Bellybutton

The last week or so Aspen has been extremely intrigued by her bellybutton. She will pull her shirt up and just check to make sure it's still there. She also loves to see if other people have bellybuttons.

This morning we were hanging out in the living room and I said to her, "Aspen, where's your bellybutton?". She pulled up her shirt and pointed to it. I was so impressed! I didn't really expect her to know what I was saying. Of course I had to catch it on video.

What a smart girl!



Aspen also has started quite the collection of stuffed animals. I think we are up to about 20 of them. It's getting a little crazy.

Hugging on her new three bears



Last night she had a few of her favorites in Layla's dog bed (my dad's pup) and was having quite the lengthy conversation with them all. I love watching her use her imagination--just like her mom (I had quite the collection of characters/stuffed animals/imaginary friends when I was kid)!

Playing in the Fountain

This past Saturday Jason, Aspen, and I headed down to the Palmer Events Center to go to a consignment sale my sister-in-law had told me about. We got a couple of things from the sale and we were in and out in about 15 minutes. Since we were down in the area, we decided to walk around and enjoy the park.

There was a fountain for kids to run through right next to the event center. Aspen was very curious at first, but then she decided to go ahead and cool off.



Even though Aspen often will take some time to check out new situations, she usually gets over any hesitations and ventures out. She seemed like such a "big kid" to me watching her playing through the fountain.





I took a little video of her playing. Of course right after this video was taken Jason had the thought--maybe we should take her dress off? We weren't sure if she was going to go in, so we left it on. It didn't get to soaked and she had a blast in the end, so that's what matters!

San Francisco Day 4--Last Day!

The last day we were in S.F. our flight didn't leave until 4pm, so we had a good chunk of the day to do something. At the same place we rented our bikes there was a company called GoCar that rented small cars that you could take around the city.



The tour was so much fun and interesting. We were able to see new parts of the city and did it zooming around in the GoCar. There was a built in GPS to keep you from getting lost and it also told you information about historical sites. I would definitely recommend this if you were ever in a city where they were available.



The only downside was the weather that day. It was overcast, cold,and windy. At least it was only the last day that we had to bear the cold!



We had an awesome trip and really appreciated that we had the chance to spend some time together in a wonderful city.

San Francisco Day 3

We started our morning off early again, grabbing a quick breakfast around the corner and getting ready to go rent our bikes. Jason and I both love to rent bikes where ever we travel if possible, so we were both very excited about this activity. We rented our bikes from Blazing Saddles and if you are ever in the area we would definitely recommend them for bike rentals!

We had looked into different bike routes before we headed to S.F., so we knew the mileage and length of time our trip was going to take. However, we weren't aware of the rapid change of weather (it would go from VERY windy and cold, to warm and sunny) or how steep some the hills were going to be.

Before heading over the Golden Gate Bridge we stopped at Crissy Field to take some great shots of the bridge. It's hard traveling with just the two of us and always getting a photo with both of us in it--so we improvised!



We found someone to take our picture right under the bridge before crossing at Fort Mason. Jason enjoyed her version of "Say Cheese!"..."1,2,3--Horny Bunnies!".



Then we headed over the bridge. There was quite the up hill ride to the top and maneuvering around other bicyclist became a little bit of an issue, but we made it! Thanks to Lilly's advice we waited to bike until Saturday when the bike crossing on the bridge was open. I can't imagine trying to get around all the pedestrians on the other side.



Once we reached the other side of the bridge we continued on the route towards a small little town called Sausalito. We parked the bikes and enjoyed a great lunch, we had of course built up quite the appetite at this point. The town was very quaint and a nice stop on the trip.



There were two options after lunch; you could take a ferry back to the city or continue on to another fishing town called Tiburon. We decided to venture forward and see what the rest of the trip would hold. The ride was very nice. We spent most of the time ride along the coastline, through parks and small neighborhoods. Both of us really enjoyed it and kept saying how we should move! After a little while we came up on McKegney Field, which was a beautiful park along the coast. We decided to take a little rest and enjoy the view.



Once we reached Tiburon, we rode right up to the ferry. Thankfully we arrived right on time because the next one didn't leave for another 2 hours. The ferry ride back was great and we even had a great view of Alcatraz.



The total bike trip was about 20 miles; not a bad workout for being on vacation! It was an awesome time and definitely one of the best bike trips I've ever taken.


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On side note I had to include these two pictures of Aspen. She was feeling a little left out of the blog lately :)

World's smallest pigtails...



The other day she brought out all her stuffed animals and piled them on the couch. Then she climbed and sat right in the middle. I was cracking up watching her during this whole process. Queen of the stuffed animals!!

San Francisco Day 2

We woke up really early on the second day because we still had not adjusted to the time difference, but it was nice because we got a head start on the day. Jason had done a fair amount of restaurant research before our trip and I have to say it was very helpful. We headed over to the Blue Bottle Cafe for breakfast that morning and had the most delicious Belgium Waffles--I love being on vacation and indulging!

Then we headed out towards Chinatown. We walked through Union Square which was filled with very high end stores. Great window shopping, but definitely not within the budget!



