We had a lot of fun and already can’t wait to go back next year.
Mamas was tired after though!!!!
Cabin camping
Tag: happiness
Day 4 at California Adventure
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.
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 2
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.
Disneyland Day 1
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.
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.
Trip to southern California
It’s been a minute since I posted, a lot has been going on here so there will be a few posts coming.
First let’s talk about food. Found some food carts near my work.
Can you say flipping delicious!!!!!
Then it was off to cali!
We did some beach walking
And some friend visiting
And some drinking lol
The main reason we were in Cali was the wedding of my oldest friend! I was honored to be a bridesmaid.
Getting all done up for the wedding
How amazing is that dress!!!!!
I can’t believe I’ve known her since i was 2!!!!!
Then we did some family visiting. He met several family members for the first time.
My family loves to play tile rummy.
Then it was back home and back to real life.
Week 5 A&P 1
Some of the bones are going to be very difficult to identify. Nasal bones for sure and lacrimal bones.
Back home
I had an amazing time, obviously hahaha, but it is so good to be home. But I am not going to lie it took a few weeks for me to get back into my normal rhythm. Even now I am just starting to get a running regimen back down. And even with taking melatonin and not sleeping on the flight back, it took a good week to get back to a normal sleep pattern.
I am taking all the puppy cuddles I can get. I missed my little girl so much but she did pretty good which is awesome.
I am taking all the cuddles and fun I can get from my man as well. I missed him a lot. I can’t wait to travel with him.
We had a fun fall day of taking a country drive, picked out pumpkins, ate some caramel corn, and carved pumpkins while watching “Pet Cemetery”. Oh and the boyfriend made an AMAZING roast that I have been living on for the past week. Finally finished the last bit for lunch today.
He makes me pretty happy.
Trying to get back to smoothies or juice for breakfast. Been using the bits and pieces that I have to make it all though, I need to get a good grocery shopping trip in soon.
Got my run on. The days right now are pretty nice. I anticipate another run tomorrow.
Using C25k (couch to 5k) to get my butt moving and in the groove again. Fun fact: this is how I started running in the first place! It is a free app, you should try it!!! Thankfully it isn’t as hard this time as it was my first time hahahaha, but now instead of struggling to finish 60 seconds of jogging I am struggling by making myself run a few minutes faster than I normally would so I am still winded by the 3rd interval hahaha and never quite recover completely until the end.
Enjoying the foliage here in Oregon………or should I say the death of the trees. It’s so pretty!!!!!
And yes, I am enjoying my fair share of pumpkin spice coffee!!!!!
What’s been going on over here
I have been on a serious sweet tooth kick over here. Made my coffee a mocha.
Always fun to study something that no one knows what it does
Salad and something with cheese has been a big lunch time ritual for me lately.
pork roast with veggies and rice. I love using the slow cooker
Artemis and I enjoyed the eclipse by going for a run. It was pretty eerie. People looking at the sun with glasses while it got dark then as a group would turn and look at us run by, very pod people-esque. I kept waiting for zombies to jump out at us.
Smoothies are still a big thing over here.
More salad and cheese.
Mmmmm breakfast sandwich from the coffee shop near work.
Life has been food, running, work and starting to freak out about Europe hahaha. Talk to you soon!!!!!
Ariana’s travel tips
- plan, plan, plan- I know some people like to fly by the seat of their pants and that is great but in some cases you need to plan. If you are not on a budget then you might have a little more room to play with this but if you are on a budget, as I always am, planning is your best friend. Also if you only have a limited amount of time planning ahead can save you hours of wasted time standing in line.
- research- Groupon is international if you didn’t know. For most places if you do a little research you can find inexpensive skip the line passes, semi-guided tours, activities and so much more at reduced costs and it definitely saves you on those hours in line.
- planning and research also help you squeeze in as much as possible in a short time period. For example we are packing Venice into a day and a half then on our last day in Venice which would have been a 3/4 day anyways we are instead taking the train and spending a few hours each in Verona, Florence and Pisa before laying our heads down in our AirBnB accommodations in Rome.
