spontaneity, two-ude, and our happy place...

After a crazy busy week (somehow having one car made it seem twice as busy, being that Jayme and I were in the car at least 5 hours a day 3 times last week), Ryan and Jayme came with me to my appointment in Laguna so that we could spend his Friday off as a family by the beach... we took our lil' beach lover to Balboa for some Ruby's on the pier and play time (which she ended up ready for a nap before we could hit the playground or sand). The absolutely gorgeous weather got us thinking and talking on our drive home about when we should get up to Morro Bay with Jayme before the baby comes... when we got home (to a neglected disaster that had accumulated over the busy week of being out and about), we started plugging in dates for a hotel room and attempting to plan the perfect time to go (because this is what complete type A planners do), Ryan asked if I thought it would be crazy to just go up this weekend- if it's not already too late to get a room at our usual hotel- trying to channel my sister's care-free "live in the moment" spontaneous attitude (even though it is soooooo against my nature- I thought I could fake it just this once) I went along with his "crazy suggestion"... after calling the hotel (it was already 6pm and we would have at least a 4-5 hour drive), I took a leap of faith and booked an non-refundable room for the weekend! We literally packed our bags, Jayme, and some food for the road, gassed up and were on the freeway by 7- leaving behind a tornado of laundry, dishes, toys, and complete clutter to come back to- but hey! we were living on the high of our spontaneous road trip and couldn't wait to experience our favorite little get-away spot one last time before we welcome the next little nugget.

I gotta say, despite some major two-ude (our new label for our princess pistol's attitude spurts), Jayme seemed to enjoy getting away with her Daddy and Mommy as much as we did!

Miscellaneous memories from our trip:
- Jayme's excitement over eating a PB & honey sandwich for dinner AND in the car
- The nice officer who was gracious enough to flash us and give a "slow down" warning with his arm gesture instead of pulling us over (for the record we were only going 80 on a complete open stretch of highway)
- Making it to the hotel right at 11 (4 hours on a Friday night is AWESOME timing!)
- Realizing that we were gonna need a sedative for our hyped up two-year-old if we were going to get her to sleep in the hotel room the second night
- Making the drive up to the Hearst Castle, only to have Jayme fall asleep 5 minutes before we got there... so we turned around and just enjoyed the beautiful drive back
- Finding new (to us) hidden gems along the coast and planning to revisit for our 10 year anniversary (without kids)- hidden beaches, kayaking, and horseback riding to name a few...
- Realizing my pregnant body no longer agrees with walking 2-3 miles in a day
- Seeing the pure joy in Jayme's little face as she took in the sights, smells, and sounds that surround Morro Bay and the drive
- Realizing our child does not share our love for clam chowder or fish & chips
- Enjoying the bond between father and daughter
-  Jayme's impromptu swim in the ocean (note- always bring a towel or change of clothes even if you don't plan on getting wet)
- swing.slide.friends. lucky little girl was able to enjoy some much needed play time on the most awesome playgrounds (mainly the view was awesome)
- Princess Pistol's need to have 2 purses at all times, and the meltdown that occurred if we dared to zip them up every time
- Ryan's new rhyme about Jayme: "She wants what she wants the way she wants it... we don't ask why, we just do or die (of embarrassment from her meltdown)"
- Feeding the sea lions
- Craving a cinnamon roll and forgetting to get one before we left

- Elderly people running over our only sippy cup before a long drive home... then seeing those same elderly people completely lost at lunch (sitting at different tables trying to figure out where the other spouse was)
- Taking the scenic drive home and realizing we should have never left such amazing weather... it was miserable hot and humid when we got home
- The beautiful memories made and spending an entire weekend without a plan!

never mind that the water was freezing, "she wants what she wants, when and how she wants it"... even if that means frolicking in the ocean in all of her clothes. At least she slept well that night ;-)

probably the last family trip as a family of only 3

swing.slide.friends.

bonding time... priceless moments that make my mommy heart melt

pure happiness and energy being released (we realized she was confined to a car seat, a stroller, or her daddy's arms/shoulders 90% of the time, so we finally let her loose ;-)

sitting in the car taking in the gorgeous surroundings instead of the Hearst Castle as our lil princess snores in the back seat

hidden gem- we definitely want to go back and kayak here!

another hidden gem to revisit

this might just be one of my favorite photos of her... not the greatest photo quality, but the moment surrounding this picture is one of those "pictures worth a thousand words" and beautiful memories being made

mommy loving up on her sweet girl

Ryan catching a candid moment of his girls taking in the beautiful surroundings