Destin, FL

After our time in NOLA, we drove four hours east to Destin, Florida. There, we stayed in the most beautiful beach house. All together, it was my family of five, one of my mom's sisters and her husband and two sons, my mom's brother and his wife and their daughter, and my grandparents. All the adults had their own room and us girl cousins had one bunk room and the boys had another. We were walking distance to the beach, had a pool and basketball court in our backyard, and were close by to lots of neat beaches/state parks.

This vacation was long awaited and a complete blessing for my family. My cousin Ben tragically died in January and then two weeks later, my grandpa suffered from severe complications from a surgery that led to months of tube feeding, therapy, and further surgery. For a brood as close knit as ours, it was just tough so we relished simply being together in a place of peace.

I truly don't have many pics from the trip because I was pretty unplugged. It was so nice to just read my books, play card games and basketball, swim, eat lots of vacation food, and talk with my family.

Of course we stopped and played "Sweet Home Alabama" #cheesefordays

Lots of time spent here

We probably played 50 games of Phase 10. It's our family's favorite card game without a doubt

Why of course I will bury you Dillon!

Parasailing over the Gulf

Personal favorite accidental selfie lol I don't even know how I made this face

They're so cute :')

We got up at 5am one day to catch the beach sunrise. Grammy caught us sneaking out, but joined us for the adventure. It is one of my favorite memories.  

VACATION FOOD BABY

Kayaking out on the Gulf. We got to see some dolphins and lots of jellyfish. It was so awesome to be completely surrounded by the blues and greens of the ocean and sky. 

Goggles and cousins for life. Love these guys and gals with all my heart. 

 We certainly enjoyed the slow coastal lifestyle. I cannot wait until we all get to be together again!!

xo
Hannah

Three Days in Louisiana

Way back in June, we took a trip down to Louisiana before roadtripping to Florida. We visited New Orleans to soak in the culture and experience something very different than our little bubble of a suburb in Colorado.

New Orleans is something crazy. It was hotter than hades and the people there sure are a hoot. We explored the French Quarter, took a swift walk down Bourbon Street, walked along the Mississippi, and were entertained by the hundreds of street performers. My favorite part was the beignets from Cafe du Monde. They exceeded all my hopes and dreams for fried dough coated in powdered sugar.

Absolutely breathtaking views of Lake Pontchartrain at dusk

Apparently red/pink is a favorite shirt color for my family 

These days everyone thinks I'm the younger sister :/

Aunt Sue and the boys 

What would life be without the endless hours of entertainment from Snapchat filters? 

 Day one of exploring...

 My cousin Michael is a HUGE Saints fan. Seriously die hard. So the first thing we did Thursday morning was go to watch their training camp. Guys, it was hot and humid and just death. They had paramedics there specifically for the people watching because people get so HOT. Luckily, us non-Saints fans found a patch of shade, had some water, and played Heads Up.

Masquerade mask stores along the French Quarter

Jackson Square

I LOVED the architecture

STELLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love forcing him to take pictures with me

Beignets and cafe au lait from Cafe du Monde

 The next day it was so sticky hot that I barely used the camera. Laziness induced by heat, whoops!

Ending the day with ice cream

I'm not really dying to go back to NOLA anytime soon, but it is a unique place with a ton of history. I highly recommend getting a trolley pass so you can ride around a see a lot of the city, including some gorgeous million dollar homes, Tulane University, the Superdome, etc. In my opinion, a long weekend is the perfect amount of time  spent there. It was a short, sweet, sticky, sweaty few days but lots of fun!

xo
Hannah

Summer in the South

In June, my family took a little summer vacation down south. We went with my grandparents and two of my mom's siblings and their families. It was a great trip, beginning with 3 days in New Orleans, which was a fun experience and then headed four hours east to Destin, Florida for a week on the Gulf. I made a little video (duh) about our trip and thought I would share it before doing a photo dump, which will be it's own post soon to come!

Happy July!
xo
Hannah

FoCo with 5ever

Last weekend, 5ever was reunited for the first time in six months as we roadtripped (lol it was 1.5 hour car drive soooo not really a road trip) to Fort Collins! Sierra is up in Fort Collins this summer so we thought it would be fun to see her, explore the town, and be together!

Adding people as we go

We took turns choosing the music, got smoothies, and decided to hike Horsetooth Falls. It was a short hike but completely gorgeous.

my people.

The actual falls were small but pretty much what I expected haha. The water cooled the entire area which was a nice break from the heat.

As we hiked back to the car, it started to rain and we were starving. We had dinner at a great BBQ place called Serious Texas Barbecue where we all had these brisket tacos filled with cheesy potatoes, jalapenos, and onions, that were SO good. Highly recommend it, especially with pickles on the side and lots of BBQ sauce. Dinner was followed by dessert at Walrus Ice Cream. We hung out for a while before hitting the long road home. Sierra and Riley drove separately as Sierra was heading home for a day or two, so Jessica, Mackenzie, and I drove together. Both of my parents went to CSU so as we left, we stopped by to see their sorority and fraternity houses.

We needed some provisions (candy) for the drive. Of course, we got lost and ended up going in a huge circle and it took a solid 30 minutes longer than we thought. But it was all good as shared cherry sours, sour patch watermelons, airhead sour chews, and chewy sweettarts- we have a thing for chewy sour candies. It was such a fun day and SO great to be back with my best friends. I can't wait for more summer adventures together!

xo
Hannah