Growing up just north of Denver summer the highlight of the season was always heading to the water park owned by the city. As a child I assumed that every town had a local water park for the kids to play at. Once I realized that wasn’t the case it became obvious how lucky my community was to have such an amazing parks and recreation team creating attractions like Water World for us to enjoy.
Water World is a 70 acre park featuring 48 attractions throughout the park. This summer the park celebrates 40 years and of those, I’ve probably experienced 15-20 summers as a park goer.
One of my best friends father’s worked as an EMT at the park during the summer, so as soon as we were old enough to explore on our own we were able to spend long days in the sun getting tan while floating around the lazy river. Once I was a bit older my friends started working at Water World, meaning on their days off we’d again spend hours hauling tubes up hills and snacking on dip’n’dots.
As an adult getting to spend a day at Water World is a special occasion that makes reliving childhood a real and tangible experience.
My favorite way to start the day is by heading directly to the Voyage to the Center of the Earth. This ride opened around the time that I was first allowed to visit Water World by myself with friends. I love the dark tunnels full of animatronic dinosaurs and the surprise of water falls just as you float around the corners of the ride.
After Voyage the next stop is Storm. Storm opened a few years after Voyage and the line is never as long. Fully enclosed, your raft goes through fast-paced twists and turns while water comes from every angle.
When these two rides are through I like to go back to the Thunder Bay for a snack and to reapply sunscreen. Thunder Bay is the large wave pool with a single tidal wave that floods the area every 15 minutes or so. As a child there was a video on PBS that showcased exactly how the wave worked. I honestly can’t remember the details, but I do remember watching the video over and over again so apparently the partnership worked!
Thunder Bay is surrounded by lounge chairs and areas to lay out on a towel for a rest. I like to set up my towel in this area because it’s centrally located. One of the best things about Water World is being able to pack in a picnic for the whole family to enjoy. I like to fill up a cooler with snacks, sodas and water with the plan to pick up lunch at one of the concession stands.
After filling up on treats there is no better time to float the day away in the Lazy River. This is always one of the most popular areas in the park so it might take a while to snag one of the communal tubes floating by.
Following Lazy River I like to head to river country where tube rides for both family rafts and individuals can take up a huge chunk of the day! Each ride requires picking up the corresponding tube at the bottom of the hill and bringing it up to the top to start the ride.
Once my calves are burning from the hills it’s time to head back to Thunder Bay to snag lunch from one of the concession stands. Water World is known for their affordable concessions so it’s easy to feed the whole family for less then $20.
With 72 acres of rides, its nearly impossible to see them all before it’s time to head home but after lunch I like to grab a ride on the Gondola out to the Fun House. With several areas for clowning around in the water the best part about the Fun House is if the Gondola gets drenched on it’s ride in. This is the furthest south area of the park and there are more slides before walking back up towards the rest of the park to call it a day.
I love that this amazing amusement park is just in my own backyard and something I can share with family and friends when they come to visit. Summer just isn’t complete without a trip or two to Water World!
Disclaimer: I received complimentary park tickets to facilitate this review. All writing, photos and opinions are my own.
I am truly a sucker for a good costume party, and when the theme is 1920’s that’s an event that I HAVE to attend. Hosted by Give 5 Productions this summer’s Cottonwood Club extravaganza transports you back in time to to when there were more sequins than belly buttons and an outfit was incomplete without the right hat.
We attended the inaugural Cottonwood Club taking place at the newly renovated Ironworks Denver and I loved how the venue naturally fit the theme of the event. Located just a few blocks from Mile High Stadium this the historic event venue originally opened in the early 1900s as the home of Midwest Steel, one of the regions foremost steel manufacturers. Many of Colorado’s landmarks came to life within these walls, including the Royal Gorge Bridge and Denver’s City and County Building. The building recently underwent major restorations brining it back to life as an art deco inspired event space – perfect for a speakeasy brought to life in 2019.
Put on by Give 5 Productions the Cottonwood Club is more then an event. Each Give 5 extravaganza helps the production house give back 5% to non-profit organizations annually.
Like I said originally, a good costume party is my jam. I ordered my dress for the evening from Rent the Runway. I’ve been a Rent the Runway ‘Pro’ for the last several year’s and I love how easy they make it for me to dress the part for special events. The Pro members provides free shipping and insurance for every order I place, plus a complimentary dress each year for my birthday. For events like this one, renting a dress is perfect because it’s unlikely I will need a 1920s-esque dress to wear again and they dry clean each item before it heads out the door. Full of sequins and lace this is the Like To Party Dress from Nicole Miller.
Once at the party it really did feel like being transported back in time, with the addition of modern lighting and cell phone cameras. Throughout the evening a wide variety of performers took the stage, ranging from the tap dancing Honey Taps to the fusion music stylings of the Black Iris Collective.
Everyone in attendance donned their 1920’s best, making the party even more festive. Themed cocktails brought the speakeasy vibe to life and complimentary snacks served by ‘cigarette’ girls were available throughout the evening.
It was a blast and I’m definitely putting it on my list to attend one of the next events with a group of friends. The June Cottonwood Club is the first of a series of events, the next one coming up on July 26th. Tickets are available online and are limited for each event, making this an exclusive event you want to plan ahead for.
