I’ve always had a special bond with my niece Hailey. She’s not only my first (and only), but she’s also my favorite niece.
For her 12th birthday, I went away from traditional wrapped presents and sent her a puzzle. When she put the puzzle together, she read a message that she was flying to Colorado for a girls weekend with me!
Her official birthday girls trip arrived last weekend, and she flew across country to spend the weekend with yours truly!
Day One: We spent a ton of time touring this awesome state of mine, kicking off the trip with a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park!
We started the day in town, peeking in the little touristy stores, and of course, making time for Hailey to enjoy some ice cream!
The weather started out gorgeous! Giving us these pretty views…
And access to wildlife.
And a stunning view from the top!
By the time we left, it was raining pretty hard… but we didn’t let that get us down! And, the sun came back out!
Truth be told, high altitude trips can be exhausting, so I vowed to Hailey that we’d relax a little more on Sunday… after we participated in a 5K, of course! Hailey’s very first!
Day Two: We participated in the Strides for Epilepsy 5K in City Park (same park where Jodi’s Race was held last week!) My dear friend Kristen invited us to participate, and on that hot, steamy Sunday, we walked for the cause and met up with Tiffany along the way!
After the 5K, we hit the South Pearl Farmers’ Market (LOVE!) to have a waffle with Marisa and to do some produce shopping! There are no words for how delicious this waffle was. Hailey let me have a few bites… yum!!
We raced home after the Farmers’ Market… because we had hair color to conduct. How appropriate that the color for Epilepsy Awareness is purple because we had plans to color Hailey’s hair PURPLE. Now, just to clarify, her parents sent her with the hair dye and asked me to color her hair. I would never have done this without their explicit approval. Even my brother (reluctantly) approved! It’s also a semi-permanent color, so it shouldn’t last too long.
I think it looks GREAT on her!
Day Three: We woke up bright and early and headed to the Denver Mint! Neither one of us had ever toured a Mint, so it was a great opportunity to do so. Pretty cool to see where money is made, if you ask me…
Afterward, I took her to Voodoo Donuts for a quick breakfast… Note: She totally picked the same donut I had at Voodoo in Portland! Chocolate and Peanut Butter is the BEST combination after all!
Next, we headed over to Hammond’s Candy to tour the factory and to get some souvenirs for Hailey to take home to her brother.
Believe it or not, we were done with all of this galavanting by abut 11:30am. So, we headed home to make tutus and watch chick flicks. I’d say, perfect Monday. Don’t you think? As for movies, we watched the Prince and Me, Crossroads, John Tucker Must Die, and Shag… she had never seen any of these! It was my duty as an aunt to share!
These pretty, pretty tutus will be worn by my Color Run team in Milwaukee. We got about halfway through the team on Monday. So appreciative for Hailey’s help!
We finished the night with a very special farewell dinner at Melting Pot. Hailey’s first fondue, she loved the experience!
Overall, the weekend was an action-packed blast… I can’t believe what a lovely grown-up young lady she has become, and it was really amazing to have some one-on-one time with her showing off my beautiful state.
While it was Hailey’s birthday present, I’d say it was a gift to me, too. Love this lady!