Summer Family Vacation Part II: Portland, Oregon

Here’s Part II of our Pacific Northwest family summer vacation. We left Seattle in the early afternoon and headed to Portland. As soon as we were out of the city, the weather started to clear up and we were happy to see blue skies and sunshine!

We arrived at our rented apartment from AirBnB, unloaded our suitcases from the car and freshened up for dinner. Our AirBnB was in a great location close to so many of the best food spots in town! We met up for dinner at the Country Cat with some good friends who’d moved to Portland a couple of years ago from Las Vegas. The restaurant was small and cozy and we had a great table right up against the window and not in the middle of the restaurant. That was great for us with the kiddos! Afterwards we made our way to Salt & Straw on SE Division St. for ice cream. The ice cream shop had a long line and we probably waited a good 30 minutes before we had our ice cream, but it was worth it! Plus, time went by fast since we were chatting and catching up! Thank goodness our apartment was just around the corner, because we were stuffed and ready for bed.

Before heading out to explore on Monday, we grabbed breakfast at one of the awesome food truck pods that are all over the city. We chose Fried Egg I’m in Love because they had great reviews on Yelp and with breakfast sandwich names like Smells Like Protein Spirit and Free-Range Against the Machine, we knew they’d be good! They did not disappoint. Bellies full we took off on our day trip to the Colombia River Gorge area and got to see the famous Multmonah Falls and drive along the river and visit the countryside. We were a little early in the season for berry or cherry picking but we got to feed and pet some alpacas so that totally made up for it! Plus, the craft beers and gourmet food truck at the Gorge White House really hit the spot after our long day. Once we were back in Portland we picked up some groceries at New Seasons Market. It’s a local(ish)grocery store chain in Portland/Vancouver areas that is similar to Whole Foods. We were beat after our long day but so happy we got to spend some time in nature and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

We planned to stay in Portland on Tuesday. We started our day with a cool make-your-own-pancakes place called Slappy Cakes. The food was ok and the pancakes weren’t amazing, but the kids really enjoyed making their pancakes into different shapes! It’s a nice place for kids, but don’t expect an amazing meal. We did lots of walking and sightseeing in Portland and visiting a lot of the major attractions, such as the Japanese Garden, the International Rose Testing Garden, Voodoo Donuts, Powell’s Bookstore, and eating from yet more food trucks. We met up for dinner with our friends again at Deschutes Brewery and Public House, which was another not-so-great place. The wait was long, the food was mediocre, and the service was poor. We were disappointed, especially since there are so many other good places to to eat at in Portland. I don’t recommend it.

We took another road trip on our 3rd day to visit the Oregon Coast. Seriously would love to spend a full weekend out there! The coast is so beautiful and we really enjoyed Cannon Beach and Astoria! We got back to Portland just in time for dinner and we chose to visit another food cart pod, this one was on SE 28th Pl and Division. We were totally diggin’ the vibe there and we all ended up picking up our meals from different carts! Diego had pizza, they actually had a brick oven! Elysse chose mini corn dogs (not so adventurous this day) Jason had sushi, and I chose Indian. We were pretty tired from our trip, so rather than eat it there, we took it with us and enjoyed a nice quite evening at the apartment. I also took advantage of the washer and dryer and ran a load of laundry. Not exactly what you want to be doing on vacation, but it was just 1 load and it made packing easier. Plus, it was one less thing to do when I got back home!

Our last day started off with a quick breakfast in the apartment while we, and by we, I mean mostly I, packed everything up to check out. We then met up with our friends for lunch at Lardo. Do yourself a favor and go there for lunch next time you’re in Portland. I crave their Korean Pork Shoulder sandwich and the Pork Meatball Banh Mi! So so good!! The rest of our day was spent at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry! I didn’t think we would spend the entire day there, but there was so much to see and do that it really did fill up our whole day. Then it was off to PDX to head back home to Las Vegas! One worse thing about the flights back home to Vegas is that they’re usually filled with folks ready to party, while we’re always tired and grumpy our vacation is ending and theirs is just starting! LOL

Seriously though, it’s hard when vacations end but I’m always so grateful we got to go! We visited some amazing places, enjoyed cool weather, ate some delicious food, and made lifelong memories together. What more could we ask for?!? What are some fun places you’ve visited this summer? I’d love to hear some of your favorite vacation spots ever too!

