East Coast Trip Part One

In May, we went on our first big trip with Lily! We had decided to do an East Coast trip to go to Meagan's graduation & to go early to visit some sites. We flew into Buffalo, New York & got there at about 10pm. Lily did great on the flight. She slept a lot of the time & was happy the whole time! We got in late, got our rental car, grabbed a pizza to eat in the car, & then drove to our airbnb, which was 45 mins away, in Niagara Falls, Canada. Our airbnb was perfect, it was really cute & only a 5 minute drive from Niagara Falls!



Our first full day of our trip was Mother's Day, my first Mother's Day as a mom. It was the best day & I will never forget it! We spent the day looking at Niagara Falls, which was so amazing. It really was breathtaking! It was a drizzly day, but actually felt really nice since we were coming from hot AZ. We walked along the falls path for awhile to see all of the Falls (Horseshoe Falls, American Falls, & Bridal Veil Falls). Then we walked through the main street & it was pretty crazy, it looked like Vegas for Kids, all of the store fronts were really lit up & they had tons of crazy museums(like wax museums), stores, & rides. We got some poutine for lunch which we actually didn't really love but had both wanted to try. Then we went to a botanical garden. It was really pretty but it had been raining a lot so we got a little wet & ended up getting our shoes & the stroller all muddy getting stuck on some of the dirt/muddy paths, it was an adventure though & we were pretty much the only ones there, story of our trip! Then we went back by the falls & walked along this path with thousands of wild daffodils. They were soooo pretty!!! There were some white daffodils, which I have never seen, tons of yellow daffodils, & the prettiest red tulips. That was one of my favorite parts of the day! Then we walked along the falls path while lily napped & later got dinner at a really good indian place on the New York side of the falls. It was such a perfect day & the best part was being with Lily & Nate all day & just thinking of how blessed I am!











The next day, we drove up to an area called Niagara on the Lake in Canada. It was a cute town with the most beautiful houses & gorgeous views of Lake Ontario. We stopped to see the lake, which was pretty to view but had lots of bugs when you got close! Then we headed on the road, driving through New York. We got lunch at a place with chicken & waffles that were sooo good!




Then we drove to Palmayra, New York to see some church sites. We went to the Palmayra Visitors Center first, then drove up Hill Cumorah. (I wanted to walk up it but it was pouring & the hill is really steep, so we walked up a few steps, & then drove up!) Then we went to Joseph Smiths's house & had a tour there, which was really cool. It was amazing to be in the spot that he was when he saw Angel Moroni. Then we walked through the sacred grove. We were the only ones there & it was raining pretty hard, but it was so peaceful with the rain all around us & the beautiful grove of trees. Then we headed back on the road to our airbnb in Ithaca, New York. We grabbed some dinner & dessert from a restaurant to go there & brought it to the hotel to eat there! Nothing better than having chili, cornbread, & cheesecake in bed, haha!



In the morning we went out to hike & explore Ithaca! It is the cutest town & I loved staying there! We went on 2 hikes near Cornell & both were amazing! We saw like 10 waterfalls in about 30 minutes on each hike! The trails were really cool, because they went right next to all of the waterfalls. The weather was drizzly but it felt good to be hiking! Once again we were the only ones outside! It was nice to have the trails to ourselves! Then we drove around Cornell. It looked like such a pretty campus. I thought it was cool seeing lots of sorority houses that were these amazing historic looking mansions. It reminded me of Legally Blonde, haha! Then we got Bahn Mi sandwiches & fried pickles (both were sooo good) & drove to a waterfall that we had hiked near earlier to have lunch. We just ate in the car, with the view of the waterfall since it was raining. Then we got back on the road & headed to our next stop, Williamstown, Massachusetts.



In Williamstown, we were staying at an airbnb that was right next to a creek & some hiking trails. We got there in the evening & were super tired, so we picked up pizza & ate dinner on the bed, listening to the running water. Then we went to bed early & woke up early to go hiking on the trails across the river. Lily was so cute & would wake up pretty early each morning, about 5 am, but we would bring her into bed with us & then she would cuddle & sleep another hour. She was such a good traveler the whole time & did great in the car too! After hiking we explored Willams college, saw original drafts of the Declaration of Independence & the Constitution, & then headed on our way to Boston!







San Diego Weekend

We had such a fun weekend in San Diego last week! On Friday Nate had to work, so I took Lily to see my cousin, Lindsay, & got to meet her cute twins! Then we went to Seaworld for an hour, then Con Pane, & then Windansea beach. The beach was perfect, it was sunnier than I thought it would be & Lily was super cute, loving watching the waves & putting her little feet in the sand.





Saturday we met Ally at the beach & had such a nice beach morning with her! We relaxed on the sand, walked along the beach, & then Lily took a little nap on me, the best! Then we met up with Ryan, Christina, Julie, & Nicole at the Carlsbad Flower Fields. The flowers were sooo pretty & there were so many rows of them. I think my favorites were the light pink ones but the deep purple ones were really pretty too! We got some wood fired pizza there & then got gelato at this place in Carlsbad owned by an italian couple, so good! After, we were sitting outside by this fountain thing & were getting Lily to laugh by making noises, she did her first real laugh! Then we went to my friend, Lindsey's house & met her cute little girl, Jojo, born just a month before Lily! She was so cute & it was so fun to visit with Lindsey & Sean. I love that we have babies so close in age, future surfers & BYUH roomies! That night Nate & I went on a date to a Grubhub, for some reason burgers, fries, & milkshakes sounded like the best thing & it was really good! Then we did a little shopping & then hot tubbed back at the house. It was such a fun day!!!






Lily's First Beach Days

We've taken Lily to the beach a few times & she has loved it! She just smiles the whole time!! I am so glad, I think she is going to love the beach just as much as me! I dipped her little feet in the ocean & she was just laughing & smiling so big! Such a cute little beach baby!






Christmas with Lily!

This year we did our usual tradition of getting a Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving. We decorated it & make peanut blossoms & Lily got her first pair of Christmas pajamas!

We had Christmas is San Diego this year! It was fun to have Lily & her little cousin Jocelyn together, two 2 month old babies! Lily did good with the drive to San Diego, her first little road trip. My favorite part of Christmas was sitting next to Nate & having Lily nap on me while we all sat around the Christmas tree opening presents. It was the best celebrating Christmas with our little baby! It felt so crazy to have her with us after so many Christmases of wishing we had a little baby!

We were in San Diego about a week & went to see lights at Christmas Card Lane, walked around Balboa Park, went on the Torrey Pines hike down to the beach with Ryan, Christina, & Jocelyn. We also took Lily to get her first Santa pic, she was unimpressed, haha! It was a great Christmas!
















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