Angels and beaches

This sure has been one crazy summer, filled with lots of fun and memories!


In between play dates, pool time and enjoying Rowan, we have done 2 family vacations and they were wonderful! I am not planning on recapping every minor detail, as I pretty much talked a lot about it here.


Our first trip was to Angel's Camp with my family. In theory, it may not be the fanciest place to visit, but its super relaxing for us and especially for the year we had, we need to relax.


Some fun things that we did was go on a family hike in Big Trees! I hadn't been there in ages, and it is SIMPLY amazing to marvel in God's beauty and these gigantic trees! We carried Rowan in the Kelty backpack. She actually really enjoyed everything and the sights, but mid hike she WIGGED out. She was a hot, hungry mess and this newbie mama left the snacks in the car, d'oh! She calmed down thankfully during lunch and even tried her first homemade cookie! She was HYSTERICAL to watch with that cookie!

The rest of the week consisted of exploring the little town of Angel's Camp, family games, eating, relaxing and LOTS of swimming. Rowan could barely contain herself with swimming and just loved it! Since my mom was with us, we were able to do a double date with my sister and her hubby! Since Angel's Camp isn't a booming metropolis, we ended up seeing a movie which was still super fun!


Some of our pics below (FYI I'm not posting my sister's babies since my blog is public, per her request :) )

After being home for a week and half, we repacked our suitcases to go to Santa Cruz!


Our first stop was a mini reunion with some of my dearest girl friends from college! We met up with  Kristen, Vanessa (with her baby in tow) and their men in Los Gatos. We brunched, the babies enjoyed each other and we did some shopping around town while the boys hit up a pub.
I am very fortunate to have made some pretty amazing friendships with a incredible group of girls! Even though we all graduated college 10 years ago (WHAT!?!?) we still get together as much as we can!

After we went up the hill towards Santa Cruz! We stayed in a beautiful beach house that was so neat! I am SO bummed I didn't take the time to take pictures of it, but it was charming, cozy, and big enough to accommodate 2 families! One of my favorite things was that you could see the boardwalk from our balcony!

 The week consisted of many trips to the boardwalk, strawberry picking in Davenport, lots of beach time, a trip to Roaring Camp, gorging on yummy food and zip lining for the boys! I wasn't sure how Rowan would handle the beach, but she LOVED it! She would shake and joyfully scream at the waves, try to sit in the water, and laugh! She would get angry when the waves wouldn't come to her, lol! I truly believe we have a water baby in our hands! Rowan also enjoyed her first train ride at Roaring Camp! My sister's in law family joined us, which was so fun! Rowan also loved strawberry picking, but would get furious when I wouldn't let her eat every berry, LOL! She had fun squishing some in her hands!

One arrangement my sister and I had was that we would babysit each other's kids so the other could have a date night! That was glorious! We went to a adorable Italian restaurant practically on the beach! The wait was a little long, so we went to wine bar next door. We had a bit too much fun there, LOL! We bought a bottle of barbera (our favorite!) and brought it over for our dinner. It was so nice to getaway, and reconnect with my hubby. After, we went to the boardwalk and went on some rides. It was perfect!

Our fourth of July was low key. We went to brunch, and got the beach early. We stayed nearly the whole day on the beach and it was the most perfect weather for it. After, we came home, ordered in pizzas, and made s'mores. My niece Abby was a little sad we weren't going anywhere to see fireworks (Santa Cruz doesn't actually have a show). However, we saw so MANY illegal fireworks near the board walk that it felt like we had gone to a show! Some people were setting off some pretty big fireworks! It was nice to stay in, because Santa Cruz was a ZOO on the 4th!

I was so sad to see our beach vacay come to an end, I almost cried! However, we had one more stop! The boys and Rowan went home, while my sister, niece and I drove to Palo Alto to visit the American Girl store! My niece Abby brought her doll, as well as me! I know it seems super weird for a 32 year old woman to be carrying a doll, but it was so fun! I got my Samantha doll when I was 8 years old and I knew someday I wanted my daughter to have her! I brought in Samantha mainly to get her cleaned up so I can eventually pass it on to Rowan. My doll got a full "spa treatment" and even got her hair done, LOL! She's all ready for Rowan! That store is no joke! There is SO much to look at! My inner 8 year old was thrilled!

I am truly thankful that we have had these super fun vacations! Not only did we make amazing memories, but it was awesome to see life through Rowan's eyes! Next up, Disneyland!!