Wedding Weekend

Earlier this month we attended one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to: My sister-in-law and now brother-in-law's ceremony at Slide Ranch.  The venue was totally unique and STUNNING, as was the bride.

Brigitte and the bridesmaids got ready in the super cute cottage that we stayed in, courtesy of my father-in-law, in Muir Beach.  This place is definitely going to be somewhere to return on vacation someday.

The Little Wombat was the ring bearer.  Unfortunately he had to walk a very loooong way holding his cousin's hand and so there were some tears but he managed to make it down the aisle....where I was waiting with a sucker to keep him quiet for the rest of the ceremony.  He was his normal, adorable little self the rest of the ceremony and reception, which was a relief since this is how he reacted the first time I tried his complete outfit on:

There were too many things for The Wombat to explore at the venue so he forgot to be upset about his attire.  Plus I also bribed him with sticks.

I was busy keeping this little one year old from throwing dirt at guests, sticking his hand in the extra sheet cake (OMG I would have DIED), wandering too close to an electric fence around the chickens and just trying to keep up with his four year old cousin. That being said, I didn't get to take as many picture as I would have liked to, but their photographer did an amazing job!!! He was super on the ball and had them up on his website a few days after the event. You can check out the rest of his pictures over at Duy Ho Photography but here are a few of my absolute favs:

The first glance. Oh, how I love this picture!!!

The ceremony.

The kiss.

Landon hugging his second cousin :)

Our little family.

The bride and groom did all of the signs, centerpieces, bouquets, basically everything themselves.  Seriously, amazing.

The party.

We could not be more happy for them!!!

The following day we were able to have a little family fun at the beach, which was just a short walk from our cottage.

It's not often we get to visit the ocean so it was a nice treat to wrap up what was already a great weekend :)

Pismo Beach

Last week some unfortunate circumstances led us to take a trip down to Pismo Beach.  My mom's cousin and uncle both passed away and since my mom was already at our house helping us move, Landon and I drove her down to Pismo to be with family.

L and I kept busy by being the errand runners - food, clothes, what have you.  And we also played at the beach (get ready for picture overload)...

I love Pismo because the sand is so soft and doesn't get stuck in little toes.  Plus there are swings EVERYWHERE.  And if you know anything about The Wombat, you know he loooooves swings.

And we visited Dinosaur Caves Park, which is pretty much the cutest park ever.  It has a random mix of dinosaurs and sea animals.  I love finding unique parks like this!  It's nice to switch it up a bit from the mundane play structure you see park after park.

Takin' a ride on the USS Imagination.

 

And a ride on a dolphin:

 



We even braved a ride on the tire swing:

My offer to drive sort of just fell out of my mouth before I had the chance to think about the potential disaster this sort of trip could be with a one year old who just learned the word "no"  but a few hours later we were all packed up and on the road. I didn't have time to count all the things that could go wrong.

Which is good because nothing went wrong.

We spent 20 hours in the car in a four day span and this kid maybe cried for 10 minutes of drive time and slept straight through every night. He was quite the little road trip trooper.  I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to show our support to our family and to spend some quality time with my mom (it's not often we get to hog her all to ourselves). 

Family Hike

We have a lot of house buying stress around here right now...home inspections, loan applications, insurance, signing, signing and signing loads of paperwork full of leagalese that we can barely follow.  Every time we turn around there's more papers to sign or something was dated incorrectly or someone's name was wrong.  BLEH.

Then trying to pick out paint, flooring, carpet and discovering we have not so similar taste. UGH.

So last week we decided to take a break from it all and have family day up at Wright's Lake. 

It's a really easy, flat hike all the way around the lake.  Landon got to ride on Ben's back the whole way.  He loves being in the backpack and is always content for our hikes :) 

Oh...uh this is our new dog, Dozer, who probably deserves a separate post unto himself.  He looooves the water and he loves playing fetch so when we combined the two, he was in heaven.

The Little Wombat didn't really know what to make of it.  

After we hiked around we found a little spot with some sand to play in (well, by sand I really mean mud) much to Landon's delight.  He threw the ball in the lake for Dozer and verntured ankle deep into the lake.  I totally didn't even think to bring his water shoes and there were too many little rocks and twigs for him to go barefoot.  Luckily, his little hiking boots are dark brown so no harm done. 

After fetching the ball in the water about fifty times, Dozer was worn out and Ben had to swim out to get the ball he'd thrown too far, lol!

It was a great day and exactly what this little family needed!

Mini Mountain Getaway

Ben and I were fortunate enough to get a night away together this week!  My wonderful father in law had given us an anniversary gift (in April) that included a gift certificate to Sorensen's Resort, use of his BMW (which Ben was ecstatic about) and overnight babysitting (which I was ecstatic about).

So on Monday we headed up the mountain.  We stopped for dinner at the Kirkwood Inn.  It's like the best hole in the wall restaurant/bar EVER. The food and atmosphere are amazing.

Shortly thereafter, we arrived at Sorensen's.  There was some wine and a cute little note wishing us a happy 3rd anniversary waiting for us in our cabin.  We hiked around.  Had dessert in our cabin.  Ate the BEST breakfast at the cafe.  We brought our books, mostly just relaxed and enjoyed the silence.  Quiet time really only exists when Landon is sleeping these days so it was nice to have a serene getaway.

We have a toddler in the house who demands most of our attention, which we gladly give, but it is so nice and SO IMPORTANT for our marriage to have some alone time and focus only on each other.  We are so blessed that all of Landon's grandparents are more than willing to give us that chance :)

Santa Cruz: Here We Come!

