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Zion: Blue Skies and Icicles January 24, 2013

Filed under: Travel,Utah — Kelocity @ 10:49 pm
Tags: National Parks, Utah, vacation, Zion

On Monday, after we hiked the Canyon Overlook trail, we took a break and had lunch at the Zion Lodge. Not much is open during the off-season, but we had a pretty good lunch (Grilled Turkey and Cheese with Pasta Salad for me!) Adele munched on my avocado slices, pasta salad and veggies. Mmm.

Then it was time to hit the trails again!

We drove the entire length of the valley floor to the other side. The road ends at a parking lot and we set out on foot onto the Riverside Walk trail. The trail is relatively easy, but offers some neat views as the surrounding rocks start closing in on you.

Adele was safely tucked away inside our hiking backpack. She loved facing forward and taking in the sights like we did. Such a big girl.

The trail was supposed to be 2 miles round trip, but it was cut short when we saw this sign.

Yikes! Usually this is a waterfall, but in the winter, it completely freezes.

Someday, we’ll have to come back in the summer because this trail leads into The Narrows. Not sure that I’ll ever hike inside the Narrows (scary!) but I hear you can get inside a little bit to get an idea of what it’s like. Someday. Someday.
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But we still enjoyed the scenery and the fresh air regardless. The Virgin River flows into Zion Valley via the Narrows. I can’t even imagine what this is like when it’s full and flowing. Must be amazing! That river, after all, was powerful enough to carve out the entire canyon millions of years ago!

We were only on the trail for an hour or so, but it was enough to give Ms. Sleepyhead a good nap.

With the baby asleep, we had time to kill before we got back in the car. (We didn’t want to wake her up). So we headed down to the river to play around.

Oh, heyyy! I wanna touch the water!

Soon after, we headed back to the visitor’s center. I’ve said it before, but I just can’t wait til Adele is old enough to want to buy something in those stores. Will she want books? A bag full of gem stones? Those educational-type stores were always my favorite (nerd alert!) and I hope she loves them someday too!

With time to kill before we retreated to the hotel for the day, we did a short walk around the property. It was too nice to not be outside.

Around 3p, we did make it back to the room to relax before dinner. A good two hours of snuggling, crawling and playing. This is what vacations are all about now; quality time with the family! Love it.

My favorite one:

One more day left in Zion to tell you about! Hope you’re enjoying the pictures!

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Roadtrip to Utah! January 23, 2013

Filed under: Travel,Utah — Kelocity @ 3:42 am
Tags: National Parks, RoadTrip, St. George, Travel, Utah

This weekend, we took Adele on a pretty awesome roadtrip! I think it’s our furthest one with her yet! She did great!

Saturday morning, we packed up the car, and set out driving 7 hours to our destination:

But let’s back up. We left Saturday morning around 9am (timed perfectly with Adele’s morning nap). We took her out of the car a few times to stretch and eat, but otherwise, she slept almost the whole time. I jumped in the back for one two-hour stretch to feed and entertain her while we drove, it worked out well! Time flew by.

Soon enough, we were past Las Vegas and heading towards Mesquite. We just happened to stop at this place:
Irving played golf here a couple of years back and has been dying to go back ever since. Too bad he didn’t have his clubs with him this time, but I know he was excited to see it again. I hear it’s a great course.

After our brief stop there, we continued on towards St. George, Utah! We literally drove through four states in one day! CA –> NV –> AZ –> UT! We had no idea there was a time zone change too! Oops!

We planned to stay one night in St. George before jumping over to Zion and we were SO glad that we did! We had an awesome hotel room. Excuse me, a hotel house.

We stayed at the Inn at Entrada and it was pretty awesome. I mean, come on, we had our own garage! That’s a first for us!

The house was gorgeous. Super comfortable, we wished we had stayed longer!
Can you spot the baby?

Fun fact: High School Musical 2 was shot on the property!

Here’s the pool!

That’s right folks, see these beautiful mountains here?

Zac Efron looked at those very mountains from this very spot. Jealous? You know you are. haha

But seriously, the property was so beautiful. If you’re coming to St. George, we highly recommend it!

Ohmygosh! Zac Efron played basketball hereeeeee! {squeal}
(not really, but I’m sure my cousins will be excited about this. hahaha

By the way, we got this blanket for Christmas and we loooooove it. It’s vinyl on one side, and fleece on the other. It’s perfect for picnics in the park, and hotel room floors apparently. Adele was a fan.

