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!

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!

48 Hours in Florida & a 10th Marathon In the Books

Published on January 27, 2025January 27, 2025 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

Just a couple of happy parents … on a vacation without any kids 😉

Happy Monday, friends! Chris and I just got back from a less than 48-hour quick trip to Celebration, Florida, where Chris ran his 10th marathon.

I know, right? My legs hurt typing those words.

Well he crushed it, obviously. Finished in three hours and eight seconds (who does that?!), and we got to spend some much-needed alone time (in the sun and warmth, no less!), while Grandpa held down the fort back at home with the girlies.

It was a fabulous way to spend a January weekend, if I’m being honest 😉

We stayed at the Melia Orlando, which is a wellness-focused hotel with lots of health-focused amenities. What we really cared about, though, were the pool and hot tub…

The race was Sunday, but on Saturday we got to chill. I rented a bike from the hotel and tagged along while Chris did an easy 2-mile run. We ate yummy food. Checked out the town. Saw a crocodile. Went in the hot tub. AND ALL WITHOUT CHILDREN!

This was too close for comfort for me. Chris, of course, loved it.

We had lunch on Saturday in town at Avocado Mexican Grill, which was so yummy, and this was our burrata appetizer from our dinner at Reggiano’s. It was *so good*, and they had all the gluten-free options you could want for pasta and pizza.

Then Sunday was race day! Luckily the course passed by the hotel twice — once at the 2-mile marker and the second around mile 14 — so I got to catch my running man there twice. Then I walked a short (and so pretty) 30-minutes into the town center to catch him again at the finish.

Finished! Everyone laughs at this picture of the man in front of Chris who is lovin’ life, while Chris looks … tired. Let’s be clear: This was a half marathon AND a marathon. Mr. Heel-Clickin’-Good-Time had just completed the half in the same time it took Chris to complete the full. Still impressive. Not quite the same 😉

Then it was back to the airport and home to the kiddos! We had originally thought the whole family would make this trip, and that we would throw Disney into the mix, as well. When that turned out to be astronomical, we ditched the kids and came ourselves (courtesy of Grandpa’s watching the girls, of course.) I sure am glad we did it this way 😉

And that was it, friends! A quick and lovely time in warm and sunny Florida. It was a delight, especially as we landed back to 19 degrees and snow on the ground in Denver. Blurgh.

Until our next adventure … 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!

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!

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!

Road Trip to the Grand Canyon Part 4: Grand Canyon to Bryce National Park … Then Home!

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

Hey fam! Welcome to Day 4, and my final blog for this road trip adventure. (Arvada to Moab can be found here, Arches National Park to Monument Valley here & Monument Valley to the Grand Canyon right here.)

After our Grand Canyon adventures, we loaded up to head to another new National Park for our list: Bryce Canyon. Grandpa had been here before, but Chris and I hadn’t, so we were really excited to be hitting up this park on our ride back home. We were surprised how much snow was on the ground when we arrived, but luckily it was just enough to slightly cover the hoodoos (the amazing rock formations you’ll find in Bryce Canyon), but not to cover them completely.

Before we arrived in Bryce, though, we stopped off at Horseshoe Bend, which was only about two miles total to walk there and back, and was totally worth the stop.

Just the cutest little adventurers! Also, Chris found these shoes for Emilia in a secondhand store in Moab and, to be honest, they were one of many MVPs of the trip 😉

Horseshoe bend was about 2.5 hours from our hotel in Williams, Arizona, and we had another 2.5 hours to go before we arrived in Bryce. It had taken us longer to get out of the hotel that morning than we originally planned, and the stop took longer, too, so we decided to rearrange our planned hikes. This turned out to be necessary anyway when we arrived and saw how much snow was on the ground!

Wednesday

Where we stayed: The Best Western Plus Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel (not to be confused with the Best Western Plus Ruby’s Inn, which is right across the street is has way more things to do in the actual hotel!)
Where we ate: Ruby’s Inn Cowboy’s Buffet & Steak Room (this is right inside the Ruby’s Inn Best Western that was across the street from where we stayed)
Where we hiked: Sunset Point to Sunrise Point

Our original hike in Bryce — the Navajo Loop and Queen’s Garden — was going to take about 1.5 hours to complete, so we figured we would get to it the following morning. Of course, that was before we did the Sunset Point to Sunrise Point walk and came upon the (very muddy, very steep) entrance for the Navajo Loop. We quickly realized that wouldn’t be happening for us, particularly with the three littles and the muddy/icy conditions. What we ended up doing was great, but I do hope to get back to do the Navajo Loop at some point, since it seems beautiful.

For our tired, hungry group of travelers, though, the (mostly chill, not too steep, but yes still muddy) Sunset to Sunrise Point walk was just perfect.

The first time you see the hoodoos it takes your breath away.

Did I take 1,000 photos of them? You know I did.

After our walk, a check of the general store and dinner, we were about ready to crash. It was the perfect dip of our toes into this gorgeous National Park.

Thursday

Where we stayed: Home2Suites by Hilton Grand Junction Northwest
Where we ate: We ordered Mexican to our hotel in Grand Junction when we arrived 😉
Where we hiked: We drove the Southern Scenic Drive to the highest point in Bryce, and did part of the Hickman Bridge Trail in Capitol Reef National Park

When we realized the Navajo Loop wouldn’t work for us, we stopped into the visitor center Thursday and asked a ranger for a suggestion. Turns out, the Southern Scenic Drive was perfect. It would take us to Rainbow Point (the highest point in the park) and past the Natural Bridge.

Rainbow Point sits at 9,100 feet. So yes, it’s high … but not so high for these Colorado mountain lovers!

These signs cracked me up. As if I wasn’t anxious enough already, thank you very much!

And that drive took us through to the end of our Bryce Canyon adventure. We headed back to Grand Junction, Colorado that day, but not before stopping at our fourth (if you don’t count Monument Valley, which is technically a Navajo Tribal Park) and final National Park.

Considering that I had never heard of Capitol Reef, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But holy crap was this park gorgeous! It wasn’t small, either — it took us quite a while to drive from end to end. The hike we attempted — the Hickman Bridge Trail — would have been gorgeous had we finished it, I’m sure, but it was pretty steep and rocky, and a storm was setting in. Plus, we were just ding dang exhausted after nearly a full week of travel! Still, we were able to get out of the car and stretch our legs a bit, which was all we really needed.

And then, just like that … we were back in Colorado!

One brief stay in Grand Junction and lunch in Frisco later, and we were … home!

