Summer Magic

Part II- Food is half the fun.

I don't know what it is, but when on vacation the places we eat are some of the most memorable moments.  This trip was no exception.  We were given the awesome tip of the Yelp App.  Which made us try small, local places that we would never have known about. I loved it!
So here are a few pictures of yummy-ness and a lot of my Mr.  and my Lil Lady.
This Mexican restaurant looked like a grease joint, but the reviews were great and looks can be deceiving.  It was yummy.

One of my favorite finds was on our drive to San Francisco.  We wanted a sandwich shop and when we saw the outside of the Brighter Side we were hesitant.  But man alive, REALLY good sandwiches and fun ambiance.

In San Fran we had some Super Duper burgers.

I somehow didn't take any pictures of our stop at my favorite, Boudin's!  So, so, so, so yummy sourdough! And we met up with Whitney and her darling Evie. It was so fun to be there with her! I'm glad they could make it.

Sadly, not all food stops had a happy ending.  When we were driving down the Pacific Coast Highway we drove past a few cute little towns, but Laila was actually asleep and we weren't too hungry yet.  So we decided to keep driving.  Well, of course, when we were hungry and Laila was waking up, there was nothing for miles.  We drove hungry for so long that we said the next anything with food was where we were stopping. No matter what.  Fortunately for us we found this little darling little Whale Watching Cafe off the side of the road.  Unfortunately for us, despite the cuteness of the actual restaurant it was EXTREMELY overpriced and the food tasted like not completely heated up frozen food.  It was a major bummer.

The next bummer was in Ventura Beach.  Laila's expression told us everything, but we thought she was just being grumpy.  Again, the restaurant's interior was darling, but the food was ucky.  I thought my safe bet penne pesto pasta and chicken with a side salad would be at least edible.  But it was a bust.

Overall, we had LOTS of yummy food even if they weren't all documented.  I highly recommend Yelp when you are wanting to eat somewhere besides the usual places. This post is now making me hungry.  Guess it's Dinner Time!

Summer Magic

As the temperatures continued to climb in AZ, we made a few more escapes! Michael planned a sweet one week road trip to California.  We had a lot of fun, food and photos. So let me break it down...
Part I- Yosemite
We drove up to Fresno so we could visit Yosemite. Laila was pretty good for most of the drive.  Despite her smiles, the car seat got old.

Yosemite was picture perfect.  Literally.  I felt like some of our pictures looked fake.

We enjoyed seeing the giant sequoia's.  Take a look at those cheeks! (The tree is pretty impressive too.)

Yosemite is GINORMOUS.  We spent the whole day there, almost emptied a whole tank of gas and still didn't see all of it.  It was pretty tricky hiking with a baby.  The morning was wonderful. I loved the sequoias.  We saw them just in time.  When we were driving to the next areas we wanted to see, we noticed they had closed off the sequoia area due to large crowds. Half Dome was beautiful.

After Half Dome, it was midday and trying to keep Laila's bald head from being burnt to a crisp became very creative.  Even then we weren't completely successful, but she was a trooper.  Another fun anecdote on how hiking is different with a baby is the fact that I always have a spare outfit in the diaper bag in case of a blow out.  Well, this particular day we took a backpack instead of the diaper bag.  Yep. No spare outfit.  SO at the beginning of the day, Laila had a onsie, pants, and a jacket.  After Half Dome, she blew out on the onsie.  So she was down to jacket and pants.  On our way out of Yosemite, she blew out again! This time on me.  In the car.  Therefore, by the end of the day, she was down to a diaper and a little sunburnt.  Parents of the year...

But a wonderful adventure!

Stay tuned for Summer Magic Part II