A Night in Snohomish, Washington - A Hidden Gem

Hey Friends! 

Hope you all had an excellent weekend! Over the weekend, the kids and I made a trip over the mountains to see some of my best and oldest childhood friends. My first stop was my hometown, Enumclaw. Unfortunately I didn't snap any good pics of the area while I was there. Someday I will do a whole post about that sweet little town. It is nestled just below Mt.Rainier with gorgeous views of the mountain almost daily. After leaving Enumclaw I headed toward Snohomish. My friend and her husband recently bought a home there. I had never been to the area before, and I was surprised by how beautiful it was. 

Heading into the downtown area of Snohomish, there were gorgeous views of lucious green farmland and marshes. I am not sure if it is the changing of the seasons, or what it is exactly, but I have recently been in awe of how beautiful nature truly is. It is easy to let this beauty go unnoticed while we are all rushing through life, but taking the time to "stop and smell the roses", really has it's perks. Snohomish is definitely a place I would love to return to for some more exploring. Here are some pictures I took on our way out of town. 

It was a very quick trip, and there wasn't very much time for adventuring. We spent most of our time visiting, catching up and watching the Washington State Cougars beat Cal. But before the game started, we had dinner at Cathouse Pizza. The pizza was so flavorful and the energy in the restaurant was fun and laid back, perfect for a family/friends outing.

Thanks for reading! If you have any more hidden gems in Snohomish I should know about for next time, please share them with me! I love trying new places. I know there is some kind of "haunted" bar there that sounded like a neat place to explore sometime.

-Kaci

Trip to San Francisco - The Best Stops & Shops at Pier 39

Hey Friends!
While we were in San Francisco we decided we had better make a trip to the famous Pier 39. Here we visited the sunning Sea Lions and walked around browsing all of the cute little shops. It was an absolutely gorgeous day for it. If you are in the area I would suggest making a trip here. Parking was a breeze for us luckily, we found a spot about a block away, for free. I would suggest taking the cable car down to the pier if you can, that way you can avoid having to deal with parking.
The pier had so many shops, we weren't really in the mood for shopping so we ended up only visiting a few spots. I don't enjoy looking through all of the nick nacky shops, and the kids really do not enjoy shopping, let alone "window shopping". This is our list of the best places/things to check out (with kids) at the pier.

Sea Lions

For some reason, the Sea Lions all like to gather on the open docks at the pier. There are hundreds of them, all squawking and flopping around; fighting for their perfect spot in the sunshine. Leighton & Kade both enjoyed walking the pier and watching the Sea Lions yell and knock eachother off the docks. They are entertaining, to say the least. This is also a good sightseeing stop, as it is just across from Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Candy Baron

The first shop daddy spotted was the giant candy shop, Candy Baron. The nostalgic shop had buckets and buckets of salt water taffy and other bulk candies. It was obviously a huge hit with the kids, although the adults had fun finding their old childhood favorites as well. My favorite was always lemon heads and jawbreakers! Do you remember those things? I passed on the jawbreaker ( it was HUGE), and grabbed a few lemon heads instead. We ended up all picking out a few candies to have to eat throughout the trip. The prices were a bit steep, (as is everything else in the city) but the experience was fun.

The Carousel 

Just down from the candy shop, we spotted this giant two level carousel. It was $5 for one token or $10 for three, and it cost 1 token per person to ride. Ty's dad decided he would take the kids on; I get motion sickness fairly easily and Ty was still enjoying his spoils from Candy Baron. The kids loved it and it lasted quite a while. TIP: Bring cash, because not all debit/credit cards were accepted, only certain banks.  

Houdini's Magic Shop

Unfortunately I didn't get a very good picture from this place. We walked in and were the only customers in the shop. Immediately Leighton went up to the counter and asked the guy if he knew any magic tricks, since it was a magic shop after all. He said he did, then proceeded to do three different tricks for us and the kids. The guy was so freindly and fun with the kids it was great; he even let them use a "magic wand" to help him complete some of the tricks. The shop had tricks for all ages and interests. We didn't end up purchasing any, but included with each purchase is a private lesson on how to perform the trick. You got to go into a separate V.I.P. room where they would teach you. Pretty cool if you ask me!