Phew! Thanks for coming along that journey. It was a great trip from start to finish, thanks largely to awesome planning (the writer takes a bow), amazing weather and the best company a gal could ask for.

Until next time … BIS BALD, FRIENDS! And happy spring!

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!

Snow Tubing & Skiing in the Colorado Mountains

Published on February 5, 2024February 5, 2024 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Happy Monday, friends! This past Sunday was the final ski lesson of the season for all three girls. So we decided to stay up in the mountains and make a weekend out of it, like we did for their first lesson. Since we would be leaving right after their lesson on Sunday, it made sense to stay closer to A-Basin, rather than halfway between our house and the mountain like we did before.

We picked this Airbnb in Dillon. Although it’s less than 20 minutes to get to the mountain from the Airbnb in normal traffic, a big storm blew in on Saturday (we were staying for the weekend, so of course it did), and the mountain traffic was heavy. It ended up taking us about 45 minutes to get there on Sunday. Still, we were so grateful we didn’t have to drive all the way from Arvada, which would have been a nightmare. Mountain traffic. It’s a thing 😉

The Airbnb was the perfect size for us, and we had outdoor access to a little backyard that the girls played in for a bit while we finished packing up to leave on Sunday.

This snowman was there when we arrived. The girls had a lot of fun “fixing” him up.

Look, I’m not going to lie. It’s not always fun and games when we go away with the girls. There is always a lot of bickering, a certain level of who will sleep with whom, who’s waking up in the middle of the night (Emilia) and requiring one of us to sleep with them, etc., etc. BUT, at the end of the day, we will always come out the other side with only the fondest of memories. Everything else tends to … fade away 😉

On Saturday a fairly hectic snowstorm blew in, but we knew if we didn’t get out of the house we would all go crazy. Chris had been snow tubing with visiting family at Frisco Adventure Park a few years prior, and he knew the girls would love it. The short 20-minute (less when it wasn’t storming out!) drive away was also appealing.

I’ll be honest — I had my doubts! It was freezing and windy and I didn’t know how long the girls would last. And at $32/hour/person, I didn’t want to waste that kind of money on one run.

My girls, as usual, surprised me. And although yes, there was some complaining about the wind/cold (who could blame them?!), they did great. Even Emilia! All three of them loved it. Lotte even went by herself once, because apparently I have a daredevil on my hands.

Dad did a lot of heavy lifting on this particular adventure 😉 Getting to the runway to head up the tubing hill was only a short walk, but doing that short walk through inches of snow with teeny, tiny legs proved burdensome for some.

Emilia was so confused, but she had the best time!

Thanks for a fun time, Frisco! We’ll definitely be back … perhaps when the weather is a bit more balmy 😉

The thing that I love about the mountains is that you go hard on all these activities — skiing, snowboarding, tubing, what have you — and then you crash hard. We all ended up taking naps at the same time after we had lunch when we got home. I mean … AMAZING. That never happens.

Sunday was the girls’ last ski lesson of the season, and Chris and I hung back and had a leisurely, boozy (for me, the non-driver, at least) breakfast at the restaurant. It was so wonderful. Even if the girls learned nothing in their lessons — which they did! — having that non-kid time for four Sundays in a row would have been worth the price tag alone 😉

By Sunday the snow had stopped and the temps warmed up, making for a seriously gorgeous drive!

The cutest little skiers! Em did more snow-eating than actual skiing, but that’s okay! She got used to having skis on and she’ll be even more prepared next go-round. Grace did amazing and is ready to move on up to hill riding, too!

This one, though … holy moly! She’s riding lifts by herself, flinging herself expertly down blues. She really came a long way this season. Even her instructor said it seems to have all clicked <3

Thanks for an amazing time, A-basin! We’ll be back!

That was our mountain weekend in a nutshell, friends! Now that the girls are finished with their lessons, we can go up to the mountains and ride with them whenever we want, which will be so. much. fun! Hope you guys are making the most of the season, whatever weather that brings you 😉

Bis bald, all!

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.

Look at this handsome, rockstar of a horse. Love you, Buddy <3

We’ll definitely be back to Iceland again as well, perhaps in the summer to catch more of what this awesome place has to offer in different weather.

Thanks for always being awesome, Icealand!

And thank YOU for following along. Until our next trip — a road trip to the Grand Canyon over the girls’ Spring Break! — bis bald, loves!

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

Published on January 3, 2024January 3, 2024 by Cheryl Lock3 Comments

Basel, Switzerland, you sure are beautiful!

Welcome back to my Very Merry Christmas in Europe round-up! First up was Germany and France. Today, we move on to Switzerland!

Basel, Switzerland was about an hour and a half drive from our Airbnb in Germany, and although we only planned for two nights and one full day there, we had the best time! Switzerland was a new country to me, and color me obsessed. The neighborhood of our Airbnb was quiet and residential, but super close to a bunch of fun restaurants, bars and stores, and the train made it very easy to get into the city center. Our Airbnb host even hooked us up with a BaselCard, which got us free transportation and discounts at certain places throughout the city.

On our day in the city we got coffee at a local shop, rode the train into the city center, visited the Toy Museum (which was SO MUCH FUN!), walked passed the super cool Tinguely Fountain, saw the gorgeous City Hall all decorated for the holiday, went on a wild goose chase for fondu and ended up with (still delicious!) Italian for lunch, walked over the Rhine River, bought a fancy bauble at a local jewelry store and, after the kids were home, fed and bathed, Chris and I had wine at a neighborhood wine bar.

We sure can pack it into a day.

Here’s what it looked like!

We arrived after the sun went down and our neighborhood was lit up and pretty.

We went for a walk when we first arrived to pick up some essentials. We bought cheese, pastries, milk, pouches and local wool socks, and I knew this was a special place 😉

Poppa having brekkie with the kiddos in our cute little kitchen.

The coffee from that local shop was out of this world!

Notorious for their neutrality, the Swiss people had lots of “No War” signs hanging from windows.

Riding the local transport, when it was available, was such a highlight for the girls!

On our way to the Toy Museum we walked through the Christmas Markets being taken down, and we could tell how magical they would have been.

The Toy Museum! And I mean … COME ON. Europe is SERIOUS about its holiday decor!

This place was great! Our host had told us it wasn’t worth going, but based on some of the details he shared, I have to think they’ve remodeled recently. There are four floors with thousands of toys in intricate scenes behind glass (so no worries about touching!), and they give you an iPad to put around your neck. There are scanning codes throughout the museum and when you point the iPad at them, virtual tour guides pop up and tell stories about what you’re viewing. So much fun!

