Year in Review Archives - Weary Wanderer

2022: A Year in Review

Published on January 10, 2023January 10, 2023 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Welcome to my 2022 Year in Review post, coming to ya fresh from halfway through the first month of the new year 😉

Happy 2023, friends! Last year was a good one for us, travelwise, with some major bucket list items ticked off. As we begin to fill out our calendar with new travel hopes and dreams, it’s always fun to look back on the year that was …

March

We had the absolute most amazing visit with Nan & Poppa back in March, which included their first time meeting Emilia and our first stay in Winter Park.

We had so much fun on our trip to Winter Park!

April

In April we stayed at a farmhouse with goats and visited the Paint Mines for my birthday.

May

In May we took advantage of the week between the end of school and the start of the girls’ summer camps to check out Seattle. We saw all the sites, visited Olympic National Park and made Grace’s life by riding the famous ferris wheel.

June

In June, Lotte & I took a short but sweet trip back East to hang with fam, just the two of us <3

August

The Royal Gorge in August was a royally gorgeous (!) treat!

October

In October I traveled back to New York on my own to visit friends in the city and throw my sister a surprise baby sprinkle.

Later in October we stayed at the most adorable Airbnb in Colorado Springs for Chris’ birthday and checked out the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, Garden of the Gods and Cave of the Winds.

November/December

In late November and early December we were so lucky to get the opportunity to try out both the YMCA of The Rockies at Snow Mountain Ranch and then again in Estes Park.

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

And then late December/early January was, of course, our trip to end all trips — a surprise 24-hour layover in San Francisco, Christmas at Chris’ parents house in Bathurst, Australia, a little getaway to New Zealand that Chris and I managed for our anniversary/New Years Eve, and a trip to Forster, the beach that Chris grew up visiting with his family.

We were able to take so many fun trips this year and spend so much time with people we love, and after the past few years, we definitely don’t take that for granted. Traveling with kids is hard and expensive, it’s exhausting and there are parts that, to be honest, are just not fun. But at the end of the day, we always end up with amazing memories, and as the girls get older it only seems to get better and better.

This year we’re hoping to make some trips out to New York, potentially head to California for my birthday, and then visit Disney Land (the girls don’t know!) in October. Who knows what else we’ll get up to, but having some trips to look forward to always helps me feel optimistic about the year ahead.

Hope you’re all having a great start to the New Year, with some fun things planned for the upcoming months, as well. Bis bid!

2021: A Year in Review

Published on December 30, 2021December 30, 2021 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Welp, friends … there goes another year. As the photo above indicates, we’ve had our highs and lows. I think the year didn’t quite pan out the way most of us were hoping it would, but still, there were bright spots to be found.

Here’s hoping 2022 brings you and your family all the happiness and cheer that you deserve! And here’s what we were able to get up to in 2021 …

April

We dusted off our travel boots for the first time in more than a year (!) this past April for a trip to the mountains. We headed to one of our favorite low-key spots — Granby Ranch — and the older girls even tried their hand at skiing for the first time.

Lotte, Grace & Emilia cuddled up on our couch in the cabin.

Chris and the big girls posing on frozen Grand Lake.

They look a little weathered here because this was after their lessons … but I HAD to get a pic of the two of them with their adorable little set of skis!

We wrangled the kids to take a quick selfie when we got out on the lake in Grand Lake.

June

By the time June rolled around, Chris and I were fully vaccinated, and we were able to start hosting some of our favorite people at our house again. We also went on a fun mountain/lake hike, Lotte continued her adventures in skiing and started running (well, that was pre-June, but I blogged about it in June!) and we continued to find adventures everywhere we could in the great Colorado outdoors. We also spent Father’s Day in one of Chris’ favorite places.

Grandpa came for his first visit in more than a year!

July

The end of June and beginning of July was a busy time for us, as we packed up the car and hit the road for our trip out East! We started in Colorado and made out way out to New Jersey and New York and then back, stopping in a number of states along the way. (You can find all the gritty details here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.)

