Faaaaaahhhhl

I can't begin to put into words how beautiful Utah is right now.
All of the leaves are changing color.
When you are in the city and look up to the mountains, all you see are vibrant greens, reds, oranges and yellows.

If you've been following us for awhile, I'm sure that you have heard me say that Summer is my very favorite season.  It really is.  But, Fall would come in a very close second.
I LOVE Halloween and everything that goes along with it.....carving pumpkins, dressing up, costume parties, corn mazes, haunted houses, apple cider, scary movies......I also love wearing boots & the cooler weather....
Fall has always meant new beginnings to me.  Maybe because school always began in Fall.  There's a certain air of excitement that goes along with it.

I've been promising M that we would take a picnic up Millcreek Canyon.
It only takes us 10 minutes to get to this spot from our house!  That includes windy mountain roads.
So, blessed!

The weather held for so long, it almost seemed like it would last forever.  Of course, it changed over night and it was actually cold last weekend.  We tried to beat the sun going down and opted to just take Five Guys burgers, hot dogs and fries up.  That still qualifies as a picnic, right?

This must be M practicing for Halloween.  Might be a scream or a growl.
Check out the hubby's expression.  It is cracking me up. 
She must have been screaming!

Here's some more good facial expressions from him.
Self portraits by just holding the camera in front of you just never seem to turn out.

My poor husband.  When I saw these pictures I asked him if he's feeling okay.
Since he had cancer, I'm always looking at his face and body - searching for any signs of another bout of the ugly stuff.  He's actually TRYING to lose weight.  But, now that his face is looking thinner, I catch myself wondering and worrying.

When we met with his Oncologist (who, by the way is THE VERY BEST!) for the first time, she warned me that the spouse always worries more than the patient.  She was SO very right on that one!

All I will say is that I am glad he has a follow up tomorrow.  The fact that he has them every 4 months, keeps me sane.

Oh, yeah.  I don't know that I've actually talked about his cancer on the blog much.  So, I should tell you that he is in remission...YEAH!  Thought I better say something in case you were wondering. 

I wish I would have adjusted the settings on my camera as the sun was going down.  These photos look a little drab.  It really wasn't.  The colors were so vibrant!

I would love to be able to purchase Photoshop.  Maybe one day.  Until then, I heard about a freebie program that is supposed to pretty good.  It's called Inkscape.  I hear it is comparable to Illustrator.  We shall see.  I downloaded it the other day.  I'm excited to start playing with it and hoping that I can do some photo editing with it.  I'll let you know.

 

 

She's so funny.  She doesn't wear her sunglasses because she thinks they look cool.  She's always worried about protecting her eyes.  I don't know where that came from.  But, she wears them quite a bit.

 

What is Fall like in your neighborhood?

 

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Staying Afloat.....

Thank you for the birthday shout out Heather.  You are so sweet!  

I had a great birthday.....one that involved a family reunion, a midnight dash to Mesquite, a bottle of champagne and a bubble bath at 2:00 in the morning, breakfast, a hike and cliff jumping bright and early!  Yes that is how I roll these days.  Jam packed and staying afloat....barely ;)

If you haven't noticed already this is pretty consistently me and Heather's MO :).  If the plate's not full, we are hungry.  A good thing....right??

Well, I am back from my blogging sabbatical and my apologies for being a stranger.  It has been a couple of seriously CRAZY weeks for me down in the UC. 

I thought I would end my blog post with my TOP TEN SUMMER MUST DO's.

*I know...I know...summer is almost over.  I thought I would get you started on some ideas for next Summer ;).  I also really really don't want to say goodbye!

MUST DO #1: Get in a Raft

See photo above.  Disclaimer: I would not suggest a sinking one without oar mounts like mine; but aside from all of that, it is fun to get out on a lake if only for a minute. 

MUST DO #2: Hiking Date Night

If you are in Utah, Albion Basin would be my top recommendation in July or August.   A bottle of wine is always a welcome addition to a date night....My current favorite: Barefoot Red Moscato.  YUM!

MUST DO #3: Trip to the Ocean

Any ocean would do ;)

MUST DO #4: Go Camping

I know this is hard to do with little kids but trust me it is so worth it! 