We are packing for our second annual family trip to Santa Cruz!!! 

New bathing suits were in order.  A more appropriate toddler chasing one for me.  One that actually fits The Wombat, even if he does look cute in his two sizes too big trunks :)

And new beach toys, which Landon got in his Easter basket.  He has already been playing with these so I can't wait to see him put them to good use in the sand.

Plus LOTS of hats and sunscreen.

Here are some pictures from last years trip:



It was Landon's first time ever to the ocean.  I was cleaning sand out of his little toes for like three days, so we'll see if the baby powder method works this go around.  Here's hoping.

We leave tomorrow and it can't come soon enough!!!

___

Ashland

I had a fantastic weekend.

Ben was actually scheduled for a weekend off (this NEVER happens) and we jumped at the chance for a mini vaca. So we packed our bags and headed up to Ashland, Oregon. We dropped The Wombat off at his grandparent's house on the way. I don't even think he noticed we were gone. He was too busy playing with all the animals and breaking in his new swing that his grandpa hung from a tree.

I. Love. Ashland. It is cute and quaint with an actual Main Street called Main Street. The people are friendly. The food is good. The shopping is addicting and tax free. But best of all are the plays. Especially the Shakespeare ones.

My first choice of lodging would have been The Ashland Springs Hotel. But it was booked {sigh}  next time we'll have to plan our trip sooner. Our second choice was The Plaza, which was nice because it was still right off Main Street and we could walk everywhere. And walk everywhere, we did.

We shopped.  We dined.  We saw a beautiful rendition of Romeo & Juliet.  We slept in. Uninterrupted.  (Landon cut FIVE teeth this month, including three molars.  It's been a rough month, sleep wise).  We spent a lazy morning reading our books.  Then I shopped some more...here are some of my tax free goods:

Oh yeah, and I found all of the Lincoln Lawyer books in a used book store.  Hooray.  I've been on a Michael Connelly binge lately.  Also picked up some Philippa Gregory's.

It was a great weekend.  Full of quality alone time with my hubby and a good break from dirty diapers and 4 a.m. teething sleep interuptions.  I sure did miss that Little Wombat though :)

Happy Birthday to ME

My birthday was yesterday but festivities started two days ago when my little sisters showed up on my doorstep, unannounced.  Landon and I had just gotten home from the park and were in the middle of lunch when the doorbell rang.  When I looked through the peephole all I could see was a present being held up against my door.  My jaw hit the floor when it turned out to be my sisters, who live three hours away.  And they brought me things like Swedish Fish, tights, whole bean coffee, bubble bath, earrings, and CAKE. German Chocolate cake surrounded by cake pops.  Ummmmm, yeah I think they have me figured out :)

{Landon did NOT want his picture taken!!}

Then my parents showed up (this one was planned) because they were here to watch my child OVERNIGHT while me and the hubs had our first ever night away from The Wombat.  We stayed at a cute little Bed and Breakfast.  The room we stayed in was called Refresh. 

{via}

There were Shari's Berries waiting for us when we arrived.  We got dressed up and went out to dinner.  We took our time eating.  We watched a movie from start to finish with the volume set on something we didn't need to strain our ears to hear for fear of waking the babe.  I slept for TEN straight hours.  I woke up and got to stay IN bed instead of jumping out to the sound of "mamamamamama" (or crying) coming from Landon's room.   We had breakfast in bed.  I took two bubble baths in that delightful jetted tub - going to need one of those in our next house.

It was exactly the sort of break I needed after being a SAHM for almost a year now.  I feel very refreshed,  and ready to see what adventures this year of my life has in store for me.   I'm guessing it will include many, MANY trips to the zoo via our new season passes courtesy of my parents :)

Disneyland

Yep, it’s true. We took our nine month old to Disneyland.

I had no idea how opinionated people were about what age you should take your child to Disneyland. I’ve gotten everything from “Isn’t he a little young for that?” to “What’s the point?  He won’t even remember.”  Honestly, when I was calculating whether we could afford this trip, these two points never even crossed my mind.  

In fact, this was probably one of our best and easiest outings we’ve had so far.  He gets in free.  There is a Baby Center on Main Street equipped with highchairs, changing tables, and private nursing areas. Forget something? Run out of diapers? They have EVERYTHING.  And let me tell you, people get OUT of the way before you plow them over with a stroller.

But most importantly, Landon LOVED Disneyland.  He was smiling and laughing the entire day.  He thought Mickey Mouse was hilarious.  He has a crush on Tinker Bell.  He drove every car in ToonTown.  He went on the Jungle Cruise twice (because the first time he was asleep).  The only time he cried was when the Merry-Go-Round stopped moving. 

I thought he and I would spend a few hours at The Happiest Place On Earth and then head on back to my aunt and uncle’s house, about 20 minutes away. 

I was wrong. 

We were there for TWELVE hours.  He was so exhausted from all the fun he slept like a baby like a normal person on vacation that night.

He won’t remember his first trip to Disneyland.  But I will.  His dad will, his grandparents and aunt and other relatives that went with us all will.  He'll get to look at all these pictures and hear stories about what a magical time he had at Disneyland when he was just nine months old.

 {My cousin Daniel, sister Jaclyn, Me, Landon and husband Ben on Finding Nemo Submarines}

{My favorite picture of Landon and his Daddy - also on the Submarines}

 

{Landon and Grandpa in line to see Tinker Bell}

{Landon and Ben in ToonTown}

{Landon and The Sword in The Stone, I took this one on my iphone!}

{Cinderella's Castle}

It was my favorite trip to Disneyland.

And I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

_______

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