Pier 40

It is just a short walk down the street to Pier 40. There you will see massive ships and submarines on display, as well as small maritime museum and some other historical info. If you want to actually board the boats and submarines, you need to purchase an actual ticket; but our kids found it entertaining enough to just walk by them and look from the outside, so we just enjoyed that. Leighton has recently become more comfortable with reading, so it was fun for her to stop and read some of the things to us aloud. 

Lombard Street

This last one is not at Pier 39 but is just a short drive from there. Lombard street is a famous street in San Francisco. It is known for it's one block section of hairpin turns. It is said to be the most crooked street in the world! The view from the top is pretty cool. Ty and I got out and walked down the street, and the kids and Ty's dad drove down to meet us at the bottom. The brick lined street was very neat to see; I tried to walk down the middle of the street to get a quick picture, but was quickly, and loudly reminded by a nearby "guard", that no one is allowed to walk on the street. The kids described the ride down as "like a roller coaster".  The first picture is from the very top of the street, and the second is just a neat looking house I noticed along the road. 

I know it's a short list, but like I said above, it worked best for us to avoid the lengthy window shopping and keep them engaged. The one thing we did not do while we were there was eat. It looked like there were quite a few fun little places to stop and grab a bite. Have any of you been to any you would recommend? Id love to know for next time, and someone else reading this might, too! Thanks for reading, as always!

-Kaci

Trip to San Francisco - Breakfast in the Big City

We only spent two full days in San Francisco, but we managed to cram so much in those two days that I think I will spend this week writing about it in sections. I took about a bazillion pictures, and had plans to post while we were there but we had very little down time.
After a late night family dinner down the street from our hotel at a cute little downtown diner, and half night of sleep we were off! We started our morning with some breakfast at Sears Fine Food. It was just a couple blocks away so we walked from our hotel. We came at just the right time and were able to be sat promptly.

I would highly recommend the food and the experience. Everything was fresh and delicious, & the kids got coins to use in the old fashioned slot machines at the end of our meal. They are world famous for their pancakes and all of their juice is fresh squeezed. It even stated in the menu the fresh fruit used for my fruit and yogurt bowl was, "immediately rushed to the restaurant", at its prime ripeness. Service was great and the food was even better.

The place took you back in time, all the decor looked as if it had been kept the same for the past 80 years it had been open. The walls were covered in old photographs of both sights and people. There is a very interesting description of the history of the restaurant here, on their website. Apparently, the whole thing started with a retired circus clown, oddly enough. 

We didn't win any loot at the end of our meal, but the experience and delicious food was enough of a win for us. Do you know of any awesome breakfast places in the San Francisco area? I am sure in such a metropolis there are plenty.  I would love to hear about them for the next time we venture down there. Thanks for reading, be on the lookout for my next posts that will include our other adventures in San-Fran.

-Kaci

The Secret to Stress Free Travel Prep with Kids

Happy Wednesday friends!

This week we are preparing to leave on a short trip. Here it is the day before and it seems like I have a million things to do! One of my favorite ways to prepare for a trip or an event of any kind, is by making a list. Lists are the only way I can really be sure I haven't forgotten anything. Today I created an awesome, simple, checklist to help get our bags packed and ready to go! It includes a checklist for each person (two kids, two adults) for both suitcases and carry on bags. It also includes some other bonus tips for stress free vacation prep!

My secret to stress free travel preparation, with kids, (or without, honestly!) is to simply make a list, and plan ahead. That's it! No one likes to feel like they are forgetting something, OR like they are rushed. Rushing not only creates stress for you, but your kids as well. Without fail, if I am in a hurry, you can bet my kids will either A) have a melt down, or B) make a huge mess, or both, at the same time. Can we all agree we want to avoid those things at all costs?!

