Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

It was a gorgeous morning and we had a wonderful day at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower plant sale.



Aspen was able to roam around, smelling all the flowers and explore.



Everyone working the sale was really friendly and they had a great selection of different plants and wildflower seeds.



The fresh air really wore Aspen out. It was a great way to spend our morning.

Fall Weather Brings Some Joy!

We have been enjoying some nice weather in Texas the last week or so. This has made trips to the park more enjoyable for everyone.



Lately it's hard to get a picture where she is just sitting still. Majority of the day she is on the move!



She is learning new things everyday and I love to wonder what she is thinking about when she gets her "serious" face.



She is still my silly girl and I love to make her smile and laugh any chance I get.



Hopefully the cool weather keeps up so she can dress like this more often--don't you love the hat? We got it when we were in San Fransisco.



I got the idea of piling some pillows and letting Aspen run and jump into them. I had no idea she would have so much fun with it--this lasted about 30 minutes!

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!