Life Lately

It’s me! I am back online talking your ear off again. It’s been… well, years since I have blogged. In fact I actually deactivated my blog for a while. I wasn’t writing and we were in the thick of big transitions. Do people still read blogs? Personally I love reading people’s thoughts. It’s a little daunting trying to figure out where I left off. So I am just going to jump right in and give you some life updates.

Family Update

On June 2, 2021 we welcomed our third baby. Augustine Luke Running is the best little “book end” baby and what we are considering our last baby. He’s the sweetest little guy and is honestly just so happy to be apart of what is happening in the room. He has red hair like his brother and chubby baby cheeks like his sister had.

Moses started preschool and goes three days a week. So far he is loving it. Through him starting school we came to the conclusion we need to get him evaluated for speech. He’s not like crazy behind but there are some big challenges he faces daily when it comes to communication. What people don’t say enough to you as a mom is that each kid can be different in every way. After being evaluated by a speech language pathologist he now goes to a speech therapy once a week. Let me tell you, being in a meeting as someone you’ve met once read off all the things your child can’t do is a hard moment.

Sawyer is now in pre-K and starts big time kindergarten next year! She's currently on the waitlist for two schools and I'm trying not to lose sleep over it. She has her first wiggly tooth and adult tooth growing right behind it. I am full of emotions knowing the first tooth to come out is the first tooth she cut. Maybe it’s because we are in the midst of teething with our youngest, but this just feels like one of those “don’t blink” moments. She was my first baby and we worked hard on those baby teeth. I spent so many moments bouncing and consoling her as she cried from teething. Now one by one they’re going to come out and I get to go back to consoling her as we help coach her through tugging them out.

Work Update

For the past three years I have been working part time from home doing social media for a Stockton based company. Last month my position was eliminated and I now am in the thick of a job hunt. The job market is insane right now. So many people are hiring and twice as many people are applying. I have been applying for *gulp* full-time jobs. Ideally working remote so I can be home for after school hours. But I have applied for some that are in office and hybrid. Looking for work clothes after spending the past five years mainly wearing jeans and leggings was oddly satisfying. I also felt incredibly out of place in the blazer section of a store.

Home Update

I think the last time I blogged we were still living in Stockton, CA. We are now living in Visalia, CA which is located in the the south central valley of California. We are close to the Sequoia National Park and we can easily drive up to the river during the summer months to cool off. We are just itching to purchase a home and are pretty much as ready. Once I land a job we will be able to get a grasp on when we will actually buy. For now I am just dreaming on Pinterest.

If you made it this far thank you for sticking around! I was reminded last week that you just need to show up on social media to be successful. Not saying I’m going to be the next big blog, but I would like to get better at creative writing and continue to work on skills I have developed over the years. So here I am, showing up.

Snow Day

We decided to take a last minute trip to the snow over the weekend. Not super prepared and definitely forgot to pack lunches. Moses wore his sisters pink gloves and we definitely lack snow clothes in our family. It was the best day. Sawyer had so much fun throwing snow at all of us and we built a silly looking short snow man. Sawyer didn’t have the heart to leave the carrot nose there so she grabbed it and took it home with her. We are so lucky to be living so close to the Sequoia National Park and I can’t wait to visit again in the Summer. We finished off our day by eating pizza at home. Enjoy our “home video” and some photos from our day! 2020 I can’t wait to see what you bring for our family.

Apple Hill

Apple Hill in Placerville, CA is a must during the autumn! The Central Valley is a strange place in the Fall and tends to lack the autumn colors so this place is a great escape and is less the 2 hours from where we live. This time around we went with a few friends and only made two stops! Less time in the car and more time outside makes for happier kiddos. We stopped at High Hill Ranch and Delfino Farms.

High Hill Ranch

We spent nearly two hours at High Hill Ranch. It was so much fun for the kids. Sawyer saw the pony’s and immediately wanted to partake. So we paid the $8 and let her do the pony rides. She sang the theme song to Spirit and pet her new friend Bandit. High Hill has amazing donuts and treats. I may have bought six donuts so I could save a few for the following morning.

Delfino Farms

Delfino Farms is so beautiful and relaxing. It’s placed on top of a hill and has incredible views. We grabbed some hard cider, some food and had a picnic outside. Delfino Farms Blackberry Hard Cider is incredible. It almost has a sparkling rose taste. They also have mouth watering tri-top sandwhiches and I’m still dreaming about it. You can purchase massive sized pies to take home and go for a nature walk. It’s definitely a stop on the Apple Hill map I will do again.

Butterfly Parade | Pacific Grove

The Butterfly Parade in Pacific Grove, CA is one of my favorite things to do in October. This is only our third year attending and we love it! When my family moved to Pacific Grove a few years ago we originally attended because it happened to be taking place during our trip and my nephews would be walking in the parade. Ever since, it’s been a must each season.

