throwback Thursday -- sisters trip to Colorado in 2020

Happy Thursday, friends! This week I'm sharing about a favorite memory—in October of 2020, Trish and I flew from Memphis to Denver to meet up with Lisa and Debi for an epic sisters trip in Colorado. We saw our great nieces and had tons of family time, we celebrated Debi's birthday, we traveled to Colorado Springs and stayed at The Broadmoor, we discovered a love of merlot, wrote letters to Jimmy Fallon, we visited a pumpkin patch, I held sleeping babies...need I go on? I'll stop and let you read it, but you should check out this fun trip. Thanks for taking a little trip back down Memory Lane with me! I have to confess that thinking back on this one has prompted me to start dreaming of and planning another one. I'm hoping to travel back there this fall, maybe in mid-October. 

This was fun to think back on and read again. Also, know that Kinsley and Kylie are now 6 and a half and about to enter first grade, and Madi and Maci just turned three on Monday. Time flies!  I hope you enjoy this sisters trip recap. I'll see you back here tomorrow for Friday Favorites. Love to all. 💜 

(As usual, the original post is in italics.) 

Last Thursday, Trish and I flew to Denver for the beginning of our sisters trip. Debi planned this starting back in August and she made it so special for us. It was a trip for us to be there for her birthday and we loved getting to celebrate with her. When we landed and made our way to her, we found her sitting on a bench. As soon as she saw us, she screamed and jumped up really fast. It made us laugh, because such is life with Debi, who's always been known as the life of the party. We were starving, so we went to On The Border and ate an early dinner, then we went to Erika's house, where Jaret (my nephew) was waiting on us.

I promptly got right to work and started holding these little lovies. My niece Erika has TWO sets of twins. Kinsley and Kylie are three and a half, and Madi (white shirt) and Maci are almost three months. Kinsley and Kylie were a little shy with us, so though I really wanted to play with them, I ended up holding these little angels. Madi was the one sleeping on me in that top picture. We did end up going upstairs with Kins and Kylie and played with them for a bit before leaving. We headed to Debi's house for the night, where I found this cutie anxiously awaiting us.

Cowboy is one of my favorite dogs of all time. He's so beautiful and was so happy to see me, because he knows how much I love him. 

The next morning we were up bright and early enough to watch the sun rise.

One thing Colorado does best: sunrises and sunsets. Debi has this new coffee pot that makes the best lattes, so I had one to go with the sunrise. We ate a big breakfast, then got dressed and went to a pumpkin patch with Lisa, Erika and her family and Jaret. 

We went on a hayride and Kinsley finally warmed up to me. Would you believe the babies slept the entire time?

We bowed out a little early because we were all hot and went to Debi's house for sandwiches for lunch. That night, everyone came over for Debi's birthday dinner. We had Italian takeout from a place called Maggiano's and all the food was delicious. 

Terrible picture, great sisters. This is what a hot Colorado day in the sun and at a pumpkin patch makes us look like! We had been so hot and were still tired from our day. 

Trish and I brought gifts for Kinsley and Kylie, but so did their GiGi (Lisa) and this picture was her gift to them. I held the babies some more, because the older two were still being shy.

Maci was passed out on her daddy, but Madi was fighting sleep really bad. She finally gave in to it, though and I couldn't stop staring at her sweet little profile. 

I spent that night with Lisa, then we got up and headed to Colorado Springs the next morning. We picked Debi and Trish up, then stopped in Manitou Springs for lunch and shopping/sightseeing.

It was a beautiful little town. We ate a yummy lunch and walked around a bit, then headed to The Broadmoor hotel for the night.

This place was gorgeous. The property, the actual hotel, all the details inside and out—I'd seen it once before, but had forgotten. This picture right above was in the bathroom; to give a bit of insight, those towels in the restroom are real towels with baskets underneath for them to be taken away and laundered.

Isn't this beautiful?! I have never been to Italy, but somehow this place reminds me of Lake Como in Italy. Here's a picture of that for reference.

See what I mean? Back to the trip...

You can walk around that lake, or over the bridge in the middle of it. We chose the bridge, because high altitude with a mask on is no joke. 

Trish and I were sitting outside for a minute when this deer and several others just casually walked up on the sidewalk! They kept going until they reached some grass in front of the hotel. I don't know what The Broadmoor has planted to encourage deer, but it's awesome that they're so domestic. They were not scared at all by people and cars.

Like I said, the details in this place are incredible.

That night for dinner we went to a steakhouse nearby called The Peppertree. It was amazing and a several hour long experience. It was back to the hotel for comfy clothes after that because we were all stuffed and miserable.

Our room had quite the view. 

We left the next day after a delicious breakfast and started the drive back to Debi's house, but we made a stop in Castle Rock to shop a bit. 

I had to lay down for the rest of the day once we got to Debi's house again—I don't know why, but my stomach bothered me so much on this trip. I think mostly it was all the eating out, which was so so good, but just something more rich than what I normally eat at home. Debi made chicken pot pie that night for dinner and it tasted so good to me. I made a note on my phone of the recipe and will be making it here for us soon.

I repacked my suitcase the next morning, then we left Debi's to go to Erika's for the day. I sat and held babies all day long and it was GLORIOUS.

I also colored with Kinsley and Kylie and had fun laughing with them. We ate dinner over there, then went to Lisa's house to watch The Voice. I spent the night over there, then Jaret drove me to the airport the next morning. Trish stayed there for a few extra nights to help Debi do something in her house. It was a wonderfully fun trip and I already miss them all. As much fun as it was, there is no place quite like home and I was so glad to see all of my guys, especially my husband. I was thrilled to see his smiling face at the airport yesterday when I made my way to baggage claim. We ordered pizza for dinner last night and I unpacked and did all of my laundry. And just like that, it was like I never even left home—today was completely normal and a day spent at church for Bible study. 

Thanks for reading about our trip! Love to all.