Hello everyone! I hope you all had a nice 4th of July weekend! I’ve missed you all. :)  Crickets have been chirping on the blog for a week but with good reason! A lot has been happening behind the scenes. I’m finally finishing up a few projects around here that I’m excited to share. And today was a BIG shopping day! I was able to hit the Nordstrom Anniversary sale early and you guys.. so many fun things this year! Really dangerous. I can’t wait to share everything I’m loving with you all!   Get ready for a full re-cap of my favorites early Friday when the pre-sale hits!  Fun things coming to the blog this month.  YEA. :)

Before I share some home updates and my favorites from the N sale, I wanted to first share some pics of the recent trip our family took to Steamboat Spring, Colorado.  I mentioned our trip on IG/stories and had lots of requests to share details.  I’m so happy to do that because it honestly was the best trip!  I love Steamboat Springs!  Such a charming city and a great spot to take the family for a fun, low key family vacation.  If you’ve ever thought about visiting Steamboat Springs I would definitely recommend it!

Kenny and I visited Steamboat Springs for the first time about two years ago on a trip with our friends to see the Fall leaves.  This city feels like it’s straight out of a Hallmark Christmas movie to me!  Such a cute downtown area surrounded by the most beautiful mountains and greenery.  We had a great time with our friends and the whole trip we kept saying “oh the kids would love this!”  So we planned a trip this summer to visit again with the kids.

We were gone six days but two of the days were mostly travel so we had four full days in Steamboat Springs.  I’ll share a little re-cap of what we did each day.  We’ve learned over the years that if we want our family trips to run smoothly we need to plan at least one activity/outing each day (preferably in the morning!).  We all love having low key, unstructured time but if there’s too much of that or if we spend too long laying around in the morning it’s easier for kids to start fighting or to get bored/irritable so we try to plan one activity for each day.  Nothing huge.. but something that gets us up and out the door and starts our day off fun.  Then we can spend the afternoons doing more low key unstructured things.  This is just what has always worked best for us when we travel with our kids!

For both trips we stayed at the Sheraton Steamboat Resort Villas (we have a time share with Westin in Maui and these villas are part of that network).  Right behind the Sheraton Villas is a ski lift that holds a mountain coaster and other fun activities during the summer months.  We knew our kids would love it!

So the first day we were there we all slept in (hello vacation) and then once everyone was up and going we stepped out the back door and hit the rides!

The mountain coaster was crazy fast and it was such a blast!  We bought a day pass to all the rides that lets you do everything and ride the coaster as many times as you want.  By the end of the day I was almost sick we rode that thing down the mountain so many times!  Such a highlight for my kids.

They loved all of the activities.  Kole’s favorite was spinning and playing in the large balls in the water.  Especially because dad did it with him. :)

They all loved the trampoline time too!

There were other fun tube slides.

And the boys had a great time playing a few rounds of mini golf.  While the girls and I rode the mountain coaster.

Again. :)

There were also scenic chair lift rides and you can mountain bike down the mountain but we didn’t make it that far!

Such a fun day.  Most afternoons/evenings after our planned activity we would go out to dinner, watch movies and hot tub. :)  Our villas had a hot tub on the top level of the building and when we would sit in it at night you could see the whole mountain side lit up by the moon.  It was so beautiful!

Day two of our trip we went hiking.  Kenny and I love hiking and we especially love hiking in Colorado.  It’s such a beautiful state in the summertime and Steamboat is full of amazing hiking trails.  Our kids sometime grumble about hiking, but as soon as we get them moving they always end up enjoying it.  We pretty much force them to love fresh air and the great outdoors. ;)

Kole picked out the lovely hat at a gas station along the way and had to bring it and his lamb along for the ride.  I love his quirkiness.

This was the Fish Creek Falls hike and the waterfall was breathtaking!

View from the bottom.  It was a cloudy day but we lucked out and didn’t get rained on!  Colorado weather is so unpredictable.  It would be sunny and hot one minute and then cold and rainy the next.  Always a nice change for us because we live in a city that is 75 degrees and sunny ALL YEAR LONG.  We don’t even check the weather anymore.  Snooze fest. :)

We went on several other random hikes during our trip and these are a few pictures I snapped along the way with my phone.

My husband and I both grew up in Utah and spent a lot of time camping, hiking, fishing and snow skiing as kids.  We love the mountains and even though we enjoy our lives now in San Diego living with palm tress next to the beach, the mountains always feel like we are coming back home. :)  My husband would love to retire in Utah or Colorado and tries to get me to move to CO every time we visit.  This last trip he even told me he’d let me build again if we could move to CO which is saying a lot because he was NOT a fan of the building process!

Maybe someday.. :)

Sneaking in a little couple chat time with the kids hiking ahead of us. :)

Day three was such a great day.  I couldn’t wait to take the kids to the Strawberry Park Hot Springs!  I had done some research before this trip and the hot springs sounded like such a neat place to visit.  There was a cool hike next to the springs so we enjoyed the hike first and then ended at the springs.

The scenery was so beautiful!  104 degree mineral water!  All natural.  I heard that at night they don’t allow kids because people skinny dip!  Happy to be there during the day.  Ha.

The day we went was a little chilly so the hot water felt especially relaxing.

El snapped this pic.  I could have swam around in the hot water for hours!  But about an hour after we got there it started to rain.  The kids were just starting to get out so the timing actually worked out perfect for us.

{outfit details including our twin grey shoes in this post!}

We went back to our villas and showered and then went out for dinner.  After dinner it started raining again so we took the kids to see Aladdin. :)

Our 4th and last day of the trip was the absolute favorite.  I booked a rafting trip down the Colorado river!  The Yampa river flows through Steamboat and I was originally thinking we’d raft or tube down that river, but the water was too high when we were there from all the rain so we booked a day trip down the CO river and I’m so glad we did!

The weather was absolutely beautiful.  Sunny with a slight chill in the air.  We all had such a blast!  The river was calm for the most part but we hit some really fun rapids along the way and my kids loved it more than I could have imagined.  We all took turns “riding the bull” (sitting on the front of the raft where you are impacted by the waves the most).

By the end of the trip we were all soaked and our cheeks hurt from laughing and smiling so much!  All 3 of our kids were so sad when the river trip ended and can’t wait to do it again.  With “even more and bigger rapids next time!”

We’ll see. :)

The best day.  One I’ll never forget!

On the side of the river for a lunch break.  Not our best selfie.. but it was a nice attempt.  These two!  They keep things interesting.  That’s for sure. :)  Love my girls.

Our trip to Steamboat Springs was so much fun and we can’t wait to visit again.  There are so many fun outdoor family activities.  If we would have had one more day we would have rented bikes to ride along the Yampa River!  Next time for sure.

Family trips can feel a little stressful to pull off sometimes with the cost, planning and scheduling around ALL the things, but they are always so worth it.  I’m so grateful for the memories made with these 4 in Steamboat Springs!  One of our favorite trips to date.

If you’ve been to Steamboat Springs I’d love to hear your favorite things to do there in the summer!  I have a feeling this trip won’t be our last. :)