California Road Trip-Part 1

Day 1- After months of researching and planning we left for our big road trip around 6am. Dan was all "We only need 20 minutes to get ready, we'll leave by 5:20" Ha! Even with the car packed up it took us an hour to get out the door. We actually made really good time and we blew past Portland around noon. I have to say the girls were really good and didn't complain at all that first day. So we made it to our favourite outlets at Woodburn by 12:30 and were able to get some shopping in. There was even a Disney Store there!!! After going to our favourite stores we headed to our final destination of the day- Roseburg, Oregon. We pull into the hotel parking lot and the girls were so excited! They got straight into their bathing suits and spent the next couple hours in the pool. We stayed in the Holiday Inn Express and they were in such a beautiful spot. Every hotel room looked out on the Umpqua River and they had  nice grassy lawn facing the river. The pool was indoors but they had a Jacuzzi outside! Luckily my girls love dipping their feet into the Jacuzzi and I was able to have nice long soaks in there. The hotel room itself was pretty small for our family of 5 but it was good for the night. Alexis and Cassidy shared a bed and Olivia was on the floor on a blow up mattress I got at Superstore for $8!

 Here is a bit of the view from the balcony of our room.

Below Cassidy is the outdoor Jacuzzi.

 

 

 

 



Day 2- We had breakfast at the hotel and we were off by 7:49am. Dan didn't need to go to the gym b/c he was doing so much packing and unpacking of the van! So this day we veered off the I-5 a bit and headed over towards San Jose. We love our Embassy Suites in Tigard (Portland) so much we thought it would be nice to stay in one along our way. After driving through a lot of farmland we reached Milpitas. I made it in time for happy hour. At the Embassy Suites they have a manager's reception where they serve free drinks and appies. It's pretty basic but it's good enough for me. I got my glass of red wine and some munchies. The girls of course got into their bathing suits and we went to the pool while Dan got food. The hotel was so busy and popular that they had a security guard at the pool asking which room you were in and then checking on a list to see if you were correct. It was a beautiful pool.

 See for yourself:

So after swimming and dinner, Dan and I made the decision to go to a mall called the Great Mall. We totally paid for that decision! The girls were not happy to go but it had a Nike and Dan HAD to check it out. We checked out a few stores but the mall was pretty big and we weren't able to check out much. Luckily they were pretty tired so that when we put them to bed they were out pretty fast. We closed the door to our living room and then Dan and I realized OMG we're on our own! That was  a big bonus of staying at an Embassy Suites- the separate room. Next morning we set the alarm for 6am and went down to have a big breakfast before heading out on the road. Here are some pictures from our stay in Milpitas:

 The atrium was really pretty and had ponds with Koi in them.

 Enjoying happy hour together. They had juice for the kids and a popcorn machine.

For some reason Cassidy didn't want her picture taken. This happened throughout the whole trip!

Breakfast buffet was so delicious! There's Cassidy hiding from the camera again.

Day 3- We're a well oiled machine by now and we get going around 8am. We still had more travelling to get to Anaheim though because Milpitas is 5 and a half hours driving time from Anaheim. I love how the Americans have rest stops along the I-5. This makes travelling a little easier. The highlight of this part of the trip was when Lexie saw a butterfly at one of the rest stops:

We got stuck in L.A. traffic which is not fun for someone who had to go to the bathroom. We stopped in at Costco and Target to stock up on food for the next few days. So we finally check in to the hotel. The hotel which I researched for months!!! Tripadvisor is amazing for that. We had a one bedroom suite with a full kitchen which worked really well for us. After settling in we walked over to Downtown Disney and had a bite of pizza. The girls had fun checking out the souvenir store and started to make a list of what they wanted to use their money for. Walking around Downtown Disney the anticipation for Disneyland was building!

 Here are the girls at the roundabout at our hotel, The Residence Inn Anaheim Maingate. The grounds were beautiful. It had a very tropical feeling. I wish I took more pictures of the grounds.

Our hotel was a 15 minute walk to the turnstiles at Disneyland. This is a picture of us outside the hotel walking to Disneyland.

 

 That's our first 3 days! Check back for our Disney pictures!

