Summer is one of my favorite times of the year with the kids. There is just so much to do and see, and we are always out and about. Now, I see why my mom loved summer with us so much- no schedules or time frames, just fun in the sun all day long. So, here are some of our favorite places to go in the summer in Denver.
- We love biking to Cherry Creek. It’s one of our favorite traditions on the weekends to go get coffee and hit up the parks. The kids absolutely love doing this. It’s simple, close, and fun. We have a chariot that we attach to Brendan’s bike and a bike seat that is attached to my bike in front of my handles. The kids love riding in both.
2. Union Station fountains. These are the best- because they’re free and so much fun for the kids. We also love swinging by the “Milkbox” ice cream store that has “Little Man’s” ice cream right there in Union Station.
3. Children’s Museum of Denver. We bought a pass here and we’re so happy to have it. It definitely pays for itself if you go more than two times so it is definitely worth it. We love the rocket center where the kids make their own rockets and shoot them off, the ball and tunnel area, the bubbles, and the outside river area. The kids always have so much fun here, and I highly recommend it.
4. Aquarium. We love the Aquarium on a rainy day or when it’s cooler outside. We also bought a membership here because of the same reason above. The pass allows your children to get their face painted and they can feed the sting rays as well.
5. Elitch Gardens. We went here for the first time recently and had a BLAST. Growing up, we used to go to Six Flags Great America every summer, and I thought it would be fun to try it out here as well. I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived early and went to the “Kiddie Land” to find no lines. This was great- Ella Rose and her friend could ride anything they wanted! We also hopped over to the water park and the kids LOVED the wave pool and the little kid pirate ship with small slides. It was so much fun.
6. Denver ZOO. One of our favorite “go to’s.” We do our usual lap, pack a lunch, and love the new Tiger exhibit and Elephant show. The Denver Zoo is one of my favorite places to take the kids; and I love how the animals are so close and interactive.
7. Parks. We love trying out different parks around Denver. I have this app called “Play Denver,” that allows us to scope out different parks. We’ll either walk to the parks, drive, or Ella Rose will ride her scooter , and I’ll push Owen in his car.
I love these shoes Owen is wearing in the middle pic, they can be dressed up or casual –Black baby boy TOMS
The shoes above are also Ella Rose’s favorite shoes. We have a few pairs, but she can wear them casually or with a dress and can put them on herself! Mini Melissa shoes
8. Brunch. Brendan is a HUGE breakfast fan so as a family we’ve become BIG brunchers. We have a few favorite spots that we’ve discovered that are kid friendly: Jelly Cafe, Rosenberg’s, Snooze (if we get there early enough 😉 ), Second Home, Devil’s Food Bakery, Katherine’s Bakery (we like this one because it’s good and fast), & last but not least, Dunkin Donuts of course.
We love this leather bib that I keep in my diaper bag. It is so easy to clean. Posh Play bib
We also love these throw away placemats for the kids.
9. Early dinners on the weekends. We have always been big fans of going out to dinner as a family. I always pack our activity bag for the kids to play with their coloring books and stickers so we can have a fun night out to dinner. Some of our favorite, kid friendly restaurants for dinner include: Second Home, Paxti’s Pizza, Tupelo Honey, Agave, Homegrown Tap and Dough, and Uno Mas Taqueria.
10. Lastly, the sprinkler. We love playing in our backyard with the sprinkler. This is our sprinkler and the kids are obsessed with it. They especially love putting it close to the slide of our swing set and making a make shift slip n slide. This is always a great plan when we want to stay home, have popsicles, and soak in summer.
Thank you for reading, xoxo! Jillian