We accidentally hopped off the train one stop early, but that was awesome because we just walked right over the glorious Rhine!

Chris did some googling and found an awesome-looking fondu spot that was too awesome for its own good … aka PACKED TO THE GILLS. We eventually found an Italian restaurant that was right on the river and gave us everything we needed.

My girl — in the scarf she bought from the Christmas Market in Baden-Baden — exploring the Rhine River. I hope these girls never stop exploring and never lose their curiosity about culture and the world.

They had a guest book you could sign, so you know the girls took advantage of that <3

Walking back home we came across some street performers playing music. Emilia’ delight was palpable 😉

And that was it for Switzerland, loves! We had to leave super early the next day to get back to the airport to fly to our fourth and final destination … ICELAND! Switzerland, you were an absolute delight, and something tells me we will definitely be back.

Bis bald friends! Until tomorrow, and the last of our European adventures …

A Very Merry Connor-Lock European Christmas: The Germany & France Edition

Published on January 2, 2024January 2, 2024 by Cheryl Lock4 Comments

Happy New Year, friends! How it’s 2024, I’ll never know.

Okay, full disclosure before I get into this post: It was really hard for me to narrow down photos 😉 Like, harder than it usually is, which is already usually very hard. This European Christmas Trip of ours was EPIC, and it was made even more epic by the fact that we were able to do it all with Chris’ parents. Any time that we and the girls get to spend with them is special. To spend that time on vacation over Christmas in Europe?? I mean. What can I say?

To start, our place. We stayed at this sweet Airbnb in the Black Forest, and it surpassed my wildest dreams. The house itself was huge, with plenty of space for four adults and three kiddos. Plus, it was filled with so many games and toys that even if we never left the house, the kids would have stayed occupied for days. There was also a hike directly accessible from the back of the house that had breathtaking views. It was the perfect spot for us, and the best place to begin our European journey and spend Christmas.

How sweet is this cute little covered outdoor picnic area, too?! Here is poppa, hosting his ladies to a (brief but very sweet!) afternoon tea.

The outdoor hut was also the perfect spot for housing some of our Christmas Day necessities 😉

Our host even decorated for Christmas, leaving us a live Christmas tree and all her ornaments to adorn it with! It was the sweetest touch on her behalf.

Here she is on Christmas Eve, fully decorated and ready for celebrating!

Here’s one happy Grace, with a little of the view from our house behind her.

Two of my little loves on Christmas Day <3

Even my mom came to hang for a bit. This was by far one of the most incredible moments of the trip, and trust me, there were many. IYKYK.

There were tons of balconies, which made for amazing sunrise/sunset viewings!

Cheers to this amazing spot in the world.

Although hanging out in the house would have been enough, I had specifically formulated the plan for this holiday with one goal in mind: CHRISTMAS MARKETS! Europe is known for them, and I wanted in. So … are you ready to market it up? Here’s where we went.

Thursday, December 21: Freiburg, Germany

Lotte looks fairly miserable in this photo, but that was after what was, trust me, a very fun night!

Our first Christmas Market was in Freiburg. Since this was our first one (well, Chris’ parents had already been to a couple by the time we arrived, but it was my first one!), I didn’t realize that the market is actually spread around the city. We kept stumbling on different sections of it as we walked around, which was a really nice surprise.

As a person who *thoroughly* enjoys holiday decor, these markets were MY JAM.

We started in early on the treats, and did not stop.

We drank ALL the Glühwein (hot wine!) we could find!

I couldn’t love this holiday hopping crew any more <3

Friday, December 22: Baden-Baden, Germany

As you can see, in Baden-Baden, we weren’t messing around!

Next up was the Baden-Baden market, and the fondu igloo lunch I had booked us weeks before. This felt like the perfect excuse to don the matching Christmas sweaters that Nan had brought for us 😉 The day was chilly and rainy, but snuggled up inside our heated igloo with our fur blankets and tasty treats (you rent the igloo for three hour blocks and are welcome to walk around the market during that time and then go back to the igloo whenever you like) was the perfect way to spend this day and see this particular market.

Despite the weather — or perhaps because of it — this particular market felt so magical and festive.

The girls loved checking out the ornate booths, and Nan loved teaching them how to shop!

We had the sweetest time! Nan & I have vowed to make a special trip back to Baden-Baden, which means “bath” and is actually known for its amazing spas!

Saturday, December 23: Gengenback, Germany

We had a tough decision to make this day: Travel 3.5 hours each way to visit the Nuremberg (where I was born) markets, or head about 25 minutes away, to Gengenbach, to see their world-renowned life-size Advent Calendar. Ultimately we decided to stay local and head to Gengenbach, which I think was the right decision. All the more reason to make another trip back to Germany in the future to hit up my birth spot. Perhaps when we have a little more time.

This was the smallest of the markets that we visited, but it was also the sweetest town with the cutest Advent Calendar Town Hall.

Each day leading up to Christmas they perform a short play with live music in front of their beautiful Town Hall building, then they lift the one (hand painted by a different artist each year!) window that corresponds to the day. We were there to see the 24th window get lifted — a fish for the Feast of Seven Fishes! — which felt extra special.

Sunday, December 24: Strasbourg, France

We classed it up on Christmas Eve and decided to head out to FRANCE. Strasbourg was about 45 minutes away, and it was easy to drive, park, and hop on a quick train to the Christmas markets. This event was sprawling, and so, so beautiful. We were even lucky enough to catch the tree lighting, accompanied with Christmas music, of course.

The markets were gorgeous, but even the buildings in the area were so ornately decorated.

More Glühwein! You could get a small refund if you returned the cups that the wine was served in, but you best believe we kept all of them!

Such a gorgeous area! They say this is the biggest Christmas tree in the world … but you know 😉

More gorgeous buildings. I honestly could have spent days here wandering the streets and been quite content.

This girl clung to her dad like glue the whole trip, which was super annoying for him but VERY nice for me! I didn’t have to carry her AND I always knew where she was 😉

Thank you Strasbourg for a very special, unforgettable Christmas Eve!

Of course there are a very many more Christmas markets in Germany (and France and everywhere else in Europe, really) to visit, but these were centrally located to our house and I had read great things about them. After having now actually been to them, I can agree: There is nothing like Christmas in Europe. It stands alone. Nowhere else compares. The end.

