Tag: exploring

Longest road trip/vacation ever

by Ariana Peters, posted in travel

My niece graduated high school 2 weeks ago so my mom, my kids and I road tripped down to Southern California to celebrate and be with family. If you have, or had, small children you know a long time in the car is a challenge. We have done a few road trips with my kids and when we are able we break it up as much as possible. We try not to drive more than 6 hours a day.

We were lucky enough to be able to take 3 nights and 4 days to drive each way. Then we spent 10 nights there for a total of 17 nights and 18 days!!!!! It was fun but we all came home exhausted.

We tried to pack lunch every day to limit the fast food.
We got to see family along the way.
Fast food still happened. And soooo many bathroom breaks.
The kids LOVED staying in hotels.
Complimentary breakfast every morning
Toni boxes for the win!!
Railroad museum stop in Sacramento
This place was huge and very cool.
We learned a lot.

In California we enjoyed lots of family time and time with friends and a trip to the Discovery cube museum with my best friend.

Cousins!
First and second generation cousins!

We spent a day at the Aquarium of the Pacific with my mom, aunt and sister.

They had 3 different areas the kids could do some hands on learning

AND we managed a day at Disneyland! (Kids tickets were on sale for $50 so I jumped)

It was a long but great day.

Then we started the long journey home. We left late Sunday night, drove for 2.5 hours and made it to Mojave while the kids slept and pulled into the driveway about 2:30pm on Wednesday. Lots of leg stretching stops, snacks and saying we are so close to being done! We did one museum stop but really just wanted to get home because we missed daddy so much!

Popsicle break in the heat
Hot but beautiful views in Bridgeport, Ca
Got to see a good friend!
Last hotel breakfast
Last park stop
Leg stretching.

Overall the trip was great but so long. We were all done by the end.

Day 4 at California Adventure

by Ariana Peters, posted in kids, life, travel

California Adventure kind of sucked hahahahaha. There were only a small handful of rides my son was tall enough for and even less for my daughter. So many rides were closed, things didn’t open when the park did. There was just a lot that was disappointing. We did manage to occupy ourselves for the whole day but we were super glad we only went there for 1 day.

My son loves the Cars movie so Cars land was a hit
Frozen snacks……so cold they almost broke your teeth
The rare picture of just us
I found the Starbucks!!!! Both parks had a Starbucks in them but they don’t outwardly advertise that they are Starbucks until you get up close.
He thought Chip or Dale (not sure which hahahaha) was cool but he was a little wary. My daughter wouldn’t even go near him.
There was this cool redwood forest place in the park with lots of fun stuff to climb and explore……but even parts of this had height requirements. What the heck??!!!
Nap time
My sister and brother-in-law got to come and spend part of the day with us! The kids were so thrilled
The ‘san Francisco Pier ‘ area in the park.
My sister!!!!
They both like Monsters inc.
He LOVED this wrecked car outside one of the shops in Cars land. It would smoke and make a noise like it was trying to start. He stood there forever! And we went back several times.
Micky’s philharmonic 3d show.

And that’s a wrap!!!!

It was long and exhausting but I am so glad we did it. I loved watching their little eyes light up and watching them explore so many new things.

I wish the food was better for the prices they charge. I wish some of the characters were more easily accessible or accessible at all. There were no characters from Encanto which my daughter loves and to see Anna and Elsa you had to wait in a line forever and they were behind doors until you got up there so you couldn’t even wave at them and see them if you didn’t want to wait in line.

I don’t see us going back for a very long time, if ever. It’s just soooooo dang expensive! They really do nickel and dime you…..or should I say like $20 and $50 you.

I was very happy with the time of year we went though. Granted with small kids we didn’t go on some of the most popular rides with the longest waits but with the use of watching the app for wait times and trying to be smart the longest we waited was about 20min for a ride. So, I am incredibly thankful for that because I don’t think they would have tolerated much longer.

All in all I am so glad for the memories but I don’t need to do it again.

Disneyland Day 3

by Ariana Peters, posted in kids, life, travel
Oh man, by day 3 of Disneyland and day 10 of traveling I needed all the coffee! But how dang cute are they??
She loved Dumbo……I tolerated it hahaha. I don’t love spinning things.
So freaking cute!
She loved Winnie the Pooh from a distance but was skeptical up close…… brother was napping during this time.

