denver, co. (part I)

Cade and I are back home now after a nice long weekend exploring the beautiful city of Denver, Colorado. I knew the city (and state) would be beautiful, but what I didn't know was how incomprehensible it was going to be when it came time to talk about it. I've already decided that I am going to split this post up into two parts (part I and part II) just so that I can rest assured that I am giving every great detail that I possibly can. So, to start .. here is a list of all the restaurants / attractions that we visited during our trip: 

Breakfast: 

Devil's Food Bakery
Devil's Food: The Cookery at Myrtle Hill
Jelly Cafe
Denver Biscuit Company

Hiking: 

Garden of the Gods
Red Rock Park
Lookout Mountain

Dinner / Breweries: 

Falling Rock Taphouse
Kachina Cantina
The Sportsbook Bar and Grill
Comrade Brewing
Copper Kettle Brewing Company

Here are some pictures from the first day of our trip:

I never realized how friendly everyone is in Denver but there's a really good chance that the friendliest person in the entire city works here... I hate myself for not knowing his name, but he was so kind and patient as we navigated the menu and figured out what we wanted. On top of that, the pastries were incredible. Overall just a really great start to our Denver trip. Below, we got the blueberry peach strudel and the chocolate croissant! 

Not pictured is the actual breakfast itself which I got their Eggs Benedict - best I've ever had! 

After we filled our bellies with a delicious breakfast we headed about an hour south towards Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. The views on the ride there were tremendous and it was hard to hold to focus on anything else... Thank goodness I wasn't driving ;) 

Below are just a handful of the pictures I took during our ~ 4 mile hike.

(It was all so beautiful and serene, I had to snap a selfie to prove it was actually me standing there...) 

Here is Cade, me and my aunt K!

Pictures really don't do it justice... The mountains were huge and they stretched for miles and miles. Really incredible...

For dinner we went to Kachina and had tacos. I also had one too many margaritas, but hey~ when in Denver! The service was excellent and the food was delicious! 

Coconut flan! 

Homemade ice cream! The furthest right is a sweet corn flavor (just ok..), the middle is banana (AH-MAZING!), and the left most is a dark rum flavor which was also so flavorful! 

How soon is too soon to go back to Denver?

Thanks for stopping in for part one. I plan to have the next part up later this week... for now I must catch up on sleep. That 2-hour time difference impacted my precious sleep schedule and no one wants to be around a sleepy/irritated Renee. 

a 2nd birthday for Lilah.

Hi friends! This is going to be a post made by not just Renee ... but AUNT Nae. Because that's my favorite title.

First and foremost: I can't get over these pictures from Lilah's FIRST birthday. (my heart...)

Inevitably though, time passes and there is nothing we can do. Which is why a few weekends ago the family got together to celebrate Ms. Lilah's second birthday. TWO guys, TWO!

Well, let's get to it. I present to you... THE BEAUTIFUL BIRTHDAY GIRL!

It's not a birthday party without some water balloons! 

She L-O-V-E-D her little car but refused to drive it! I wish I could get away with having someone gladly drive me everywhere... Taking after her aunt for sure! 

And of course, I can't forget about the patient little brother who had no problem letting the princess have her day! I can't believe how chill this guy is. He's content and happy ALL. THE. TIME. Plus, I mean, just look at those big blue eyes. 

the good life in louisiana.

I recently went to Louisiana for a few reasons: 

• Family
• Food
• Easy living (aka - vacation)

There is no such thing as too much family or too much easy living BUT, this trip might have proved that there is such a thing has too much food. Regardless, I'd do it again tomorrow! Cajun food is non-regrettable.

Because I am essentially doing a photo dump here, I'll refrain from using too many words... Enjoy the mass amount photos. 

We flew into New Orleans on a Friday afternoon with Spirit Airlines. Cade and I have flown Spirit once before but I am officially a fan now. The staff is overly friendly (and hilarious!) and the service is unmatched, in my opinion.

I arranged for Cade and I to stay at The Saint hotel (Autograph Collection)  and for Kris, Sam and Bradley to stay at Royal St. Charles. Both hotels were in a good area of town and in proximity to some great places! Not only that, but our hotel was dead silent all night long. Since it is New Orleans and all, I was a little worried that we wouldn't have a good nights' sleep. I was SO wrong!

They also had larger than life mirrors that begged to be photographed! 

Our first stop was at The Sazerac Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel. I had the Gin Fiz (pictured immediately below) and Cade had the... Sazerac, of course! Someone had to.

It took us way longer than I want to admit to remember that we can legally carry alcohol on the streets. But we did our best to make up for lost time by grabbing a drink whilst being tourists! Pictured here is my handsome as heck husband drinking a beer, in a lively city, while enjoying the start of our vacation. Does it get any better?

...and naturally I had to try the famous daiquiris! 

If you've been to New Orleans then I'll assume you've been to Cafe Du Monde. If you haven't been to the city, but want to go then add this place to your list! If you have been to New Orleans... and you haven't been to Cafe Du Monde then go back up to that Spirit link - buy the first ticket that you can, and get yourself here! The five of us each had a frozen cafe au lait and split three orders of Beignets! Best breakfast you'll have in the south!

I know this doesn't look very appetizing, but hear me out. They are canned figs and they are incredible! For dinner one night we had figs over hot cornbread covered in milk. It's so good! This is definitely one of those things that you can't knock until you've tried it... and even then I don't think you'd knock it! 

A trip back home wouldn't be complete with a meal at Little Big Cup. They have a brunch buffet that would win best brunch in the galaxy if there were such an award! 

My dad and mawmaw!

My dad and I!

I don't think anyone lives in this house, but it looked eerie and neat... so I snapped a quick photo! 

A birthday celebration for the mawmaw!

Naturally I got her a very (non) serious card! It's a children's card that I "edited" into an adult version! It went better than I ever thought it would - we laughed, we cried, and we ran out of breath. If you're ever stuck in a rut when buying cards; remember that you can always make your own! 

Oh, I bought her duck tape for her gift in an effort to keep my dad from acting up around here when I'm not around! Hopefully she'll put it to good use (LOL!)

One of the better meals we had while in Louisiana was enjoyed at Bon Temps.

Frog Legs! 

Alligator! 

SAMANTRA! (my baby sister and the sweetest, kindest soul.)

Kris!! Talk about a motivated individual. She is essentially managing a growing business ALL.BY.HERSELF. Should I repeat that? All by herself. You can read up on what she's doing here.

The trip was fun, the family time wasn't enough (obviously) and the food was amazing... but coming home to our little dude was good for our hearts. We missed Frankie and if his excitement told us anything then it shouted that he missed us too. Traveling is always fun, but we love coming home to him!