The Adventures of Jake and Allie: Summer 2022

And so our Colorado adventure begins...

Alex suggested that we should look at being in Colorado this summer while the kids were at camp. He is 100% remote and I have some flexibility so we thought we'd give it a try. We thought we'd try Denver since I had some travel I'd have to do. We found a condo and went for it! Our new views:

After we dropped Allie at camp and took Kirby to Dorry's, we headed out! With a night in Lubbock we made our way to Denver right before the first Stanley Cup Playoff game. Go Avalanche!

Dinner at the diner across the street!

Alex took Jake to the Colorado Sports History Museum and to see the Broncos stadium.

We had a great time at the Rockies' games!

Our first weekend we headed up to Boulder and met up with the best University of Colorado tour guide ever!

We had a lunch at a place where my parents used to go when they were students there!

Boulder is beautiful!

The next day we went for a hike in Castle Rock followed by some lunch at a fun brewery and outlet shopping.

And on the way home, the most amazing rainbow!

The next day Jake and I went to the Denver airport EARLY! Jake was excited to head to camp and I was heading to San Diego for a quick trip. We realized that for the first time ever and for 24 hours, there was a Ramati in each time zone!

The next weekend, we had another adventure. This time to St. Mary's Glacier. It was absolutely amazing!

Back to Denver for my birthday dinner!

On my actual birthday I went to Yoga, we had brunch and then went on an urban hike that was so fun.

We went to the flagship REI store and it was way too outdoorsy for me!

Perfect sunset to end my birthday!

When the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup they turned the town purple. Loved seeing it and watching the parade from our balcony!

Working while watching the parade!

We went up to Breckinridge the following weekend and met us with our almost cousins, Jodi and Josh Sanchez for a super fun dinner. I can't believe we didn't take any pictures. We're excited for some extended time next summer in Breck with them.

Saturday morning we strolled around and got breakfast! Not only is this my perfect breakfast, the name couldn't be beat!

After breakfast we hiked around the Sawmill Reservoir and then checked out the super cute town of Frisco.

Frisco!

I headed back to Austin on July 3rd to pick up Allie from camp and to have a little time with my fluffy baby!

And she's home!

Who didn't come home from camp?

Blankie!

He accidentally went to Houston with Allie's friend Isa. So we went to Houston to get him and to see a few camp friends that she was already missing!

With BFFs Noa and Sylvie

We went to a pop up museum in Houston.

It was clearly sponsored by Instagram.

Reunited...

My handsome boy!

I went to Chicago for a weekend to help my mom clean out my grandma's apartment and saying goodbye to our "Chicagoland" home. I was struck by a few things that I shared on social but wanted to post here as well so I can remember them.

First, how often does an adult child get a weekend alone with their parent without their children, spouse, siblings or other family. If you don't live near to each other it probably isn't very often, but if you're lucky enough to have the chance, make sure to do so.

Second, the amount of stuff my grandma had for entertaining was unbelievable. We counted at least 7 sets of dishes (and 5 sets of china including 2 sets for up to 24) and silverware sets to match. We didn't begin to count the serving bowls, teacups, glassware, table linens, candy bowls, etc. The thing about it is that she used it all throughout her life. They just entertained so differently and she loved it. She was so well organized so going through all of those items was easy since she labeled everything! Thank you, Grandma!

Finally, even though I was close with my grandma, I was the first one to sit on the stairs of the old house to listen to the stories about the family members who lined the wall, there was so much I didn't now about the family and her life.

We were detectives that weekend, piecing one clue to the next and even for some “regular” people, it was a pretty amazing story to put together. Here are just a few favorite things we found:

-Finding immigration papers for my great grandma Becky, who I was named for.

-Learning that her husband, Jacob, was actually from Ukraine (something my mom didn’t know either)

-Seeing new pictures of my grandma from her child star days as "Baby Ruth"

-Finding my birth announcement. Guess my mom didn’t have Shutterfly!

The closest I got to a picture of Jake at high school orientation.

We took a little pre-back to school getaway up to Grapevine and the Gaylord Hotel.

Jake and Alex decide to opt for an arcade (and no photos) over the waterpark but Allie and I braved the crowds and the bees! We enjoyed a few drinks poolside, floated in the lazy river and called it a day!