Sister’s nap time!!! We took it day by day and nap by nap hahaha
Goofy’s house in toon town. We spent time there everyday.
Just before the rocketships in tomorrow land. Robert loved these and apparently so did she…..I HATED them!!!! I felt like I was going to fly out!
Sometimes they have sweet sibling love…..othertimes it’s thunderdome
It’s a small world. We did this every day, short lines and air conditioning!!! Need I say more?
Snacks, snacks and more snacks. This is how we survived most lines.
Every body of water had ducks, which she is obsessed with.
Sleeping Beauty’s castle
His nap
He LOVES to drive!!

Another long, fun day.

Disneyland Day 2

by Ariana Peters, posted in kids, life, travel
Good morning!!
It was fun to see Disneyland decorated for Halloween.
Runaway railroad! Ella loved it! Robert not so much, I think it was a little herky jerky for him.
Fun in Toontown
Mini’s house!
It was fun to explore the houses and see what was just decoration and what you could really interact with.
Mini me.
He LOVED the rocket ships……I took Ella on once and she loved it…….mama did not lol. I do not like spinning things and it leans to the side and goes pretty fast! Not for me lol.
Napping on the Jungle Cruise
Star Wars land. Sort of a mini date for us to walk around together while the kids napped in the stroller.

Star Wars land is freaking cool! Very immersive feeling….but! Only 2 rides and the rest is all shops……seems gimmicky for a whole land….but 100% worth exploring…..if you are there.

It’s a small world after all!!!! The kids loved everything you could look at and mom and dad loved the air conditioning
Tom Sawyers island. Robert LOVED the caves. Lots of fun to look at and explore.
He was so stinking proud to get his ‘licence’ lol. $7 well spent. He still has it. He spent the rest of the trip showing it before every driving ride.
We ended the night on the carousel.
Hi Papa!
IT’S NOT PAPA!!!!!

Disneyland Day 1

by Ariana Peters, posted in kids, life, travel

As if I wasn’t crazy enough to sign up for a long race with 2 kids under 3 I then decided that with only 1 day of rest we would spend 4 days at Disneyland.

I loved watching them look at all the new things and explore everything.
It’s impossible to get a picture where we are all looking at the camera and smiling.
Churros!!!! Oh the amount of sugar we consumed.
This was goofy’s house playground. The kids loved these kind of things just as much as the rides.
I love that there were things for them to explore and help their minds work and not just rides.
Daily stroller naps.
Both our arms were dead at the end of each day. Even though we had a stroller half the time the kids wanted to be carried.
I love the wonder in their eyes.
Ducks! My daughter is obsessed with ducks and they are all around at Disneyland.

Don’t know how but we picked a great time to go. During the day, we were almost always able to find a ride that had less than a 20 minute wait. I can tell you anything longer than that and your kids are going to freak out. Even the 20 minutes my daughter would get really fidgety by the end. Snacks are key.

Lincoln City Kite Festival

by Ariana Peters, posted in kids, life, travel

We took a quick overnight trip to the coast to spend some time with friends and see the kite festival. This was my first time going to the kite festival…….and will probably be my last hahahaha. The kites were cool but I found it pretty lackluster as far as a festival goes.

It will go down as a good memory and I’m glad we did it but it was absolutely not our best executed trip hahaha. We had a fair few tantrums.

The kids napped on the way there.

We played on the beach until we had access to the AirBnB we were going to share with friends

The house was right on the beach and had a great view

We can’t go anywhere without injuries hahahaha

After an early afternoon of playing on the beach and walking around we played on the rental houses deck and ordered a pizza

Little man slept in a big boy bunk bed!!!

Sleeping was absolutely terrible. The room was facing west so we had the sunset which in Oregon is not until 9:30 with full darkness, not until about 10: 30pm and while he doesn’t sleep in a completely dark room, it’s a pretty dark room so it took him forever to fall asleep. He did not go to sleep until about 10: 15 p.m.

Then the casino about a mile and a half away had fireworks and some drunken neighbors decided to sing along to them, thankfully this did not wake either kid up. Then at 11:45 p.m. drunken people on the beach set off a huge fireworks that lit up the entire room for about 30 minutes which woke the baby up.

The next morning was a slow leisurely morning (I ordered Starbucks through door dash because I could not keep my eyes open). Little man woke us all up at 5:30am We had breakfast with the whole house then played on the very windy beach.