- Think outside the box when it comes to lodging- you don’t have to stay in a nice hotel to feel luxurious when traveling. If you once again research you can find nice places for a lot less expensive. I have stayed in some seriously nice hostels and and used AirBnB several times when I have travelled. If you are traveling with friends AirBnB is a great choice. We have accommodations in the heart of Venice, Rome and Barcelona through AirBnB that are less than $150/night, whole apartment in each place, split the cost between everyone and you are looking at $20-30/night for each person in a nice place. and having and entire apartment means you have a kitchen so you can hit the market and make a few meals to save some money. You are still eating locally!!!
- Do a few things that aren’t overrun by tourists- on my first morning in Venice after some coffee and a pastry I plan on walking the opposite direction of the crowds and will continue to do this. That is how I will explore Venice, going the opposite direction of the crowds (obviously do a little research on places you should avoid and use common sense, if you turn down a street and it feels sketchy, backtrack quickly).
- Safety!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- Be safe, research the places you are going, know the areas to avoid, know the laws and customs. Pay attention to the dress code. If something or someone doesn’t feel right get out of that situation and place ASAP. Think before you act. If you are alone, don’t get so drunk that you are impaired. That movie TAKEN with Liam Neeson is a fun thriller but it is also real, people are kidnapped and murdered every day, enjoy your vacation but be smart and be aware.
- common sense should see you through-if you wouldn’t do it at home don’t do it abroad. Again take 10 minutes and learn about the place that your are going, I would sunbath topless in Ibiza, I would cover all tattoos and most skin in the middle east, different place different experience.
- Check in. Give someone at least a vague itinerary of where you will be and when you will be there and when you will be home so someone will know if you don’t arrive. Try and check in at least ever 72 hours (I tend to check in at least once every 24 hours) you can find a free or very cheap internet café almost anywhere. And most cell phones have international coverage if you check. It will cost me $.55 every day to send 1 text message to my mom and get one back from her both acknowledging we know I am alive. $.55/day is not much to ensure piece of mind.
- Be a dork. Take selfies and make stupid faces and journal and take videos. Who cares what the people around you think, in 5, 10, 15 years you are going to be so glad you can look back on those memories.
- Be respectful. It may not be your culture, religion or favorite food but it is theirs. You wouldn’t want someone to bad mouth your way of life so don’t do that to anyone else. You don’t have to believe in it or even accept it but don’t be mean about it. Step to the side, quietly leave the church, discreetly bow out of the ceremony, say thank you and try the tiniest bite you can manage.
- lastly HAVE FUN!!!!! You may never be back, you may never experience something like this again so drink it all in. Take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way and truly live this experience.
Huckleberry half**Race Review
This last Saturday my boyfriend and I ran our first race together. We didn’t have high hopes going in since neither of us had trained enough and there were going to be some hills.
We are not fans of getting up early.
What can I say about this race except that it was small which was nice and off the main road so we didn’t worry too much about cars. Their fuel stations were just ok in my opinion but I am used to bigger races with bigger sponsors so in the future I would just need to plan better.
The race was on sort of back mountain roads so trail running shoes would have been better because the roads were all chewed up from snow. I got blisters on my blisters.
The course was beautiful and shaded which made all the difference.
Our pace was ok, not great but not horrible for a hilly run for me.
As you can see I started off strong and really faded toward the end hahaha
Oh the hills!!!!!!! The entire race was a series of ups and downs. There was no flat, this race just wiped me out.
Fun wood carved medals, though Brandon is disappointed we didn’t get t-shirts, he likes those more than the medals.
Overall it was fun and I am glad we did it but I wanted to cry the last 3 miles because I was so tired and my body hurt so bad.
We know to train better for the next one!
Oh and if you are a slow runner and don’t like being at the back of the pack don’t run this race, We crossed the finish line with only 4 people behind us….yes only 4. This was a small race of fast runners hahaha.
Trailing the blonde 