Our Little Getaway

We were fortunate enough to be able to go on a trip just the two of us before the new baby comes in 4 months.  Tyler got a new job working for a company called Qualtrics and he wasn't going to start for a week so we quickly planned a week getaway to California.  My amazing mom agreed to watch Payton and we took off.

Last year we took Payton with us to San Clemente and fell in love with the small quaint beach town.  We wanted to go back and visit some of our favorite places there, but we also wanted to try somewhere new.  We found this awesome VRBO in Dana Point close to the beach which is just a little north of San Clemente.

I highly recommend going to the Dana Point Beach if you are ever in Southern California.  It is not super popular so it isn't crowded and the beaches are awesome.

We rented paddle boards one day and paddled around the harbor.  It was really fun.   

We brought a little lunch with us one our boards the second time out and ate lunch in the middle of the harbor.  

Another day we rented a Vespa scooter and rode from Newport beach up to Huntington beach and walked around the piers and shops.  It was so fun!  The weather was amazing there.  In November it got into the mid 80's.  

Walking around Balboa Pier

Sunset on Balboa Island

Tyler is obsessed with fresh seafood (particularly oysters, clams, mussels and anythings raw).  Not my cup of tea.  We went to Fisherman's on San Clemente Pier and watched the sunset while Tyler got his own personal bucket of mussels.  

Our last full day there we went to Laguna Beach to walk around before dinner.  

We found this AMAZING restaurant in Laguna called Nick's.  Seriously if you are ever in Southern California you HAVE to go there.  It is the best meal I have had in a really long time.  I have Celiac disease and can't eat any gluten so it is hard for me to find restaurants to eat out at.  Nick's Restaurant was awesome and were really good about preparing my food.  Tyler ordered top sirloin with mashed potatoes and I just got a cheeseburger (wrapped in lettuce) and fries which I know doesn't sound that special, but Tyler ended up eating more of my meal then his.  The burger was AMAZING! And the view from our table wasn't too bad either.

All in all it was an amazing trip, thanks to my awesome mom for making it possible.  Until next time California.  We will miss you and your sunny weather.

Beautiful Fall

This fall has been absolutely beautiful.  The weather has been so mild and we have been able to go out and do a lot of fun things with Payton.  She is finally at an age where she really enjoys the fun family outings we go on and she is so much fun to watch.

We were able to go to a local pumpkin patch & pick pumpkins to take home and paint.

We went to a fall carnival where Payton got to ride a pony and get her face painted.  She was in heaven.

We went to Cornbelly's where Payton went on her first hayride and she played her little heart out.

We took the train downtown for dinner and a little fun at City Creek.

Tyler went hunting and shot a 4 point deer.

Payton had her second Trick or Treating experience as Tinkerbell.  We were showing her a video of when she went last year to remind her how to do it and we noticed she was wearing gloves and tons of layers.  This Halloween was beautiful.  No layers necessary.