2025: A Year in Review

Published on December 31, 2025December 31, 2025 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

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

Chris ran his marathon in three hours and eight seconds. LEGEND.

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 checked out the Bubble Planet Immersive Experience in Denver!

Lotte, Steph & Ro got their ears pierced!

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.

Pottery at the Imagine Children’s Museum was an unexpected delight.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

Hot cocoa and cocktails in a cozy igloo by the Bryant Park ice skating rink? YES PLEASE.

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?!

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!

Christmas 2025 in Hawaii

Published on December 30, 2025December 30, 2025 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Oh Hawaii, you beautiful beast, you. We had the most amazing Christmas holiday with the grandparents here.

Happy Wednesday, friends, and happy “I-don’t-care-what-day-it-is-or-what-comes-next” time of year!

Actually, for those keeping score, it’s New Years Eve. So three cheers to another 365 days well lived (well, most of ’em, at least) and trips traveled and friends and family made/cuddled/loved and books read and things seen.

All the things.

We arrived back from our Christmas in Hawaii early yesterday morning and spent the day fighting off the jet lag/overnight-flight-no-sleep thing. But now that I’ve had a nap, I thought I’d get this blog post in. Although we specifically said when planning for Hawaii that we wanted to literally do nothing, literally doing nothing looks a little different with three kids. We stayed at the Hilton Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa, which was entertaining enough with its multiple pools, lagoon, outdoor movie nights, early morning yoga classes, hulu lessons, and more.

Throw in a few fancy dinner reservations, a Christmas luau and a whale watching tour and we had ourselves quite a busy vacay! No matter, though, because it was all incredible and exactly what we needed. The fact that Chris’ parents met us there was the cherry on top.

Here’s a bit of what we got up to!

Let’s start with the weather. Upper 70s/lower 80s and barely any rain? Yeah. I could get used to that.

Hey, you know what’s festive? Hawaii during the holidays!

We arrived on Christmas Eve and had our first meal at Fresco Italian Restaurant. Their gluten-free Spaghetti Alla Pescatora was the perfect introduction to fish on the island (I think we had seafood for every single meal, often with breakfast being sushi from the ABC Store for Grace, who became obsessed) and the Mai Tai’s we ordered began our weeklong crusade to have as many as possible.

(Please see our trip to Europe this past summer for another example of ways we incorporate drinks into our travel experience. Ahem…. Aperol Spritz.)

My first Kona Coffee of the trip was from Chee Hoo Patisserie. I made it a cold brew with Macademia nut flavoring and never went back.

Look at this pastry! (Also from Chee Hoo.) We certainly did not starve on this trip.

Emmy had a malasada every day. She was livin’ the dream.

We spent almost the entire day on Christmas at the beach/lagoon/pools! We rented … whatever these things are … and napped and snacked and sunbathed and splashed. It was pure heaven.

On Christmas Night we attended the resort’s luau, which was even more than I could have asked for.

The food and drinks were so good, and the entertainment and stories told were so fascinating. FIRE DANCING. ‘Nuff said.

Then Nan & Poppa paid $60 for the images they took at the beginning of the event. So here is each. and. every. one 😉 Enjoy!

The girls even ended their Christmas Day with a night swim at the resort pool. Not too shabby, if you ask me.

The next few days were beach, pool, lagoon, repeat. We bought snorkel gear and the girls saw tons of fish, too.

Just the literal best in-laws anyone could ever ask for in the world ever.

We did take a boat out one day to go whale watching!

Sadly, this boat ride made me feel sick, which has never happened before!

We did, however, see SEVERAL INCREDIBLE WHALES. So a little upset tummy was totally worth it!

We had a fantastic meal at the Bali Oceanfront restaurant on Friday night and had front-row seats to their Friday fireworks show!

Lotte also discovered her love of Boba Tea.

I discovered that there is no end to my love of poke bowl consumption.

Chris & I left the kids with the grandparents one night and grabbed an early anniversary dinner out. We went to YA!! Sushi, which is this tiny, unassuming restaurant in the front of a hotel with the MOST INCREDIBLE SUSHI. We had the chef’s tasting and it was absolutely incredible. Even better than some of what we had in Japan.

We also discovered our love of the ABC Stores on this trip 😉 They had sushi, shirts, sandals… everything you could possibly need for an incredible vacation!

Ice cream on vacation just tastes different, doesn’t it?

Dinner our last night was take-out on the beach. This also hits different than it would sitting at your kitchen counter at home.

I even managed to drag myself out of bed for the 6:30 a.m. yoga session on the last morning we were there. It was hard! And I was so proud of myself.

Red fruit pastries for the absolute win.

Of course I had a turn, as well. Well, I guess I should say *I l*et Gracie give me a turn around the lagoon.

And that was our trip in a nutshell, friends. The perfect mixture of adventure and relaxation, and we will absolutely be back to Hawaii, that has definitively been decided. For now, though, we’re back in the mountains and we head to Winter Park this weekend for the girls to start their ski lessons, which they have every Saturday in January.

Life keeps movin’ friends, and we’re just along for the ride.

Until then, bis bald, loves!

A Knoxville Weekend for Some Track & Field Championships!

Published on December 8, 2025December 8, 2025 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Santa in Knoxville! Well obviously. He’s everywhere 😉

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you all had lovely weekends filled with rest.

Ours was not restful! But … it was amazing. We flew out after school on Thursday to Knoxville, Tennessee, where Lotte ran with her team — the Colorado Coyotes — in the AAU Youth Track & Field National Championships races! She has worked so hard this year, and we could not be more proud. We can’t wait to see where running takes her. (And if it takes us on some fun trips like this past weekend along the way, we won’t complain.)

Knoxville was incredible! It didn’t hurt that it was decked out for the holidays, which you know I’m obsessed with. We stayed at a Hampton Inn (a major thank you to Gpa and his hotel points!) right in downtown, so we could walk to pretty much everything.

Chris worked Friday morning, so the girls and I went exploring. We hit up the Convention Center (which was the former spot of the 1982 World’s Fair and currently houses the world’s largest Rubik’s Cube, if that excites you) and the Sunsphere (Santa was there!), before heading over to the Knoxville Museum of Art (which was totally free and had the cutest little kids’ specific craft room) and then grabbing lunch at The Tomato Head (Santa recommended) in Market Square.

The Convention Center was all decked out for the holiday.

The Peppermint Trail was a cute holiday-themed scavenger hunt that some businesses participated in. There would be a little sticker outside their door alerting kids to their participation, and they usually had something hidden inside (an Elf of the Shelf, for example) and free peppermints or candy canes for kids who asked.

The Sunsphere was a lot of fun! It was pretty cloudy and overcast on Friday so we probably didn’t have the best view, but it was still fun to read all about the World’s Fair and see some of the memorabilia and get a birds’-eye view of the city, and …

See Santa! Emilia was smitten <3 I’m not sure if she really remembers much about seeing an in-person Santa from previous years, so this was pretty darn cute.

The Knoxville Art Museum was totally free and totally worth checking out! Besides the cute kids’ room (which had arts and crafts, toys, games, etc.), it was small enough to be very do-able with Littles, and the room with the miniature rooms was a big hit. They even gave us a paper when we arrived with a scavenger hunt to find things in the teeny tiny rooms. So much fun!

The Tomato Head was a fab suggestion! (Thanks, Santa.) I had their special — an eggplant parm pizza, made with gluten-free crust — and it was a delight!

We loved the sculptures and street art that you can find all over the place in Downtown Knoxville.

Lotte’s coaches organized a team dinner Friday night, and seeing Lotte with all her little running buddies was so cute! But let me tell you … don’t let these adorable faces fool you. These girls can RUN! There were some insane times in the race the next day from some of these ladies!

Saturday was race day! Lotte ran in the 9-10 girls heat, which was at noon. We had a chill morning and headed over to the field around 10:30.

Lotte was nervous, which made sense, since she was literally running with the top kids in the country.

But she held her own — despite the muddy course! — and ran the whole thing!

One of the main reasons we wanted Lotte to join. These cuties will have bonds for life if they all stick with it.

I couldn’t love this picture more. Not only for Lotte and her look of determination, but for Coach Dad Chris rooting her on in the background <3

FINISHER. You deserve all the accolades, little lady. So proud.