Summer Family Vacation Part I: Seattle, WA

As I mentioned in my last post, I got to run the Rock N Roll Seattle Half Marathon last month. And, having never been to the Pacific Northwest, we decided to make it a family vacation, adding Portland and the Oregon coast to our trip. Today, I’ll be sharing all about our weekend in Seattle first and Part II will go into our 4 days Oregon.

Since our trip ended in Portland, that’s where we flew into. Whenever we have trips where we are visiting a few cities or doing a road trip once we land, I prefer to fly into the city we’ll be visiting last. The main reasons I prefer to do this are 1: Renting a car one-way is a lot more expensive than returning it at the same airport. 2: It’s less stressful to be near your airport at departure than having to calculate for a few hours drive. I’d hate to miss our flight due to unforeseen traffic or getting lost.

The drive to Seattle from Portland took longer than anticipated due to traffic, but we had plenty of time to pick up my race packet at the expo and then make our way to Pioneer Square for our walking tour by Beneath the Streets. We’d heard about these tours from some friends and when I saw they were giving 1 complimentary tour to Rock N Roll runners, I figured we’d give it a try. We don’t normally do group tours on vacation because I prefer a more authentic vibe, plus with little ones, you just never know if they’ll find them interesting. Well, to my surprise the kids, who aren’t so little anymore, did enjoy the tour. They found it interesting and even asked some really good questions to our tour guide. Afterwards, we stayed in the area and enjoyed some of the fun games they had in the square.

Our next stop was Pike Place Market. The market was closing when we arrived but it was still super crowded. I know this is an icon Seattle tourist spot, but I wasn’t really impressed. I think there were just way too many people walking around aimlessly and being, well, tourists. We originally planned to walk around the market, watch the famous fish throwing, and eat from a few of the popular food places. With the market closing, we didn’t get to see much and we only made it to one place Beecher’s Handmade Cheese for some mac n cheese. It was cool to see the cheese making process through the window, but it wasn’t really amazing mac n cheese. The best part was seeing all the beautiful flower stands.

Afterwards, we checked into our hotel room for the night and we were all so tired & a bit cranky from waking up early for our flight and walking around all day, that we just ordered a pizza and salad and had it in our room.

It was another early morning for me on Sunday to get up and run the half marathon. It was a great course and I really enjoyed it and the VIP lounge area. You can read the race recap on my previous post HERE. After the race, we made our way to Seattle Center for a closer look at the Space Needle and to grab some lunch before making our way to Portland! I wish we would/could have spent more time in this area. I would like to go back and check out some of the museums, but we still enjoyed our time walking around the pretty gardens and the kids had a blast at the playground there. Our last stop was to go see the Fremont Troll under the Aurora Bridge. Such a quirky spot and I’m so glad we got to see it!

Although it was a bit of a whirlwind, our weekend in Seattle was a ton of fun. Coming from Vegas, we welcomed the gloomy and rainy weather. It never really rained but we did have a few drizzles. Ideally, I think 3 days in Seattle would have been perfect and would have allowed us to visit a museum or two and not crammed so much into 2 days.

Have you been to Seattle? Besides the museums, what else would you recommend we do or see on our next trip to Seattle? What side trips would be worth a visit from Seattle? Thanks for stopping by and be sure to come back for the rest of our PNW trip!

Race-cation | Southern Califiornia Getaway

One of the best reasons to choose a race in a different city is the opportunity for a race-cation! You know, where you sign up for a race and plan a trip around it! Because I love to run and I love to travel even more, it’s no wonder most of my races are out of town. I love being able to combine two of my favorite things! Mostly, these are just weekend getaways like for the L.A. Marathon and sometimes they are full-on family vacations, like for Disney’s Wine and Dine Half Marathon in DisneyWorld. Either way, it’s always exciting to get away and run in a new place!

