Hi friends! It's Monday again, which means we're here with another recap of our weekend. As always, it was a fun and relaxing one. I love when Michael is off on Saturday and can spend his entire weekend with us... it's the best! *this post does contain a few affiliate links- thanks for the support*
On Saturday we decided to go to this park we had never been to before. I had looked at pictures online and the park appeared spacious and looked absolutely gorgeous. Picnic tables with grills, playgrounds, sports fields, a pond for fishing, hiking trails etc. There were also some hiking trails to a patch of Redwood trees. I knew we had to at least go and check it out. We packed up our bags and headed out for the morning.
The entrance fee over the weekend was $5 which I thought was very reasonable. Here was our little park map.
Ella loves any place that allows her to run around and be free, so she was thrilled to be there.
We set up my phone on the self-timer and had it balancing on the stroller just perfectly so we were able to get a family photo. Not the best picture but it was the best we could do!
Such a gorgeous area and I loved the pond. Something about a water view (of any kind) is just my favorite!
We were able to use Ella's jogging stroller on the hiking trail which was amazing. I can't believe how durable her stroller has been through all of our adventures, including this hike. The terrain was relatively smooth but at times we hit deeper soft patches of loose dirt, but the stroller did great. It was realllllly hot outside and I'm not going to lie, I was dying pushing the stroller- hence why Michael did it most of the time.
The trail was short and very easy. We got to the trees in no time and it was so nice to get some shade. It was so pretty to see all the Redwoods in the middle of this desert-like setting. (We are currently planning an overnight trip to go see the real giant Redwoods- and we can't wait!)
Once we got to the Redwoods, we had to take some pictures! I love a plush background!
Ella apparently does not know how to look at the camera, hahaha. She was way too fascinated with everything around us to pay any attention to our camera. There were several families walking on the trails behind the wooden fence and she was so curious about what they were up to.
Love these two! (My color block tee is one of my favorite Amazon purchases from the year!)
At one point, several people riding horses on the trails came by and Ella was in awe of them. She loves horses and has never seen one in real life. She kept pointing and saying "neigh!" They actually stopped so Ella could pet the horse, but Ella didn't really know what to do with herself so she just squirmed around in my arms. When they took off Ella bawled her eyes out because she wanted the horses... Sweet girl loves animals.
Ella did some walking during the hike back.
I love this picture of her in her little converse sneakers.
It was a fun little Saturday adventure!
That night we went over to Michael's parents for dinner and had an otherwise uneventful night. I took this picture of Ella and Michael's Mom. So sweet! :)
Sunday
Sunday morning we all slept in until 7:30- it was truly amazing. When I woke up the room was brightly lit from the sunshine peeking in, and I knew it was late in the morning. I couldn't believe when I checked Ella's monitor and she was still asleep. We had a quick breakfast, but had run out of coffee, so we had to get some out.
After a drive through Mcdonalds for coffee, (definitely not the best but not the worst) we went to El Dorado park so Ella could see the ducks and squirrels by her favorite pond.
The weather was sunny but cool and oh so gorgeous!
We came back home and I made some banana nut muffins. I don't know what is is, but I can never buy the right amount of bananas for our family. If I buy 1-3, they are gone in a day. If I buy a bunch, they sit there until they are all black. I decided to take the black ones to make the muffins and YUM are they good!
As you can see, a couple muffins magically went missing before I was able to take a pic! ;)
Ella helped me harvest some basil from our plant. She loves helping in our 'garden.' I so look forward to the day that we can have a real garden and grow lots of yummy veggies.
After some time at home, we went to the farmer's market to grab some goodies for the week. Ella has fun just running around outside, looking at the water and all the boats at the marina. Michael usually takes her over there while I focus on the market and getting what we need.
Such a pretty view! I love looking at all the different boats and their unique names.
Ella always steals a strawberry or two before we head home.
Our market haul. We got coffee, eggs, broccoli, cucumbers, garlic, white nectarines, strawberries and a watermelon. I had never seen garlic in it's natural form before and I was shocked when the guy at the stand handed that to me. But he told me the seeds at the end of the stalk can be used to grow garlic, so I am going to try! We love taking our produce bags with us to the farmer's market so we don't need to waste plastic.
I made pizza for Ella's lunch and used the freshly picked basil. I added mushrooms, broccoli and used pesto for the sauce. Ella really loved it actually.
Michael went to one of our favorite meal spots to get us both lunch to-go. He got a rice dish and I got some pho! It was sooo good. I hadn't had pho in months. It was my go-to when I was pregnant with Ella (just no bean sprouts.)
Ella took a nice long nap and I did some reorganizing in her kitchen area and just love how this little corner looks. She has been a big fan of her kitchen lately. Playing with a kitchen and playing house was always one of my favorite activities as a child. Like mother like daughter I guess :)
When Ella woke up I had several activities ready for her. One was a sticky wall for her to practice colors and shapes.
She had fun and identified the color blue correctly!
Ella also did some painting. We are sending the little box to my Mom and the birdhouse to my Dad.
I set up this area for Ella to play with when she was done with her arts & crafts. She ended up playing with this and other random stuff from The Dollar Tree all afternoon. We love her M&D latch board as a post-nap activity. Getting her to play independently is always a challenge, but she did great on Sunday.
After some play time and dinner, we went for a walk and a bike ride.
As you can see, Ella still loves her trike.
Ella got a nice bubble bath before going to bed. Honestly, I didn't make it much later than she did.
Our weekends are fun but they go by so quickly. I am already thinking of next weekend and planning our next adventure. This week should be relatively laid back for us, as I am only working Monday, Wednesday & Thursday. Lots of time for fun in between! I am hoping to make a Trader Joes run this week, so if you have any MUST-HAVES please share! We hope you have a great week and we'll see you back here to share all of our TJ finds.
-Ashley & Ella
xoxo
I've always wanted to see Redwoods. I saw a meme about how you can never get the right amount of bananas!
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful parks! We had a pretty HOT weekend weather wise so we spent lots of time in or on the water.
ReplyDeleteThat color block shirt was in my Amazon cart and you just reminded me to buy it! Looks like you had a great weekend 😀
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