After spending a relaxing Christmas Day and Boxing Day eating, drinking, hanging at our house, watching movies and playing games, we spent our final day in Germany checking out a bit more of the view around our town and heading to Lake Mummelsee, a beautiful lake with a quirky story.

Glorious views (and sun!) on our final day in Germany!

Driving through the Black Forest to reach the lake also provided for some gorgeous views! Don’t forget the Dramamine!

Every day in Germany was fabulous, and the last day was no different.

I’ll be honest, friends … I had a lot of anxiety leading up to this trip. I worried someone would get sick or get hurt, and as our friends started dropping like flies to illness as our departure date got closer, I only got more and more nervous. Once we were on our flight to Germany, though, I realized … there’s nothing you can do about that. I could spend the trip worried, or I could relax and enjoy and know that we would handle whatever came our way.

Luckily, I can now say that other than a few coughs here and there, we were all GREAT. No illnesses to note. So see that? All that worrying was for naught. Wouldn’t a crystal ball be great so we could know all ends well ahead of time?

Anyway, that was about it for our Germany (and France!) expedition, friends! I’ll be back tomorrow with the second installment (third country!) of our adventure: SWITZERLAND!

Bis bald, friends!

Summer Weekends in the Mountains Part II: Park Hyatt in Beaver Creek

Published on November 16, 2023November 16, 2023 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Beaver Creek is the sweetest little mountain town you ever will see.

Happy Thursday, friends! As I already mentioned, we were so lucky this summer because we got to go on THREE press trips that took us to awesome places in the mountains.

I blogged about our first trip here.

Our second was to the Park Hyatt in Beaver Creek. We had only been to Beaver Creek once before (when Lotte was itty bitty and I was pregnant with Grace!), but we had loved it so much that time, we were more than happy to get back.

There’s plenty to love about Beaver Creek — its quaint, safe feel, gorgeous views and friendly people, to name a few — but the Hyatt offered its own set of amenities to treasure.

The best location! The middle of the town is right outside the door, with tons of restaurants and shops, an ice skating rink in the winter and this huge play area in the summer.

And holy moly the food. So. Much. Good. Food.

That includes 24-hour-a-day room service.

You can also grab a s’mores kit from the front desk and make your own at their outdoor fire pits, surrounded by the glorious mountains.

You can catch the gondola or ski lift right outside the door and take it to the top of the mountain. There you’ll find a lodge with lots of fun games, tons of hiking trails, or plenty of spaces to just sit and sip and relax, if that’s your preferred mountain activity.

Our hike was cut short when Grace fell and skinned her knee, but until then it was glorious!

The town itself has tons of restaurants and shops, like I mentioned, plus a cute creek and, if you walk a short distance, a playground.

And obviously no trip of ours is complete without trying out the pool & hot tub situation. Both options at this hotel scored a 10/10 on our scale.

What better way to wake up the guests than with squeals of delight from the pool down below?!

And that was it in a nutshell, my friends. We love you Beaver Creek! My only wish is that this place is slightly closer (it’s two hours in good traffic). If it were, we’d be there much more often, I can promise you that 😉

Bis bald, friends! I’ll be back tomorrow with our third and final press trip of the summer — C Lazy U Ranch!

Summer Weekends in the Mountains Part I: Grand Colorado on Peak 8

Published on November 15, 2023November 15, 2023 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Happy fall, friends! Back in July of this past summer, we were lucky enough to check out Grand Colorado on Peak 8 in Breckenridge for a press trip. I couldn’t share our adventures until the story came out, and now that it has, I’m so excited to drop some mountain love here, as well.

We stayed at the resort from Friday night through Sunday afternoon. And even though we hit some gnarly traffic on the ride home, it was definitely worth it. Other than a small accident that put Emilia in urgent care on Saturday night, we all had a blast.

Friday Night

We arrived to our suite late afternoon on Friday, and holy hell was it impressive! Our living room had amazing views of the mountain, the Adventure Park activities and the pool area down below. In general, the hotel was very well suited for families, and the girls had the best time exploring.

Dinner at Robbie’s Tavern, located in the resort, was so yum. As were the drinks 😉

Saturday

On Saturday we explored the resort a bit more (pools, kids’ crafts & cafe), and drove into town to check out the Breckenridge Alpine Garden.

Is there anything better than a blue-sky mountain day??

The Alpine Garden was the perfect substitute when we discovered that the hike we wanted to take was closed, and the other had no parking. Small enough to enjoy at a kids’ pace, and the kids love being in nature.

The girls and I caught the free gondola from town back to the resort!

More fun games with a breathtaking backdrop.

After a morning spent exploring, we picked up some crafts to paint back in our room while we had some lunch.

Chris & I switched off on having amazing massages in the afternoon while the girls rested, then we hit up the pool. We had evening plans to head back into town, but after Emilia’s accident and urgent care visit, we decided to lay low back in the room and let her rest. Rest assured she was totally fine and back to her adorable, rambunctious self in no time 😉

Sunday

We were given passes for the Epic Discovery Adventure Park, which the girls made great use of, starting with this amazing bungee jump trampoline!

We also opted to ride the ski lift, which was so beautiful and only about 75% terrifying with littles!

Emilia was unphased by Mom’s anxiety, particularly after her head trauma the day before!

After checking out we headed back into town for lunch at Breckenridge Tap House and ice cream at Higgles.

The girls got to ride the Gondola with Chris this time <3

After filling up on treats, it was off to find the Breckenridge Troll! (Please know that you can easily park in the huge parking lot near the troll and walk about 400 feet. We started off trying to hike there from the downtown area, and this was so. much. easier!)

The hike to and from the parking lot is short but beautiful. My favorite kind 😉

And that was it, friends! 10/10 recommend this place for adventurous, outdoor-loving families looking for a fun getaway! Until my next press trip post (we had THREE!) … bis bald, friends!

Early October in Disneyland!

Published on October 13, 2023October 13, 2023 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

Happy October, loves! This month is the best kind of chaos for us, beginning with a solo trip for me back to New York for my cousin’s wedding at the end of September/first weekend in October, followed a few days later by …. drum roll, please …. OUR TRIP TO DISNEYLAND!

I’ve only been to Disney World, and the girls had never been to anything Disney related, so this was very special. Sadly Chris couldn’t get away from work to join, but we did manage to drag Grandpa Robert along, so that was very lovely, as well.

We stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa and splurged for the Genie+ passes, so this was not a cheap trip. Still, I wouldn’t have done it any other way. With a 7-, 5- and 2-year-old, I wanted to do as much as I could to make this trip as “easy” as possible for myself and Grandpa. Staying in a hotel that was walking distance to everything we needed and paying to skip the lines whenever possible was absolutely worth it. Even though we all stayed together in one room, Grandpa and I each got a Queen bed, Emilia slept in a travel crib that the resort had, and the girls slept on a (very large) hide-away bed. It was delightfully comfortable. I also booked the majority of our meals prior to the trip. This turned out to be a smart move, as well. As you can imagine it was insanely busy, so knowing where and when we were eating was an essential step in avoiding hangriness (myself included) all around.

Here’s a bit of what we got up to 😉

Day 1: Arrival & Downtown Disney!

We were so lucky that we got to visit during the 100th anniversary of Disney and during the height of their Halloween festivities. I LOVE Halloween, so seeing all the decorations and visiting the special attractions was so much fun!

There was direct access to Adventure Park from our hotel (which we didn’t visit on this trip), as well as to the Downtown Disney District, which is steps to the Disney entrance. Be prepared to open all your bags and walk through a metal detector to get into Downtown Disney. Part of the Disney experience is knowing you’re safe from weapons. Because that’s the world we live in.

The Disney attention to detail is SO REAL. No stone is left unturned when it comes to delight.

The Storytellers Cafe — where characters hang out with you during breakfast and lunch services — was in our hotel. Sadly breakfast and lunches were booked out while we were there, but we did do dinner one night. The girls wore their princess best 😉

The buffet was great! Honestly the food everywhere was amazing, which is a good thing because that ish is EXPENSIVE 😉

Day 2: Our First Disney Experience!

One of the best things about this trip was the fact that the girls had no idea what to expect. Yes, they knew we were going to Disney, and they obviously know who most of the Disney characters are, but outside of that, they couldn’t grasp the experience. How could they?

It’s safe to say they were blown away.

Guests of any Disney resort get early access to the park at 7:30 a.m. (it opens to the general public at 8), so we were there bright and early both days, and had good spots to check out Mickey & Minnie’s opening act. Not too shabby 😉

Grandpa hadn’t been to Disneyland since he was a little kid, so this was basically all new to him, as well!

The Disney app is AMAZING, including the photo feature. They had professional photographers located around the park who would take photos that got loaded automatically to your app. Genius.

The girls’ first ride was DUMBO … a very solid choice! Emilia in particular was IN LOVE.

It’s a Small World was another hit. We went on it twice!

We hung with so many characters! Goofy was our first <3

I obviously bought special Disney shirts for our trip, and Grace was disappointed in mine because she said it wasn’t “Disney” enough. So I was very happy when we came across this statue with the same phrase!

Mickey’s Toontown was so cute! The girls and I got to walk through Minnie’s house and then meet her, and then Grandpa did Mickey’s house with them. (All this while Emilia slept through the chaos around her!) We also rode the Runaway Railway, which was so fun, although a bit more roller coaster-ey than I expected! Emilia seemed to enjoy it all the same!

Grace was right at home at Minnie’s House <3

We even managed to catch the ending of the parade on Main St., which was so much fun! It was the perfect topper to the perfect first day in the park <3

Day 3: Finding Our Disney Mojo

By Day 2 in the park I figured out how to use the Disney app and Genie service a bit better, so we were able to take advantage of shorter lines more frequently. Our first stop was Pirates of the Caribbean! It was a dark and “scary” ride, but I was so proud of Grace for challenging herself to do rides that scared her! She ended up enjoying (most of!) them.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh <3

The Jungle Cruise was so cute, and the guide was hilarious!

Peter Pan’s Flight had one of the longer lines we waited in (about 30 minutes), and the ride itself was fairly short, but it was definitely cute and worth doing.

Lunch at Jazz Kitchen Costal Grill & Patio was back in Downtown Disney — so about a 20 minute walk from Fantasyland in the park, where we were — but I enjoyed having lunch in a more laidback setting, away from the insanity of the park. Plus, it was SO GOOD!

Our first ride after lunch was the Haunted Mansion from The Nightmare Before Christmas. We scored a Lightning Lane entrance from the Genie + app for this, which got us in at about a 15 minute wait, as opposed to about an hour. SCORE!

After the mansion we booked it back over to Fantasyland to meet some princesses, and on the way we ran into Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh!

We had tried to do the Snow White ride our first day in the park and the ride broke down. Oops. We caught it after the princesses, though, and it was worth going back!

The Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage was so much cuter than I expected! Totally worth a visit.

Before heading back to the hotel after an insane day, we managed to snag this photo at the pumpkin in the main square, as well as see the Disney Band play as they lowered the flag for the day.

Back at the hotel we took advantage of the pool and hot tub, which the girls are thoroughly obsessed with.

Day 4: Headed Home

Our final breakfast was Mickey waffles — obviously — at the GCH Craftsman Bar in our hotel. A fitting final meal for a simply delightful trip.

And that was it, friends! As I type this we are back home, awaiting our next adventure — Aussie Nan & Poppa coming to visit in four days! They head in for Chris’ Big Birthday next week, and we cannot wait! Until next time, bis bald, friends! Hope your fall is off to a fabulous start!

Celebrating Birthdays and Friendship in Savannah, Georgia

Published on August 22, 2023October 13, 2023 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

Happy Tuesday, friends! I just arrived back from the best trip down South — to Savannah, Georgia, to be exact — with three of my closet friends that I’ve known since our 2nd grade Balmville Elementary School Days in Newburgh, New York. 2023 marks 40 years on earth for all of us, meaning 30-plus years of friendship.

If that’s not something to celebrate, I don’t know what is.

We stayed at this Airbnb, which was the perfect location for us. We were walking distance to so many restaurants, bars and shops, not to mention the water and the Savannah and ghost tours, both of which we took full advantage.