Last month I got to race the Ventura Beach Half Marathon and we made a nice little family trip out of it. The kids had already started school, so we let them play hooky and we left Friday morning. We headed straight to L.A.’s The Grove shopping center where Elysse had an appointment with a personal shopper at the American Girl store! You can read all about her amazing experience and my recommendations when visiting this store HERE. While Elysse and I shopped and had lunch at the American Girl Cafe, Jason and Diego spent their afternoon catching PokeMon Go at the nearby La Brea Tar Pits. They also grabbed a bite to eat and even did a little shopping too.

In case you didn’t know, Friday afternoon traffic through L.A. is insane. We thought because we were leaving a few hours before rush hour that we would be ok, but it was still really congested and it took us quite awhile to get from Los Angeles to Ventura. When we finally arrived at our hotel, I realized just how chilly the evenings are in Ventura and we were not prepared! Elysse still got in the pool before we headed to dinner. She’s crazy and maybe I’m a little crazier for letting her get in. But hey, it’s a vacation!

Saturday morning, was packet pickup and our family day at the beach. The first thing we did, was head to Old Navy to get some sweaters because the morning was cold and cloudy and I knew the evening would also be chilly. Then we headed to Trader Joe’s to grab food for our beach picnic lunch later. At this point, we’re all starving, so we had to find a place to eat a late breakfast on Main St. Finally, around noon, we made it to the beach. Packet pick up was right next to the pier and super quick to find and get my bib for the race the next day.

After all of this, it was finally time to relax at the beach for the day! The weather was cool but it did get pretty sunny once that morning fog rolled out. We spent the day lounging, making sand castles, and gathering shells. Diego had gotten a skate board while in L.A. so him and Jason practiced skating along the bike trail. It was seriously one of the most chill out days at the beach we’ve ever had. Even though it was too cold for actual swimming in the ocean, it was a blast! We were all so stuffed from our big breakfast, that we didn’t even have our lunch or snacks until we got in the car to leave.

As soon as we got back to our hotel, Elysse was ready to jump in the pool again! I don’t know how she has so much energy. But, because we didn’t swim in the ocean, we figured why not! So her and Jason stayed at the pool while Diego and went up to the room to get a head start on showers and get ready for dinner.

Sunday was race day and it was perfect! You can read all about my race recap HERE. Unfortunately, with school on Monday, we decided to head back home soon after the race was done. After my race, we headed back to the hotel to check-out and for me to get myself all cleaned up from the half marathon. After breakfast we decided to take the scenic route and find the Musical Road in Lancaster, CA. It was originally made for a Honda commercial. It’s a quarter mile bit of road that when driven on it, it is supposed to sound like William Tell Overature or better known as the theme from the classic Lone Ranger tv show. Was it worth taking the scenic route for this? Absolutely! There are only a few of these musical roads in the world and even though it wasn’t perfectly in tune, it was still a fun little side track.

Click the photo to see and hear our drive over the Musical Road!

We also got to see one of the largest wind farms in the world as we drove back to the interstate. We had no idea we’d be seeing that, but when we kept seeing so many rows of windmills, I quickly googled and found out it was the Alta Wind Project, also called the Mojave Wind Farm, the third largest onshore wind energy project in the world. Pretty neat bit of trivia 🙂

All and all, our family race-cation was a much needed break from the busy months we’d been having with packing and moving and the kids starting new schools. I highly recommend when looking for your next race, consider making it a race-cation! I’m sure the idea of traveling and getting away will be a nice motivator as you put in those training miles!

Visiting Death Valley National Park | Super Bloom

I love to share about our family travels! Big or small, they are all adventures and a fun way for us to be together as a family and hopefully reconnect and disconnect from so many electronics 😉

Our kiddos go to year-round school, so they are currently on their Spring track break for 3 weeks and then Spring Break, so they’ll be at home for a full month without school. We’re not planning an out of town trip this year, like we have in the past, so we want to be sure to have lots of fun activities and nearby adventures!