We waited around to watch one of Lotte’s friends run in her heat before heading back to the hotel to shower and rest a bit. After that we hit the town again! We went ice skating (ONLY MY FAVORITE EVER), and ate at Soccer Taco (so good!). Then we hit up the candy store, did a bit more of the Peppermint Trail, and took in some twinkling lights on the walk back to our hotel.

Pre ice skating! When I tell you how much I love this picture because we NEVER HAVE EVERYONE LOOKING … it’s a real gem.

I honestly can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get my girls on the ice! Emilia enjoyed it but gave up after about two laps. These girls, though, loved it! It was hard to get them off!

Knoxville, you really know how to do the holiday!

And that was it, friends! Our incredible trip in a nutshell!

Knoxville was an unexpected gem, and Lotte, you continue to blow us away. Overall, we couldn’t have asked for more.

And now we continue with the insanity of the season. TWO birthdays. Book events. Holiday schiz. Oh, and … Hawaii for Christmas.

No biggie 😉

But until then … bis bald, friends!

A New York Thanksgiving Never Disappoints

Published on December 1, 2025December 1, 2025 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Nothin’ like a little early morning run/walk to kick off your Thanksgiving day of eating!

Happy Monday, friends!

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday filled with food, friends, and festive feels. (See what I did there?)

We were in New York and it was fabulous. Our flights were smooth sailing (I guess the trick is leaving on the first flight out in the morning, even if that means waking up at 2 a.m. to do it), we spent two fun-filled days in the city seeing the sites and hanging with friends and fam, and Chris got to tick off deep-frying a turkey from his Thanksgiving bucket list.

It was one for the memory books, friends.

Here’s a bit of what we got up to in photos.

No Thanksgiving trip back East is complete without a viewing of *Wicked!* What did you guys think? I know it got mixed reviews, but I thought it was fun and beautiful and a good way to spend an afternoon.

We spent the afternoon after Wicked at Aspire Brewing with my aunt, uncle, and cousin’s daughter. We didn’t get a chance to see my cousins on this trip, but seeing those three was an acceptable substitute 😉

The American Girl store in Manhattan was a VIBE. I think we spent something like four hours there on the Monday of Thanksgiving week! The dolls got their hair done (as dolls do), we wandered around and shopped, and we had tea at the cafe. (Which was shockingly good, I must say!) I mean look. Is it incredibly overpriced and silly? It sure is. Will the girls remember it for the rest of their lives? They sure will.

The city was just getting set up for Christmas, so of course we toured around a bit, too <3

Who could pass up a candy cane display AND free candy canes?

The Rockefeller Tree wasn’t lit yet and the Saks Windows weren’t decorated, but the things we did get to see were enough to make me very happy.

While the big girls and I were in the city during the day on Monday, Chris & Emilia stayed back in Newburgh so Chris could work. They decided to grab dinner before heading into the city to avoid traffic, which meant that Chris finally got to achieve one of his dreams … dinner at the Alexis Diner. Hah! It’s an institution in Newburgh, so I’m glad he and Emmy both got to experience it, even if I wasn’t with them.

We slept in the city Monday night at my friend’s Brooklyn brownstone, and then we hit up the Bryant Park holiday booths on Tuesday, including drinks and snacks in a Cozy Igloo at the ice skate rink! Look. Was it overpriced and was the food pretty terrible? Sure was. Was it incredible and super fun and something I would do over again in a heartbeat? YOU KNOW IT.

Spending time in Bryant Park allowed us to stop into the New York Public Library, which is gorgeous and worth a visit no matter what, but the reason we were there was to see the original Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal (the one that inspired the beloved books and movies) and all of Pooh Bear’s friends!

No visit to midtown is complete without Chris’ patented Grand Central Tour, which he taught to Grace and she can now give, as well!

Then it was onto Emmy’s early birthday surprise .. Christmas with Bluey! CAMP has set up shop with an immersive experience for kids and it’s all decorated for the holidays, which was a lot of fun.

Then we high-tailed it back from the city to be with these monkeys … the REAL reason for our visit <3

My brother-in-law’s co-worker hosted an informal Turkey Trot the morning of Thanksgiving, which was great because Lotte has some training to do!

She even bought medals for all the participants, which I thought was the sweetest added touch.

Then it was back home and time to prepare for a deep-friend turkey Thanksgiving! I don’t eat meat, but rumor has it this was without a doubt the best way to cook a bird.

Three little monkeys, sittin’ in the fold-out chair …

New York just gets better and better as the girls get older and start to remember all the small details of our trips. Like, I’m sure Lotte and Grace will always remember visiting the American Girl Doll store (and are both still playing with the dolls I gave them more than a year ago even after we’ve returned home), but they’ll also remember the ladybug we found on Thanksgiving morning. Trying deep-fried turkey for the first time. Piling into the pull-out bed downstairs to watch a nature documentary. The slime they spilled all over Rosalie’s dresser and carpet. (Okay, maybe that’s not the most fond memory.)

I treasure these trips, not only for myself, but for my kids and the memories we’re creating.

Now we’re off to Knoxville, Tennessee on Thursday so that Lotte can run in the Youth National Championships for track. We’re so proud of the effort she’s put in this season. Whatever happens with the race, she’s already a winner in our minds.

Wah wahhhhhh.

Bis bald, friends!

European Summer Part IX: Ireland

Published on July 11, 2025July 11, 2025 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

Hello, friends! Welcome to my final Europe installment … Ireland!

It is so hard to believe that this trip has come to an end. All that planning and booking and prepping is over. And holy cow was it fun 😉 We stayed in this Airbnb about 30 minutes outside of Dublin, and the view was spectacular!

On Thursday we spent the day in Dublin. We booked a tour at the Little Museum of Dublin — which was fantastic — got tickets for Saint Patrick’s Cathedral — incredibly beautiful — checked out Grafton Street and the Temple Bar District, walked through St. Stephen’s Green Park, walked across the Ha’penny Bridge, and just generally took in the culture of the place. It was vibrant and alive and fun and festive.

We stopped in at Rolling Donut before our Little Museum tour, and it was so good! They even had vegan options for Emilia!

This tour was so good! They really catered to the kids — although it was amazingly fun for adults, as well — and was less than an hour, which was a really good amount of time for us.

St Stephen’s Green Park was so pretty. Tons of greenery. Lots of fountains and lakes and ducks. It was quite lovely.

We have thoroughly worn these girls OUT.

The self-guided tour at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral was really interesting, and the church was beautiful.

We walked past the Dublin Castle on our way to dinner, which has a beautiful garden, too.

Boeuf and Frites was a delightful steak house in the Temple Bar neighborhood, although there were ZERO options for pescatarians. Hah! I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for non-steak lovers.

The Ha’penny Bridge was fun to walk across.

And back home to a nightcap. It was a great day.

On Friday we checked out the sweet little town of Enniskerry for breakfast before we headed off to Powerscourt Waterfall (Ireland’s tallest waterfall), the Sally Gap drive (including the P.S. I Love You Bridge) and Brittas Bay Beach. We ended the night with dinner at the very cool Johnnie Fox’s Pub, which is the highest pub in Ireland. It was such a sweet little day.

The girls had a lot of fun exploring in this area for a bit.

The Sally Gap Drive was incredible, and you go past this P.S. I Love You Bridge, which is in a very picturesque area and was used in the filming of the movie.

The water was freezing, but fun to dip our toes in 😉

Then it was off to the beach! We had such beautiful weather while we were here, so of course the beach was packed. So much fun, though!

Soft-serve with sprinkles on the beach. Summer made.

Johnnie Fox’s had the most fun atmosphere. There was live music, tons of people, the funkiest decor and really good food.

Did not regret this pasta with salmon and shrimp at all <3

And that, my friends, is that. Our trip. Done and dusted. Four weeks. Ten countries. ALL THE FOOD AND DRINK. So many memories. It was honestly the best time. And the fact that we had the grandparents with us just pushed it over the edge to amazing.

And now, excuse me while I sleep for the rest of the summer.

Until next time … bis bald, friends!

European Summer Part VIII: Amsterdam

Published on July 8, 2025July 8, 2025 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Hello friends — welcome to Amsterdam!

We arrived in our 9th country (the Netherlands, of which Amsterdam capital) of this trip in the late afternoon on Sunday and spent our two full days here exploring this insanely fun town. Amsterdam has a wild side, for sure, and I think because of that I enjoyed it even more.