MUST DO #5-Hit the Zoo

Kids and animals....Need I say more?

MUST DO #6-Play in the rain

Even if you cheat and use an umbrella....

MUST DO #7-Go on a picnic

Can't beat the atmosphere here.

MUST DO #8-Go to a Carni

I am glad it is only a once a year thing :).

MUST DO #9- Watch a Meteor Shower

Sorry no photo for this one....I tried but it was too cloudy!

MUST DO #10-Go outside and play! 

Sandstone and water make a perfect playground.

That finishes off my TOP TEN.

Things I didn't get to do this year that I really wish I would have: 

1. More Farmers Markets
2. Grow Cherry Tomatoes
3. Paint!  (It has been on my goal list)
4. Go Mountain Biking

What are your Summer Must Do's?  Maybe I can borrow some ideas to add to my next years list ;).

Welcome Fall....I will miss Summer but I sure do love your cooler temps, fresh veggies and AMAZING colors! 

 Summer To Do List
Summer To Do List
Summer Must Do List
Summer Fun List
Pinterest Summer Fun List
Pinterest Summer To Do List

You're not tired of the ocean yet are you? I didn't think so.

Day 3 BIG SUR!

Motto for the day: TWILIGHT ZONE!

I told the hubby that since our family trip would pretty much be our anniversary trip we should go see Big Sur for our anniversary :). 

I have been wanting to visit Big Sur for years and it was just too close to NOT go.....so at 9:00 am we were off to Big Sur.  Good ol' Jill (GPS) told us it would be 2 hrs and 45 min. that was cake compared to the driving we had endured so far; besides that much time looking at the ocean sounded great with me.

About two hours into the trek we found our first stop.  Ragged Point

AMAZING! 

Ocean, as far as the eye could see and such a deep blue.  It was breathtaking.  

Can't see us that well with all that beautiful ocean in the background :)

 We got us some EXPENSIVE corndogs and we were off!

We had our first experience with Jill the optimist (remember Jill....the GPS...that said it would take 2 hrs 45 min :).  Four hours later we arrived at our first destination:  McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.

One thing I never noticed when researching this place is that none of the photos were ever from the ground level.  It is a lookout point that you pay to go see.  It was AMAZING and worth every penny of the entry fee.......I just envisioned actually being able to walk to the waterfall.  

Had to throw another one up for you! 

And the view from the other side.

Well that wasn't the end of it.  We just HAD to make it to Pfeiffer Beach the other famous photos I have seen. 

Here is where we went deep into the Bermuda Triangle :).

While looking at the map and visitor info on Big Sur it listed the directions to Pfeiffer Beach.  It was listed as a must see with it's natural arch in the ocean and it's purple sand!  How could we miss it?

Note to self.....when a beach is NOT marked and hard to find.  There is a reason :)

We pulled up to the pay station and there was a note that said "YES IT IS A WINDY BEACH, NO THERE ARE NO REFUNDS".  We laughed as I said, "What beach isn't windy?  What kind of a person asks for a refund because the beach is windy?"  We kept chuckling until we pulled in.  

Once we hopped out a cute little English lady came over to our car to let us know we should put on some "Trousers" because the "Sand was whipping around a bit".  Once again we chuckled as we headed down the trail (in our shorts).  We got about 20 feet down the trail before Indiana started SCREAMING.  The wind was blowing SO hard that the sand was coming at us like a million little needles.  

I named this beach the Bermuda Triangle Beach.  It was like standing in a wind tunnel!  Thank goodness we didn't bring B's with us or it would have picked her up and taken her away Wizard of OZ style!  

Indiana would not stand up and SCREAMED the entire time, my sunglasses where blown off my face four times and when we got back in the car we were COVERED in sand.

My cute hubby braved the elements to get me a few pics!

After this beach experience we could not WAIT to get back to the condo.  We had seen enough ocean for the day.  Unfortunately we had four hours of Highway 1 (and plenty of it) ahead of us.  It was a LONG ride home.

Filled with sharp turns.......

 Vast Ocean Views....

Construction....Highway 1 style.

Whale Rock.....

Light House......AND........

ZEBRAS!!!!

