Vacation!!

Six and a half years. 

Was the last time we went on vacation just the two of us for more than one night. 

A huge thank you to Mom & Dad for gifting us three nights away to have fun. 

We decided to head down to Anaheim, CA.

Day 1, we flew, got settled and met up with Skyler's sister Sasha who lives in L.A.

We went to China town and had authentic Korean bbq. What an experience! Grills right there on the table, sitting on stools and using metal chopsticks and bowls. They were very similar to the ones my mom brought back from her mission in Korean many years ago.

 Day 2, we drove around quite a bit, we visited a few areas of Skyler's mission. Ate at In'N'Out of course. We went to an amazing bakery on Laguna beach where I tasted the best cinnamon danish I've ever had.  It was overcast and breezy but it was still fun to walk in the waves at LAGUNA BEACH! We drove up into the hills there and I just couldn't believe how spectacular the homes and landscaping were. And like people say, the houses are quite literally on top of each other. 

We visited the Newport Beach Temple 

I thought it was SO COOL to see the citrus trees randomly growing in people's yards. 

Day 3, Disneyland!! We got the hopper pass and actually did Disney and California Adventures in one day. Since it was just us, we just rode the rides we wanted to over and over, stopped when we were hungry and kept on going! It.was.awesome. Although the "mom" in me felt a bit guilty that the kids were missing out, especially when we saw the Little Mermaid ride or when Cinderella walked by with a huge line...and the other part of me was like WOooo we don't have to wait in that line! 

The weather was perfect and the park wasn't crowded at all. I totally recommend going mid-week in March. We didn't wait longer then 20min. for any of the rides we went on (with the exception of 1-2).

Day 4, Travel home day. Why does vacation have to end...ever? We bummed around at the pool, went for a drive hoping to run into Long beach but didn't, so we stopped at Chick-fil-A to see what all the hype was about and we were pleasantly surprised. Made our way back to the Long Beach airport, which is so chill, no lines and pretty much all outdoors. 

We came back to two happy little campers that had lots of fun with G&G but also had lots of snuggles to give us. We stayed a couple nights at my parents to celebrate my brother's 30th birthday at Buca di Beppo's. yumm. 

Hobbes points at EVERY airplane. And since my parents live near a small residential airport, they said he'd been pointing quite a bit. 

Jon's Birthday Dinner

The lighting was terrible for pictures which is why they're all b&w. But,  the food was great, and we were happy to be able to celebrate together. 

Camping!

Wrapping up another great summer, we've done our best to enjoy the superb weather as much as possible, have as much fun as we can and manage to fit a little work in too.

In the last days of August I made a cake for a friend of ours, for their 2yr old's birthday party. It was a hit! White cake layered with blue buttercream, and a train made of rice crispy treats with cookies for wheels. The kids thought it was so cool.

The first week of September we ventured out into the wilderness at Fort Stevens State Park for our first family camp-out. We couldn't have asked for better weather. Sunny days and mild temperatures were perfect for exploring the old barricades at Battery Russell and lounging on the beach amidst the old Peter Iredale. Hayley got her feet in the sand and stared curiously at the shore while the waves came and went. The whole week prior I was so pumped about our trip I wrote lists, shopped and thoroughly packed to ensure not forgetting anything. Everything went as planned, pancakes and cocoa, smores, dutch oven lasagne and visits from curious animals. We went up to Astoria and took pictures at the historic Column. Even celebrated Skyler's nephew's birthday with some great Mexican food at Josh and Melissa's house.

This month we celebrated our second anniversary with a baseball game at PGE park, some shopping and pizza.

Just last week Hayley and I traveled way up north to Port Angeles to visit my grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa McAnlis. Grandma hasn't been doing so well and I wanted to be sure she had the chance to meet little Hayley. Our visit was very nice, we picked plums, made pasta and spent some much needed time with Grandma and Grandpa.
On our venture, Hayley and I took the Amtrak train together, she is a born traveler. Making for a stress-free trip.

Our latest update on Hayleyroo, we had a Dr. visit last week, she is about 5 mos. now and just over 14lbs. At 80% for her age group, shooting right up at 26.5 in. following her dad. We are excited to start her on rice cereal in the coming weeks, as she watches us intently when we eat and seems to grab at our food, and pretty much everything. She is now rolling over pretty well and starting to pump her little leggy's. Not moving anywhere but sure trying hard to figure the crawling thing out.