Hollen Adventures | The Denver Zoo

One of the other things we did over Ryan's vacation week was go to the Denver Zoo with Grammy and Ga Ga. Almost 3 years ago to the day, we made this trip with Marin and my nephew Gunnar. Looking back at those photos, Marin was so little! She was just beginning to walk around and was still in her infant car seat. It's amazing to me how much she has grown into such a little girl now, no longer a baby. (Excuse me while I shed a silent tear....) 

I didn't listen to my mother very well with this trip because she told me it was going to be pretty busy and I didn't think it would be...We went on the day when teachers all over Colorado were doing a walkout and protest. I fully support the cause but oh boy, the zoo was crazy busy! Since the schools were closed that day, every other family seemed to have the same idea we had. Even though it was super crazy and very hard to find a parking spot, we still enjoyed the time so much. 

Most of our day was spent walking around the zoo looking for the animals. Going during the day is always slightly disappointing though because a lot of the animals are not out. But, I love just walking around in the sunshine with my family. My ultimate goal was to not get anyone sunburnt though so I was on sunscreen patrol pretty much all day. 

We had packed our lunches and ate out on the lawn under the trees. By the end of the day, both kids has a bunch of stains on their clothes from oranges and ice cream. I feel that is a sign that fun was had and the day was well worth it. We had sandwiches, oranges, chips, nutter butters. 

After lunch we kept walking all throughout the zoo. We wanted to see the elephant show they put on but it was too packed. So instead we decided to get some ice cold beer for the adults and some ice cream for the kiddos. It was a great way to cool down and sit for just a bit. Marin said that her favorite part was the giraffes. I always like the penguins. Sullivan enjoyed most to  the day in the stroller and ended up falling asleep at the tail end of the day. 

Before the drive home, we stopped at Voodoo Donuts on Colfax. It's tradition. It took a long time for us to get our Voodoo Dozen because a lot of teachers had the same idea. But, they are always well worth the wait. 

I enjoy taking little day trips like this. We would love to go to the aquarium and visit the museum again. I just wish our work schedules allowed us to do more things like this more often. Someday our schedules will change and we will have a day during the week that we can spend as a family.  I am praying for that. Someday. 

Our Anniversary: Good Food, Good Goals, & A Great Beard

It has been a week now since we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. The fact that I am just now able to write about our day goes to show that time really is flying faster than we can keep up with it most days. I didn't carry my camera with me that day, but wanted to capture everything through my phone.

Celebrating 5 years with my man was good. It was very needed. It's always weird for me to realize that we don't have our little girl in the back seat with us on an adventure, but sometimes parents need just parent adventures. You know? 

Marin hung out with the grandparents for the day and we hopped in the car and drove to Denver. For donuts. You read that correctly. We drove 1.5 hours to another city for donuts. I'm not crazy. It was well worth it. 

If you don't know of Voodoo Donuts, you probably should. When I lived in the northwest, I experienced Voodoo Donuts in Portland for the first time. These guys are crazy. Their donuts are crazy. They are also crazy delicious. By some fluke, they opened a shop up in Denver. All of the other locations are in the northwest but for some reason they decided to come here. I couldn't be more thrilled.

We ordered the Voodoo Dozen, 13 donuts that the staff hand picks for you. We also had two coffees to go. We ended up eating a donut in our car before making the drive back home because there's no seating at Voodoo. It was warm that day. Our donuts melted in our hands as we ate them. The coffee was super good. 

This was a perfect way to begin our anniversary celebration. 

We made the journey back home, stopped at the grandparents to feed the kiddo so I could think straight (if you're breastfeeding you probably know what I'm talking about and pumping in the car SUCKS.) 

We then ventured to Old Town, Fort Collins. A few posts back I talked about the new restaurant that we have come to love called the Mainline. We went there again. We drank good beer and ate good food. We talked about our goals and dreams for this new year of marriage. We talked about new business ideas and focusing more on the ones we already have. Getting out of debt. Upgrading to newer computers. Putting our house on the market and moving. Fitting back into my skinny jeans.

Helping Marin grow up smart and strong.

One of the appetizers at the Mainline. Jalapeño Cornbread with Apple Cider Butter. Oh my. 

If you know me, this conversation is what gets my mind spinning, in a good way. I love a good goals discussion, especially when good food, good beer, and a nice looking man with a great beard are involved. 

After dinner, we headed back, picked up Marin, and put her to bed for the evening. 

All in all, we are ready for this next year. We are excited for what is ahead. I wouldn't want to live out this life with anyone else.