Things we did here that I would highly recommend include:

Where we stayed: We had two triple rooms and one double room at the Conscious Hotel Museum Square, which is located a little bit away from the mayhem but still surrounded by plenty of things to do. The hotel puts a big emphasis on environmental sustainability, which is why I was drawn to booking it in the first pace. PLUS they gave me a bottle of champagne, some delicious fudge, and the sweetest note to congratulation me on Grace Retraces Her Day. How sweet is that??

And their cute little outdoor area in the back was the perfect place to toast!

Where we ate: We had breakfast at our hotel on Monday (which was great), lunch at ‘T Nieuwe Kafe and dinner at Esh Pitabar. Esh is a bit outside of the city center, but I would still highly recommend it if you love Mediterranean food, and ‘T Nieuwe Kafe was perfect for an outdoor spot right in the center of things.

Nothing but pride over here for this INSANE table of food!

What we did: A few of our favorite activities include the NEMO Science Museum (this was fantastic for kids and adults alike, we could have spent all day there!), Tony’s Chocolonely (this place is so cool! It focuses on sustainability for cocoa farmers and you can make your own chocolate bars, but it was PACKED! I would suggest going early …), the flagship LEGO store (which had everything, including trivia games and demonstrations and building stations … no wonder it had a line to get in the door!), the Sam & Julia Mouse Mansion (which is a sweet little store with model houses for a famous Sam & Julia Mouse story from Amsterdam) … and of course just wandering the streets!

The human body floor at the NEMO Museum was my favorite!

Pigeons have become a real obsession on this trip.

Such a cute little shop to add onto your Amsterdam tour!

On Tuesday we had another full day. We took a tram from our hotel to the De Plantage neighborhood of Amsterdam and had lunch at the de Plantage cafe. Then we checked out ARTIS, the Amsterdam Zoo, which was right next door. After that we hoofed it over to the Van Gogh & Rembrandt immersive experience in an old church, and had dinner at Trattoria Koevoet just a couple of streets over.

This restaurant was so beautiful, and the food was as beautiful as the atmosphere.

And the zoo is right next door! It was such a beautiful zoo, too. I would highly recommend for littles who are sick of culture and art and city life 😉

The Van Gogh & Rembrandt immersive experience was also great for kids who might not be interested/able to make it through the actual Van Gogh museum. If you really want to see some Van Gogh art, though, I would recommend the actual museum, which my in-laws did and loved.

Trattoria Koevoet is a tiny, old-school Italian restaurant with a lot of character. The food is so good. I’d recommend it after the Van Gogh immersive experience, since it’s about a four minute walk, but be sure to make reservations!

And that was it. Amsterdam in a nutshell. Tomorrow we’re off to Country No. 10, our final stop. Ireland. We are both excited and exhausted. Glad to heading home, sad for the trip to be ending. All the feelings. But for now, I look forward to exploring one final new place. Until then … bis bald, friends!

European Summer Part VII: Bruge

Published on July 5, 2025July 5, 2025 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

This is one of my favorite photos of the trip <3

Welcome to Bruge, friends!

After missing our first train out of Paris, we caught one an hour later (they said it was standing room only, but we luckily got seats), had a short pitstop in Brussels, and were on our way to Bruge!

We stayed at a very fun Airbnb just outside of the city center, which was great for our family.

We were pretty exhausted the first night, so after dinner at The Grilloir Bistro (which was so tasty, and had the prettiest courtyard!), we called it a night.

We hit the ground running on Friday, as we always do on our first day in a city. We walked six miles, had a brewery tour and lunch at De Halve Maan (amazing tour and fantastic lunch, terrible service), went to the Choco Story museum (it was so much fun learning about the history of chocolate, and a presentation at the end showed us how they make their famous pralines), had a horse and buggy ride with a great guide who told us a bunch of history (Lotte and I noticed the day before that everyone seems to have fabulous doorknobs here, and it turns out that’s because the doorknob is the only part of the house people are allowed to personalize … how fascinating is that?!) and ate waffles for dinner from Chez Albert.

What a beautiful day.

I took so many door photos. I was obsessed.

Chris and I went for a morning walk — a favorite part of this whole Europe trip — and found a coffee shop for breakfast.

Walking into the city center along the canal was so much fun!

So many core memories made on this trip.

There were so many natural drinking fountains around the city, too, just like everywhere else we’ve been.

Look at this insane town square. Mind blown.

I cannot with the flowers all around the doorframes.

Such good beer at De Halve Maan Brewery!

Yes, our waiter forgot us, and yes, we waited 45 minutes just to put our order in. STILL WORTH IT.

They had a photo booth at the end that you could take photos at that they emailed to you 😉

The pralines that they made at the end were to-die-for.

Our horse tour around town was also super fun! 70 euros well spent.

This seems to epitomize the attitude here, and I love it.

On Saturday, we rented bikes! Chris and I have always liked to rent bikes in new cities where we visit, and this was the first time we’ve been able to have Lotte and Grace ride with us. It was so special.

We grabbed ours from Ben’s Bikes in the center of town and rode about 30 minutes to the adorable town of Damme, then rode the Lamme Goedzak canal boat back. Emilia rode on the back of Chris’ bike for the first time in her life (she loved it, I was stressin’), my in-laws rode e-bikes, and the big girls rode their own bikes the whole way! We were so proud of them!

I could not be prouder of this girl and her middle sister — they did such an amazing job riding!

This girl had one big fall, and she picked herself up and kept right on going. Rockstar.

The views along the way were stunning. So serene and peaceful.

We ate at De Knotwilg, the sweetest little restaurant in town with tons of old-school games that kept the girls busy the entire time.

Andddddd ice cream on the way out. Obviously.

Look at this cute ferry that took us home!

They even had drinks you could order while you enjoyed the prettiest ride.

And that’s a wrap on Bruge! What an adorable, quirky, fun, romantic, serene, wild town. I want so badly to come back here. But for now, we’re on to country No. 9 … Amsterdam! Until then, friends, bis bald!

European Summer Part VI: France

Published on July 2, 2025July 2, 2025 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Hello from France!

Friends, it has been … hot.

I mean, amazing, but also … hot! There were heat advisories on both Monday and Tuesday which, of course, were the two days that we had our biggest outdoor plans. But you know what? Heat. Be. Damned! We did ’em anyway! And yes our faces were flushed and we drank our body weight in water (and champagne and Aperol Spriztes) and sweated it all out as soon as we drank it … but it was a damn good time 😉

Chris’ mom came to visit us when Lotte was three months old and when she would change Lotte’s diapers she would read from the world ABCs poster above Lotte’s changing table. The “P” was for Paris, and Nan used to say that some day she would bring Lotte to Paris to visit.

Dream trip complete.

We stayed in an old hotel-turned-Airbnb about 30 minutes outside of Paris, which was so much fun for our crew!

Look at these cuties, all ready for adventures and Bucket Lists and all the things!

I’m honestly so proud of how these girls handled the day, considering that it was sweltering.

We paid to head all the way to the top, and it was a delight. Seriously, the crowds were way less, and it was breezy and shady and beautiful. Totally worth it. If you want to head to the top, check the website and note the day that tickets open up, because they sell out FAST. Like, Taylor-Swift-concert fast 😉

Plus … champagne! For the price of your first-born’s college tuition, you can get a glass 😉

Chris, Emilia, Grandpa & I walked down from the 2nd floor observation area, which was actually a lot of fun!

A well-deserved lunch afterwards. The place we stopped didn’t get great reviews so I won’t link it, but for us, the proximity to the Tower was worth the price tag. (And it was a HEFTY price tag!)

This ended up NOT being vegan and DID give Emilia a small reaction. But at least in the moment she enjoyed it.

It was about 100 degrees on the day that we visited Disney Paris, and while yes, that’s insane, I also thoroughly believe that spending a sweltering day at Disney was far better than it would have been to be in the city of Paris. Disney just does everything well. The rides were air conditioned. The restaurants were air conditioned. They had water stations and misters and there was plenty of shade. It just really wasn’t as bad as you would imagine a 100-degree day spent outside would be.

Pinocchio with Nan and Poppa! We ticked off SO MANY rides and I was so proud of our entire crew!

Macaroons and the It’s a Small World ride. Perfection.

Walking through Alice’s Maze was the best!

Colonel Hathi’s Outpost was the perfect mid-day pitstop. Cold. Dark. Humongous enough for the kids to run around in.

