We took a little road trip over to Arizona a few weeks ago. Drove to Grand Canyon and camped a few nights. Stopped by Antelope Canyon and then finished in Vegas for a couple of nights.

It's about a 7-8 hour drive to Grand Canyon. We took one stop, driving about 3-4 hours each time.  There were no issues with the girls during the car ride (hooray!). I think the TV really helps. Dumbo was on repeat with a little Frozen and Moana here and there. Oh and the weather in Grand Canyon turned out great. I was concerned it would be too hot, but it was mid to high 80's during the day and it dropped down to 40's at night. We stayed at the Mather's Campground. Lots of elk walking around and tons of birds trying to steal your food. The girls had a blast playing with dirt and watching the elks. We did a couple of hikes and Erin was a rock star and finished an almost 2 mile hike on her own! Grand canyon is quite the sight. It's amazing how vast it is...pretty dang breathtaking. The girls were pretty easy during the camping portion. We had one rough night (Ava wanting to share a cot with me (tiny cot), it being cold at night, and Erin complaining about her knee), but in general the girls did well and it wasn't all too challenging. It's definitely getting easier traveling with them.

Before getting to Vegas, we stopped by Antelope Canyon to take the canyon tour. We took the lower Antelope Canyon tour. Girls were more interested in the sand than the actual canyon itself. The tour took a total of about an hour. You don't walk too much. A lot of the time was spent waiting for people to take pictures and move ahead. Antelope Canyon is significantly hotter than Grand Canyon, but since we were inside the canyon where it was nice and shaded, it wasn't too hot. The girls walked the entire time. They had fun climbing the ladders themselves. One last stop we took was at Horseshoe Bend. It's only a 3/4 mile hike to the view point, but it was the hike of death. It was over 100 degrees and no shade in sight. Hard to enjoy the view when there was no escape from the heat. We probably looked a little strange dragging the girls with us. Ken ended up carrying both of them to and from.

Vegas was the nice ending to our little road trip (no pictures, whoops). It was nice to take a proper shower/bath and just relax. We didn't have much planned so we just took it easy. We ate a lot of food and spent some time at the pool. A few highlights from Vegas:

The Oyster Bar - Palace Station Hotel: Ken went out to pick it up around 10:00 pm. Took him about 1.5 hours to get. He brought it back to the hotel for us to eat together. He got the combo pan roast and the clam chowder. So good!
Momofuku  - Cosmopolitan Hotel- We just ordered a couple of the pork belly buns to go. Pork was nice and thick and I very much enjoyed.

San Francisco 2017

Our family spent the last few days of 2017 in San Francisco. We originally wanted to visit Texas (Magnolia Market!), but flights were way too expensive so we went with SF. It was Ava's first time and Erin's second.

The first two days of our trip were the easiest and most eventful. We spent the afternoon at Pier 39 the first day and spent the whole day at Monterey our second. We went out to try new restaurants and sight see. We also got to meet up with friends. By day 3, Ava could no longer sit still at restaurants and a good portion of her "fits" started (we've got ourselves quite the drama queen). By Day 4, we were all ready to go home. It's always tiring traveling with little ones (especially when they still need naps), but we made some great memories (both good and bad)!

Once we got home, I realized what a good traveler Erin is. She loves riding on planes, buses, trains, etc. (I asked Erin what her favorite part about this trip was and she said it was the airplane and lollipop. hah). And looking back at all our traveling experiences with her, I realized how easy she was. Minus her huge stranger danger ordeal, she was and still is easy to travel with. Ava is another story. This was Ava's third flight and after our previous flight (you can read about it here), we were a bit hesitant to fly with her again, but decided that an hour flight wouldn't be too difficult. This girl cannot sit still. To start off she was upset she didn't get her own seat and didn't like the idea of having to sit on my lap. We bribed her with some fruit snacks and lollipops but she went through those quick. She squirmed the whole time, kicking and banging at the people around us and made the hour flight feel quite long. She was a little better on our flight back home. Flight wasn't full so she got her own seat, but of course that's when she only wanted to sit on my lap. Curios to see what she'll be like on an international flight. We want to plan a Europe trip in the next year so I'm hoping by then she'll be more manageable or at least be interested in watching something on the iPad for longer than 5 minutes. But on a positive note, Ava is a rock star sleeper! No fuss sleeping in a new bed and new place. Slept through the night (in her own bed) with no issues every night. Hooray!