On their first weekend of track break, we decided to go on a little day trip to Death Valley. Death Valley National Park is having a super bloom this spring. The conditions were just right with the perfect amount of rainfall and light winds so what is normally a few spring flowers popping up here and there became into a field of yellow wildflowers blooming all over the desert! Apparently this is a pretty rare occurrence, so we packed up our car with lots of water and a picnic lunch and took the 2 hour drive from Las Vegas to check it out. We were not the only ones with this idea! The park was full with people wanting to take a look and photograph this phenomenon!

We had a great time and we’re so glad we got to see a different side of Death Valley than we had before. If you’re in the area and have some time to go out there, check it out. It’s not like a full field of wildflowers to run through or anything like that, but it is pretty neat to see so many flowers blooming in the desert!

Fun with Kids in Los Angeles, CA

Whenever I register for a race that’s away from home, I always debate if we should bring the kids or not. Most times, it just comes down to if there’s anything fun for them to do there or not. With the L.A. Marathon being in Los Angeles and it also being my first full marathon, I thought it’d be great to bring the kids and make a trip out of it, a little race-cation 😉

WIth a little planning, it is totally feasible to run a great race and have a fun time as a family together. I think it’s important for the kids to see all your hard work pay off in the end. My kiddos are there when I get home from an early morning run, they see me hobble up the stairs if I’m sore from a long run, they know all about epsom salt baths and icy hot, so why not have them their for the reward after too! They are my biggest supporters and rather than leave them behind, I try to take them along for most races for all the race day fun and more!

After packet pickup on Saturday, we were all super excited to go eat at Seoul Sausage, since they were previous winners of The Great Food Truck Race on The Food Network. It originally aired a few years ago, but we just recently saw it on Netflix as a family. I knew they were from L.A., so I looked them up and saw they had 2 actual restaurants, plus the food truck. Turns out, their newest location in Little Tokyo was about 2 miles from the convention center where we’d be for packet pickup. I wanted it to be a surprise, but I blurted something out to Jason while driving one day and they caught on quickly! So much for the surprise!

Before we left Vegas, I jokingly asked the kids if they thought we’d see the guys from the show and of course, they both said we wouldn’t see them. Well, to their surprise (and mine) 2 of the 3 owners showed up right as we finished our late lunch. They were super nice guys and took a picture with the kids. This really made their day.

After lunch, we went to check into our AirBnB condo and relax a bit. My nephew really wanted to go check out the Urban Lights exhibit at LACMA once it got dark soo, before grabbing some dinner, we went to check it out. It was packed, but the kids had fun walking through and playing among all the light posts!

After the marathon, we walked to the Santa Monica Pier and grabbed some food at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Although the food isn’t anything to brag about, it’s a fun atmosphere and super kid friendly. After lunch we walked down the pier so the kids could ride the roller coaster before heading back to our condo to crash for the day! We could easily have spent hours at the pier riding rides and playing games, but I was just too exhausted for that this time. The Santa Monica Pier is a great place to go and spend a few hours enjoying the sights and attractions, plus have fun on the beach! It’s definitely a must-visit for any Los Angeles trip, with our without kids.

The next day started out a little rocky with cranky kiddos, but thankfully we were able to turn it around and enjoy our morning walking around the grounds of the La Brea Tar Pits and L.A. County Museum of Art. The weather was perfect for being outdoors and it was exactly what we needed to unwind and relax a bit before driving back home. The grounds are free to walk around and explore. We spent about an hour and a half there and could have easily spent another hour there. Next time we go, we’ll actually go inside the museum and check out those exhibits and IMAX movies. But this time around, the outdoor exhibits and sculptures were just enough to keep them interested in the art and science without getting bored. Plus, there is plenty of room to run and be kids! I highly recommend going!

It was a jam-packed 3 day trip full of fun memories for sure! Getting away to sunny California, running a marathon, and spending quality time with the family is always the best!

So, I’d love to know, do you take your kiddos or family when you travel for a race?