Anniversary Celebration in Seattle

So ten years ago on our honeymoon we swore we'd come back here for our ten year anniversary:

Big sigh.....that was the best vacation ever. Three kids later and we couldn't go there. Instead we went here:

 You may or may not know this about me but I love baseball. I love the Mariners and I love the Blue Jays so we went to the Blue Jays vs. Mariners game. Twice!!! We made our way down to Seattle slowly. As in stopping and shopping wherever we wanted to. It's so weird when you're "kidless". Things are so quiet, calm and you can do what you want. We still stopped in Target but I didn't have to buy anything from the dollar spot. I still did but it was because I wanted to and not b/c I had children down on their knees begging me to buy something. We were staying in Bellevue so we checked out the shopping there. It was great! Not great sales or anything but so pretty and lots of restaurants to eat in. Oh yeah, we actually sat down in a restaurant and ate!!! We avoid eating in restaurants b/c it is just too hard and really not that enjoyable. But back to the shopping it was just fun and relaxing. The only thing I bought was for the girls but I tried really hard to buy something for myself.
After a bit of shopping it was off to the Hilton Bellevue. I don't have any pictures from our camera but here's some:

I even brought my bathing suit to swim but there just wasn't time. When we checked in I mentioned to the girl that it was our tenth anniversary and she upgraded us to executive level which meant free evening cocktails and free breakfast!
Shortly after check in we wanted to get over to Safeco so off we went again. The crowd at the game was mostly Blue Jays fans and the atmosphere was awesome! We were up against Felix Hernandez but the Jays managed to get him on an off night and won 7-2. It was totally a home game for the Blue Jays. They got the loudest cheers and were giving the loudest boo's. The next day we also went to another game but it wasn't quite the same atmosphere as the nights before. Still lots of Jays fans but it was more 50-50. They somehow managed to blow a 7 run lead but that's the Jays we know. I'm happy b/c I also love the Mariners so it was a win-win for me. The day game we had even closer seats but we were in the sun for most of the game and it was extremely hot.

Hello Jose (Bautista and Reyes) and Colby. We were so close we could almost have a conversation with them.
Getting home from the game was tricky. There was so much traffic and we crawled along for over an hour until about the outlets on I-5. We still managed to squeeze in some shopping before getting home too. As we were crossing the border and the border guard asked about what goods we had Dan was saying "We have $4..." the guard said "Okay, bye" and waved us through before we had a chance to say how much we had spent.
Thanks to Dan's parents for looking after our 3 girls two days and one night. Let me tell ya, 3 is alot of kids. The other day Cassidy was getting left out and I said to Dan "We should have another just so Cassidy has a partner in crime". (Totally joking. Y'all know how tired I am right? And old?) Dan gave me the wickedest glare!!! Hilarious. He's so right, I'd do the same thing if he said that to me.

 

6 years and 10 years

First the 6- Alexis turned 6 on July 31st. When I got pregnant with her I just knew I was going to have a July baby, but my due date wasn't until August 8. And then she came on that last day in July- right smack dab in the middle of the summer.  She is the easiest of my kids but unfortunately for me & Dan, still not easy. She has a great sense of humor, is easy going but super feisty. And so with it!!! She'll say things to me and Dan and we're like "Damn, she noticed."

 

 

 Just days before I had her.

 Only a couple days old here. And from that moment on, she was never alone....

 BFF's!!!

 Still BFF's.

 Always BFF's.

 And even closer than ever.

 And then she became "middle child"!!!

 But now she gets to be lil sis and big sis. Which means she gets to be the boss of someone!

Words cannot do justice how much we love this little face.

And now for the 10....our anniversary is today. It gets overshadowed by that little Lexie and her birthday. We usually celebrate on a random day when we can get babysitting. (We're ALWAYS open to anyone looking after our kids you know...) Dan and I have been married 10 years!!! Are we even old enough to be married that long??? How is it possible? Well, here we are, married for 10 years. And loving it still. It keeps getting better and better. Looking back to that magical day ten years ago.

Stay tuned for the honeymoon pics. We talked about how we'd go back to the same resort for our 10 year anniversary. Ha ha! Joke's on us. We're going to Disney for our 10 year.