Highlights of our trip (in no particular order):

1. Sweet Maple -  The millionaires bacon is bomb diggity. A must eat!

2. Boba Guys - Got the strawberry matcha latte. I enjoyed very much.

3. 98.1 The Breeze - I loved this radio station. It's like KOST, but way better!
4. Tartine - The morning bun is my favorite.
5. Dolores Park - Spent several hours at the Helen Diller playground at Dolores Park. The girls loved it. They have huge slides and tons of things to climb. We grabbed some lunch and ate it there. Definitely recommend.
6. B Patisserie - Super yummy chocolate chip cookie.
7. Monterey - Cannery street is such a cute little place. Weather was perfect. Aquarium was nice, but too crowded.
8. Back A Yard - I almost always order white meat if they have that option, but I know almost always it will be too dry. My chicken was quite dry, but their special jerk sauce is money.
9. Larkspur Landing - We stayed at a suite style hotel. They have separate bedrooms and a kitchen. Definitely a plus if you have a kid that needs to sleep earlier than everyone else. They also offer free continental breakfast and free parking. Its not the nicest or fanciest, but I didn't mind it at all.

  

Lake Tahoe 2017

We survived! We took the girls to Lake Tahoe last month. We camped for two nights and lodged for two nights. My last experience camping was when Erin was 11 months and it wasn't all too positive, so naturally I was hesitant to take two toddlers on this week long trip. The girls did great on the drive up. We left at 10:00pm so they slept for most of the 8.5 hour drive. Mad props to Ken for driving the entire time!

Ava is our good sleeper, but only when she's in her own room and by herself. I was most concerned about how she'd sleep, but she actually ended up sleeping pretty decently minus one night. No sleeping issues with Erin. She probably loved that we all were sleeping together (she prefers sleeping with people). The kids played with dirt, sand and water all week, which meant they were pretty much filthy the entire time we were there. That was probably the most challenging part on my end (my inner clean freak was flipping out). They had sap all over them, sand in their hair (and plenty of other places), had black finger nails, and so on. But the girls loved it. Hah. I loved that they wandered off exploring, playing with nature and just spent most of the week outdoors. Oh and the weather was perfect! The lodging portion would've been fine had we not discovered a bat living in our rental. We spent almost 2 hours trying to get rid of the bat. We ended up finding another place to sleep the last night of our trip.

Overall the trip turned out well. We had some days with super cranky, overly tired kids. Plenty of meltdowns and a super clingy Ava, but I could tell the girls enjoyed it, especially Erin. Erin was the perfect age. She had tons of fun running around with the other kids and she even hiked a whole mile on her own! As for me, I'm not a huge beach person, and most of the time there was spent at the beach (which makes sense) but I'd def. want to do some other outdoor activities if we were to go again. Maybe some rock climbing, boating or even mountain biking? I wouldn't object to going back in a few years when Ava is older. This way both girls can join in on the activities and there will be less naps to worry about.

An important tip for a smooth camping experience with toddlers:

1. Bring snacks - lots of them!

I just have the one tip, but it's a very important one! Camping usually means mealtimes will be delayed. I brought 3 big bags full of snacks and the girls finished most of it. Ava is a pretty picky so I knew she wouldn't eat 80% of the food there, so I brought things I knew she'd eat. Her diet that week consisted of yogurt, cheese, fruit, rice and tofu. Erin didn't eat a ton, but at least she's not as picky. Goodness, will my children ever be good eaters?!

