Brugges. The out-of-this-world salty attitude of Amsterdam. And the gorgeous, glorious greenery of Ireland. It was the trip of a lifetime, to say the least.

Madeira Island, Portugal
Madeira Island, Portugal
Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
Venice, Italy
Venice, Italy
Dolomites, Italy
Dolomites, Italy
Nuremberg, Germany
Nuremberg, Germany
Reims, France
Reims, France
Paris, France
Paris, France
Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris
Brugge
Brugge
Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Ireland
Ireland

As if that weren’t enough, when Lotte and Grace had their horse camp canceled last-minute, I booked a quick trip back East for the week before Lotte’s birthday! Grace was meant to come, too, but after a month in Europe, girl needed some R&R at home, which was totally fine. She’ll catch NY next time round!

Solo NY trip with my girl <3
We had a lot of good food and drinks AND a lot of time to chat, which was so much fun and so different from how it usually is. My brother-in-law was a doll and watched the twins a bunch, and Lotte & Ro entertain themselves, which left my sis and myself to our own devices on several occasions. I do not take those times for granted.
Lake swims!
Fun at the fairground!

August

I wrote a farewell to the Summer of 2025 covering the final few weeks of our break before we were back-to-school. It included a birthday, camp, a visit from our NY loves and one final out-of-town trip.

Phew. What a summer it was!

Just a couple’a cuties at the Denver Zoo.
The Frisco Bay Marina always hits.
Rainbows in the mountains? Can’t beat that.
You also can’t beat a National Park. This one — Rocky Mountain National Park — is near and dear to our hearts.

September

September started with a bang when we celebrated Labor Day in our own Colorado backyard. Sunshine. Hikes. Moose. Bear. Glaciers. Lakes.

Oh, Colorado. You beautiful beast, you.

Gem Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park
Gem Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park

November

In November we hopped on the earliest flight possible to high-tail it to New York for the Thanksgiving holiday! We saw Wicked, had tea at the American Girl Doll store, drank hot cocoa in an igloo in Bryant Park, hung out with Bluey, deep fried a turkey … and so much more <3

Core memories, ya’ll.
Hot cocoa and cocktails in a cozy igloo by the Bryant Park ice skating rink? YES PLEASE.
Nothing beats it.

December

Less than one week after getting home from our New York Thanksgiving, we were back on a plane! This time, it was to Knoxville, for the AAU Youth Track & Field Championships, which Lotte ran with her team, the Colorado Coyotes. We were so stinkin’ proud of her, I could cry. Oh and also … how cute is Knoxville?!

Santa at the Sunsphere!
SO PROUD OF LOTTE!
Ice skating for the win!

Then we spent Christmas in Hawaii with Chris’ parents, and it was SO FRIGGIN’ WONDERFUL!

And that was our near in a nutshell, friends! We had pretty amazing travel experiences and I never stop being grateful for all of it for even just one second.

I hope you all had a wonderful year … and cheers to an even better new one!

European Summer Part V: Driving from the Dolomites to Paris

My babies in the Germany town where I was born. The absolute best.

Hi friends! Welcome to the insane drive portion of our summer in Europe. We left the Dolomites around 6 a.m. on Friday to begin our journey to Paris, which would take us two days and include several stops along the way.

Most of the time the drive was stunning.

Our first stop was Innsbruck, Austria, for a park runaround and some sugar to wake us up.

Rapoldi Park was so much fun! It was huge, had beautiful gardens, a cafe, duck pond, and two playgrounds.
Duck pond!
Back at it!

Our second stop was the Chinese Beer Garden — located in the English Garden — in Munich. Chris and I had been here with his parents the last time we were in Munich, and Chris had such amazing memories of the food that we had to go back!

So pretty!
YUM.
This girl truly came into her love of meat on this trip!
The merry-go-round was a hit!

Then we were off to our final stop of the night: Nuremburg, where I was born! Hotel Victoria was so perfect. Right at the beginning of the town center, and with a beautiful breakfast included in the price.

I couldn’t believe I finally made it to my birthplace with my girls!

It meant so much to me to be in Nuremburg with my babies! I hadn’t been back since I lived there as a kid, either, so it was truly a special night.

Oh Germany. I love you.
We walked up to the Imperial Castle, which had amazing views of the city.
Emilia basically ate pretzels the whole time. Le sigh.
Twinning <3
Core memories made, for sure.

After a 6-hour road trip back in the car on Saturday, we arrived in Reims, France! Our Airbnb was super close to the town center, so we went exploring right away.

Watermelon in our French courtyard.
Reims, you are so super cute <3
Obviously this carousel was a hit!
Grace is a bit over photos. No one tell her we have two weeks left …
Dinner at Brasserie Le Gaulois was SO GOOD.
Breakfast was obviously of the bread and pastry persuasion.
We toured a little bit around the Champagne region on our way out to Paris.
Such a beautiful area of the world!

And then it was a little under two hours to our next stop … our Airbnb in France! But, that’s a story for another time 😉 Until then, bis bald, friends!