Park and other fun randoms

One of Skyla's favorite things to do these days is sit on chairs -- any chair, anywhere.  She got right up on one of the living room chairs the other day and looked just like a little princess on her throne!  The second and third pictures absolutely melt me.

Another thing we both love to do is play at the park near our house.  Most of the time we just play outside on the playground, and we're lucky that the weather is pretty much nice every day so that's always an easy, fun option.  At certain times each week day the inside part is also open for free play.  She loves riding around on the bicycles and playing with the toys, and I love watching her!

One of our other favorite go-to activities is playing in the backyard.  It's the only thing I've found so far that we can do with Lily and there's enough to do that we all enjoy it.  Tory and I take turns cutting the grass, but the last time I did it Skyla proved she's a more than capable assistant.  The backyard is still a work in progress, but if we keep up our hard work pretty soon it'll be a perfect oasis for us :)

Staycation: Golden Gate Bridge and Sausolito

We did A LOT of traveling last year with Skyla.  We flew to several weddings, a reunion in New York, and to San Diego and Maine to visit family.  We decided for many reasons that this year we would do significantly less traveling outside of San Francisco, and would instead explore all the great things this city and surrounding area have to offer.  Our first staycation adventure was a hike near Golden Gate Bridge.  We drove across, then walked quite a bit.  We took turns carrying Skyla, let her ride in the Ergo on our backs for the first time, and walked right next to her a lot as well.  It was a gorgeous day so we got some great shots.

After a quick pause for a snack, we hopped in the car and went to Sausolito for the first time.  It is so cute!  We drove around for a bit to explore and were surprised by the quaint little beach town.  We found a great Italian restaurant and had a nice family lunch, then headed home for a well-deserved nap!

Monarch Cove Weekend!

We had an amazing time at Monarch Cove celebrating Tory's birthday.  This is such a magical place, not only because it's where we got married four and a half years ago, but also because I don't think there's another place like it.  I told Skyla about our upcoming trip and she was very happy to help me pack.  (It helps that she has a special bag with her name on it from her Auntie Colleen)!

My  dad came to pick us up and we drove down to San Jose.  We were off to Monarch the following day and then Tory came down there that evening after work.  We all met up at one of our favorite restaurants, Star Bene.  It was delicious as always, and Skyla was a little ham as she enjoyed the food and we enjoyed watching her.  A great start to the birthday weekend!

We got to go on a little date night, reliving a couple of the spots we went to on our wedding weekend.  We went to the bar that had karaoke where we got down with Erin & Paul and Simon & Melissa, and then finished at the cute little wine bar where we had our welcome reception.

One of the best things about staying at Monarch Cove is that they bring a delicious breakfast to your room each morning.  We all enjoyed it together as a family on our first morning.  We ate inside but couldn't keep Roma and Skyla apart for very long!  Roma told Skyla all about her new favorite book: The Muppets!

That afternoon Tory and I went to a local winery for a benefit for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  We got to see Julie Bonner and her husband Cam and get all caught up.  We also got to try some of the delicious local wine.  It was a beautiful day, a gorgeous location, and we had a merry ol' time!

Right after the wine tasting we rushed back to Monarch, then straight over to Shadowbrook for an early dinner.  We had our rehearsal dinner there and we absolutely love it.  The food is so good but the location and atmosphere are what make it so special.  It was a very long dinner so Skyla took a few tours of the restaurant and grounds, and we played a couple of games of "pass the baby."  My dad snuck in a carrot cake from Gayle's Bakery (the same one we had for our wedding cake!) and we all enjoyed some.  Tory was pleasantly surprised and we all left feeling full and very happy.

 

Sunday morning was a beautiful day and we got it started off great with breakfast on the porch together.  It was sunny very early in the morning -- a rarity in Capitola -- so we got some pics of the beautiful views while we had the chance.

Tory went for a run on the beach and my mom, Skyla and I took a walk down to Capitola Village.  We stumbled upon this band of middle-aged hippies that all gather there every weekend to play music from the 50's on 60's, but with a beachy feel since most of them were playing ukeleles!  I took in the music, the sun, and the scenery, feeling more relaxed and happy than I have in a long time.  It was a perfect way to end our idyllic weekend!