Colorado, I love you.

I think I might have been a little hard on the Pueblo Zoo.

Actually...no...I wasn't.

But I do want to be clear, that we had so much fun - so the adventure wasn't a total loss.

Since it was quite a trek out to Pueblo, we decided to make a stop at a place we have all been meaning to go since we have gotten here, Garden Of The Gods.

The sun was just about to set...so this was just a quick drive thru to get us even more excited about visiting there in the near future.

Garden Of The Gods was donated to the city of Colorado Springs in 1909 under the one stipulation that would also be free to the public. Beautiful is such an understatement when describing it, and these pictures don't even begin to show its true beauty. I can't wait for a little warmer weather when we can go back and explore all the trails.

See those two rocks way up there touching each other? Those are the "Kissing Camels".

Scouting out a future family photo site.

This day was too cold for wee little ones to be out of their bunting bags.

"Kissing Witts"

I have such a crush on you, Colorado.

Happy Tuesday

You Win Some, You Lose Some

I guess not every adventure can be the best (Why not, universe? Why not?), but at least we can try.

Now I want to clarify, there are worst things I can do than go to the Pueblo Zoo (I just sang that line to that song from Grease that Rizzo sings when she thinks she is knocked up. Anybody?). The zoo wasn't all bad, I just will never go there again.

Let's start from the beginning, shall we?
About a month before we moved I got a text from Ange asking if she should buy a Groupon to the Pueblo Zoo (it is safe to say home girl has got an addiction in the form of Groupon buying). As a lover of animals, adventures, and good deals I told her to go for it.

Fast forward six weeks the subject of said Groupon comes up and it is revealed that the zoo is in Pueblo (duh! Pueblo Zoo) which is about an hour and a half away. But seeing how when the Groupon was purchased we weren't Colorado residents, our vast knowledge of Colorado had not yet been tapped in to. This is proof that she has an addiction, because she didn't even check to see where the deal was located. After extensive teasing we all agreed we would still go and check out the zoo.

Fast forward two months. Time was running out on that sad Groupon and even though it only cost her $15 ( for four admissions...can you say "red flag"?) we felt like we needed to use that sucker. So we waited for a little warmer day and planned a small road trip to the zoo with the lowest expectations possible.

First stop, Cracker Barrel.
Because gravy makes everything seem great.

What a proud mom moment.

After we stuffed ourselves silly it was on to the zoo. All the proof you need about how awesome the Pueblo Zoo is can be found with the first animal you see when you come in the zoo, please see the picture evidence below.

That's right. The first animal you see when you come is a raccoon.

We probably should just end this post here.

The best part of the zoo was the penguins.

It was also the worst smelling part of the zoo.

This penguin is posing perfectly for my Vine.

...and my Instagram.

The most beautiful and terrifying peacock I have ever seen.

Oh, I think I spoke too soon. This elk is doing tricks.

Actually never mind.

I mean...can you even handle it?

And then just like that our time at the Pueblo Zoo ended.

Too bad.

Getting Sticky

Hello, my name is Ryanne and I am an Instagram addict.
I have never counted, but I am pretty sure I check Instagram around 163 times a day - give or take.
I am lover of social media as a whole, but Instagram is my jam.

Before we moved our whole fridge was covered with printed Instagram photos. I never really found an easy way to print my pictures with out them being 4 inches by 4 inches, which seriously limited how many of I could fit on the fridge.

This is where I introduce my newest obsession...Stickygram.
You can choose photos from your Instagram and they make them into magnets that are 50mm x 50mm (about two inches by two inches), basically the same size as when you view them on your phone.

You get a sheet of nine photos for $14.99 and they do free shipping worldwide. If you are interested in using them use the code FRIENDJL5P to get $2 off of your first order.

What are you waiting for? Get over there and start picking your photos.





*This is not a sponsored post...I just love Stickygram and wanted needed to share.

The Gang's All Here: The Sequel

If you know my husband, you know one thing is for sure...he LO-VES football. So when I found out that his 30th birthday was actually on Super Bowl Sunday this year I of course started dreaming about ways to get him to the Super Bowl for his birthday.

But you know, tickets are like $2500 a piece, and we haven't won the lottery yet...so...there went that dream. But I still got him. And oh boy...surprising my husband is the very best.

It all started with a text from Tim asking if Jonathan's birthday weekend would be a good weekend for him to come for a visit.

It took Ange and I two weeks to decide how the surprise was going to go down. Then we texted each other ALL day the day Tim arrived. I basically started having an anxiety attack the second I got the text that he landed. My favorite exchange went as follows...

Ange: Josh and Tim just got here. Josh is going to take a quick shower and then we'll head over.
Ryanne: I think I am going to have a heart attack.
Ange: I already had one.

Once Josh and Ange snuck him in the basement I went down, and as soon as I saw him I walked straight into my bedroom, because I couldn't even handle that he was there and Jonathan didn't know it.

Some how I got Jonathan to come downstairs. I think I yelled something like, "Come down here, Ange needs your help." You know just using my super quick thinking and superb acting skills. Whatever. It worked didn't it? Let me help you...yes it did.

 Gotcha.

{Don't mind Ange's celebration hand in the way.}

 I mean...how freaking cute is that surpised face.

{Please note Josh...also in a celebrating pose...clearly all involved were relieved the plan had worked}

 Just buddies hugging.

