Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Flying to Florida March 10, 2013

Filed under: Baby,Family,Florida — Kelocity @ 10:08 am
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My grandparents live in Florida in the winter, so last week, my parents flew down from Massachusetts, my sister flew down from Chicago and Adele and I flew down from Los Angeles! It was such a great opportunity to spend some time with family without having to brave the cold weather (and snow!) in New England.

I was a little scared to fly alone with Adele, but as usual, she did great! The key is being organized and having a bag full of tricks for the plane.
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I brought a few books, a couple of toys and lots of snacks and that’s all she needed! She had the most fun playing with the seat belts, looking at other passengers and crawling back and forth.
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And I had a surprise for her (which she LOVED). I took a ribbon and tied an old key, a plastic card a necklace and some rubber bracelets to it. That kept her busy for over an hour. Mom for the win! I was pretty proud of my self for that one.
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Since my flight was LAX to Ft. Lauderdale, it was half empty and filled with older retired people heading out for cruises. Major score for a mom traveling solo with a cute baby. People kept coming by and sitting down to talk and play with Adele (and tell me out their grandkids, etc etc).

 

I even got her to take a 1.5 hour nap in the carrier while I watched HGTV. The perfect flight if i don’t say so myself.

Once we landed, everyone (even the skeptical business man in the row next to us) complimented her on her great airplane behavior (she never made a peep!) That’s my girl. My little traveler.

Instead of making the 2-hour drive from Ft. Lauderdale to Ft. Myers at night, I opted to get a hotel room for the night and start the drive fresh in the morning. I got my rental car and found my hotel with no problems.
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Adele, of course, was loving the big hotel bed… but I was able to talk my way into getting a free pack-n-play for her for the night.

Travel Tip: Always pack your own crib sheets!IMG_0272

She slept great through the night and when we woke up, we had a quick breakfast and headed out across Alligator Alley. Adele slept in the car and before long, we arrived! There were some very excited great-grandparents waiting to kiss Adele!

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Out of all the fun places to go in Florida…. we decided to check out the local library (I’m obsessed lately!) They had an awesome Children’s Room with lots of books and puzzles. And I found my favorite one for her to play with! YAY!
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We spent the rest of the day relaxing around the house and hanging out here:
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What a life, right? Grammie, Grandpa and Aunty Laurie arrived that night too! More pictures to come!

 

Viva Las Baby February 25, 2013

Filed under: Baby,Las Vegas,Theater,Travel — Kelocity @ 2:33 pm
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My sister, Laurie, was in Las Vegas with friends this week and she wanted to extend her trip to visit us in LA too! We looked into flights from Vegas to LA, but in the end, we decided it was a better idea to just go there, spend the weekend and drive her back with us.
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Best idea ever. I miss this girl.
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We had a blast hanging out. Since it was a last minute trip for us, we didn’t have a set agenda so it was nice to roll with the punches.
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On Saturday, we met up with Laurie at the Excalibur pool. What a lucky girl.
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We people watched and lounged poolside and then one of us took a nap.
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Irving, Adele and I spent the rest of the day doing some outlet shopping while the cool kids hit the clubs. After shopping, we grabbed dinner at Ping Pang Pong at the Gold Coast casino. And by “we” I mean Irving. I got TGIFridays to go. haha (Irving’s Side Note: Ping Pang Pong was recently rated one of the countries best Chinese food in the country by Travel + Leisure Magazine. Apparently I’m missing out.)

Sunday morning, we picked up Laurie and Jim and headed off the strip. Way off. All the way to the mountains to check out Red Rock Canyon. We loved it when we were there a couple of years ago and were excited to go back. Plus since Laurie and Jim live in Chicago, they don’t see mountains much.
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We didn’t get a chance to do much hiking, but the views were still stellar.
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Love this candid shot. haha
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We did the 13 mile drivable loop and saw the whole valley. They got out and took fun pictures on the cliffs, but it was wayyyy too windy for Adele. I tried once and poor girl nearly blew away.
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After that, we drove back to the strip for some more sight seeing. First stop was the Stratosphere. Come to think about it, that was my first time there! Then we jumped over to the Mirage.
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We were actually looking for the lions, didnt they used to have a free exhibit? Am I making this up? Was that years ago? I thought there were free lions or tigers or something somewhere in vegas. Oh well.
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After that, we were all tired and headed back to our hotel for some much needed rest.

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And then Irving and I were excited to take advantage of our free babysitters for the evening and we headed out to see Mystere!
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Bye Adele. Bye Laurie. Um, good luck with that. hahahaha
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Just kidding, I heard the night went well. Lots of playing, lots of cuddles and Adele was in bed by 8pm. Wheeee! What a good Aunty.
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We loved Mystere. Not the best Cirque show in Vegas, but I heard it was the first one which in itself makes it special. You can see how the troupes have evolved over the years. This one was a little circus-y but the stage and lighting were great. And the acts were excellent too. (My #1 Cirque show is KA. But then again, I have yet to see O.