Another awesome thing we do is let the kids pack their bags. No, I don't mean it's a "free for all"! Lord only knows what they might pack if that was the case! Leighton is able to read now, so she can easily look at the checklist and pack her bag herself. Kade is a bit younger, so we just read the things to him and he grabs them for us. In the past I have also created a "picture list" of what to pack and had them do it that way. It takes a little bit longer but it really helps the kids feel involved and teaches them how to pack a bag. Real life lessons are a fave in this house. I don't want to be packing my kids bags forever and ever, (although I am sure I'll miss it, someday).

Here are the kiddos suitcases, all packed and ready to go. You'll notice, in Kade's suitcase, a plastic bag with an outfit in it. Some people like to put each and every outfit in a separate plastic bag, but that is just a little bit too much for me. (No judgement!) I find that when my kids pick out their outfits they are more likely to ACTUALLY get dressed when we ask them to. Yes, sometimes seeing what they come up with can be painful; but like I have said before, I like to pick my battles wisely! So, with that being said, the outfit in the bag is a "nice" outfit. We have a fancier dinner planned for our trip and I want to make sure his outfit stays separate and available for that specific dinner.

Having well packed, carry on bags when you have kids, is a must! Here is a general list of things I like to pack in each kids carry on backpack. I like them to have their own, that way they aren't arguing over who's carrying it, or who isn't, etc.

- Snacks: Try to stay away from things that need to be refrigerated and things that are liquid. Those won't make it through security, and no one wants a kiddo crying in the airport because their favorite snack got thrown away! We usually do dried fruit and some sort of cracker.
- Entertainment: This can be different for each kid. Leighton loves to color so I usually pack her a small baggie of crayons (less is more!) and a coloring book. She loves music, so I let her bring her MP3 player to listen to with headphones. I also pack her "Letter Lunchbox". This is something I made before our trip to Disneyland last year. She loves it. It helps her practice her words, and the magnets & dry erase markers are fun for her to use.

For Kade, I also pack some color crayons and a small coloring book. He really likes to stay busy with hands on things so I like to pack a small container of playdough, with some pipe cleaners, and cut straws for him to stick in it and play with. It isn't messy and keeps him entertained. Another great idea for toddlers I have heard about, but haven't tried, is using window clings to let the kids stick on the tray and windows to play with.
- A Change of Clothes: This is not only for the younger kiddos still getting through potty training, but for the older ones too. You never know what kind of spills can happen and it's always better to be safe than sorry. Along with this, I usually bring one used grocery bag in my carry on to put wet or soiled clothes, just in case. It is also a good idea to bring a light jacket or sweatshirt for the kids so they adjust to the temperature on the plane as well as your destination.

I won't go into too much detail about what I pack in my carry on but here are a few of my must haves. I will also say, I love the convenience of carrying a backpack vs a purse. Being hands free, with kids, is a huge bonus!

- Phone charger
- Headphones
- Magazine & Book (My current favorite books are "The Subtle art of not giving a F*ck", and "Simplicity Parenting", although I highly doubt I will have time to read on an airplane with two small children; ha, ha!).
- Breath Mints or Gum
- Water bottle
-  Notebook - I like to have my notebook on me at all times for brainstorming!
-  Wallet - duh.
-  Protein Bar - My favorite ones are the Mint Chocolate Chunk Quest Bars
-  Compact powder makeup 
-  Hair tie 
- Travel size deodorant
- Chapstick 
- Printed flight and hotel info - I have everything on my phone, but I like to have a printed copy just in case!

I sure hope these tips helped you to make your next family trip prep, a breeze. I absolutely love going on adventures with my little family. Sometimes it is easy to let the stress of traveling take over your mood. Don't forget what a blessing it is to be able to do it in the first place, and remember your kids will reflect your mood! Make sure its a positive one and you should be all set!

Thanks for reading & please comment below and let me know if this post was helpful or not! Safe travels and happy adventuring!

*BONUS* If you share my link with some friends on social media, or simply shoot me an e-mail, message or comment & I will send you a FREE PDF of my "Travel Prep Checklist"!

-Kaci