A few photos from our trip:

 

Colorado

We took a 4 day family trip to Colorado a few weeks ago. I've never been and since we had a handful of friends over there, we thought it'd be a nice little trip to take.

• They call Denver the mile high city. Did not know that. 
• It often snows in April. Did not know that. 
• It can get very windy. Did not know that. 

I'd like to start off my stating that I did not pack correctly. It snowed about 2 of the 4 days we were there and the wind was insane. Not having packed enough clothes, we couldn't stay outdoors for too long. The kids just stayed covered up in the stroller. But...we did manage to stop by a few key spots:

• Manitou Cliff Dwellings
• Garden of the Gods
• Air Force Academy
• Capital Hill in Downtown

As for food, tons of breakfast/brunch places to choose from, but not so much lunch and/or dinner. We had some decent sushi one night but the highlight of the trip was definitely our morning meals. I highly recommend One Fold (get the Vietnamese iced coffee and breakfast burrito) and Snooze (the Benny Duo and Cinnamon Roll Pancake is a must). Apparently they opened up a Snooze here in orange county. Definitely got to check it out. Oh and ice cream at Sweet Cow is super yummy!

Overall the trip turned out well. It's always hard traveling with young ones. There's the packing of a million things, making sure they're well napped, well fed, well entertained, etc. I often ask myself why we even attempt to travel with the girls when they most likely won't remember any of it. There's also all that extra suffering. But, I see how much joy Erin has whenever we board a plane and how excited she gets when she sees we get to share a bed, it just puts a huge smile on my face. The girl seriously enjoys traveling. We may suffer, but there are tons of benefits to traveling with kids and I think its good for the girls. The trip was harder for little Ava. She did well on the flight to CO considering we dragged her out of bed at 5am. She was a bit cranky each day, but she had fun walking around and exploring. We slept at a different place each night, so sleep was our biggest challenge with her.

Unfortunately, our trip didn't end on the best note. Ava ended up screaming the last 30 minutes of the flight, thrashing around trying to jump out of my arms. We still aren't sure if it had to with the ear pressure from the trip/flight or whether she was just dang tired of being on the plane. We were that family with that kid. Sorry folks of Southwest Flight 700. We owe you.

Apple Picking 2016

We visited Oak Glen last weekend to check out the apple orchards. It was the first time for all of us.  I've always wanted to go apple picking and since we live pretty east now, it only look us a little over an hour to get there. Not bad at all. Both girls ended up sleeping on the ride there and back. There are several orchards in Oak Glen, but we chose to visit Willowbrook Apple Farm. I could tell it was one of the smaller orchards, but it got really good reviews for that reason. We got there just before the orchard opened so we were able to get prime parking and didn't have to wait to do anything.

• We made apple cider first. It was SO sweet and it was 100% apples. So yummy. It took a million apples to make just a gallon though.
• We picked apples next. Erin had a blast.
• We then headed over to Snow-Line Orchard to try their famous mini apple cider donuts. They were pretty yummy (had to wait 30 minutes for them though). We ate a quick lunch there and headed back home.

I could tell Erin enjoyed her time at the apple farm. I think Erin was just old enough to appreciate it. Ava sat in the stroller for most of the time, but she was content just watching us while sucking on a baby apple. Glad we got to check it out. Next stop, the apple farms in Julian!

PNW - Part 2: Portland

Our family traveled to the PNW earlier this month. I shared a little about our time in Seattle in a previous post. We started our PNW trip in Seattle and took the Amtrak down to Portland. We ended up booking a place to stay through Airbnb (I share a little about my Airbnb experience below).  Portland was quite different from Seattle (besides it being very green). It had a very old, hipster, super chillax vibe. Tons of small shops and restaurants hidden within residential areas. Lots of bikers and people with tattoos. Super friendly people and lots of coffee shops. Not sure if it's a place that I'd be able to call home, but I'm glad I finally got to visit.

