a free day

yesterday was the first day in a month or so that we didn't have anything on the schedule and nothing planned that had to get done that day. arlo loves the MAX and so we decided to take a ride to the children's museum. we loved the train ride and even played with his trains while riding. every time the train would stop at one of the other stops he'd say "ride train!!!" because he didn't want to get off. it was super cute.

once we got to the children's museum, he was a little overwhelmed at first. there was a fair amount of kids there running around and lots to see. after looking around for awhile i convinced him to go play in the water works and boy did he love it.

he ended up soaking his shoes and bottom of his pants. but, he could care less. he would hardly even look up or respond to me if i asked him a question he was so into it. eventually i started getting hungry, but he could care less about food because the water was so fun. finally we went and had some lunch. then i convinced him to leave to go ride the train. on the way back to the max, we passed by this very cool, old train that arlo played on for awhile.

he was so cute about it and kept saying "all aboard" and "wooo woooo!". i wish i had my real camera instead of just my cell phone, but these still work! it was a very fun day for arlo. we look forward to more frequent trips to the children's museum (my mom got us a membership there for Christmas & just now activated it) and even signed Arlo up for a class called "Science Tots", which looks like a lot of fun!

Table Rock

The last week (and a bit more), I have been on my Army National Guard Active Training. Basically for our band that means traveling the state and performing concerts. However, I think the very best thing we did all week was PT at Table Rock. It ended up being about 5 1/2 miles in all. There was a pretty steep hike up to the top... SGT Sigman & I power hiked the entire way. It was certainly a huge workout.

Once we got to the top, it was completely flat up until the viewpoint so we ran/jogged the mile to the end of the rock to the beautiful view:

after we enjoyed the view for a little bit, we ran back (most of the way) to the steep trail to go back down. It was a killer on the shins & knees, but so worth it. i honestly loved it, it is amazing how enjoyable working out can be when you have great scenery! i need to go back here sometime.

we went to Utah

Arlo played with lots and lots of trains. He even talked in his sleep about "Fercy" (Percy) and slept with a train in his hand. 

we had the worlds largest "mini" shakes at Iceberg.

We went to the children's museum

and we even got to play in the snow after conference!

 we got shot with lots of nerf darts. 

 Arlo ate lots of treats

and we had dance parties.

oh, and Arlo did very well on the drive there and back. 

we did some other things while we were there, but i didn't take pictures. it was so good to spend time with family (andrea & family, justin, and abby). we had lots of good food (eating out and in). it definitely wasn't a long enough trip!

a sneak peek of spring

the weather is starting to get a little warmer

it is starting to stay light a little later

we are not there yet

but we are getting closer

closer to warm days full of fun

lots of fruit

swimming

farmers markets

camping

walks

we enjoyed a sunny (and slightly chilly) afternoon at the park.

arlo can't wait for the nice weather either

he told me so himself

san fran {part three}

 this weekend, dan got to take a little bit of time off of work to spend with us. 

saturday we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (pictures to come later) and then we went to a beach in Carmel. It felt like summer, I couldn't believe that it was January and we were on a pretty warm sunny beach. 

that night we stayed at Dan's client's amazing home in Carmel Valley, located on a HUGE hill... check out this view. (out on the deck with no makeup)

 this picture does NOT to this view any justice. there is also an equally amazing view on the other side of the house.

we also had lunch at this cute and tasty place, the Wild Goose Cafe. We ate outside and I was hot! It honestly felt like Oregon summer. While the food was delicious, the guy working there was not very friendly.

it was a nice weekend, and it was especially nice to get a different view outside where we have spent the last week. now, we have the rest of this week ahead.... starting it out exhausted since Arlo slept horribly the last two nights. But, we are thankful for the gorgeous weather and the chance to see all of these beautiful places. 

san fran {part two}

playing at aquatic park today.
and by "play", i mean... arlo booking it for the water constantly while i chase after him.
saying the phrase "you have to hold mommy's hand" about 100 times, only to be followed by him running away shaking his head "no"
san francisco is fun. but, it would be more fun if i wasn't doing everything alone with arlo.
tomorrow we are going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (I hope).
WITH DAN! Woooo for Saturdays. Unless Arthur decides that Dan has to work. 

san fran {part one}

close to the end of last week, dan was asked to go to san francisco to work with one of this clients and we decided to all go. we got here on sunday and will be here for 2 weeks. it is definitely neat to be here... but dan is working a lot too, so arlo and i are on our own almost the entire day. dan catches the train at 8:15am and doesn't get back until about 7pm. 

our hotel is just a short walk away from pier 39, so we have spent some time there. arlo loves running around, climbing on the benches, and looking at the water, boats, birds, and sea lions. 

today we are hopefully going to go to the aquarium of the bay, although arlo didn't get much sleep last night and is pretty cranky. we'll see what happens. 

yesterday we spent half of the day on buses to go buy a stroller. we tried coming without one, and that was a mistake. by the end of the first day my arms were sore. while this kid loves to walk and run, it's not always the best idea. also, arlo has become somewhat attached to his monkey backpack. he has to put it on anytime we leave the hotel room (which is tiny, but pretty nice). 

texas [part two]

it's about time, right? i mean, we did go to texas back in the beginning of august!

here are more pictures from a disposable camera. this time it was a waterproof one, since we were going to a waterpark. apparently schlitterbahn has some pretty awesome rides, unfortunately we didn't get to go on them. however, we did get to play with arlo on all of the kids stuff. this was way more than i thought because he had so much fun and kept signing "more" and "please" because he wanted to go on the slides over and over and over and over.... it was adorable and exciting for everyone.

dan and i did go on a couple of rides, but not the "coolest" ones, and even still had to spend a lot of time in the lines. unlike seaworld, one of us would have to wait in line alone while the other had arlo, alone. then when the first person finished the ride, the second would have to wait in line all over again. so, a line with a 1 hour wait took over 2 hours for the both of us to ride. forget the "cool" water rides that had 2 hour lines each. however, it was still a very fun day.

the beach with the blaisdells

these pictures are extra super fun because i used a disposable camera. i love how they look. i forgot how fun it can be to drop off the film, pick it up, and open your pictures, flipping through them one by one... seeing them for the first time. i think i might have to buy disposables more often. this beach trip was pretty fun, arlo loved it... he was so soooo adorable and cute this day, i am so glad i have these pictures to remember it (oh, and this was awhile ago).