There were lots of tantrums a long the way hahahah
Cheese!!!
We went through so many outfits with the sand and water hahahahhaha

My friend and her family were in the house with us too. The babies played together a bit

Then it was time for us to pack up and head home!

Both kids were asleep within about 15min of leaving and slept pretty much the whole way home.

It was an absolutely exhausting trip and I’m still exhausted today even after going to sleep an hour early, but I’m glad we did it. I’m going to try and go to sleep early again tonight

European Cruise: Day 8 Sicily

by Ariana Peters, posted in food, healthy lifestyle, training, travel

Sicily, Italy! We are in port from 7am to 7pm today. I have no planned excursion today but most of my travelling companions do so I was just gonna walk around on my own. 

I slept in until 8 then got up and went to breakfast then Carra’s grandma and I headed out for a little walk in the town. 

We meandered along looking at the pretty buildings. 

Got cappuccinos

Wandered around some more

Then stopped for wine and bruscetta before getting back in the boat to relax and read. 

We went to an actual sit down dinner that had great food and tiramisu for dessert!!

Then I went with Carra’s grandma to a 50s and 60s music trivia thing then went to a little game show that I was terrible at hahahahaha. I only lasted 8 seconds before I said the word I’m not supposed to. 

Then I wandered around for a few minutes then went to bed. 

European Cruise: Day 3 Venice!!!

by Ariana Peters, posted in food, healthy lifestyle, travel

Today is all about exploring and experiencing everything Venice has to offer…..that I can afford, let’s remember I am on a budget.

Last night we had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe (that is the tourist spot my friends like to hit everywhere) I get it, I like to get the starbucks You Are Here mugs. 

Then we went straight home and passed out!!!! My bed was a little hard on my back so I tossed and turned a bit but we all slept for about 10 hours!! 

Up at 10am, everyone is showering and getting ready! 

Time to explore!

But first breakfast! Espresso and pastry. 

Oh man, did you know you aren’t supposed to drink the tap watsr I’m Venice? So we have to keep thinking about buying bottled water.  

We travelled around on the vapparetto and saw the outside of islands. 

I had pizza in Italy for lunch!!

Then we hopped off the vapparetto and ended up in an almost empty part of Venice which was amazing!!! 

Totally happy I got to see this classic Italy scene!

Piazza San Marco!

Enjoyed a glass of wine in the afternoon and people watched 

Then we took a walking tour

Saw some amazing things 



Then it was Gondola time!

And of course, pasta!!!!!!

And now it’s back to sleep cause we are leaving at 5am to catch a train to Verona! 

Goodnight!

Stitch Fix for Europe!!!

by Ariana Peters, posted in healthy lifestyle, travel

Good morning!!!

Europe is coming up quick and after asking my roommate about her packing situation and realizing we have 2 formal dinners on the cruise I thought I might need a little more style to add to my wardrobe for the trip. So I my clothes will be have stylish have workout clothes hahaha. I ordered a stichfix and for the first time gave them a dollar amount that I needed to stay with and they totally listened! She was actually $1 under my budget! I was impressed. But I won’t be keeping the whole box unfortunately. I wish they gave you like 10 things instead of 5. But here is what was in the box:

This necklace is actually on point for my style but so much so that I have at least 2 necklaces that are pretty similar hahaha.

This doesn’t wow me or unwow me. I have been starting to lose weight so in another 10lbs it will look totally cute but I have a few things in this style already.

LOVE this shirt, it is cute and comfy and has Polka Dots which are totally my jam. It is adorable and conservative so I can wear it to the more strict dress code places in Europe like Vatican City. and it is loose a breezy so I shouldn’t be dying on a hot day. This is definitely a keeper.

This dress is the style I love, its empire waist-like and its a dark green color which I love, it would be great in fall with leggings and boots and I like the neckline design, it makes it cute but still classy because it doesn’t really show cleavage. But again I have a dress pretty similar to this so I unfortunately don’t need to spend the extra money on something similar.

The fifth piece is this kimono cover thing. I don’t hate it but I don’t love it. I can see how it would be cute with jeans and a tank top in the fall and the colors are great but I am not 100% sold on it. And if my first thought isn’t “omg I have to have it” then it goes back.

That leaves me with the polka dot shirt. Maybe I will check out target and some discount websites.

 

Have you tried Stitchfix yet?

Here is my referral code if you have not.

https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/7169629?sod=w&som=c