Just when we thought the day couldn't get any more strange Indiana on the way home said......Daddy have I ever seen a Zebra before?"  Her dad answered, "No, I don't think you have, they weren't out at the zoo when we went".  

Not even ten minutes later on the opposite side of Highway 1, this is what we saw. 

Phew....what a day!  

 Big Sur, Big Sur, Big Sur, Pfeiffer Beach, Pfeiffer Beach,

Pfeiffer Beach,  Pfeiffer Beach, McWay Falls, McWay FallsBig Sur, Big Sur, Big Sur, Pfeiffer Beach, Pfeiffer Beach, 

 
   

The Pancake House, Seal Beach, San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, Morro Beach....Yes this is only Day 2

First let me start with saying Heather I LOVED your post.  We sure do have a lot going on in our lives right now....especially YOU so it will be refreshing to start talking creativity instead of deadlines for just a bit.   On deadlines, you already have many of those in the works!

It is so fun to see how big your "little guy" is getting!

Alright....on to DAY 2! Theme of the day:  A cross between AMBIANCE and AGENDA

Agenda: I seem to over plan trips :)  I told my hubby to remind me next vacation that I will need to take my agenda and cut it in half, then we can talk realistically.  For our honeymoon we spent almost our entire week DRIVING through Colorado and staying in dive hotels to see all the places I wanted to see.  Romantic right?

Ambiance: I insisted that we had to experience the dining in these little towns.  I didn't want to just eat out I wanted to eat at places with "Ambiance".  It was the experience with the food.  My hubby told me after this trip he could go without hearing that word for the rest of his life ;).

Day 2:  On the agenda for the day: Some Authentic Solvang breakfast, Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo.

SOLVANG

We stopped in at: Paula's Pancake House.

One word-Ambiance!

Such a cute and YUMMY restaurant!  If you ever make the trip to Solvang I would suggest this quaint little place for some danish pancakes. 

We got to sit right in front of the window

Breakfast of champions right there!

 Perfect photo opp!

Now off to: PISMO BEACH

Love this picture!

When we arrived at Pismo Beach it was foggy and COLD.  Indiana was not feeling too good so we didn't want her to get too wet.  Of course that means she took about five steps into the water and fell over :).  She was SOAKED.

There she is right when she went down.

The sun came out a little bit but it was still too cold to play.....so we headed for San Luis!

SAN LUIS OBISPO

Known as the Happiest Place in America.  I really wish we had more time there.  It was a fun little town with streets filled with shops and a river walk going through the town.  There were also a whole bunch of people doing Yoga in the park.  I have seen it before but not on this level it was crazy!  I am really kicking myself for not getting more photos :).

The kids found a great little toy store where the Coyster found himself a pretty nice boogie board and an awesome boomerang.  The boogie board was only 12 bucks!

We found ourselves a nice little Brewing Company right off the river walk.  Did anyone say..... AMBIANCE?  I did....a few times :)

Indiana was loving it :)

Here we met a nice couple that told us about the Elephant Seal observation point......so we were off!

On our way out of town we stopped at the best stop sign ever.  Under the STOP someone put a sicker that said: Stressing.  That became my hubby's new motto during the trip.  Stop Stressing!

VISTA POINT

And Elephant Seal's there were.....A WHOLE LOT of them!

This is only mama seals and their children.  The male seals are up in Alaska feeding.  Crazy thing is they come back to this very spot EVERY year because it was where they were born.  AMAZING!  Can you imagine navigating a body of water that covers most of the earth and making it back to the very same place you were born?  We were very happy for Jill (our GPS) just to get us to Cali.  There would be no hope for us :).

It was crazy how close we were able to get to them.  Even crazier was that Indiana was more fascinated by the squirrels on the trail than these gigantic creatures!  

 Look at that HAIR!  I love this picture.

On our way back we saw this:

 How could you not stop!

MORRO BEACH

This was a random stop but such a beautiful beach!  The sun was out and we found SO many full sand dollars!  We brought home about sixty and there were probably 10 for every 1 we picked up.  

Fun times!

That sums up day #2.  Jam packed fun at all stops.  We were able to go back to the condo, eat some steak, GIANT artichokes, drink some more wine and pass out!  

Happy Saturday everyone!           Pismo Beach, Solvang CA, Morro Beach, San Luis Obispo