Since I knew I’d be mostly catching up with my friends, I didn’t spend too much time researching what I might want to do while in town. Seeing my friends, checking out some gorgeous trees and eating delicious food was about all I had on my list. Luckily, my friend Laura did do her research, and she guided us through the most magical and perfect couple of days in (holy crap it was hot!) Savannah. Some of our highlights included:

Vic’s River Grill for dinner on the Friday we arrived.
Visiting the Love Lock Bridge.
Treylor Park Restaurant for breakfast on both Saturday and Monday … that’s how good it was!
Our tour of the city was hop-on/hop-off, and we hopped off at Forsyth Park to take in some of the gorgeous Spanish Moss (neither Spanish nor moss, mind you) trees.
Lunch in the beer garden at Moon River Brewing Company.
Dinner at The Olde Pink House. This place was SO. STINKIN. COOL! It’s actually an old house that turned naturally pink when the sun baked through the white paint to expose the brick underneath. You can check out the entire house — which is gorgeous — after you eat and, of course, they say it’s haunted.
On Sunday we drove out to Tybee Island, which was about 20 minutes and totally worth the drive. It was the cutest little beach town.
Chamacos Tacos and Surf for lunch on the way back was so fun, especially when combined with Rita’s Ice after.
Dinner at Huey’s On the River before our ghost tour was so tasty.
Arco Lounge had the yummiest (and prettiest!) craft cocktails.
The breakfast at Little Duck Diner was so good (even if the service was so incredibly slow).

Besides all the eating, drinking and site seeing — which was an integral part of the trip, don’t get me wrong — it was so amazing to catch up with these lovelies. We live in Colorado, upstate New York, Florida and Arizona, respectively, so as you can imagine we don’t get together that frequently. Upon leaving this trip we made a pact to do this every five years.

I surely hope we can keep that promise.

Here’s a bit of what we saw, friends!

Even the Savannah airport was adorable! Look at these cute rocking chairs outside!

So many treats! Such amazing pralines! This place is a gold mine for candy/sweets lovers.

Look at this Treylor Park breakfast insanity! I ate more grits on this trip than I did probably the entire time I was in college in Virginia. And I’m not in the least bit sad about it.

Look at these trees!!! (Don’t touch ’em, though! Tiny little bugs called chiggers live in them. They used to be used to make pillows, though, which is where the phrase “Don’t let the bed bugs bite” comes from!)

Look at this gorgeous room at the Olde Pink House!

And this creepy cellar that was actually incredibly cool.

Tybee Island was such a tucked away gem of a spot!

I hadn’t been in the ocean since we were in Australia, so this day was long overdue.

And to be there with these besties was even better.

And a super cute ghost tour to round out our last night.

I sure do love these muffins. Best friends are hard to come by. People who stick by you through thick and thin are hard to come by. Finding people who have been with you from the beginning is a nearly impossible feat. My luck to have been found these friends is off the charts.

Bis bald, my friends. I hope you’re soaking in the last days of summer, too!

40th Birthday Bucket List Trips

Published on April 4, 2023June 4, 2023 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Glacier National Park, in all her beautiful glory … plus my little bubs <3

I feel like I should start this post by writing: “And just like that, I was 40.”

It’s what almost everyone says about turning 40, but it doesn’t actually feel that way. On the one hand yes, I feel like I turned 21 just yesterday. But on the other hand … holy hell a lot of work has gone into reaching this decade!

Between 30 and 40 I became a whole new person. I entered into my first year of marriage, started my business and moved across the country. I added countries and states and continents to my travels, bought a house, sold a house, bought another one. I had two miscarriages and three babies. I lost and gained friends. I lost my Mom.

It’s been a ride, friends!

Anyway, all of this is to say, entering my 40s does feel like a milestone, but not in a “oh my God I’m so old!” way. More in a, “Wow, that was a whirlwind. I wonder what’s next?!” kind of way.

So to kick off this new and exciting decade, I thought it would be nice to celebrate in a place that’s been on my Bucket List since I wrote a geography report about it in 8th grade: Glacier National Park.

And I was right — she did not disappoint.

Although traveling at the end of March/early April meant that most things (restaurants, hotels, sections of the main road) would be either closed or covered in snow, it also meant that we literally had the entire place to ourselves. It was magical, friends. When I tell you the park was our playground, what I mean is that we probably saw about a dozen people the entire time we were there, and the majority of those were on the final day when we visited one of the most popular lakes in the entire park.

We’ve already made plans to go back when the weather is nicer, now that we got to have our initial trip all to ourselves.

Here’s a little bit of what we got up to on my 40th birthday trip.

Day 1: Arrival

We didn’t arrive until mid-afternoon on our first day, which was a nice way to ease into the trip.

These little muffins are becoming quite the travelers 😉

When we landed we had time to kill before we could check in, so we headed to The Montana Club in Kalispell (about 20 minutes from the airport) for lunch. It was the perfect Montana introduction.

And the perfect way to toast an introduction to my birthday weekend!

At 4, we checked into our tiny cabin. While this place was fine, there ended up being a few quirks (spider! broken fireplace! hot water that doesn’t last for very long!) that would make me not recommend it for big families like ours. Still, it was a fantastic location — at about 15 minutes to the West entrance of Glacier — AND had one of our favorite features ….

Em couldn’t go in for long, but she did get a dip, which she was VERY happy about 😉

We knew we wanted to get up early on Friday to start the exploring, so after dinner we hit the hay (the girls did enjoy their loft beds in this Airbnb, that’s for sure!) and called it a night!

Day 2: East Glacier

On our first full day in the park, we hit the road! We were staying near the West Glacier entrance, but we wanted to head over to the East side to check out Two Medicine Grill for breakfast on our way to St. Mary Lake.

Hard not to take picture of EVERYTHING you see in Montana.

Breakfast at Two Medicine Grill was everything we could have ever hoped for in a diner.

Chris took this photo of me from the car, because ….

I will always stop on the side of the road for horse photos. Always.

The park entrance photo of my dreams, on the way into the St. Mary Lake area!

It was definitely chilly on Friday, so we didn’t actually do any hiking. But driving around and stopping for photo opps was just as good, in my mind.

There were a lot of road closure on this trip, but we definitely got the gist, and definitely plan to come back when we can see the whole thing!

All told, we drove about four or five hours on Friday around the park, and the girls were ROCK STARS. I love my little crew…

We stopped at the Glacier Distilling Company on the way home, which happened to be about five minutes from our Airbnb and AMAZING.

Then it was back to our Airbnb for more HOT TUB TIME!

Day 3: Polebridge Mercantile

On our second day in the park we traveled over dirt roads and through rivers (basically) for … HUCKLEBERRY BEAR CLAWS!

The Polebridge Mercantile & Bakery is a Glacier institution, and we were so lucky that it just happened to open for the season on April 1st!

Chris didn’t let on how nervous he was driving to Polebridge until we got home — but he did an awesome job and we arrived in one piece!

While Chris fretted the drive, I took photos 😉

AND THEY HAD PUPPIES!!!!! (that were actually for bear control …. yikes!)