I thought we ate a lot in Seattle, but that was nothing compared to how much we ate in Portland. I think we ate every 3 hours. It was non-stop. Even though I was full, I just kept eating (the food is definitely cheaper over there). In general, I liked the food in Seattle better, but here are some places I'd recommend (mostly breakfast places).

Top places to eat in Portland (ranked):

1. Tasty n Sons - This place was amazeballs. Everything was delicious. I ordered the steak and cheddar eggs with cornmeal pancakes. The only complaint was that the meat was a bit tough. I also recommend the polenta and sausage ragu..so good! Their chocolate potato donut was good too.
2. Bing Mi - This place is located in downtown in a food cart. They have crepes that are Chinese inspired. It was surprisingly good! I'd definitely recommend.
3. Lardo - This was the first place we ate at when we arrived in Portland. If you want a good sandwich, this place is great. 
4. Screen Door - I think this was place was overly hyped. We waited a really long time to be seated, so by the time we sat down, I was expecting something great. The chicken and waffle dish is their best seller. It's pretty huge. Our chicken was too tough though, so we were a little disappointed. All the other dishes we ordered were good though.
5. Broder - Went for breakfast. Everything we ordered was good, no complaints. 

*Blue Star Donuts - Where do I even begin. I went in with no expectations...and I fell in love at first bite. These donuts were stanking good. My favorite was the buttermilk old fashion. I like the simple ones. Their dough isn't your usual donut dough, and that's probably why I liked it. It's more bready and its thicker. I loved them and now I crave them all the time. We have one here in CA, but it's all the way in Venice! I'm praying they open one up in the OC soon.

Things to do in Portland:

• Hike - Multnomah Falls is probably the most popular place to visit when in Portland, so we made sure to stop by and takes tons of pictures. We did a short 2 mile hike - roundtrip (Wahclella Falls Hike). I'd recommend this one if you have kids.
• Alberta Street - This is a long street with tons of small shops and restaurants. We just walked around and the girls were able to take a nap in the stroller.
• Downtown Portland - There's one section in downtown with dozens of food carts. I think they're open all week. Lots of different types of food to choose from. We grabbed some food and found a little park (Director Park I think) to eat.
• Portland University Farmer's Market - I believe its every Saturday. We got there towards the tail end, but it was still pretty crowded. It's pretty big and there are tons to eat and buy.

PNW - Part 1: Seattle

I finally got to visit the PNW! Seattle and Portland to be specific. People have always told me that I'd really enjoy the PNW..and I must say, they were correct. This was our first trip as a family of four.  Erin had already been on a plane a few times before, but I could tell she enjoyed traveling this time around (probably because she's older). She was beyond excited to ride on an airplane and she was so looking forward to seeing her uncle and riding in his car. The girls did great on the flights and other than Ava having trouble sleeping at night, I'd say this trip was a success! We lucked out with the weather too. It only rained one day (only for a few hours) in Seattle and it ended up being a lot cooler than expected. We even needed a jacket. Score (I hate hot weather)! Ken's brother lives in Seattle, so we were able to crash at his place and even got to drive his car while we were there. Tons of money saved right there! 

I definitely liked the vibe in Seattle. It was SO green. The city had the right amount of chill and hustle. It was nice getting away from the crazy hot weather here in socal and it was also great seeing old friends. I feel like we could have used a few more days there. I guess we'll just have to take another trip back up (maybe sans kids?).

We walked tons and ate tons. Here are a few highlights.

Top places to eat in Seattle (ranked):

1. Pike Place Chowder - Their claim chowder is seriously so yummy. The line was long, but it went by fast. Took about 30 minutes to get our food. So stanking good.
2. Bakery Nouveau - Everything at this bakery was delicious. It was like heaven for me because I love pastries and sweets. I got the quiche Lorraine and a bunch of other pastries. Ken got the baked ham and cheese croissant.Two thumbs up!
3. Ellenos - I'm not a huge fan of Greek yogurt, but this one is really good. Wish they sold it down here.
4. Un Bien - These sandwiches were quite delicious. I'd recommend the seared scallop and Caribbean roast.
5. The Crumpet Shop - This place has cute little crumpets with all sorts of topping choices. Didn't really know what a crumpet was before eating here, but they're like muffins that are crispy on the outside and chewy/spongy on the inside. My favorite was the butter, with fresh preserves and ricotta cream cheese.

