Vermont June 2016

It was June when Joe, Violet and I visited Vermont for a week, but I really wanted to go back and post photos from our trip since it was so special.

Vermont is where Joe grew up. Ever since I met him five years ago (here in Arizona) he's raved about Vermont. He'll talk about the trees and the buildings and the leaves. It's his home, where he grew up, and you can really tell how in love with it he is! Me, on the other hand; I grew up in the same town I live in now. I had never been very far east before, and since knowing Joe, I've been dying to see that side of the country. 

We actually had plans to visit Vermont in the fall of 2015, but since that ended up being the time of Vi's arrival, it wasn't exactly possible. Then a couple of friends of Joe's got engaged and their wedding was going to be in June in Vermont, and they wanted to Joe to be a groomsman. It seemed like the perfect excuse to finally go! Violet seemed old enough (almost 7 months old) to handle a plane ride and a few nights away from home, so we figured it would be good to get her used to traveling early.

I was a little bit nervous for the trip since it would be Violet's first time in an airplane, being out of the state, staying in a hotel, and dealing with a (3 hour) time change. That's a lot for a little person to handle! But she did amazingly and it seemed like she really enjoyed herself!

The flight there was pretty easy as Vi loved looking out the window and "talking" to people. Everyone sitting near us was really sweet to her and talked and waved back, which was nice. We arrived at about midnight and went straight to our hotel to sleep. The next day we walked all around Burlington and Joe showed us his favorite restaurants and places to hang out. I loved finally being about to see where he grew up and went to school. I especially loved Church Street, and the Pier.

We stayed in Burlington for 5 days before we headed over to Ferrisburgh, a town about 45 minutes away where his house was. What's so cool is that his sister and her family now live in the house that he grew up in, so I was able to see it and stay there for a few nights. We had so much fun hanging out with his family and Violet had so much fun playing with her little cousin, who is only 4 days older than her! I loved seeing her interact with someone her exact age, they were adorable together!

The entire trip was a huge success and so much fun! We saw gorgeous sunsets over Lake Champlain, ate so much amazing food, went to our friends wedding, saw the Ben & Jerry's Factory, the Teddy Bear Factory, Echo Science Museum, and had so much fun the whole time. I can't wait to go back now that I know Violet is a great little traveler, and that Joe was right about how wonderful Vermont is!

San Fransisco

Joe and I just got home on Saturday from our (very) quick trip to California. The main reason we went was to have a baby shower in San Jose, where most of his family lives. But since we were up there, we decided it would be fun to go up to San Fransisco for a day, somewhere I've never been but have been dying to see my whole life. So on Friday morning, Joe, his brother, his niece, his mom, and I drove there. His brother, Jadon, showed us so many cool places, including of course the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Boudin Bakery, Musée Mécanique Arcade, and the Painted Lady houses. It was such an amazing day and I'm so happy I finally was able to see amazing San Fransisco, I loved it so much!

I didn't take nearly as many photos as I should have, I was way too busy having fun and taking it all in, but here are some I did manage to snap. I'll be back soon with photos from our baby shower that we had later that night :)

Father's Day in San Diego

Every year, my dad likes to get the whole family together to celebrate Father's Day with him. It's a really fun reason to spend a few days with the whole family, something that rarely happens anymore. This year, we all went and stayed at his house in San Diego (that's nine adults and four kids in one house, haha!) Southern California is one of my favorite places in the world. It's always so beautiful, and brings back so many childhood memories. We spent our time there swimming, visiting Sea World and the beach, eating tons of delicious food, and enjoying the amazing California weather. I was worried I would be stressed about even that small travel while pregnant, but it was actually very relaxing and nice. Made me think about how our next family trip Violet will probably be with us to enjoy it too. I can't wait!

♥

Kauaʻi

My dad lives part time in Kauai, Hawaii, and always asks my sisters and I to come visit. So on our Spring Break from school last week, we decided to go for a few days. Emma and I left from Phoenix on Monday morning and arrived in Lihue in the afternoon. The day we arrived, it was sunny and warm, the weather was perfect. That made me so excited to spend the week on Tunnels Beach, where the house is, just getting sun and relaxing. But of course, the very next day it became cloudy and rainy, and that's how it remained the duration of the trip. It was still a really lovely stay, I just always prefer sun to rain. 

Anyways, it was a really nice little getaway, even though I missed Joe so much (he had to stay behind and work). The five days went by super fast, but we spent them hiking and kayaking and enjoying fresh fruit smoothies that my dad made us every night, SO good! We even spent a day at the St. Regis spa, which was completely amazing.

Joe and I plan on returning in June, which will be nice because the weather should be much better, I can't wait. Here are a few photos I took over the week. I always try to use my good camera for things like this, but I'm pretty lazy so most are iPhone photos ;)

I hope you had a great Spring Break!