5 Tips for a Fun & Successful Family Camping Trip

Our first camping trip as a family was a great success! Jason and I had been on few camping trips in Florida before we had the kiddos, but it’d been 12 years since then. Plus, camping with kids is way different. The kids had been asking to go camping since last summer, so we decided to make it part of our summer bucket list this year. Our trip was 2 nights and I think this was just enough for us. It was long enough to make the effort worthwhile, but not too long to get boring or overwhelming. We went out to Navajo Lake, UT, which is about a 3 hr drive from Las Vegas. This was a good distance for us. Far enough that it felt like a getaway and the scenery was completely different, but close enough that we didn’t have to drive for too long.

Of course, I don’t by any means think we’re camping experts or suggest we had a flawless trip, but I think we did pretty good and I’d love to share some of the ups and downs (but mostly the ups!) of our trip and share 5 tips that helped make our first camping trip fun!

1. Make a list! There are tons of websites you can find online or on pinterest with extensive checklists on what to pack for your camping trip. REI had a great one we used, here. These lists are pretty long and detailed, so you may or may not need all of these items for your trip, but it’s a good idea to print one out and use as a starting point. Camping requires lots of stuff. I still can’t get over the amount of things you have to take!

2. Prepare! Go on some day trips and/or family hikes if you aren’t used to the great outdoors. Our family loves to go on hikes & picnics together, so overnight camping was the natural next step for us. If you’re new to the outdoors, start off slow with a picnic at a park and walks through natural settings and work your way up to longer hikes.

3. Go with friends! Even before Jason and I had kids, we always went camping with a group of friends. The more the merrier. Going with another family was perfect for us. The kids had friends to play with, so they weren’t always looking for us to entertain them. Don’t get me wrong, we did get some, “I’m bored!” What can we do now?” but I know it would have been tons more had it just been the 4 of us.

4. Plan some activities! Yes, I’m a planner and the idea of just going on a trip without any set plans is not within my comfort zone. This trip was pretty spontaneous for us and we didn’t have huge plans for when we got there, but the few things we did have planned were just enough. It doesn’t have to be anything huge and you definitely do not need to plan every minute, but having a few activities for the kids was super helpful. Jason took some supplies for a little battery-electicity science experiment for the kids, we had them do a scavenger hunt, and the highlight of the day was going fishing! We have an awesome book titled Camp Out!: The Ultimate Kids’ Guide and it’s packed with stuff for kids to do on camping trips. (Tip: this book is also great for day trips and hikes)

5. Get the kids involved! Camping is a lot of work. There’s the setting up camp, putting up your tents, making a fire, cooking, cleaning, etc. Just unloading and loading up the cars is a lot of work. Kids love helping out and feeling useful, so get them involved in “camp life”. We gave our kids small tasks they could handle depending on their age and with some supervision and direction, they were all able to help out.

No trip with kiddos is guaranteed to be stress-free and some trips will be better than others. We had our share of issues from thunderstorms, leaking tents, and a few kid meltdowns! But, nothing we couldn’t handle with a little flexibility and a good attitude!

I’ll admit before this trip, I was pretty nervous about taking the kids camping. But, with a little preparation, I think we’ll be ready to go again soon. There’s something special about being outdoors without all the comforts of modern daily living that helps ground you. I think it’s important to let kids “rough it” for a few days, get dirty, and disconnect for a bit. I’m looking forward to our next camping trip, for sure. Any expert campers out there have any additional tips for our next trip? I’d love to hear them!

5 Tips to Enjoy Photographing Your Next Family Vacation

Traveling is my absolute favorite thing! I love to go on any kind of trip, I’m not picky. Long weekend getaways, day trips, road trips, family vacations, staycation, I love them all. And, if you go on vacation and don’t take pictures, did it really happen? I think not!

Seriously though, taking photos of your trips is part of the fun. Photographs are our memory keepers, our heirlooms, our triggers. Looking at a photo can help bring back all the emotions of that day, the whole vacation, or even that time in your life. Photographs can help us remember what we may have forgotten or overlooked. Photographs are not only visual reminders of times past, but they bring back so much more. They help us remember how we felt, how the grass smelled, what we ate, even how we felt when we woke up that day.