And so many treats! And a coffee that I loved so much I got two of. PLUS …

Don’t ask me how many Huckleberry Bear Claws we purchased …

How adorable is this Lego version of the store?!

Running from a family of Sasquatches. Naturally.

We tried to drive into the park from the store, but our car got stuck in a trench of water. So, we nixed that idea in favor of ….

Hot tubbin’ in the cold and snow really can’t be beat <3

It was the PERFECT last day of my 30s, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way <3

Day 4: WELCOME TO 40!

And then there was the One Where I Turned 40 …

Yikes!

It was honestly a good day, friends, filled with Facetimes and family and fun and Huckleberry things. I felt very loved and special on this day, and there wasn’t anything else I could have possibly wanted.

Starting your birthday off with waffles covered in Huckleberry jam and ice cream is ALWAYS a good idea!

For my birthday, we decided to head over to the famous Lake McDonald, which afforded us some glorious views along the way.

Plus this picture-perfect park entrance sign <3

It was a cloudy morning, but look at this splendor …

AND WE BASICALLY HAD THE PLACE TO OURSELVES!

For dinner that night we headed into Whitefish (about 30 minutes away) and ate at The Firebrand Hotel, which was magnificent.

After dinner the skies had cleared and it was nearing sunset, and Chris had the idea to head back to Lake McDonald. I’m so incredibly glad we did …

Thank you, Glacier, for putting on a show.

Birthday pie that night was … you guessed it! … HUCKLEBERRY!

Oh, Montana, you stole my heart. This was the trip of a lifetime, and I’m so happy I got to spend it with my crew.

On Monday it was …

One final Huckleberry cocktail, then home.

That was my 40th birthday adventure in a nutshell, friends. I hope you enjoyed following along.

I can’t wait to see where my 40s take me in this crazy beautiful world, and I can’t wait to bring you along.

Bis bald, loves!

Holidays In Australia Part 3: New Zealand

Published on January 8, 2023February 20, 2023 by Cheryl Lock2 Comments

The excitement began before we even got off the plane, friends … look at that view!

After spending Christmas and the next few days at Chris’ parents’ house in Bathurst, we loaded up the car and headed off to Sydney, where the girls would be staying with their grandparents and some aunts, uncles and cousins, while Chris and I headed off to New Zealand — BY OURSELVES — to celebrate our 15-year meet-a-versary, our 10-year anniversary of being married, New Years Eve (which just happens to be the anniversary of both of those aforementioned things) and the upcoming year of our 40th bdays.

But really, you don’t understand. We never leave our kids, and we especially don’t leave them overnight. In fact, we’ve only left Lotte & Grace overnight once, and that was the last time we were in Australia.

In other words, this was long overdue!

Despite knowing how much we’d enjoy the trip, we definitely waffled. Leaving three kids with any number of adults is bound to be a lot, and flights and accommodation during the holidays are astronomical. After going back and forth on it, we finally decided to JUST GO FOR IT, and we settled on spending our three-night getaway in Queenstown.

I’m so glad we did.

The Details

With so much to celebrate on this trip, we decided to just really go for it. All of that is to say — we splurged in a way we don’t normally … and I don’t feel badly about it one little bit 😉

The largest expenses by far were the flights ($2,515) and the lodging ($2,243).

We stayed at the QT Queenstown and would highly recommend it! Besides the fact that they treated us royally (with the sweetest welcome/happy anniversary package of champagne, chocolate, bath bombs and free drink tickets at their hotel bar), the (absolutely spectacular) breakfast was complimentary and in a gorgeous dining room, the location was perfect, and the views were out of this world.

We also went all-out with our meals (besides breakfast, which was always free and always at our amazing hotel). Because hey, you only have a 10-year-anniversary and you only turn 40 once!

Day One: Arriving

Here’s a little pro tip from me to you — when you’re an American traveling from Australia to New Zealand (ie. me), you do need a travel Visa, and it’s best to get this sorted before you head to the airport. Also, Quantas and Jetstar both have weight limits for carry-ons (not sure about other airlines, but these are the two that we traveled). Both of these are fun things we learned the hard way.

After our initial hiccups, we landed in gorgeous Queenstown, checked into our hotel, then set out to take in the town at twilight and have dinner at The Bunker, a romantic hidden gem offering a prefix menu and wine pairing situation that we were all too happy to enjoy.

Also delightful was the fact that Queenstown was still all dolled up for the holidays.

This place is a must if you’re looking for a romantic and low-key dining experience!

This view was a short walk from our hotel.

Queenstown is probably one of the cleanest, most picturesque places I have ever been, and it certainly has some of the nicest people I’ve met.

Day 2: Biking Around Queenstown

Renting bikes has become a little tradition for us while traveling (see Japan, Iceland, London, Rome, New Orleans and Manhattan, to name a few), so we knew we wanted to do that in New Zealand if we could, as well.

Of course, I’m never one to let a little biking come between me and a cute outfit. (Please also refer to Munich.)

Anyway, we woke up whenever we wanted to on our first full day in New Zealand, had the breakfast of our dreams at our gorgeous hotel restaurant, then rented our bikes and hit the dusty (and sometimes very narrow and very close to the side of a cliff) trail. We traveled 18 miles out to the Queenstown Golf Club for a drink, then back via a stop at Altitude Brewing.

I basically had to re-learn how to use the gears properly — as well as remind myself to ride on the other side of the road — but it all worked out in the end!

Quick beers at the gold club before turning around!

Altitude Brewing was a delightful highlight.

As was the jack fruit bao bun from the food truck!

After our ride we were more than ready for our dinner/adventure with Skyline Queenstown. This included a ride up the mountain in a gondola, dinner at the Stratosfare and three Luge rides (which I was incredibly nervous about but which turned out to be basically adult go-karts down a hill and incredibly fun!).

I kept saying that I felt like Frank Costanza on this trip, wearing my travel resort gear!

Day 3: Burgers, Gardens, & New Years Eve

After a fairly intense Day 2, we were happy to lay low on Day 3 and do some more relaxed activities. We tried out the famous Fergburger (my mushroom sandwich was to die for, but Chris said his actual burger was only okay), took a stroll around the Queenstown Gardens, HAD TWO NAPS and had dinner and watched the fireworks/welcomed 2023 from the restaurant in our hotel.

I did eventually dip my feet in, just to say that I had 😉

And that was our short-but-sweet New Zealand trip. It was absolutely everything we had hoped for and more. Thanks for being awesome, Queenstown. You’ll have a special place in our hearts forever.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the final part of our trip — a visit to the beach where Chris and his family grew up vacationing.