This was actually taken the day before down at Fisherman's Wharf, but I had include it. It was just a large macaroni noodle--of course Jason was making a scene for the camera.



Since we woke up so early most of the shops weren't open and the crowds weren't around while we cruised through Chinatown. I didn't mind to much though. We browsed through a couple stores, although they all sold the same things. The only thing we bought was some Chinese rice candy. I loved this stuff when I was a kid and Jason had never heard of it--of course he like it too. I would definitely recommend trying some if you haven't yet!



After Chinatown we headed towards Coit Tower. We talked to my friend Lilly the night before and she said it was worth going up to it because there were some great views of the city. It was really interesting seeing all the cars parked on these amazingly steep hills. It seems difficult to pull your car into the spots, but I guess with practice you master it.



There were some really nice views of the city once we got to the top and a nice park surrounding the tower.



At this point we had been walking a lot, but we decided to make the hike over to Lombard St. which is known as the crookedest street in S.F. (side note--found out later that this isn't even the crookedest street in the city).



After that we caught a bus towards Golden Gate Park. We had lunch and walked around the park and just relaxed. It was gorgeous weather outside and it was nice just sitting and people watching.

That night for dinner we went to a wonderful French restaurant Le Folie located in Russian Hill. We both had a 9 course meal that had a range of different delicious foods. Defintely one of the best meals both of us have ever had!

Dessert was a napoleon with blackberries, golden raspberries, and red raspberries with a basel gelato and a cream filling--yum! I also tried foie gras for the first time and I really enjoyed it! And the restaurant offered black truffles on any course. I had them on my fish and Jason had it on his beef tenderloin--wow, completely worth it!



It was a great second day--we headed back to the hotel to rest for our bicycle trip the next day!

San Francisco Day 1

Jason and I spent four wonderful days in San Francisco this past weekend. It was the first time we were away from Aspen for more than an overnight. Although we missed her a lot, it was so nice to spend some time together alone. Jason's parents came into town and watched Aspen--thank you so much!

We took an early flight out on Thursday morning, so we arrived around 11am in S.F. Jason was trying to fight off a cold still and I was very over tired, so we decided to just take the day to walk around and see the surroundings. That's what I love above big cities--you can literally just start to walk and never know what you will find or see.

We headed out after a quick lunch and found ourselves near the water. There were a few small vendors out selling different lunch options (unfortunately we already ate because some of it looked delicious!), but apparently this is the location of one of the largest farmer's markets on the weekends.



There was a nice walkway right along the water that we were able to take. There was some really nice sights from the walk and we were able to figure out a couple of things we wanted to do the next day when we would have a little more energy. One of the things included wanting to walk up to the Coit Tower.





Jason really wanted to check out the sea lions, so we ended up walking all the way down to Fisherman's Wharf. This was definitely a huge tourist trap and not much of our scene. However, my sunglasses broke before we left for the trip, so I was able to pick up a pair for $5. There weren't nearly as many sea lions as we were expecting and I wasn't able to get a very good shot of them, but they were cute to see anyway!



After the long walk we took the bus back to our hotel. We decided to take a nap, which I wouldn't normally do on vacation, but we both needed it. When we woke up we were refreshed and ready to go out on the town again. That night we were meeting up with one of my childhood friends that lives near the city. Lilly's family and my family grew up going to the same lake in Maine in the summers. It was so great to catch up with her and hear about everything in her life. We spent so many summers together as kids--it's wonderful to still be in touch.



We had some delicious Indian food that night. Jason and I usually just get Indian food to go and always get the same thing every time. It was fun to try some different things and everything was so delicious! After dinner we took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) back to the hotel. I have to say the whole time we were in S.F. we had a great experience with the public transportation--I wish we had a better system in Austin!

Yum! Dessert...

Fish and chips

Morning cappuccino in SF...

Happy Birthday Jason!

Today Jason turns 27--Happy Birthday! This year we are going to be celebrating in San Francisco. Jason and I are heading out tomorrow morning for four days without the babe! We are both so excited about getting to spend some alone time together. What a great way to spend your birthday!

Can you believe this is you and your little girl a year ago??



She was so tiny and sweet. She is still both these things of course, but now she is running around the house like a crazy woman!



Of course she insisted on sending you some birthday love--



Aspen just recently started doing "real" kisses with the smack noise and all. It's so cute! I tried to get her to send her Dad some birthday kisses, but of course every time I had the camera on she was more interested in grabbing the camera out of my hands--oh well!



Happy Birthday my love---you are the best friend, husband, and father I could have wished for! Hope you have a wonderful day :)

Playing in the Backyard

Now that Aspen is walking around everywhere she has really been enjoying hanging out/playing in our backyard. She especially enjoys "helping" water the garden or filling up the chickens water. She loves to hold the hose and splash the water.



We had the sprinkler on the other day and she wasn't so sure about it. It was hilarious watching her try to dodge the spray from it.



She is such a hoot!

Happy Birthday Nanny!

We hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy your birthday. We're sorry we can't share it with you, but Aspen wanted to send you some birthday wishes this morning.



Happy Birthday Nanny!--Love, Jason, Julia, Aspen, and Bella :)