Yes, photographs are powerful. It’s important to document life. Not just the fun, beautiful moments, but the ordinary days too. But, that’s for another post. Today, let’s talk about how you can document your family vacations. We work hard for that time off from work. We plan, we save, we sacrifice, all so we can spend a week or so away from our routine. To spend time with the ones we love and maybe show them something new or go back to a place you love. Documenting family vacations through photographs can be tricky. We don’t want to spend our entire time behind the lens and miss out on the fun and/or not be in any of the pictures. But, we don’t want to forget to take any pictures and get back home and regret not having taken photos to remember all the fun you had. So, here are a few tips to help you balance out having awesome family pictures and enjoy your vacation too.

1. Have a Plan! I’m big on planning and making itineraries, but I’ve come to learn that with kids we need to be flexible. So have a loose plan of things to do and then figure out where picture-taking is going to be a must! Obviously, if you’re going sight seeing or to the zoo, you’ll want to plan on taking your camera with you all day. But, if you’re going to be relaxing by the pool, then you won’t need your camera there, at least not the entire time.

2. Use your timer setting! This works great for those fun and cheezy family photo ops and ensures everyone gets in the shot! We don’t travel with a tripod, but there’s usually a spot where we can set the camera up safely to get our photo.

3. It’s about the people! Here’s a pet peeve of mine. When people take tons of pictures of the Disney parade or the zoo animals, but hardly any photos of the family members. I get it. We all get caught up in the details and yes, the penguins are super cute, but at the end of the day, our family is what matters most. Don’t forget who is there with you. Take tons of photos of your kids playing, interacting, and having fun. A few scenery and animal shots are fine, but you want to capture your family in that space too. A photo of the Golden Gate Bride is awesome, but a photo of your kiddos walking on the Golden Gate Bride is even cooler! I’m sure you’ll think so too years after the vacation is over.

4. Share the camera! Don’t be afraid to share the camera with your spouse, even if you are the better photographer 😉 Depending on the age of your kiddos, you can even let them take a photo or two! This will give you a different perspective and views from your trip, you’ll actually get to be in some of the photos, and enjoy the day or activity without worrying about taking pictures.

5. Know your camera! I can’t stress this enough. Even if you prefer to shoot on auto-mode (which is totally fine!) It’s good to learn your camera settings. Play around with the various settings and functions prior to your trip, so you aren’t dealing with camera malfunctions or blurry photos due to “user error”.

BONUS: Have Fun! Don’t feel stressed our pressured into taking perfectly composed images during your family trip. I used to do this and it took the joy out of it sometimes. I had to learn to leave my “job” behind me and be a mom and enjoy my vacation. So, now we don’t even take our big DSLR cameras on most of our family trips. I will take my DSLR for some trips, but 80% of the time we simply pack our Fuji X100s digital viewfinder camera and that’s it! The camera is small, lightweight, but does a great job for capturing our family vacation snapshots. Of course, we also take tons of photos with our iPhones too! Come follow along on Instagram 😉

I sure hope these simple and easy tips help you when taking photos during next family vacation. Do you have any tips you’d like to share with me too? When’s your next trip?

Taking a Break | Visiting Valley of Fire State Park

On Black Friday, rather than deal with crowds of eager shoppers looking for great deals, we took a little road trip to visit the Valley of Fire State Park. It’s about an hour’s drive north from Las Vegas and well worth the drive to get away for a bit. To our surprise, the park entrance had a super long line and we ended up waiting about 20 minutes to get to the gate. I guess we weren’t the only ones not interested in shopping!

I know I say this all the time, but I really do just love getting outdoors with my family and enjoying our time together unplugged from the world, even if it’s just for an afternoon. We sometimes (read lots of times) are so overwhelmed with being busy, that we forget to slow down. We know we should, but we end up getting wrapped up in our day to day routine. We get lost in the chaos of life. This is why it’s so important to be intentional with our lives and our relationships with others, especially our family. It’s important to carve out time to be together to visualize how you want to spend your time with each other and make it happen. For us, we find that being outside exploring nature, brings us together. There’s less bickering and whining out there. There’s time to breathe and laugh and just be.

What kinds of things do you do when spending some time with the ones you love? I’d love to hear about it and get some ideas for my crazy bunch too! xo