We hung out around our cute town on Wednesday (the Disney Drag is REAL!). The Wednesday market near the church — which is open until 1 — is a do-not-miss!

We went to the market in the morning by ourselves, then came back later in the day with the girls to have them splash around in the sprinklers for a while.

Ice creams and Aperol Spritzes to finish the day, obviously.

France, what can I say? You were above and beyond. Despite the heat, we had the best time. And now we’re on to Country No. 8 … Belgium! I’m so excited to stay in Brugge. I’ve heard the best things? Has anyone stayed there before? I’d love to hear!

Until next time, friends … bis bald!

European Summer Part V: Driving from the Dolomites to Paris

Published on June 29, 2025June 29, 2025 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

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.

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!

This girl truly came into her love of meat on this trip!

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.

We walked up to the Imperial Castle, which had amazing views of the city.

Emilia basically ate pretzels the whole time. Le sigh.

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.

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.

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!

European Summer Part III: Venice

Published on June 23, 2025June 23, 2025 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Hi friends — welcome to our 48 hours in Venice!

Look, here’s the thing about amazing Venice. Every single place is fantastic. So I literally took no notes of names. Not for restaurants. Not for shops. Not for drinks. Any and everywhere you eat or go here will be … fantastic.

Chris and I were so happy to have this time in Venice, not only because the grandparents were here to help give us some time alone, but because the last time we were here it was for one night, and our experience was very different. We had the best time this trip around. Here’s a bit of what we saw and did …

Taking a private water taxi from the airport to your Airbnb sets the bar pretty high.

Chris and I took pretty much the entire day by ourselves to explore and eat and drink while the grandparents took the girls to see …

Breakfast both mornings. YUM. We never got there early enough to try the pistachio croissant, but the honey, chocolate, and cream ones were a delight.

We had lunch and our first Aperol Spritz of the day at the fanciest restaurant with a live quartet playing. Who even are we??

Rooftop bar + second Aperol Spritz = Perfection.

There was a third Aperol Spritz in there somewhere, but I guess I didn’t deem it worthy of a photo 😉 We DID take an evening gondola ride, though, and that was so dreamy.

After an insane dinner, we capped the night off with gelato in the square. The best.

Even though it was only two nights, we truly packed it in.

Venice, thank you for putting on a show for us. We loved every second of it. (P.S. Can’t recommend our Airbnb enough. It was totally in the heart of things, but also so solitary and quiet. Perfect for both things.)

After we checked out of our Airbnb we took another water taxi to our rental car and drove three hours to .. the Dolomites! We’re here now, and it is so incredibly gorgeous. As I always say, I can’t wait to explore. Until then, friends … bis bald!

European Summer Part II: Barcelona

Published on June 20, 2025June 23, 2025 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

Hi friends — welcome to Spain! We spent the second leg of our European Summer in Barcelona, and she was so much fun! Besides a few crazy moments (all of which had to do with where we stayed … blurgh), we had the best time! Although not the best for several reasons, where we stayed was in a good location, so that was super fun.

Let me tell you, this city is ALIVE! And that’s coming from someone who spent 10 years in New York City.

Here’s a bit of what we saw and did …

We didn’t get to our hotel until 9ish, and then Chris had to run a mile to another location to get the keys. Oy. But still, we could tell how cool our neighborhood would be during the day.

Our balcony was definitely a favorite spot <3

Then we saw some Picasso’s at the Picasso museum … NO BIG DEAL!

They had an adult and a children’s listening tour, which was so cute!

Hot chocolate and churros at the museum cafe were a delightful after-treat.

Passing through the park in the Arc de Triomf area there were men with seeds to feed the parrots. This was obviously a highlight for our bird-loving girls.

Stopped into a lovely little bookstore on our walk to our next stop …

And we ended here — Sagrada Familia — for our tour!

This place was incredible. It was started in 1882 by Antoni Gaudi, and is still unfinished. It’s one of Barcelona’s most famed landmarks, though, even though it’s still under construction, and you can see it from pretty much around the city.

Finished Day One with sangria in the park. It was perfection.

Chris went to the grocery store and stocked up. This humongous tomato brought us a lot of joy.

Then we made it to the Mediterranean Sea 😉

This paella dinner from Arrosseria Xativa was nuts.

Park Guell on our final day was so gorgeous .. and so hottttttttt!

And now we’re off to Italy! The Italian leg of our journey includes Venice and the Dolomites and … the grandparents! All three of ’em! It should be a very fun time.

Until then … bis bald, friends!

February Fun with Our New York Crew

Published on February 20, 2025February 20, 2025 by Cheryl Lock2 Comments

Happy Thursday, friends!

We just spent the past week with some of our New York hearts, and we were livin’ it up! Activities included:

Seeing Lyle the Crocodile performed at the Arvada Center
Celebrating Ro’s 6th birthday, Wicked style!
Checking out the immersive Bubble Planet experience in Denver
Swimming at the Apex Center!
Rosalie and Lotte GOT THEIR EARS PIERCED!
Checking out In-N-Out Burger
We saw Paddington in Peru at the Alamo Drafthouse
Lotte performed the National Anthem at a CU Boulder women’s basketball game with her school choir!
And lots of cuddles and love, of course 😉

Brought these cuties to the airport with me to pick everyone up. We took our welcoming committee duties very seriously <3

Lyle the Crocodile at the Arvada Center was so cute! The play was adorable, and they had a little “how we make it come together” session afterwards with two of the actresses, and then they answered questions, too. Lotte & Grace got picked to ask questions and theirs were very good ones … if I do say so myself 😉

Sunday was Rosalie’s birthday, and we had a Wicked-themed party that was so fun!

Emilia couldn’t come with us to the Bubble Planet because she had ski lessons at A-Basin, but she made her own fun on the bunny hill 😉

The Bubble Planet was great! The girls tore quickly through it, but it was still a really fun way to spend an hour on a cold day.

This was probably our most favorite room.

To infinity and beyond with this girl <3

They ended with a $10/person VR experience, which was sort of annoying. But Lotte, Rosalie, Grace & Grandpa really enjoyed it!

Afterwards we went swimming at the Apex Center to say farewell to swim before Rosalie and Lotte got their ears pierced on Monday. It was SO BUSY, but the girls had a blast.

This ropes course in the water was a particular hit 😉

We ended the big birthday with a screening of Wicked in our movie theater room. The perfect topper!

Lotte, Ro and my sis got their ears pierced on Monday! To be honest … Lotte was terrified 😉 She needed lots of pep talks and cuddles, but eventually, she did it!

We requested to have it done at the same time. I wasn’t sure if she had one ear done at a time that she would actually get them both pierced!

I was so proud of her for working through her fears! (Ro didn’t even flinch, hah!)

Paddington (which was very cute) to celebrate!

The girls went back to school on Tuesday, but after we picked up Emilia from her half-day preschool class, Rosalie, Steph, Grandpa, Emilia & I headed back to Denver and to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

I’m glad that Emilia & Rosalie got to spend a little one-on-one time together while the big girls were in school <3

We stopped by the new In-N-Out on the way home, too!

A quick hair salon sesh at night and that was it!

Rosalie and Steph left early Wednesday (tears), but Grandpa hung out one more day to catch Lotte sing the National Anthem with her elementary school choir at the CU basketball game!

And now, it’s back to just us. Wah wahh. We miss our family, but so glad to have these memories.

Until next time … bis bald, friends!

2024: A Year in Review

Published on December 31, 2024December 31, 2024 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

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!

Thanksgiving in New York (& the Macy’s Parade with Littles!)

Published on December 2, 2024December 2, 2024 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Happy Thanksgiving, from our loves to yours!

Happy Monday, loves! I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving break. We sure did. Our holiday started with a 2 a.m. wake-up call last Saturday to catch our 5 a.m. flight to New York.

We love New York.

To be honest, landing at 10 a.m. NY time was delightful. Sure getting up early was annoying. But there was zero traffic to the airport. The airpot was *slightly* less crowded than normal (lots of people, it turns out, like traveling early), and the whole experience just felt less stressful. Landing early meant we were less stressed out about quickly grabbing our car and racing upstate to get the girls to bed. Instead, we had the whole day ahead of us.

Delight.