*Shiro's - This one isn't on my list above, because we didn't actually eat this while we were in Seattle. We wanted to eat some sushi, but we just couldn't make it happen. Ken's brother ended up driving it down to us in Portland! The fish was great and that Tamago..it seriously tastes like cake.


Things to do in Seattle:

• Hike - Lots of hiking trails around Seattle. It rained the day we decided to hike so we had to cut it short, but we just hung out by the lake and soaked in all the fresh air.
• Pike's Market/Downtown - Lots to do and see in downtown, especially around Pike's market. I wish I lived there so I could buy and take home some flowers. The flowers are so cheap in Seattle!
• Space Needle - We didn't go up the Space Needle, but we got to see it. We went over to Kerry Park to take pictures of the skyline.
• Gas Works Park - This park doesn't really have a kids playground, but it's really big with tons of grass. Erin was able to run around and play with rocks and whatnot. We also brought our lunch and had a little picnic. This park has a great view of the city too.

Legoland

We wanted to go on a little vacation before the arrival of baby Ava, but it had to be somewhere drive-able. We were considering Las Vegas, but decided that Legoland would be a better place for Erin. We spent two nights in Carlsbad so we didn't have to rush and could take our time. Turned out to be more than enough time for us. We had time to visit the outlets as well. I've been to Legoland once before when I was in high school, but it was the first time for both Ken and Erin.

Planning tips:

1. Prices at the Legoland hotel are pretty outrageous, so we booked a hotel (Courtyard Marriot) about 2 miles away and shuttled (free) it to the theme park each day. 
2. We bought park hopper passes through Ken's work (roughly $72/per adult), so we were able to visit the Aquarium as well. You will save money this way. Buying at the park is pretty ridiculous so make sure you purchase tickets ahead of time. They charge $93 per adult at the door (only for one park and for one day)!
3. Bring snacks. The food there isn't all that tasty and it's overpriced. If no snacks, bring your own water/drinks at least.

My thoughts about Legoland:

• Besides it being freezing cold while we were there, overall, it was a decent experience. I think Disneyland spoiled us. I had high expectations or something. Legoland is a very different type of theme park. It was definitely less crowded, not as clean or friendly, but super chill. 
• I'd say the ideal age to bring a kid to Legoland is between 4-12. Erin was a little too young, but I think she still had some fun. She was just tall enough to ride on the little kid rides (34 inches). There are a lot of areas for children to just run around and free play with legos everywhere.  I liked that aspect of the park.
• I only have one food recommendation, Granny's Apple Fries. Other than that, there's really nothing special or tasty at Legoland. 
• Miniland is pretty awesome. They've got a Star Wars Miniland that is pretty darn cool. 
• We stayed mostly in Heartlake City and Fun Town. It was the most age appropriate for Erin. Warning: there will be tons of kids just running around.  
• Because it was still considered the holiday season, they had fake snow and some holiday performances. Erin enjoyed it.
• The aquarium is very small. Took us maybe an hour to get through it. 
• They advertise a firework show at night during the holiday season, but it's literally a maybe 3 minute show and it's nothing special at all. If you end up going during the holidays, I wouldn't recommend sticking around for it. Oh and during winter, the park closes at 7pm. A little too early in my opinion. 
• Would we go again anytime soon? No, probably not. I don't mind waiting another 5+ years before going back. I think Erin and Ava would enjoy it a lot more when they're older. 
• I'd also like to mention that Legoland isn't all that fun for adults. Or maybe it's just me??