Disclaimer: I received tickets to this event to facilitate this review. All thoughts an opinions are my own. Some links are affiliate links.
I’m in the middle of what I like to call a ‘population explosion’. This last year I think I’ve attended at least six baby showers, maybe more. Two of those showers were my cousins and one is my sister in law. After years of only adults it’s so much fun to have babies in the family again!
I shared photos from one cousins woodland baby shower last fall and today’s photos are from another cousin’s Peter Rabbit Baby Shower! She knew she was going to be having a boy so when this May shower happened blue and spring flowers became the perfect backdrop for this garden party.
Using inspiration from Beatrix Potter I worked with Denver Bakery French for Sugar to put together this beautiful cake. Each character was hand painted on fondant (just like the water colors in all of Beatrix’ books) and attached to the cake. They handmade each flower and cabbage as well. I couldn’t believe the amount of detail that went into everything!
Each cupcake was decorated to match the color scheme of the shower and both the frosting and cake was delightful. Just enough sweetness set off the perfectly fluffy cake batter in every bite.
Since the shower was in May it was easy to collect up bunny table toppers from easter display’s. These rattan bunnies all had the sweetest expressions.
This Bunny Bunting was one of the projects I made. I used my silhouette and cut out the bunnies and shirts using the instructions for this project from Sixxix. I loved the little cotton ball tales on each of these bunny bottoms!
One of my other cousins made a diaper cake wagon using flannel to cover a box base and diapers as the outer layer of the wagon. The front wheel consisted of several diapers rolled together with a large ribbon the the handles were constructed from receiving blankets. When it was all done she added plastic play vegetables from Amazon. It came out so cute!
On the buffet we used green silverware wrapped in orange napkins to look like carrots and plastic pots as dip containers. It all looked so sweet once it was put together. More cutout characters from the Beatrix Potter Stories adorned the fruit display giving the buffet it’s finishing touches.
Credit for this adorable party idea goes to my aunt and cousins who came together with this adorable idea and I was just there to photograph it and shower the mama with some love before baby arrived!
Peter Rabbit Baby Shower Decor
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Disclaimer: French for Sugar provided a product sample as inspiration for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Disclaimer: I received a Stick Up Camera Solar from Ring as inspiration for this post. All opinions and writing are my own.
It’s finally starting to feel like summer in Colorado and for me that means more time outside, more yard work and more reasons to explore the beautiful outdoors. Whether I’m traveling or just out for a day trip up to the mountains, keeping an eye on things around the house is important, both during the summer and beyond. No matter what adventures the warm weather brings, a few easy precautions can make summer home safety second nature.
Before Drew started full time law enforcement he worked for a major electronics company in Colorado. One of the projects he worked on was the team at Ring, before they brought the Ring doorbell to market. At the time I remember talking about how useful it could be both for families and police departments, now flash forward several years in the future Ring is the leading brand making DIY home security easy and affordable for families.
Summer Home Safety Tip
Keep an eye on the front door
When we moved to our new house one of the first projects I worked on was installing a Ring Doorbell on the front of the house. With Drew’s job requiring odd hours and my perpetual online shopping habit being able to keep an eye on the front door was a priority. I installed the doorbell myself in just a few minutes and the hardest step was finding the right drill bit to go into the brick on the front of the house.
Now when we travel it’s nice to be able to let family and friends know if there is a package on the front porch no matter where in the world we may be.
Summer Home Safety Tip
Install a video security camera
While seeing the front door is a great start to keeping the home secure, adding an additional camera can help with additional peace of mind. Our front door is next to the garage, so anything happening on the left side of the door isn’t visible from the doorbell camera. We live in a nice area so I’m not usually worried about leaving lawn equipment outside in the back yard but it’s nice to have that extra feeling of security.
When Drew’s working and I’m home alone it’s nice to be able to peek out in front of the house if I hear anything unusual. With how the door is located, looking at the driveway or gate requires looking out an upstairs window. If we are traveling, that part of the house isn’t visible at all.
Since I already love our Ring Doorbell the Ring Stick Up Cam Solar was the perfect choice for adding that extra bit of security. Easy to set up, everything we needed to install the camera was in the box, including a drill bit. Battery powered, you can either charge the battery manually every few weeks or attach a Ring Solar Panel to keep charging whenever the sun is shining.
We installed ours on the edge of the garage using a couple of small screws (provided in the kit) and the articulating arm made it easy to adjust the camera to whatever angle would capture the most of the yard. The Stick Up Cam features a wide angle HD Camera and the ability to talk through the camera if anyone enters the yard and sets off the alert. Using the Ring App I can playback video later from my Ring account or see live views of whatever is happening in front of my house.
It’s nice to be able to keep an extra set of eyes on the house no matter how busy the summer gets and I love that Ring is a company that supports law enforcement families. Finding a good home security system is a conversation that comes up in a lot of the Police Wife groups I’m a part of . Being home alone with the family can be scary, especially for those with kids, so knowing whatever service you use is one you can rely on is important. Ring definitely fits those needs for our family.
Did you know Ring provides a 20% discount for first responder, military and teacher families?
View the full details about the discount program on the Ring website.
Interested in other products law enforcement families like ours love? Check out my holiday gift guide for police wives.
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