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A runner with an appetite for adventure!

1st Birthday Weekend Celebration June 11, 2013

Since our families don’t live close by, we decided to skip on the iconic ‘1st Birthday Party’ and celebrate just the three of us with a quiet weekend away instead. On Friday night, we headed to Rancho Mirage (oh, hey President Obama!) to stay at the Rancho Las Palmas hotel. The room was great, we kept the AC blasting to combat the 102* temps outside!
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In typical Adele fashion, she settled into the big king bed nicely.
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We traveled with our Pack N’ Play and set it up in the bathroom. She slept great, all night long, both nights we were there. We kind of missed her though and wished she was cuddling with us, but alas, baby needs her sleep.

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After we were done exploring the room, we decided to brave the insane temperatures and venture out for a walk. We ate at a BBQ place across the street that was pretty fun. Adele dined on Jalapeño cornbread, sweet potatoes and parts of my hamburger.  I’m trying to remember if there was a vegetable in there somewhere…. [thinks for a second] oh yes, the corn in the cornbread. Does that count? Good times.

The next morning was a special day. Adele turned one. June 8th. When we heard her wake up, both Irving and I ran in to grab her and smother her with kisses and hugs. We sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her twice. A special day indeed. We let her open up some presents! Her friend Sophie gave her the best gift ever. A book that lights up and sings. Mind blown.
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And we wheeled out our gift from the closet…. check her out!
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We got her the SmarTrike dream and she LOVES it! I mean, it has a cell phone, come on!
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Cell phones are tasty!

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Eventually, the trike converts (little by little) into a big wheel tricycle! I like quality toys that grow with the child. A+ so far (which is more than I can say about the piece-of-crap plastic shopping cart we tried to buy her at target… yea, that will be returned asap. You win some, you lose some).

Happy Birthday, Adele!

Part 2 of our trip coming soon!!

 

 

Year One Travel Stats June 10, 2013

Filed under: Baby,Travel — Kelocity @ 4:29 am

Out of Adele’s first 365 days alive, she spent approximately 60 Nights away from home. That means she has spent 16.4% of her life traveling. Not bad for a baby, right? She visited Seven States: California, Nevada, Utah, Massachusetts, Florida, New Hampshire and Hawaii. In those states, she visited 13 Significant Cities: San Francisco, Yosemite, Los Angeles, Boston, Laconia NH, Las Vegas, Avila Beach, Palm Springs (twice), Zion National Park, Hilo, Kona, Naples FL and Ft. Lauderdale.

Here’s an incomplete list of some of the highlights of her first year:

 

Home Away from Home May 20, 2013

Filed under: Hawaii,Travel — Kelocity @ 10:25 pm

Our goal for our trip to Hawaii was to relax and enjoy the resort as much as possible. In fact, we only left the property once (to visit Kona). But with a room like this, why would you ever want to leave?
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Our unit was bigger than my home in LA! We had two bedrooms, so Adele was able to have her own space and sleep soundly. (Man, that’s an understatement. She seriously slept 15 hours almost every night!)
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We reserved a crib from the hotel (free of charge), but we brought our own sheets (and I manically wiped the whole thing down with antibacterial wipes before she slept in it. ha! We also rented a high chair which worked out really well for all the meals we enjoyed in our unit too.

The rest of her room was used as a baby staging area. Clothes and accessories on the left…. and diapers and such on the right! It was so nice to spread out and have space!
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Below, you can see what I packed for her. Things I didn’t use/need: shoes, sandals, socks, pants, cardigan, sunglasses. She mostly lived in onsies, bathing suits and dresses the whole time we were there.

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Before we checked into our hotel, we spent a few hours shopping for things we needed for the week. At Walmart, we got diapers, sand toys, POG, cream cheese and paper plates/utensils. At the grocery store, we stocked up on OJ, Deli meat/cheese/milk, macaroni salad, yogurt for Adele, bananas and produce. At Costco, we grabbed a case of water, 3 bottles of Champagne and one more bottle of wine, a block of good cheese, a mac-nut pie!, big bowl of cut fruit, bread, bagels, salad, a pizza and some other random food items. Yea, it took a few hours of our vacation, but saved us hours and hours (and money) during the week. Adele had to nap anyways, so we enjoyed all but 3 meals in our room.
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While we did enjoy daily mimosas, the bottle of wine and one bottle of Champagne ended up coming home with us. Guess we over estimated. haha
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We had a detailed meal plan/itinerary that we made prior to our trip, and it really worked out well for us!
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It was so nice to wake up, have a mimosa and read on the lanai while Adele was snoozing in the other room (we also traveled with our baby monitors so we didn’t have to worry about not hearing her!)
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I did bring a few toys and books with us too. They were great on the plane, in the car and in the room. We also bought a few sand toys while we were there too.
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Outside our room, we could see goats(?) walking by in herds. Kinda random and funny! We also had a resident gecko that came out to see us each morning too.
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Confession…. we ended up with SEVEN bags to schlep on the plane: Car seat, stroller, checked bag, golf clubs, diaper bag (backpack), Camera Bag (3 different cameras, 3 lenses and an underwater housing!) and a Briefcase. Not to mention an 18 pound baby to carry too!

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Somehow we managed it all. It was a pain at the airports, but we were really happy to have everything we needed to be comfortable during our week. It’s not typically how we pack and travel, but we basically moved in this time. Not sure we could have done it any different without sacrificing something. No regrets. It was an incredible week.
Hawaii Blog

 

A Cloudy Sunset May 17, 2013

Filed under: Baby,Hawaii,Photography,Travel — Kelocity @ 4:07 am
Tags: , , , ,

On our last full night in Waikoloa, we decided to trek over to Buddha Point again for another gorgeous sunset. But the orange sky wasn’t in the cards for us, we were greeted by an unusually cloudy sky.
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But we had a blast taking pictures and enjoying the warm air anyways. It’s still beautiful even without the sun here!
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I think Adele must think the camera is my 5th appendage by this point.
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Working on the self timer. This is where Daddy will sit. haha
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There we go! (PS, this was on the Waikoloa Golf Course, luckily no more golfers were playing by the time we got there!)
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Family Picture! Might have to blow this one up.
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Some with dad..
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…And some with mom!
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Once the sun set (well, when we THINK it set… too many clouds to tell for sure!) we headed out for late-ish dinner down the street. Adele was tired, but we kept her entertained with bread and crayons.
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Aloha! May 5, 2013

Filed under: Baby,Hawaii,Travel — Kelocity @ 10:56 pm
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Aloha! Greetings from Hawaii!
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I plan to check with more pictures and stories soon, but right now, we’re trying to unplug and live in the moment. It’s crazy how liberating it is to not be a slave to email, facebook, twitter, and my blog. I’ve only been here for two days and I’m already half way through a book (imagine that!)

It’s 8pm here and we’re heading to bed. Vacation for the win!

See you guys soon with more!