After a rough night of sleep (which is so sad because the room was so comfy! … more on that later!) We woke up ready to explore St. George.
What? I can’t have this whole bed to myself?

We met my friend from college, Katie, at George’s Corner Restaurant for brunch. It’s been years since I’ve seen her and we had a blast catching up.

I love meeting old friends in new places! So nice seeing you, Katie!

After we ate, Irving, Adele and I walked around St. George. It was a Sunday, so not too much was open, but what a cute little town. We’ll be back someday for sure!

And soon enough, it was time to head to our next stop: Zion!

Stay tuned!

OUR ST. GEORGE DETAILS:
Hotel: Inn at Entrada
Restaurants: Pier 49, Georges Corner Restaurant

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Baby’s Got Wings August 28, 2012

Filed under: Baby,Family,Travel — Kelocity @ 12:51 pm
Tags: Baby, Family, Travel

Adele made her first flight this past weekend. One hour up to San Francisco and then a 6-hour flight to Boston. She did awesome!

We flew Virgin and I think she liked the bright lights and tv screens. She didn’t make a peep on either flight. She ate, she smiled and she charmed the other passengers. I was prepared for the worst and I was so scared the people on the plane would hate us, but she didn’t cry once!

My tips:
-Bring a nursing pillow. She ate, slept and played on it. It was big and kept poking into the aisle, but it was a lifesaver.
-Feed the baby during landing and takeoff so her ears pop.
-Check the stroller and carseat at the counter. We considered gate checking them, but it was nice not to have to bring them through security.
-Ask the flight attendant for ‘Wings’. We got some from the captain to remember her first flight by.
-Book an aisle and a window seat. Sometimes you get lucky and no one books the middle seat. We scored a whole row to ourselves on the LAX to SF leg!
-Sit close to the back of the plane so you can access the bathrooms quick for changing the bathroom. Bonus: You can stand in the galley and rock the baby if you need to.

We decided to extend our SF layover to four hours so we could meet up with Irving’s mom and grandmother for lunch. It definitely made our day longer, but it was fun to see family in the middle of our journey. We found some chairs outside of security that made for the perfect lunch spot.

We all had sandwiches, but Adele enjoyed some milk. =)

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Adele in the Desert–Part 2 July 24, 2012

Filed under: Baby,California,Family,Palm Springs,Travel — Kelocity @ 4:36 am
Tags: Baby, California, Family, Palm Springs, Travel

The next morning, Adele woke us up at 6am (After sleeping for eight glorious hours through the night!!) She and I walked with Daddy over to the golf course. It was so beautiful and not too hot yet. We said bye to him and we went back to the room to hang out while he played a round.

So what do two girls do when they are by themselves for a morning? PHOTOSHOOOOOT!

And my favorite of the day…

Oh my gosh, how is she mine?! She’s so beautiful!

We played and napped (both of us!) until we got a text that daddy was on the 17th hole! So we headed back over to the clubhouse to meet him for lunch.

It was definitely warm out, but I kept the baby in the shade!

I wish she could have seen how beautiful it was outside… but we’ll have to come back in the winter when the heat isn’t so bad!

Mmmm Burgers!

We splurged and ordered fried dill pickle spears! (I know, we’re getting crazy over here!)

We chatted for a couple of hours overlooking the golfcourse and taking turns holding the baby. It was so nice to get away from home and escape our routine for a bit.

She loves her daddy!

Family picture!!

Irving played a second round of golf in the afternoon (don’t ask me how he was able to be out in that sun all day long?!). Adele and I went back to the room while she napped and I watched trash tv. No shame.

Once he was done and the baby was rested, we jumped in the car and headed to downtown Palm Springs for dinner.

We walked the streets and did some people watching. So many awesome shops and restaurants down there.

When we got engaged, we were staying in Palm Springs, so it brought back a lot of memories for us!

2008

2012

Even though there were a ton of great-looking restaurants, we ended up at The Old Spaghetti Factory, which is one of my FAVORITE restaurants ever. EVER! (Every meal comes with a salad, bread, a drink… AND DESSERT!) Adele was a little fussy and we took turns pushing her stroller around the parking lot… you win some, you lose some, I guess. To her defense, it was a late dinner and she was DEFINITELY ready for bed. Whoops!

When we got pregnant, our biggest concern was if we’d be able to keep up the pace at which we like to travel… but this weekend really gave us the confidence we needed to know that life doesn’t end when you have kids. Travel is a huge hobby of ours and we’re so excited to share it with Adele now. It just keeps getting better!