{Immediately after taking this photo I laid face down on the ground, because I thought my heart was going to explode from adrenaline}

After I asked Jonathan exactly 103 times if he was really surprised, we decided to make some plans for the weekend. And even though our house had only been back on our diet for two days since the gang left, we threw caution to the wind, and decided Jonathan's birthday weekend was a good weekend to eat whatever the heck we wanted.

 Please note the belly (Macy's, not Tim's)...oh AND the socks.

As you know, I love visitors that want to be active, but also want to a lot of sitting around and hanging out (if you plan on visiting, I hope you are taking notes). So we did A LOT of eating and even more sitting around. We did manage to go to Golden one day and eat that delicious sandwich that I can't stop dreaming about. Also, the main thing to do in Golden is go on the Coors Brewing Company. And you know me any free activity is always worth a try.

In case you are wondering...I did take Macy on this tour with us, and as we were walking in some girl who really enjoyed her three free sample beers yelled, "Woo Hoo, babies and bars"

This is me acting like I am "cold". I did a lot of acting that weekend.

I should probably get my invite to the Oscars any day now.

Strangers were eating this pose up. I heard actual audible laughter.

I am also pretty sure they thought we were drunk from our three free 

sample beers, but here is a secret for you - I didn't even drink them, I can be this zany totally sober.

After the tour we drove up a mountain to Buffalo Bill's Grave.

Because, as you can imagine, nothing mixes better than free beer and windy roads. If I am being honest there wasn't a whole lot to see up there, but some how I still managed to take two pictures.

I guess we really enjoyed the eating and hanging out part when Tim was here, because I don't have any other pictures from any other days. And I am not really sure I can remember what else we did. I suppose we watched the Super Bowl on Jonathan's birthday, but I was to distracted counting down the minutes to the Destiny's Child reunion. It was fun none the less. I just have one question...who's next?

The Gang's All Here: Part Two

After a full Saturday and Sunday everyone was moving much slower on Monday. But being the seasoned agenda planner that I am, I knew that would probably happen. So I didn't really plan anything for us. So we woke up to an amazing breakfast made by my in-laws...which is better than any restaurant I could take them to. And then after two hours of discussing what we all wanted to do, and lying around we decided to go to the Castle Rock Outlets.

While we were at the outlets it started to snow...which just was the cherry on top of the whole trip. It was also our cue to head home and bundle up. After much discussion of what to do we all came to the conclusion that we should hang at home and watch The Bachelor and eat pizza. {I told you they were the perfect visitors.}

All partook in this activity, except Matt who watched Netflix on his iPad by himself in a corner. Which if you know Matt, was the perfect place for him to be.

They were all set to leave on Tuesday, but not until we watched Pitch Perfect and went sledding. Which in my opinion is a winning combination.

Ange and I decided we needed a spot where we took the pictures of everyone who came to visit us (we stole this from Alanna). After much thought it felt obvious that Castle Rock needed to be in the background. Just think...you too can pose in this spot if you came to visit me.

The Gang's All Here: Part One

Six weeks of living in Colorado, and we had our first visitors. Go big or go home, right? Matt, Misha, Torie, Del, Caroline, McB and Luke (you counted right, seven...seven people) arrived on a Saturday...and my heart nearly exploded.

The whole weekend can be explained in a quote from Misha. After commenting on how many emails and texts I had sent prior to the trip Mish said, "I learned that it can be getting 200 people to camp or 7 people to Colorado, and the level of planning is the same for Ryanne." What? I like agendas.

The best kind of visitors are the ones that like to explore as much as they want to just eat good food as much as they want to hang out on the couch. And this group definitely fell into that category.

I like to start my vacations with a lot of activity up front, and then slow it down towards the end. So of course we started with my one of my favorite restaurants in Colorado, Jack N Grill, and then headed home to rest up for a full day on Sunday.

Sunday I had a full day planned for everyone. First we headed to Dino Ridge. Dino Ridge is in Morrison, and has 1.5 mile trail where you can see fossils and dinosaur tracks. No one had ever been there, but it we knew it wouldn't take very long and it was cheap, so it was a low risk option for our first adventure.

Macy's first time in the Baby Bjorn. She really loved it.

I know you don't believe me, but you would be making that face too 

if you were sitting next to that beard.

Since none of us had been to Dino Ridge before, and 100% of us are from California (which is also known as "doesn't do great in altitude")

we decided to spend the whopping $5 and take the shuttle up the 1.5 mile hill to the dino tracks.

Just one big, happy family. 

 Colorado, I love you.

In case you needed proof, here is a dinosaur bone.

Convinced?

 Delia is a die hard dinosaur fan, so she probably enjoyed the one hour adventure the most.

She was totally nerding out at all the information our tour guide shared with us,  who we fondly took to calling Dino-Thor (His real name is Thor. Nothing more needed here).

Look at all those dinosaur tracks behind them. This the real deal, people.

This guy.

Matching vests are always necessary.

After Dino Ridge, we headed into Golden for lunch.
If you are visiting the Denver area, I would highly recommend taking a trip into Golden. It is an adorable mining town that is home to the delicious food, the Coors Brewing Factory, and Buffalo Bill's Grave. I didn't take very many pictures, because I was too busy eating the most delicious sandwich in the world.

After lunch we decided to take a quick drive into Downtown Denver, but everyone was pretty tired and ready to do nothing, so we headed home. But all in all it was a GREAT day.