California 2017 - The Rest of Our Adventures

We didn't spend the entire time at the beach, I promise.  Here are a few of my favorite non-beach photos from our trip...

Airports & plane rides, selfies & bike rides, smoothies & tree hangs, hiking & zoo time, breweries & delish food, sunsets & flying home...

We love California so much.  It holds a special place in our hearts, especially since we lived there for a short time.  We try to go back as often as possible to get our Cali fix, so we aren't tempted to move back... ;)

And our next fix is coming soon!

Dear April, please come faster...

California, we're ready for you!*

Life Lately!

Oh hey!  Long time no talk - oops!  Life has been craaazy busy (and FUN!) and I haven't had a chance to sit down and blog.  We've been doing a TON of fun summer stuff and it's so exciting to experience it all with Elijah - he is having an awesome summer (we would know - he told us himself!)  So here's a little peak at what we've been up to lately... enjoy! :)

Brett's Birthday!

We surprised him with donuts & spent the day at the pool :)

Hiking!
Followed by games & dinner at Mad Mex - so fun!

Running around downtown!
And getting delicious Jamba Juice smoothies afterwards

Mini golf!
Omg, this was Elijah's first time playing and it was HILARIOUS!  He loved it!

Froyo!
There's no such thing as too much froyo :)

Elijah's first pets!
We got him 3 goldfish & he named them: mommy, daddy, and baby (heart melting!)

Summer cooking!
Fresh veggies, plus homegrown basil and oregano - yum!

Oh, I love this life with my people :)

Cheers to more summer fun!*

Date Night Hike!

Happy FRIDAY!!

We've got some fun outdoor stuff planned for the weekend and I can't wait!

Speaking of outdoors, Brett and I went on a great sunset hike a few nights ago!  Almost every week, Brett and I get to go out on a date night.  My sister Brita comes over after we put Elijah down to bed and then the two of us head out for a date.  Usually, we go to a restaurant or brewery for dinner - but this week, we decided to change things up and do a sunset hike instead!  It was the first day of SUMMER + the longest day of the year, so we figured, might as well take advantage of the extra daylight!  It was such a nice change of pace compared to our usual date night. :)
 

And let me say, I know how lucky we are to get to go on dates every week, with having a child and all.  I know most people do not have that luxury.  We are SO GRATEFUL that we have family close by that allows us to do these date nights.  I think it's so important, once you have a kid, to make sure you still take time to be a couple.  It's very easy to get caught up in the crazy world of parenting and forget about how important your marriage is.  These date nights give us the time we need to be together, which then allows us to be the best parents we can be for Elijah. :)

HAPPY WEEKEND!!*

Let's Spend Every Second OUTSIDE!

Ah, it's another hot and beautiful day here in Pittsburgh!

Last weekend, we made our way down to the Three Rivers Art Festival again a few times (which apparently I took no pictures of...).  And then on Sunday, we headed up to North Park for a day of fun in the sun!  While Brett went mountain biking, Eli and I went for a run around the lake, followed by a little picnic in the grass. :)  This kid can eat a whole container of Trader Joe's fruit by himself!  And once Brett was done biking, the 3 of us headed over to the North Park pool, which was so much fun!  Eli is definitely a water baby through and through!

One of my favorite family activities is HIKING!  Any chance we get, we head over to South Park for a little hike and Eli loves it too!  When Brett suggested an evening hike on Monday, Eli and I got our stuff together and met him over at the park for a nice 1.5 hour hike.  Eli loves to pick flowers along the trail and give them to me and it melts my heart!!!

And then we went home and ate popsicles because it was NINETY degrees outside!

And now here we are at Thursday already - Brett and I are going on a little weekend getaway to Columbus tomorrow without Eli (my parents are watching him) and we are so excited!!  But we will also miss him so much, it's weird when he's not around!

Have a great weekend, friends!*