Wedding weekend in Boulder, CO

And why I want to live there 🙂

Hi friends! Happy Wednesday! I hope you’re enjoying the week so far. It’s been a good one over here! Sometimes when we head back from a vacation, I feel drained and like I need to catch up. I really took this past weekend to relax and enjoy and felt refreshed, even as I headed home to a burtsing-at-the-seams inbox and two giant suitcases full of laundry. I think the 10 hours of sleep we got each night did us well!

I shared a recap of our Thursday in Denver up on Friday Faves, so I thought I’d share more of our fun in Boulder. Friday morning, we were ready for a full day of adventure. We got the girls a quick breakfast at the hotel and then met up with Kyle, Meg and the kiddos at a nearby park in Niwot. This was the coolest park we’d ever seen! We ended up going a couple of times during our stay because the girls loved it so much. They had a zipline, tons of climbing structures, a spinning thing, swings, basically anything you could want as a kid. There was also a lady there who had a pet turkey! The kids got a kick out of it. (The turkey was also super friendly for a turkey.)

After our playtime at the park, we got brunch at the Buff, which ended up being our only mediocre meal of the trip. Everything else we ate in Colorado was mind-blowing, but this was a little on the bland side. I got the vegan skillet and while it was good, it wasn’t anything extraordinary.

After brunch, we were ready to hike. I LOVE that the girls enjoy hiking so much. They’re so into it! We really discovered this during our last trip to Sedona and from now on, we’re going to add a couple of hikes into our trips. It’s such a great way to explore and see a new place, and the fresh air and exercise is a mood booster for everyone.

So many of you recommended Chautauqua, so we headed there to do the main trail, which is only about a mile out and back. Once we hit the turnaround point, the girls did not want to turn around, so we kept going! We ended up doing the full Flatiron loop, which had magnificent views of all of Boulder and you could also see the Denver skyline. It was MAGICAL.

Shout out to Josie — we chatted with her on the hike for a bit. She had a super cute golden doodle that the girls got to pet, and she offered to snap some pics for us.

When we made it back to the car, the girls were completely covered in dirt and we were all totally happy. We got changed and headed to Collision Brewing for the cocktails, which was on the outdoor patio. We said hi to our family members and headed into the restaurant where we had full dinner, and the girls shared an Uncrustables sundae for dessert. (A fried peanut butter and jelly Uncrustable with ice cream and fudge on top.)

Saturday morning, we went to Get Air so they could jump for a bit – last time I checked, our was still closed in Tucson so they haven’t been since February – and then got an awesome brunch at River and Woods. We sat in their gorgeous backyard patio and I had a meal that I can wait to create: tofu and egg fried rice with charred Brussels sprouts. It was SO good.

After brunch, we met up with my dad, stepmom, and brothers for a bit on Pearl St. So many of you recommended this one, too, and it was such a cool spot. It’s packed with cute shops and restaurants; I could have spent all day walking around and browsing. The girls got their trip souvenirs from the kite and toy store; the entire ceiling is lined with elaborate kites.

After shopping on Pearl St, we got ready for the wedding, which was held at Shupe Homestead. Basically, it was a scene out of Martha Stewart weddings.

(This was the ceremony site. They also had a huge indoor banquet hall and lush outdoor dining area.)

My dates:

Some of the special touches from the evening:

(They made an activity book for the kids!! It had a personalized word search, a pic of them and their dogs to color, tic-tac-toe, it was so dang cute.)

Sunday morning, we made the drive back to Denver and got on the Yelp waiting list for Four Friends, which had insane reviews. We ended up waiting electronically for about two hours – we just browsed a farmer’s market in the area and took the girls to a nearby playground – and it was so.worth.it.

We shared the jalapeño hush puppies and deviled eggs to start, and for my entree I got the sweet potato hash with shrimp. I wanted to curl up and live in this dreamy gluten-free cornbread.

After an incredible meal, we headed to the airport to catch our flight back to Tucson. The girls are such pro travelers; they just watch a show on the iPad and eat snacks. It’s a huge change from the days where we had to change diapers on the teeny airport bathroom changing table.

After my last Colorado post, it’s worth noting here that we followed proper safety protocols while we were out of town. We wore our masks in the airport, on the plane, walking through restaurants, etc. We took them off when we were outdoors and away from other people. While the wedding was a smaller event, they took a lot of care to keep everything spaced out and safe. The cupcakes were individually wrapped, they had multiple areas to hang out, whether it was at the spaced-out tables, or the fire pits outside. We were mostly with our family members that we’ve seen during this whole time. Our cousins also live-streamed the event for those at home who were unable to make it.

It was our first time flying since February, but thankfully the Pilot has a great system down since he travels weekly for work. We flew Southwest, which is currently keeping middle seats open and it felt very clean. I feel comfortable occasionally going out while taking proper precautions.

All in all, it was an amazing trip and I’m totally lurking houses in Colorado now. 😉

Hope you have a lovely morning and I’ll see ya soon! Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today.

xo

Gina