Until then … bis bald!

YMCA of the Rockies — The Estes Park Version

Published on December 19, 2022February 20, 2023 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

Edit Note: I wrote this post on the Monday after Thanksgiving, as we had just spent the weekend at the second YMCA of the Rockies location. Since the trip was a sponsored press trip, I waited to post this until the story for the publication that sponsored me went live. You can find the complete Good Housekeeping 2023 Family Travel Rewards story here!

Happy Monday after Thanksgiving, loves! Our little family was lucky enough to try out the second YMCA of the Rockies location — this time in Estes Park — the weekend after the holiday. (You can find information on our stay at the Granby Ranch location here.)

While similar in many ways, and with many of the same amenities as Granby, the Estes Park location did feel slightly different. There is less property at this location, which means the cabins and activities are closer together. This is nice if you’d like to opportunity to walk around more easily, but the vastness of the Granby location also had its perks. Whichever you visit, you honestly can’t go wrong. Grace spent the entire first-day-back-preschool-morning-check-in walking up to her little friends and her teacher and saying, “I went to the YMCA of the Rockies!”

It obviously had a lasting impact. Here’s a little bit why …

We had a real fireplace at this cabin, which you just KNOW Chris loved!

Games were another big part of our stay.

So glad we got to check out the pool on this trip!

Just like in Granby, the cafeteria was a big hit.

We took a cute, short guided nature walk that involved hugging trees!

The library — and more specifically the story time at the library — is a MUST if you come here!

Grace did some rock climbing on the scrambling wall, while Lotte …

We got cozy and colored by the fireplace in the lobby!

We made smores in our jammies back in our cabin!

And on Sunday morning, we woke up to gorgeous, snow-dusted vistas.

And that was our action-packed, amazing trip in a nutshell, my friends! Check out the YMCA of the Rockies in the Good Housekeeping travel awards here.

Bis bald, friends!

YMCA of the Rockies — The Snow Mountain Ranch Version

Published on December 19, 2022December 19, 2022 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

Edit Note: I wrote this post the Monday after we made our actual visit, but had to wait until the story was actually live. You can find the complete Good Housekeeping 2023 Family Travel Rewards story here!

Happy Thanksgiving week, my friends! We have been battling all the illnesses over here lately (just like literally everyone else in the world, I know), but we did manage to pull it together this past weekend for a quick press trip out to YMCA Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, CO.

As you’ll recall, we are already big fans of Granby, but the YMCA property took that love to a whole other level. I won’t go into a ton of detail here (because all of that is covered in the actual story that the press trip was for, which you can find here), but I’ll just say, this is the best, most upgraded camp experience you could ever have, dropped right in the middle of the most majestic mountain setting.

Some of our activities included:

Meeting the sled dog team and going on a little ride
Checking out the Kiva/Rec Center
Making crafts in the Craft Center
Smoresing and bonfireing
Building a float for a mini Thanksgiving Day parade
Enjoying our SPECTACULAR mountain views

We feel so grateful to have had the opportunity to visit this iconic spot.

We stopped off in Idaho Springs on our way home, as well, and had lunch at Beau Jo’s <3

I hope you guys are staying healthy and have some relaxing and fun holiday plans ahead. Until next time … bis bald!

Birthday Bashin’ for Chris in Colorado Springs – Part One

Published on October 23, 2022October 23, 2022 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Happy Monday, friends! We just got back from spending Chris’ birthday weekend in Colorado Springs, where we stayed at this Airbnb in Old Colorado City, to be exact.

Even though we’ve been to Colorado Springs a number of times (like this special trip, for example), we had never stayed in this part of town, or done the activities that we came to do this past weekend.

Let me start by saying, our Airbnb was magnificent. The place itself was very nice, newly remodeled, etc., but really, it’s the location that sets this place apart. It’s right across the street from a great park (which just happened to be the main stage of the town’s adorable fall fest on Saturday afternoon with live music, face painting, plant potting and more), and is right on the main street, making it walking distance to tons of restaurants, bars and activities. The places that we visited on our stay included:

This is a long list for having only been there for two nights and one full day, but even so, there were so many other fun places we wanted to try! (And hopefully will, sans kids, one day.)

Grace is me when it comes time to pick treats … GIVE ME THEM ALL, PLEASE!

Even Emilia got a vegan chocolate treat to devour 😉

Air throws are all the rage these days <3

We grabbed breakfast early on Saturday and took a quick walk in town before heading for the main attraction of the day. These sweetest little farm owners were setting up their stand for the fall festival later in the day and gave the girls each a free pumpkin — what a fun way to start the day!

My favorite pictures are the ones that girls request, like Lotte, with this one 😉

The main reason we picked this particular Airbnb, though — even though all the other perks were top-notch once we arrived — was its proximity (about seven minutes) to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. These ancestral Puebloan Ruins date back 800 to 1000 years, and they’re so well preserved that you can walk and explore in them which, naturally, the girls were obsessed with. It was so fascinating learning about their way of life, and it really makes you realize how smart they were, especially given the fact that their habitats are still standing today despite having so little to work with.

These cuties LOVED exploring! (Chris, too .. hah.)

Never goes anywhere without her tiger these days <3

The surrounding area is so picturesque, too.

The museum did a great job explaining more about the daily lives these people led. Not *entirely* sure Lotte should have put her tiger inside the fake fire pit, but sometimes ya gotta pick your battles.

After spending a few hours at the cliff dwellings, we headed back to our Airbnb and spent some time on our front porch listening to the live music of the fall festival before heading over to partake in the festivities.

It was Emilia’s first “concert,” and she was HERE. FOR. IT!

After a couple hours at the festival, some down time, some snackin’, and a partial viewing of The Addams Family (for me and Chris, not the girls, although I do think they would actually find it hilarious), we hit the streets again to check out The Michael Garman museum, which turned out to be even more fun than I imagined. Michael Garman was a sculptor who created Magic Town, a square-foot miniaturized neighborhood with hand-made buildings and sidewalk scenes, which became The Michael Garman Gallery and Magic Town Museum with more than 500 of his sculptures.

After the museum we hit up Westside Cantina for Chris’ birthday dinner, complete with multiple tacos and multiple margh’s …

And that was the gist of our Saturday, the day of Chris’ birth. It was so much fun, and the girls had a blast. Sunday was another adventure, but I’ll get into more on that tomorrow. For now … bis bald, friends! I hope the fall is treating you well <3