We packed it in on this trip! Some highlights were:

Sleepovers at Aunt Stephie’s house, Grandpa Robert’s house and Fiona and Jake’s house in the city
The Polar Express train ride in the Catskills
Seeing Wicked, the movie
Checking out the holiday lights at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens
SEEING THE MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE IN PERSON!
Spending a relaxing Thanksgiving afternoon with family upstate
Brunch with more family on Friday

Our flight home on Saturday was at 6 a.m., so it was another early day for us. But landing at 8 a.m. MT meant we had all day Saturday and all day Sunday to rest and rejuvenate. Honestly, everything went as smoothly as we could have possibly asked for (including a broken down Christmas train and pouring rain Thanksgiving Day parade), particularly for the busiest travel week of the year.

Here’s a bit of what we got up to 😉

Gorgeous city views on our flight in, including …

LGA is by far our favorite airport. It’s hard to get the girls to leave! We also saw a bunch of the marching bands arriving on their flights for the Thanksgiving parade, which was so much fun!

We surprised Ro with our visit on Saturday, and let the girls know they’d be heading to the Polar Express on Sunday with a cute hot chocolate bar my sister set up. Because she’s super cute.

The Catskill Mountain Polar Express train ride is so cute! The staff sings and dances, you get chocolate cookies and hot chocolate, and the decorations are top-notch. Yes, our train broke down. Hah! But even so, the staff did a great job keeping the kiddos entertained, and although we never made it to the “North Pole,” Santa did make it onto the train, which was really all the kids cared about.

The holiday season has officially begun!

My sister worked a half -day on Monday, and then we grabbed Ro early from school and headed to see Wicked, the movie, with Lotte and Grace. I wasn’t sure how they would do with the 2 hour and 45-minute run time, but they loved it! We’ve been listening to the soundtrack ever since.

Wednesday was so much fun! Chris and I headed into the city early to hang with our loves Fiona & Jake (and their parents ;), and then my sister and Rosalie and Robert met up with us later to check out the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Lightscape. We had the perfect weather, and the kiddos loved running through all the beautiful lights.

The show wasn’t too long, but it also was long enough that it felt worth the cost, since our kids basically ran through the entire thing.

Definitely take time to stop and smell the flowers.

And drink hot chocolate with snowman marshmellows!

Thursday was Thanksgiving! We had another early wake-up call — 5 a.m. — to leave Carla’s by 5:30 and be into the city by 6. It was absolutely pouring, but we got so lucky to find scaffolding that kept us warm and dry, and there was even a little ledge that the girls could stand on — away from the crowds — and get a good view of. A couple of tips from the day, if you’re ever thinking of doing this yourself:

Book your parking ahead of time. We found a garage at 60 W. 30th for $20 that was perfect.
Head to Columbus Circle/Central Park West, if you can. It was, we read, a less crowded spot, and had great views.
Get there by 6:30 if you want to be up-close. If you don’t care about that, getting there when it starts is fine if you’re willing to stand back behind the crowd and catch the floats from afar.
We read that strollers and umbrellas were not recommended, but having my sister’s double umbrella stroller was an absolute life saver for us. People also definitely did have umbrellas. Just something to think about.
Potties. Plan for them. They can be few and far between!

There was even time to catch a nap on the ride back upstate 😉

We spent Thanksgiving afternoon with my brother-in-law’s family. It was super low-key and relaxing, with a tasty Thanksgiving dinner thrown in the mix.

I spent a lot of time on this trip trying to get this little girl to love me. Theo seemed to think I was okay. Arabella took a little bit more convincing!

Brian’s sister Meg brought gifts for all the girls and made it into a fun little game. It was the sweetest thing <3

It was an incredible Thanksgiving, and one I am very grateful for <3

Friday was our last full day, and we spent it with a family brunch at my aunt and uncle’s place, followed by dinner at Grandpa’s.

Uncle Brian made special muffins for Emilia, now that she can eat baked goods with milk and egg in them. All the kids were obsessed!

Such a special day, hanging with our fam.

More. Cutie. Cousins. How lucky are we to have so many loves?!

And that was it, friends. Our trip in a nutshell. We all headed back to Grandpa’s for one final dinner and to say our goodbyes.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! That was our final trip/flight of the year, which is unbelievable. Now we settle in for the birthday/Christmas season, and all the craziness that brings. We’ve got our eyes (and wallets) set on the year ahead, and some hopefully super-fun things.

Until then, though … bis bald, friends, and happy holidays!

A Beautiful Fall Break Spent at Great Sand Dunes National Park

Published on October 21, 2024October 21, 2024 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Hello, friends! Welcome to my fall break post.

Just nuts.

I cannot believe we are here, staring down the barrel at Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas & the end of the year. It’s coming friends, whether we’re ready or not.

Anyway, I digress. We spent the girls’ fall break in the most glorious place — Great Sand Dunes National Park. The last time we were here, Lotte & Grace were so teeny tiny. I’m talkin’ Grace in a baby carrier teeny tiny. It was so much fun to be back with all three girls, and to have them a bit older to really enjoy it. We also stayed at an Airbnb that was about 10 minutes from the park entrance. That was clutch.

Just a little muffin, thoroughly enjoying her mountain morning.

After exploring a bit and having breakfast, we headed into the park. It costs $25 for a 7-day pass, and it’s worth every single friggin’ penny. This place is magic.

Don’t sleep on the visitor center. It has all the info about how the dunes were formed, plus gorgeous views to boot.

The juxtaposition between the fall colors of the trees and the beige sand was incredible.

The girls did great! I mean, walking in sand ain’t easy!

We played on the dunes for about 45 minutes, then stopped for a snack in the sand before heading home for lunch.

Life is always an adventure with this guy.

Our little explorers were such troopers! After a morning at the Dunes and then lunch back at our Airbnb, we decided we had more in the tank and headed to Zapata Falls, a .5-mile hike to a waterfall that includes traipsing across slippery rocks in the water. The girls — while slightly terrified — were so amazing.

Such a sweetie and always game for an adventure.

Initially Lotte held back on the last little (water-soaked) bit to the waterfall. But after we told her how cool it was, she went back with Chris.

We slowly made our way back home on Saturday, with one more stop at the dunes visitor center and lunch at Eddyline Brewing in Buena Vista, which is so amazing in the fall.

The neighborhood around the brewery is so quaint, with a rocking climbing wall, the riverfront walk, a coffee shop and more.

After lunch we checked out the river for a bit.

And that was it, friends. Back into the car we went, for the 2-hour ride from Buena Vista back to the Arvada. And now we await our next adventure … New York for Thanksgiving! Until then … bis bald, friends! Keep livin’ that gorgeous fall life.

A Delightful Long Weekend in Punta De Mita

Published on September 24, 2024September 24, 2024 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

Happy Tuesday, friends!

We just arrived home from the most delightful long weekend at Dreams Bahia Mita Surf and Spa in Punta De Mita, Mexico. This was a press trip, so I won’t share all of the details until the actual article comes out. But for now I’ll just say … this place was a pure delight.

Some highlights …

Our room included a small plunge pool, which was perfect for relaxing after a long day at the pool.

The girls loved playing “restaurant happy hour” with the treats in our room. Lotte was the mocktail maker, while Grace and Emilia served up some sweet treats <3

Me and my oldest babe, on our way to dinner the first night.

We’ve got our relaxation down to an art.

First night dinner views were a delight!

Honestly, the food at this all-inclusive was something special. It was very tailored to kids, while also being super tasty & special for adults.

I was told that in November, you can often see whales from the beach. Can you imagine?!

There were SO MANY pools and special features. The girls had a blast!

The new kids water park was really amazing! Tons of water features and shallow water so you didn’t have to worry too much about the littles.

We had a private cabana on Friday, and the girls REALLY took advantage of the services 😉

We caught some glorious sunsets from our balcony.

We went to a fun festival with a live Mariachi band!

The kids club was a huge hit! They did crafts, danced by the pool, conducted science experiments, decorated donuts and tons more!

Mom & Dad also were not too sad to have some alone time 😉 It allowed us to check out the “Secrets” section of the hotel, which is adults only. It felt extra special <3

We were pretty happy to get the kids back … eventually 😉

Drinks at the swim-up bar in the adults-only pool. Super swanky.

We rounded out our final full day with a last visit to the beach.

Adios, Mexico. Thanks for the super amazing time.

The girls & I all wore pant/short-suits to dinner on our last night, and it was friggin’ adorable.

Until next time, friends … bis bald!