Some people have asked why a butterfly parade? Well, each October the Monarch butterfly’s migrate to Pacific Grove! So for the weeks leading up to it the town celebrates and they “welcome” the butterflies with the parade and bazaar. It has a small town feel and has a lot of Gilmore Girls Stars Hollow feels. If you know me you know I’m a big fan. It’s also just a lot of fun to see Sawyer dress up in her butterfly wings and run around with her cousins.

Halloween Sugar Cookies

If you read my Fall Bucket list post you saw that one of those items were making Halloween cookies! This is one of Sawyer’s favorite activities. It’s pretty messy but it’s worth it. I usually let her pour the ingredients and I always crack the eggs. Because, well, gross. For the cookies I always buy the Betty Crocker mix and we found these really cute pumpkin and ghost cookie cutters at Target. My favorite part of sugar cookies is the frosting. I like to do homemade frosting because if I use the store bought frosting it tends to be so sugary my teeth hurt. I like to add some food coloring to the frosting and only needed to use orange this time around because the recipe for homemade frosting is a white color when finished. Finished off the cookies with eye ball candies!

Frosting Recipe:

1 Cup Powder Suger

2 Tablespoons Light Corn Syrup

2 Tablespoons of Milk*

1/4 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

*Keep adding a little milk until you get the consistency you like.

Fall Bucket List | Free Printable

I don’t think it comes to any surprise to my friends and family when I say that I love Fall. Just call me”basic”, ok? My birthday is in October so I feel pretty justified in my love for the season. I have never been the person to prepare for the season. It usually comes with much anticipation and I cram as much activities in before it turns winter. With kids, I find life easier with a check-list. Okay, okay. I have always loved a good check-list. Just ask my mom and husband. I tend to go overboard with party planning lists. I created MY fall bucket list. It’s a little more tailored to what we have already planned and trips we are taking. I have included a free printable for you! Click Here to Download your FREE printable.

Fall Bucket List:

• Decorate our home

• Apple Hill!

• Make Halloween Cookies

• Crafts with Fall Leaves

• Carve Pumpkins

• Watch Hocus Pocus

• Watch Halloween Town

• Bake cinnamon rolls

• Watch scary movies

• Eat Halloween Candy

• Buy/make Halloween Costumes

• Trick- Or- Treat with the kids

• Go to the pumpkin patch

• Drink Hard Apple Cider

• Wear my favorite flannel

• Drink a hot mocha

• Eat as many Caramel Apple Suckers as I want

• Burn fall scented candles

• Attend Butterly Parade in Pacific Grove

• Celebrate Fall birthdays

• Listen to Halloween music

• Leggings and a sweatshirt because it’s cold enough

Saying Farewell to Summer | Michael David Winery

This summer we have been enjoying a lot of park days, grabbing iced coffee and bagels in the mornings, and scootering in the front yard.  I’m such an Autumn loving person so I am usually really excited to see summer go. I just hang my Fall wreath and never look back.

I decided to give Summer a proper send off this week and took the kids to Michael David Winery in Lodi to play on their playground and to cut some flowers. This is only our second time to the winery during the summer months but it’s a lot of fun. They allow you to  trim flowers for a ridiculously cheap price. I always let Sawyer choose the flowers and “help” cut them. Moses tends to just wander around and I pretty positive he ate a few flowers this time. 

The play structure at the winery is incredible. We go well before wine tasting hours and usually bring an iced coffee and some snacks to enjoy. There are picnic tables and even a few roosters that the kids insist on saying ‘hi’. 

This summer we celebrated Moses turning one. We learned a lot of lessons like, don’t push brother, and had an unforgettable trip to Disneyland. There are always some in between bits to every season. I know we have plenty of 90 degree whether (thanks California Fall) but I am thankful to be moving onto crisp days. 

Disneyland with Toddlers

Disneyland is by far more magical with kids than I ever expected. Sure I’ve been to Disneyland with my nephews and friends kids. But introducing my own kids to all of the Magic was the best. Sawyer is at the perfect age where she believes everything is real. We road the Jungle Cruise and I definitely think she believed the animals and village people were legit. We partied pretty hard and stayed late at the park each night. Most nights we didn’t get to bed until 11pm. Totally worth it. 

My favorite thing about this trip was Sawyer meeting all of her favorite princesses. Pro Tip: look on the Disneyland app for locations and times the characters will be out and about. Sawyer loved watching the fireworks and sang along to all of her favorite songs. Talk about heart melting.

Disclaimer* about half way through writing this blog I realized there is a lot to cover about Disneyland and toddlers so I’ll be writing a separate blog about what we brought / packed. Now moving on...