Staying at a real, working farm in Pennsylvania was … interesting!

entering Colorado on the way home — Colorado State Line

Then, at the end of July, our firstborn turned FIVE!

August

We hosted more of our besties in August, Lotte started kindergarten, Grace returned to preschool and we managed to make it to Frisco for one final summer mountain visit.

September

We hosted one of Chris’ good friends in September, and they hiked a 14er (a tradition they started years ago). We also spent Labor Day at Standley Lake with friends.

October

We spent October in our traditionally favorite way … with all the fall activities!

December

As the holidays rolled around, we were really looking forward to spending Christmas and New Years with family back in New York. Unfortunately, Covid had different plans for us. Perhaps we’ll have better luck next year. Still, we managed to get a day in Manhattan, and we did get to spend actual Christmas Day with family, which was an upgrade from last year, so we’ll call it a win.

Grace was very taken with the Rockefeller tree 😉

And that’s 2021, my friends. We’re looking forward to a quiet New Years Eve (and wedding anniversary, for myself and Chris <3) and planning for (hopefully) some fun travels to come in the New Year.

But until then … bis bald, friends!

our family of four after hiking Old Dillon Reservoir Trail

2019: A Year in Review

Published on December 31, 2019 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

A very merry, bright and happy holiday season to all of you! It has been super quiet on here lately because, to be honest, the final few months of this year have been the busiest of our lives. Selling a house, buying a house, having two small children and jobs has basically consumed all of our time. We are very happy to be spending some down time at the end of this year with Chris’s brother and his wife (visiting from Australia!), as well as with my sister and her husband and their baby. It’s a quieter holiday than we’re used to, and we are very happy about it! Before the clock strikes New Year, I wanted to take a second to round up a year that included our daughters’ first-ever international trips, my first-ever girlfriend getaway since having kids, Chris & my first-ever overnight trip away from the girls, my first-ever Mom-daughter trip with G, a lot of fun press trips, the happiest amount of trips back to New York, and a bunch of other fun mountain getaways sprinkled in, as well.

Hope you are all having fabulous, relaxing holidays with your loved ones – and cheers to a fabulous 2020!

January
The beginning of this year — which feels like decades ago — started out with our little family having the time of our lives visiting friends and family in Australia (here, here and here). We had about a week back in the states before Grace and I turned around and took our first-ever solo Mom-daughter trip out to New York for my sister’s baby shower. It truly was amazing to be able to start our year off in such a spectacular fashion …

Mount Panorama, Bathurst, Australia

Manly Beach, Australia

Coogee Beach, Australia

February
In February we welcomed Auntie Kate into our home for a three-month visit, which included a trip out to Granby Ranch for some snowboarding, hikes in Golden and day dates in Evergreen.

Granby Ranch, CO

Granby Ranch, CO

Golden, CO

Evergreen Lake, CO

March
March was a special month, when the whole family flew out to New York to meet baby Ro for the first time. We also said a sad farewell to Auntie Kate at the end of the month, but at least we sent her home in style.

Grand Central Station

Standley Lake

Downtown Denver

April
We celebrated my birthday in April by driving up to the top of Pike’s Peak, which was my first-ever 14er experience. I closed out the month of April by meeting up with a girlfriend in Nashville for my first-ever girlfriends getaway since having babies.

Summit sign of Pikes Peak mountain in Colorado

Pikes Peak, Colorado

Pikes Peak, Colorado

Garden of the Gods, Colorado

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

May
My lovely husband surprised me for my birthday by getting me another solo trip in May — this time over Memorial Day weekend, and out to New York to visit my sister and new niece, all by myself <3

June
June was a very fun month when I flew out to Massanutten, Virginia for a press trip with my best friend from college. We even stopped by JMU for a quick tour before heading into the mountains.

Massanutten, VA

Massanutten, Virginia

July
July was an epic month for us, as well. A new gig as the Denver Ambassador for Happy Active Family kept me busy exploring our area with the girls (a taste of some of our outings can be found here, here, here, here, and here), and we all flew out to New York for the end of July/early August to celebrate Lotte’s birthday, take some family photos, visit New York City with the girls and attend my cousin’s wedding.