Life Lately: Summer After Australia

Published on August 15, 2024August 15, 2024 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Holy cow don’t ask me how, but THE 2024/25 SCHOOL YEAR STARTED TODAY!

I think because we started the summer off on such a high note with a month in Australia (Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Airlie Beach, Hamilton Island, Brisbane and back to Sydney before flying home!), it made the rest of the holiday go that much more quickly.

We sure did manage to live it up for these 7ish weeks, though 😉 Here’s a bit of what we got up to after heading back from Down Under.

Camps!

I feel like we really hit our stride with camps this year. Rather than sticking to the same exact one, we switched it up.

Horse/riding camp at the Community Farm was a huge hit! The girls loved farm life, were obsessed with all the animals and, according to their instructor, were amazing at riding.

The big girls did a week-long bike camp with Pedalheads. Lotte improved on her skills, went on road and trail rides, rode to the park and the library and just generally had an amazing time.

And Grace finally learned how to ride! Turns out, with the proper instruction, she picked it up super quick 😉

Visitors!

We love our summer visitors. This time we were SO LUCKY because we had Grandpa and Mojo, Aunt Stephie and Ro, and our New York friends Carla, Fiona & Jake (who did camp with the girls). We sure do have the best time showing our loves around our Colorado home.

Steph & Ro & Gpa were here for Lotte’s birthday, which was so. much. fun!

On Lotte’s birthday, one of her friends from school was having a birthday party at a local pool that Lotte wanted to go to. That made it super easy on us!

Ro & Em got some quality time alone when the girls were in camp. It was predictably adorable.

We went to Big Soda Lake one day, which was SO HOT, but also lots of fun!

We had lunch at the aquarium restaurant the day before Steph & Ro flew out.

And walked through the downtown aquarium itself as well!

Having a dog in the house — Grandpa’s Mojo — was a lot of fun, too!

Besides going to camp together, we showed Fiona & Jake some of our favorite spots. That included, of course, the Butterfly Pavilion.

Miscellaneous

When we weren’t camping it up or entertaining guests, we managed to have a lot of other fun, too.

Grace’s first concert, and Lotte’s second, was BILLY JOEL at Coors Field!! How cool/fun is that?!

We spent a weekend at Auntie Moe’s where we rode the Buckhorn Northern Railroad train and visited that quintessential summer institution … Dairy Queen 😉

Dad had a date with Grace … at Meow Wolf 😉

Mom & Emmy celebrated her last day of camp with a date at McDonald’s 😉

We had neighbors over for the sweetest little birthday celebration for Lotte <3

We continued our annual tradition of testing books for the *Good Housekeeping* Kids’ Books Awards. So many great ones this year!

I took Emilia to what was likely her last-ever toddler story time. She was pretty over it. That is absolutely the end of an era for me. I CAN’T EVEN!

Who doesn’t love an outdoor/backyard summer movie night situation?!

And now, we welcome the next season of this year. So far, it’s been a pretty great one, and I have a pretty good feeling about this school year, as well. We still have quite a few fun adventures planned before we say goodbye to 2024, but until then … bis bald, friends.

Summer Adventures in Australia Part V1: Brisbane

Published on June 25, 2024June 25, 2024 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

Finally met up with some good friends in Brisbane!

Happy Wednesday, friends! We’ve reached the Brisbane edition of our Summer Aussie Adventures.

(Here’s Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island.)

We hit the air again on Sunday to head from Hamilton Island over to Brisbane to meet up with some friends and check out Bluey’s hometown. (Had to do it, obviously!) Our last morning on Hamilton was pretty special, though.

We hit up the Hamilton Island Wildlife Cafe for some coffee and koala watching!

Chris and I had come here when we at Hamilton Island for our honeymoon, so it was very special to head back with our girls.

Far and away my fave Aussie animal. Come on nowwwwww!

We headed back to the beach for a bit, but they weren’t allowing snorkeling because of the waves.

Thanks for being amazing, Hamilton Island. We will be back!

We arrived late to our Airbnb on Sunday and were pretty exhausted, but not too exhausted to meet up with our crew for dinner!

Chris and Anton have been friends since college, and now our girls are becoming friends. Nothing makes me happier than when our kids become friends with our friends’ kids <3

On Monday we hit the town!

Le Bon Choix Bakery goodies are no joke. OMG how much was this gluten-full goodie worth it!

The Wheel of Brisbane was so much fun! If you’ll recall from our Seattle trip, Grace in particular is a huge fan 😉

Loved out little adventure with this group <3

We even saw a water dragon when we came off the ferris wheel!

The South Bank swimming area was so great for kids! It was too cold for us to get in when we were there, but I loved how they had life guards and the swimming depths were clearly marked. Plus, it was such a beautiful setting!

A beautiful setting with birds that want to kill you, obviously. This IS Australia, after all 😉

The kids got ice cream, so naturally we couldn’t help but reenact one of our fave Bluey episodes!

The adults skipped ice cream in favor of beers.

Endless entertainment provided by the pretty Brisbane sign down by the water.

Dinner was a delicious cheese board, seafood and sausages on our Airbnb rooftop.

The Queensland Museum was so cool! And most of it was free, which was a super-nice change of pace at this point in our trip 😉

Then we caught the (also free) water ferry over to the other side of the river to head to Felons Brewing, which was a very cool spot on the water.

They had the coolest playground area for the kiddos to hang out in while the adults did their adulting.

The food and drinks were super tasty, too!

There are so very many tired faces in this photo, but it was so lovely catching up with some other friends of ours who moved from Denver to Australia. We met up at Julius for dinner, and it was phenomenal food and a fun atmosphere. Just a really fun time all around.

Tomorrow we’re back to Sydney before flying home on Sunday. As our trip starts to come to a close, I’m so forever grateful that we were able to take the time and have this experience. I am also very much looking forward to getting back to my house, my neighborhood, our regular routine.

And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss my bed.

But for now … Sydney’s up next. Until then, bis bald, friends!

Summer Adventures in Australia Part III: Melbourne

Published on June 17, 2024June 17, 2024 by Cheryl Lock3 Comments

Hello, friends! Welcome to installment three of our Aussie Summer Adventures: Melbourne!

You can find Sydney here and Canberra here.

After one final morning with Kate & Tom in Canberra, our little fam loaded up for the hour-long flight from Canberra to Melbourne.

As a side note, the Canberra airport was a dream!

We landed around 3 p.m. on Wednesday and checked into our Airbnb (which had THE MOST spectacular view!), checked out the neighborhood a bit (this is such a great spot!) and grabbed sushi dinner from Sushi Jiro (which was phenomenal). Not a bad way to start the third leg of the trip.

How amazing is this view?? One of the tall buildings in the corner even put on a light show every half hour in the evening. Spectacular!

There’s street art down every Melbourne alley, and it’s so much fun to spot!

I won’t post every photo I took because, as you can imagine, it was quite a few. BUT HOW FUN?!

Some of my Mom’s fam met up with us at the Queen Victoria Market, which was a lot of fun.

It just goes to show that distance can’t keep family apart.

We had the sweetest first full day in Melbourne!

I sure do love my sweet travel buddies <3<3<3

Riding the City Circle Loop (the free tourist tram) was a real hoot.

Federation Square was a very cool spot for artwork, food, drinks and to check out the Yarra River.

On Saturday we packed up our big rental car and hit the Great Ocean Road! We made stops in Torquay, Lorne, Apollo Bay, and The 12 Apostles on Saturday. We stayed at adorable cabins in Port Campbell, then headed onto The Bay of Martyrs, The Grotto, London Bridge and back to the beach at the 12 Apostles on Sunday.

Torquay was about an hour from downtown Melbourne, and such a fantastic first stop on our trip!

We saw the most insane competition at Lorne between elite search & rescue teams. It was seriously impressive.

And got our toes wet on the beach, of course <3

Apollo Bay was cold but so, so beautiful.

After about four hours of driving, we made it to the 12 Apostles!

This was the idyllic view from the deck of our cabin in Port Campbell.

The Bay of Martyrs was our first stop on Sunday morning.

The London Bridge was also so. cool. Part of it fell several years ago — the part that connected the two rock formations — so it was pretty special to see what’s still up.

The Grotto was my favorite, I think. What an insanely cool spot!

Then it was back to the 12 Apostles beach area for a bit more sandy toed fun.