Sawyer is 2 1/2 and is still pretty short. So all the rides she road had to have no height requirements. You’d think that would limit us a lot but she actually got to go on a ton of rides we love as well. We were at the park for two days and had a lot of ground to cover. We tried getting in as many rides but also taking on account we had two small kids with us and they needed to take breaks. This trip was pretty special and we got to go with Aaron’s cousin Andrew, Stacey, and her kiddos. Most magical thing of the trip... Andrew proposed to Stacey in front of the castle on the first morning. 

Rides both Sawyer and Moses got to enjoy:

• King Arthur Carousel 

• Dumbo

• Snow Whites Scary Adventures

• It’s a Small World

• Tea Cups

• Alice in Wonderland

• Pirates of the Caribbean

• Jungle Cruise

• Haunted Mansion

• Winnie the Pooh

• Tarzan’s Tree House

• Little Mermaid

• Monsters Inc

• Toy Story Mania

Shows and Character interactions:

• Fireworks

• Main Street Electrical Parade

• World of Color

• Royal Hall: Snow White, Ariel, Cinderella 

• Animation Studio: Anna , Elsa

Disneyland with two kids under the age of three is a whole new ball game. Long gone are the days of getting to just bring my small “Disneyland” purse and Minnie Mouse ears. It takes a lot of prep if you’re coming from out of town. 

Tips for Disneyland with Toddlers / Babies:

• Snacks- Bring lots of them. You’ll not only save money on brining your own snacks. But you’ll avoid a lot of meltdowns if you let them snack while waiting in line for a ride

• Double stroller- Even if you don’t use a double stroller regularly at home. You’ll want one in the park. Disneyland comes with a lot of walk and they’re legs will get tired. But you can also move a lot quicker if you can push them where you need to go.

• Take a break- Both days we left the park after lunch time and let the kids nap (or not nap in Moses case). The refresh was worth it. I used this time to shower, repack snacks if needed, and grab a sweatshirt for when we watch fireworks/ or a parade.

• Free water.- Bottles of water in the park are priced so high. Every restaurant will. Give you free iced water.

• Baby Care Centers- There are one in each park. They are so handy. They have things like diapers or anything you forgot or ran out of. They also have chairs to breastfeed in and high chairs with trays to feed your baby.

• Go with another family or adults. Having extra adults around helps with the kids but also makes it possible for you to sneak away to enjoy a big kid ride while the kids nap in the stroller or enjoy another ride

• Meals- Disneyland offers a lot of “window” food buying options but I think the kids and us enjoyed our time more when we actually sat down to eat.

• Mobile order food- Download the Disneyland app prior to your trip. You can mobile order food and it saves so much time. While walking over from your ride or while waiting in line,’order what you want from a nearby restaurant. Once you have arrived select “I’m here” on the app and they’ll get your food out in minutes.

Visit Pacific Grove

My parents moved to Pacific Grove, CA over a year ago. It’s been so much fun visiting them in a place we already had so many memories growing up. Visiting them over the last year it has been so much fun making more memories and not to mention making memories with my little family. 

For the past two years we have celebrated my birthday by attending the Butterfly Bazaar and Parade my nephews participate in. If you didn’t know, Pacific Grove is known for their abundance of Monarch Butterflies. Every fall they celebrate the return of the Monarch in October and it has easily become my favorite way to celebrate my birthday. It has a very Stars Hallow vibe - I love it a lot.

This trip we went to hang with my family before my nephews start school in August. We spent time at the beach which Sawyer loved and was very brave to get in the ice cold water. We made our way to Cannery Row on Friday and shopped. My parents even watched the kids while Aaron and I got our first date night since our anniversary in April. Before we went back to the 100 + heat we took the kids to the Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey. It was our first time and it definitely lives up to the hype. 

Some of my favorite things while traveling to PG. 

• Stop at Casa De Fruta. What started as a fruit stand has turned into a full on attraction over the decades and is perfect for restless toddlers.

• My favorite beach in Pacific Grove is hands down Lover’s Point. It’s a small cove that is great for kids and families to enjoy the sun when it peaks out in the afternoon. When it’s “off season” it’s quiet in the mornings. 

• The Grill at Lovers Point- amazing for a quick treat of when you forgot to pack a picnic for the beach. Be sure to bring cash. 

• Monterey Bay Aquarium is definitely a must if you’re looking for something to keep you entertained all afternoon. 

• Revival Ice Cream. We stopped there after grabbing dinner at Alvarado Street Brewery (a definite favorite as well), and it’s so incredible. They have vegan options and even vegan ice cream cones. 

• Dennis the Menace Park for kids of all ages. There is really something for everyone! My kids are 2 1/2 years old and 12 months old and they both played so much and were sad to leave.

It’s always hard to drive back to the Central Valley summer. Pacific Grove is crisp and cool in the Summer time making it perfect for escaping the heat.