Over Thanksgiving break we drove up to Washington DC from our hometown. We were able to leave Felicity behind for a fun grandparents day and show Zoe the Botanical Gardens, the National mall and Georgetown.
In Which We Became DC Tourists
By Natalie
Archive of ‘Travels’ category
Disfruta
By Natalie
Walking into the airport after 9 beautiful days in Puerto Rico was nothing short of heartbreaking. This was so much more than a vacation, it was a homecoming.
Brandon and I had hoped this trip would happen at least 5 years ago, but for one reason and then another it never worked out. As I approached 30 I recognized that something in me longed to connect more with my heritage. I wanted to see where my family and ancestors were from, to experience Puerto Rico for myself. (more…)
To the Zoo With You
By Natalie
A poem for our beloved Riverbanks Zoo.
To the zoo with you, little girl that’s two.
To see lions and tigers as feisty as you. (more…)
Camping with a Toddler
By Natalie
On our way home from our first camping trip with Felicity Brandon said, “Well it was worth a try. If we’d never tried it we would have never known.”
Alot of friends said that we were brave for taking a toddler camping. I’m not sure it was brave per say. Maybe spontaneous is a better word. Going into it I thought that the worst case would be we didn’t sleep well and it’d be a disaster. It wasn’t a disaster, but we also didn’t sleep well which will always put a damper on things. With a brand new family tent and new camping chairs including a chair sized for Lici we had big hopes that our little outdoorsy girl would have the time of her life and we’d be camping all the time. I’ve come to realize that the more activities we’ve done this year the higher my expectations have become. After half a year of blah cabin fever I’ve expected so much joy and refreshment from these new adventures and that’s maybe too much to ask of a camping trip and a pumpkin patch hayride. (more…)
How We Vacation: Nashville
By Natalie
A while ago I wrote this post about how when Brandon and I vacation we typically do little planning. We pick a place, find a few spots we might want to see, a few restaurants we want to try and maybe a coffee shop or two. We’ve had lovely encounters where we stepped into a shop straight off of the street and that always seemed to work for us. In the past we’ve preferred a nice place to stay with a lighter itinerary because vacations are meant for resting.
On our recent trip to Nashville we planned things virtually in the same manner. We were hoping to lounge around in our airbnb most of the day, having been beautifully decorated by the owner, an interior decorator. However, Felicity was not one to sit and relax for the next four days. There seems to be no telling a toddler, “Hey we’re on vacation this week, we’re all just going to sit and relax for a few days.” Being in a new space she was anxious to explore everything on her level, most of which was breakable. The best thing for us to do was to go out exploring and though we’ve wanted to see Nashville for some time we wondered if this really was the best time. (more…)
Weekend Adventures
By Natalie
After making it through the first few hard months of caring for our infant we decided to keep our goals for the year small, but intentional. A personal goal of mine is to remember people’s names better when I first meet them. Remembering someone’s name always makes them feel noticed and that’s what I strive for. I’ve always been terrible at this and I think I’ve actually been doing better these past few months simply by being mindful. (more…)
First Family Trip
By Natalie
“You’ll blink and she’ll be grown.”
That’s what the woman at the washing station said to us just outside our hotel. I rinsed the sand off of my feet under the water spout.
“I know, it’s flying by.” I told her. Felicity was wrapped up close to my chest riding around in the ring sling. I held her new sun hat down on her head, a gift from my sister, perfect for our spontaneous beach trip. Felicity was asleep but sure to wake up any moment ready to eat.
We made it out to Folly Beach, SC this past weekend. Felicity is 8 weeks old and we appear to have a perfect little angel on our hands. She’s been sleeping for 8-9 hours through the night consistently for the past couple of weeks. Which has kept us feeling much more capable to handle the day to day. (more…)
From Here On
By Natalie
Now seems as good a time as any for a recap on the last couple months. I’m writing this at the birth center, where we will be welcoming our little girl, having my blood drawn four times over the course of 3 hours for a more conclusive glucose test. Luckily for me I get to pass this time in a more private lounge space on a comfortable couch surrounded by the sound of midwives clicking their sandals down the hallways.
This is what I’ve hoped for when deciding where we would give birth. A place that feels like home surrounded by encouraging women who’s job is to do nothing more than empower the mother I am becoming and create community amongst all us new parents. We’ve been educated here and had the opportunity to share our hopes and fears with others who are due around the same time that we are. It’s provided such comfort as we near the end of this pregnancy.
Montreal – The Food
By Natalie
Friends! It seems that I never officially told you about our food experience in Montreal! Though it’s months later I still feel it’s worth mentioning considering we are the kind of vacationers who love to eat eat eat!
There were so many beautiful cafes filled with friendly baristas. They’d toggle between english and french causing you to believe you were half a world away. I wanted nothing more than to sip at each cafe window, eyes fixed on the characters striding up and down the streets. (more…)
Montreal – The Sites
By Natalie
Montreal has so much to offer for an extended stay. It’s a great walking city which is right up our alley. Everywhere that was too far to walk we opted for Uber which was much easier than renting a car. I’d recommend doing this to any city you visit. We’ve learned through experience that paying for parking can often be a hidden travel expense. In addition to not having to worry about parking the locals know their drivers as well as their streets better, plus they’ve acquired the knowledge of cut throughs. Brandon was much more at ease that he didn’t have to drive and I was much more at ease being picked up on our doorstop and being dropped off right where we intended to be. (more…)