After spending a few more hours on the Great Ocean Road, we headed back to Melbourne, and had dinner with my Mom’s amazing family. I hadn’t seen them in over 10 years, but it was as if I see them every day.

But how cute are all these kiddos, though?!

My grandfather passed away years ago, but what an absolute treasure to spend time with his 94-year-old sister, Rosina.

On our last full day the girls wore ALL THE SWAG they got from my wonderful family the day before <3

We stopped at the Caldermeade Farm and Cafe on our way to see the fairy penguins at Phillip Island, and it was so much fun! Cute farm animals. A fun playground. Watching an assembly line of cows getting milked. What’s not to love?!

Grace and Lotte’s abilities to sit through photos really started to wane about now. Fair enough. These kids have been AMAZING!

We made it to the Phillip Island Fairy Penguin Parade! Phillip Island is about two hours from our Airbnb, and totally worth the drive! The penguins make the trek every evening around sunset from the ocean to their resting nests, and it is *absolutely one of the best things I’ve seen in my life!*

You’re not supposed to take photos of the penguins or the march after sunset, but just trust me when I say that it’s incredible and well worth a visit.

Grace’ face in that last photo says it all. Melbourne — we’ve done so much! It has been amazing in every possible way. And now we’re onto the tropical part of our trip. Airlie Beach, here we come! Until then … bis bald, my friends!

When Neighbors Become Family (the Girlfriends’ Getaway Edition)

Published on May 7, 2024May 7, 2024 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

I’m going to just put this out there … moving to the neighborhood that we currently live in changed our lives.

I was unhappy when we first moved to Denver. I expected it to be exactly like Manhattan. I missed my friends and family back in New York. I didn’t work in an office, have colleagues to chat with or feel particularly like joining any clubs or activities. I was lonely and depressed, and I didn’t know how — at the ripe old age of 32 — I would ever make friends again.

Wah wahhhhh!

Cut to the next year, when Chris & I bought our first house in a Denver suburb. We lived on a small street in a house that we loved, and we quickly made friends with our neighbors across the way. It wasn’t until our move into our second and current home, though, that we found our tribe.

I’m talking about those people you can text to ask, “please pick my kids up at the bus stop, I can’t make it!” or “please come to my house because my daughter got a pea stuck in her nose and I can’t get it out!” or “could you please come stay with my child while I bring my other child to the emergency room?” The women in the above photo — my neighbors — have sent all of those texts/calls to each other and then some. They have become my very good friends, my in-a-pinch-sitters … my backup family.

In other words, I adore them.

So when our one neighbor — whose husband works for the luxury travel company Inspirato — suggested that we book one of their properties for a girlfriends’ getaway, we were all too happy to jump at the chance. We picked a gorgeous place in Breckenridge (with a hot tub, obviously), and spent Friday through Monday of this past weekend having just the best time. I had one of the best meals of my life at the Blue River Bistro (so delicious, and so gluten-free friendly!), we never stopped chatting, went shopping, had margaritas at Rita’s and checked out the Breckenridge Troll.

You don’t usually know how your neighbors will be when you move into a new home, and it’s always a gamble.

Gosh darn are we grateful we got so lucky.

Bis bald, friends!

Road Trip to the Grand Canyon Part 3: Monument Valley to the Grand Canyon

Published on March 24, 2024March 25, 2024 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

The Grand Canyon is everything they say it is. Unbelievable.

Happy Monday, friends! Welcome back to my Grand Canyon road trip diary (Arvada to Moab is here and Arches and the first half of Monument Valley are here). On Sunday we woke up in Monument Valley to this view <3

Courtesy of our super cute cabin.

We spent the morning exploring the grounds a bit more, having breakfast back at the restaurant and, naturally, buying 10,000 gorgeous Navajo momentos.

Hope Gpa didn’t think this was a REAL vacation!

Afterwards we loaded our trusty Heidi the Highlander back up again and hit the road. This time we made sure to stop at the Arizona sign.

The ride from Monument Valley to our hotel near the Grand Canyon was a little over three hours, so we broke it up with two stops.

The Navajo National Monument was a short and beautiful walk to a beautiful, historical spot.

Not gonna lie, we were a bit skeptical of these dinosaur tracks at first, but everything we’ve read about them seems to be legit!

Besides being insanely cool, it gave the girls a chance to run around and get their wiggles out 😉

After a few hours and a few adventures, we finally made it to our hotel!

Here are some of the details of our stay.

Monday & Tuesday

Where we stayed: Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel
Where we ate: We opted for the buffet restaurant at the hotel for two dinners and two breakfasts while we were there. That, and the train ride from the hotel to the Grand Canyon, could all be purchased for a 10% discount if you bought them together with your rooms.
Where we hiked: The South Rim Trail

After resting up a bit on Monday night, we were ready to hit the train on Tuesday! The train ride includes a very cute “shoot-out showdown” before you board, and the ride itself is about 2.5 hours. There’s a cafe car and entertainers and tour guides onboard to answer all your questions. It was honestly the absolute best way to do the Canyon with three littles and for our first time. We barely had to figure anything out for ourselves (they even took care of our park entrance tickets!), and we got to relax and take in the scenery. If we ever make it back we’ll probably stay in the park, but for this adventure, this option was magic.

I’d like to take an additional second here to thank … THE WEATHER! We’ve gone places for our kids’ “spring break” before, and it’s been less-than-springlike. This time was so wonderful. Besides one random snow squall while we were driving, we had such delightful weather. Breezy and cool, with sun and … NO CROWDS. I don’t know how. I don’t know why. But the National Park Gods shined down on us this trip, and we were HERE FOR IT.

Emilia, you won’t remember this. But hopefully these photos will help <3

Having two nights in one spot was much-appreciated by this point in the trip, so we were all too happy to head back to the hotel after our train ride, straight back to the buffet, to the swimming pool for a bit and then to bed. The next day was on to Bryce Canyon. Until then … bis bald, friends!

Road Trip to the Grand Canyon Part 2: Arches National Park & Monument Valley

Published on March 22, 2024March 22, 2024 by Cheryl Lock2 Comments

Happy Friday, friends! Welcome back to the Grand Canyon Road Trip Heard Round the World, and our Day 2 Adventures. On Sunday we were already in Moab, so we hit up Arches National Park (National Park No. 1 of this trip!), then drove to Monument Valley, which is a Navajo National Park.

Along the way we also hit up the Mexican Hat and had some fun at Forrest Gump Point, the point in the movie where Forrest is running, running, running and then, suddenly, decides to stop.

Here we go!

Sunday

Where we stayed: A premium cabin at The View Hotel
Where we ate: The gorgeous (with mediocre food) restaurant at The View Hotel
Where we hiked: Arches! Plus we did the 17-mile Monument Valley Scenic Loop

Rock scrambles and terrifying cliff drops got nothing on these girls! (Despite Emilia’s face looking otherwise!)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again … my girls continue to shock and aww me. The Delicate Arch trail in Arches National Park is a “moderate,” 3.2-mile out and back trail that covers scrambling rock and terrifying cliffs. When I say that these girls rocked it, I very and truly mean it. I remember my first time doing this hike, and how difficult it was for me to complete, and I’m just so impressed with the way these girls handled it like pros.

We *even* dragged out kids out even further on the hike, so that we could take this precarious photo under the arch. I told Chris later that I had visions of never seeing them again the whole time we walked over … but when in Rome????

So, so proud of these loves. (You too, Grandpa!)

After our hike it was back into the car and on over to Arizona (new state No. 2 for the girls!) and Monument Valley. On the way we saw a few other cool things.

The Forrest Gump Point! You just KNOW Chris had fun with this one 😉

Then it was on to Monument Valley. I’m not going to lie — I didn’t know quite what to expect here. But man oh man was I blown away. This is such an insanely gorgeous spot in the world, and staying in the cabins overlooking the monuments themselves was an amazing experience.

The 17-mile loop is driven, so that makes it easy to check out all the gorgeous spots. A lot of the reviews say it doesn’t matter what type of car you have, but I would beg to differ. An all-wheel drive that’s not directly on the ground is, I would say, optimal. She bumpy!

I would allow for about two hours to drive the loop, depending on how often you want to stop and get out.

This was the view from the porch on our cabin. Absolute perfection.

That was Sunday in a nutshell, fam! The night included an incredible sunset and star-gazing. More cabin pics to come in the next post. Until then … bis bald, friends!

