Next Summer Tour Stop / Big Sur
Travel
The last 3 weeks / San Diego
Labor Day Weekend
Yesterday we decided to head north for some adventure and we had… a bit of a rocky start. Twenty minutes in, one of our kayaks nearly flew off the roof of our car on the freeway, which left us with no other choice but to cram 3 kayaks IN the van with us. 😂 In theory the drive was pretty short so any potential discomfort would have been tolerable, but then we hit holiday traffic and road work, and our 3 hour drive there turned into a 5+ hour one. 😅 We were losing the day light from our day trip, and I began to get frustrated and curse Arizona and Labor Day for ruining our plans. Eventually we got there though, and it was so fun and peaceful and beautiful. We were able to make some priceless memories with our girls and, I don’t know, I think there’s a life lesson there. One that I’ll likely forget again next time things aren’t going smoothly, but, hopefully not.🤞🏻
An escape to the mountains
A couple weeks back we met Geoffs family in Show Low, AZ where we relearned an important life lesson: a body of cold water and fresh air really does make life better. We were able to put our kayaks to use, spend some time outside (a luxury in Arizona!) and simultaneously get frustrated/grateful for the terrible cell service. Already planning the next weekend getaway.
Maui 2019.
Our first time to Hawaii as a family, and it did not disappoint. Bouncing back between the pool waterslide and the beach for a quick snorkeling session made for the most convenient, family friendly trip. Since I was 20 weeks pregnant, there were a few things I had to sit out on and watch from afar (parasailing and cliff jumping!), but we were still able to hit a snorkeling excursion, a luau, Road to Hana (only 3/5ths of us puked!), and lots and lots of shaved ice. I can’t wait to go back with all 4 girls again some day soon!
ICELAND 2018
A few months back we scored cheap stop-over tickets to Iceland and we couldn’t pass them up! We were able to see so many breathtaking places all in a matter of a few days and it left me so grateful we were able to cross it off our bucket list. Enjoy a long mash-up of our short time spent there, set to some Sigur Ros, of course. 🙂
NYC 2018
Our New York minute. 🍕 No matter how many miles they made us hold them for, no matter how many unclean surfaces they insisted on sprawling out onto, and no matter how much bickering they did in between— these girls did a good job of making a magic place even more magic for us. (And when they didn’t… there was always pizza.)
PARIS WITH THE GIRLS
A couple months ago we stumbled upon insanely cheap tickets to Paris and we couldn’t say no. I mean, we could have.. but that would have been dumb. Who needs savings anyway!? 😉 The first 10 days of our Summer were spent exploring a brand new place, pushing our family outside of our comfort zone and routines, Geoff and I taking a little step back from work, and removing the girls from all their friends and toys and having them all to ourselves. It was hands down the best way to kick off our Summer together. This video is super long but we went hard this trip– I feel like we really didn’t waste a single minute. Eating on the go, napping on the go, and so much walking and sight-seeing, my girls were total champions and hardly ever complained. I was so proud! They say Paris is the most romantic city in the world, and I have to agree. I fell even more in love with my crazy crew and fell pretty hard for the city as well. Au revoir Paris, we love you!
I wrote up a little guide of places we visited and loved over on the Alice + Ames blog here, in case any of you have plans of traveling to France with your family soon. People were so helpful to offer tips and suggestions before we left, I figured it’d be nice to pay it forward. 🙂