We’re currently en route back to Los Angeles. Irving’s driving, Adele’s sleeping and Laurie and I are chatting (while blogging). Excited for a few days of adventures with her this week! I’ve got a lot of fun things with Adele planned too. Can’t wait!
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And PS… just for fun… this photo was from the last time we were in Vegas! A lot changes in 10 Months! I was bummed she was asleep in the car when we took our iconic vegas sign pictures this weekend. Next time!

 

Zion: Waterfalls and Emerald Pools January 26, 2013

Filed under: Travel,Utah — Kelocity @ 11:53 am
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Here is the last of my Zion posts. If you are catching up, here’s what you missed:

Tuesday was our last day in Zion, so we made the most of it! It took us a couple of hours to get two adults and one baby dressed, fed and packed up. We tried to pack light, but it still ended up being about four trips the car! Babies have a lot of stuff. Some of which we didn’t even end up needing –ahem, Pack N’ Play, I’m looking at you.

Anyways, all the effort to get out the door early paid off when we realized we had exceptionally perfect weather for a hike.
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Whoo hoo! Baby loves her sweet ride! Our destination this time were the hikes around the Emerald Pools. It’s supposed to be a loop, but the middle of the loop was closed due to ice so we did it in two separate parts so we could see the whole thing.

Usually this is a waterfall, but it freezes when it gets cold.
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Although it would have been awesome to see the waterfalls flowing, I much prefer the 50*-60* temperatures over the 110* it can be in the summer!
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On our way around the second side of the loop, we found our own “Narrows”. haha
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It’s hard to get a family photo when Adele can’t see over Daddy’s head. lol But she was there!
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The frozen pools were so neat. The camera really doesn’t capture the contrast in colors in the park.
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Towards the top of the hike, the trail turned to sandstone stairs…
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…that led us to the Emerald Pools! (I’m told in the summer they are much bigger).
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But still impressive nonetheless. This picture was taken on top of this waterfall that we saw earlier, the water literally just falls off the edge of the rock.
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We did it! We hiked to the top of a waterfall with a 7.5 month old baby.
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On the way back down the mountain, we had a great conversation about how we want to raise Adele and all the cool things we want to expose her to as she grows up. Over the past year, we’ve encountered a lot of naysayers who told us that we’d never be able to travel once we had a baby, and it made us proud to look around at where we were on that trail to say “Yes. We have a baby. And we’re traveling. We’re doing it!”
IMG_9484PS. Icicles and Cactus on the same trail? This place is crazy.

Zion definitely impressed us. We had a blast. It was so nice to get out of Los Angeles and into nature. It was only 7 hours away, but it felt like a whole different world there. So what’s next? Yellow Stone? Kings Canyon? We’re already scheming our next National Park adventure.

TRIP DETAILS:
Hotel: Desert Pearl Inn
Restaurants: Wildcat Willies, Zion Lodge: Red Rock Grill, Oscar’s Cafe
Hikes We Did: Riverside Walk, Lower Emerald Pool Trail, The Grotto Trail, Pa’rus Trail, Canyon Overlook, Upper Emerald Pool Trail

 

Roadtrip to Utah! January 23, 2013

Filed under: Travel,Utah — Kelocity @ 3:42 am
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This weekend, we took Adele on a pretty awesome roadtrip! I think it’s our furthest one with her yet! She did great!
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Saturday morning, we packed up the car, and set out driving 7 hours to our destination:
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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. IMG_9129

Soon enough, we were past Las Vegas and heading towards Mesquite. We just happened to stop at this place:IMG_9132
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.
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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.
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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!
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The house was gorgeous. Super comfortable, we wished we had stayed longer!
IMG_9135Can you spot the baby?
 
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Zion

Fun fact: High School Musical 2 was shot on the property!
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Here’s the pool!
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That’s right folks, see these beautiful mountains here?
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Zac Efron looked at those very mountains from this very spot. Jealous? You know you are. haha
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But seriously, the property was so beautiful. If you’re coming to St. George, we highly recommend it!
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Ohmygosh! Zac Efron played basketball hereeeeee! {squeal}
(not really, but I’m sure my cousins will be excited about this. hahaha

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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.
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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.
IMG_9166What? 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.
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I love meeting old friends in new places! So nice seeing you, Katie!
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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!
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And soon enough, it was time to head to our next stop: Zion!
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Stay tuned!

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

 

Baby’s Got Wings August 28, 2012

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