Road Trip to the Grand Canyon Part 1: Arvada to Moab, Utah

Published on March 21, 2024March 21, 2024 by Cheryl Lock2 Comments

Hello friends — happy Thursday! Here I am, blogging from the road of our epic Spring Break Road Trip from our home in Arvada, CO to the Grand Canyon and then back. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve blogged from the road. Maybe … never??

All told we spent approximately 23 hours in the car and drove approximately 1,420 miles. We stayed in 6 hotels, visited 4 National Parks and 4 other places of interest. I am so proud of how these girls handled this trip. They were rockstars on our (pretty difficult!) hikes, and they handled the car rides like a pro. We planned the trip so that we were never in the car for longer than 4.5 hours a day, and on those days we planned decent stops halfway through. Our legs included:

Friday: Driving from Arvada to Glenwood Springs, CO
Saturday: Driving from Glenwood Springs, CO to Moab, Utah
Sunday: Driving from Moab, Utah to Monument Valley, Utah
Monday: Driving from Monument Valley, Utah to Williams, Arizona/the Grand Canyon (we stayed here for two nights)
Tuesday: Visiting the Grand Canyon!
Wednesday: Driving from Williams to Bryce Canyon, Utah
Thursday: Driving from Bryce Canyon, Utah to Grand Junction, CO
Friday: Driving from Grand Junction home!

It was a trek, to be sure … but I wouldn’t have done one single thing differently. Here’s what we got up to on Saturday!

Saturday

Where we stayed: The Wingate by Wyndham Moab
Where we ate: The Trailhead Public House and Eatery and Canyon Pizza Co.
Where we hiked: The Corona and Bowtie Arch Trail

Entering Utah, a new state for the girls to scratch off their maps when we get home!

The Corona Arch Trail was so much fun, but definitely not for the faint of heart!

The drive from Glenwood Springs to Moab was about three hours, and we headed straight to lunch at The Trailhead Public House and Eatery when we arrived. This cutie restaurant is right in the center of town and super close to a bunch of hikes. Plus the food was really good. I would highly recommend it if you’re in the area!

From lunch we headed straight to our first hike of the trip — Corona Arch! This trail is about 2.3 miles out and back, and definitely includes some rock scrambling and pretty steep climbing. The girls did so amazing, though, and had the best time! You don’t have to hike the full trail to get a view of the arch, either, so it’s definitely worth it even if you can’t do the full trail.

Emilia spent the majority of this trip on Dad’s shoulders, which was A-Ok in Mom’s book 😉

The two big girls ended up climbing a very treacherous rope with Dad to make it a little bit farther up the trail. I was simultaneously terrified and incredibly proud.

That was our first day in a nutshell, friends! Sunday was Arches National Park in the morning and then onto Monument Valley. Until then … bis bald, friends!

Fort Collins Staycations with Best Friends

Published on March 8, 2024March 8, 2024 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

Happy Friday, friends! I’m way late to this post because honestly … life. Phew.

But I’m here now to share a bit about our fabulous Fort Collins staycation from last weekend. While Chris was off snowboarding for a couple days with a friend at Copper and A-Basin, the girls and I used it as an excuse to catch up with my best friend from high school — Auntie Moe. We hadn’t seen her since Thanksgiving (!), and hadn’t been to her place in even longer, so a girls’ weekend was way overdue.

We love our Auntie Moe so much, and she planned the sweetest time for us all, including birthday and Christmas presents (no visit with Auntie Moe is ever complete without presents. She spoils us.), a trip to the very cool Twin Silo Park, dinner at Totally 80’s Pizza, ice cream sundaes and a Trolls movie viewing, then a pancake breakfast before we headed home Sunday morning.

If you must pull single-parent duty for a weekend, recruit a bestie to do it with you, I say 😉

Emilia spent pretty much the entire time at the playground right here, being pushed by Auntie Moe <3

I’m not going to lie, this playground intimidated me at first. There are lots of things for kids to do that require them being out of your eyesight. The girls had THE BEST time, though, and once we were there for a while and I realized they could handle it, I came to enjoy it as much as they did <3 I mean, look at that joy!

Lotte has been working on her monkey bars, and it’s really paying off!

We love ya lots, Auntie Moe. Sure are lucky to have you in our lives.

Next up was Totally 80’s Pizza, which was such a trip! There was SO MUCH 80’s memorabilia and they played 80’s music and hi, I could live here!

Moe’s sister, sister’s partner and nephew all met us for dinner. It’s always so much fun to see this crew and watch the kids hang and bond.

Any time ice cream is involved, we’re on-board.

We’re sure glad Chris had fun on his snowboard trip …

But we’re also super glad we got to use it as an excuse for a ladies’ weekend full o’ fun.

Bis bald, friends! Next up … our Great Grand Canyon Spring Break Road Trip, taking place the week after next! See ya soon!

A Very Merry Connor-Lock European Christmas: The Iceland Edition

Published on January 4, 2024January 4, 2024 by Cheryl Lock2 Comments

Beautiful but freezing … that is Iceland’s MO 😉

Happy Thursday, loves! My third and final installation in our European Holiday Adventure is brought to you by the frigid, fantastic land called Iceland. (For the record, Chris and I had already been a number of years ago, and our obsession was already grand.)

This time we decided to do things a bit differently, though. We stayed at this Airbnb — rather than right in the city of Reykjavik — which was off-the-beaten path and totally in the Icelandic wilderness.

Same view during the daylight. Look at all that awesome isolation!

The back of the house led out to a lake, which I’m sure is amazing in the summer.

This log cabin was so glorious, and its geothermal hot tub was even more glorious. We frequented it quite a few times during our two-day, three-night stay.

This was around 10 a.m. on our last full day. It just doesn’t look like it, because the sun doesn’t come up until after 11 a.m.!

Chris and I also hit the hot tub on New Years Eve night — which also happened to be our 11-year wedding, 16-year meeting anniversary — after putting the kids to bed <3

We even saw the Northern Lights from it!

Okay, enough about the hot tub. (Even though it was awesome.) Here’s what else we got up to.

Rock ‘n’ Troll!

This place has a lot to offer — a hotel, cafe, library, etc. — but the short walk up to the troll statues was why we made the visit.

Emilia ended up with some seriously cold feet, but she enjoyed the visit up until that point!

Lotte found another good use for her Christmas Market scarf!

Hot Springs!

We stopped at the Deildartunguhver Hot Springs — which also had a lot to offer, including a restaurant, hotel, geothermal baths to bathe in, greenhouses during the summer, etc. — but showing the girls some hot springs in Iceland was our main draw.

It doesn’t really matter which ones you see, but when in Iceland, you must hot spring it up!

Waterfalls!

When in Iceland, you are often only one step away from imminent — but beautiful — death.

I joke, but seriously, this place is not for the faint of heart. The Glanni Waterfall was glorious and I’m glad that we visited, but I was also super happy to snap a few pics and get my children the hell away from the tiny gate that separated them from a rocky free fall as soon as possible.

So pretty though!

What even are we tiny humans on this vast planet?

There is a short walk from the parking lot to the waterfall, which is also beautiful.

A Day & Night in Reykjavik!

Downtown Reykjavik in all its adorable glory.

Nan & Poppa had a super early flight back to Germany on our final day, so they spent the night in a hotel in Reykjavik the night before. That meant that we got to spend the day and some of the evening in the city on New Years Eve. We hit up Fly Over Iceland (an interactive, AI experience that takes you “flying” over all the main attractions of Iceland), Chris and I had an anniversary dinner at the coolest restaurant — Fjallkonan — and the girls got to have dinner delivered to them in bed while they watched a (funnily enough, French) movie at Nan & Poppa’s hotel, Berjaya Reykjavik Marina Hotel.

Nan & Poppa’s hotel was right on the waterfront. So cool!

Emilia was too short to ride the Fly Over Iceland attraction, so I hung back with her in the cafe and gift store. This delightful holiday coffee — and the fact that they were still playing holiday music, but in Icelandic — made me more than happy to do so 😉

Grace took this photo in the hotel. I just thought it was adorable <3

Fish & chips dinner at Nan & Poppa’s place.

And that was Iceland in a nutshell, friends! I do need to take a moment to thank the Icelandic horse — whom I have affectionately named Buddy — who came right up to me when I was taking photos of his group on the side of the road. He seriously made my trip.