Marching to Adventure

 as the song says: SKIP TO THE GOOD PART!!

We finally used our airline credits from our cancelled flights due to COVID and let Rose pick a destination: California :)

She wanted a beach (or a few):

   Huntington Beach

Laguna Beach

Tide Pools

The parents wanted a National Park:

The view was amazing, but it felt like we were going to blow away

We saw a coyote! Can you find her?

Rose was in rock heaven :)

Rose completed her Ranger Book and got sworn in!

Mom and Dad were pretty happy with a day in a National Park :)

We also got:

   We had some last minute ticket drama that kept us up most of the night before our flight...this was our gift to ourselves for not getting any sleep!

AND Justin was ecstatic that we were 'ducked'!!

We made it to the California Science Center in LA and touched some starfish

And saw a spaceship...Justin was pretty excited about this

LA will host the Olympics again in a few years and this stadium will be used again. 

We spent a morning kayaking around the Newport Bay. We saw a bunch of birds, snow covered mountains, and a bunch of stingray!

This guy was so happy with his lunch we got a smile with teeth!!!

Rose loved our hotel room and we even found Bluey!!! 

And at breakfast there was a pancake machine...maybe someone should get me one?!?

We were all bummed about going home, but getting to meet Zoey at the airport made it a little better.

The rest of the month was pretty fun too ;)

Rose has started making us breakfast on the weekends, clean-up is on mom and dad...

And while we ate pancakes she had a breakfast salad. 

We also made it back for (hopefully) the final snow...but we had some fun! 

Rose took an art class focusing on things to make with paper...Rose became an expert in paper cuts...oh well :)

We all went to see our school districts spring musical, Rose said one year she'll give it a try :)

Oh and an ice cream date with dad :) 

Rose, you had an amazing month! BUT next month has lots of adventure waiting for you!

All you need is LOVE...and maybe some yummy food :)

We love February and taking some extra time to show LOVE. We kept our annual tradition of leaving Rose a heart on her door each day with something we appreciate about her :) 

We also started a new tradition of letting Rose pick a heart with a task for her to show kindness to someone else. 

For Valentine's Day we all went out to dinner at our favorite place and ate really yummy food :)

Rose does not need a special holiday to show her daddy some love, she is always up for some shenanigans with dad :)

And daddy cuddles are still her favorite :)

Rose and mom went to a baking class to make yummy chocolate cookies and scones for Valentine's day too!

And we made sure we took our little love to check off her favorite winter activity! We went to a new place this year: Blue Mountain and snow tubed for 3 hours. 

Rose loved it!  Mom and dad, survived ;)

They also had double tubes which was a nice way to make sure your dad could hear you scream ;)

After Valentine's Day Rose and Nana were moved on to spring crafts, bring on the warm weather!

Some other memories from the month:

When Rose spills things on the couch the pets think it is the comfiest spot in the house. 

On Wednesday's Pop picks up Rose from school and they usually go grocery shopping...complete with a few extras :)

This month we decided to give Rose's bathroom and refresh and let her pick the colors....

Rose supervised the project ;)

Rose ended the month with a daddy daughter shopping trip for new sneakers (she's a size 7!!!)

And then they tried out the new bubble activity at the Lancaster Science Center

And of course, some other favorite activities

Happy New Year! January 2022!

 

We started off the New Year by sending our foster kittens off to their forever homes. We really loved this trio and having them over the holidays was so much fun! 

Luckily we still have plenty of our forever pets to love :)

We had a bit of snow and had fun with what we could...we're still hoping for the 'big snow'!

When we weren't outside playing we spent lots of time staying warm under our collection of blankets. Can you really ever have enough blankets? 

We also had some delayed Christmas celebrations with cousins...I did not get many pictures with this crew and totally forgot to get pictures with other cousins the following weekend. We always have a great time with the cousins especially now that they are old enough to play some fun games. 

We got a membership from Aunt Laura to the Lancaster Science Factory and made out first trip. We are going to try to make it every month...let's see how we do :)

Rose also got lots of crafts for Christmas and has enjoyed completing them. 

I had to start back to school...just a few of my bags :( Only 15 weeks, I can do this!

Rose gets picked up by Pop on Wednesday's and usually goes back to his office...then sometimes I find these notes in my desk when I go to work. LOVE :)

When mom and dad are running late Rose gets a special dinner date with Pop.

Rose has also been busy creating beautiful baked goods for everyone to enjoy. 

We got some fondant to use for the first time and we have mixed feelings about that stuff...but we'll give it another shot sometime. 

Rose ended the month with a trip to her favorite toy store to up her fidget supply. I think mom and dad enjoy them as much as she does :) She also found a new squishmallow to bring home. 

Along with a daddy-daughter lunch date.