Mommy Daughter Trip

I’ve always said I wanted to have a special bond with my first born (lucky me, she’s a girl too!) and we do although she literally drives me bonkers day in and out. I can’t even imagine how it will be as she gets older. 😭

Abigail and I took our first mommy daughter trip to San Francisco a couple weeks back. I also had my closest high school friends and their daughters join us. How time flies, I can’t believe I’ve known them for at least half my life. We like to call ourselves “joy luck club” and I sure hope that happens with us growing old and sharing many more moments together.

My high school friends and I have been to SF many times, but this was the first sans boys and with one of our kids. Some highlights/tips of the short trip (Friday mid afternoon arrival – Sunday 3pm departure).

We stayed at the Holiday Inn & Suites Fisherman’s Wharf for the location and it was a great choice to catch the tourist action by the pier. Holiday Inn has also upped their game and reputation in my opinion. It was clean, free breakfast, good WiFi, and spacious rooms. Good choice and cost! Give it a try – you’ll be pleased.

We too the BART in from SFO and was traveling in with 5 people. It may be more cost efficient and quicker to take Uber into the city. Each ticket cost $8.95 to get to Embarcedero. It also said it was going to Fisherman’s Wharf but nope, much further away. We ended up taking an Uber to the hotel from the Embarcedero stop which costs $28 (the Uber estimate from SFO – hotel said $60 approx). Lesson learned but we got some nice views of the city and architecture and layout of the streets of SF. 😉

 Before dinner, we stopped at Boudin’s bakery and get their famous and delicious bread.

Some more treats for the first night 😋😋😋

📷: Cornology – Get the truffle parmesan popcorn! So tasty.

📷: Sotto Mare – definitely get the scallops! The sauce is so so yummy!!

📷: Sweet and friendly service at Naia but nothing to rave about.

Saturday was filled with exploring, seeing old friends, and of course eating some good grub. We got to see the sunbathing sea lions, Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, cable cars, and Farmer’s market in the Ferry Building is a must!

📷: Twinning in Old Navy flannel tops. It’s crazy how their personalities shine in this photo.

📷: Porchetta sandwiches right outside the ferry building is delish! You can’t miss it with the line. My friend from the JET programme.  That is definitely one program to remember with all the traveling adventures we had.

📷: Look, my 3rd is already here. #iwish

📷: Yummy dessert shop – Miette Patisserie

📷: A with her godfather who has this cool scooter for his hurt foot. They love their Uppababy too!

Dinner was definitely not something to even note along with their service but we had some fun company that Abigail remembers very well that Aunt Jennifer is so much fun!

Dessert at the Baked Bear topped the charts with a warm brownie topped with ice cream and heath bar bits. #amazing

We ended the night with the oldest (8 years old) doing story time with her buddies. P.S. my children’s board books are all 50% off on www.ajangsley.com 📚 They come with some surprises in there as a well so it’s a perfect gift! Also, I’ll be donating twice as much this holiday season to the charity listed in each respective book. Collect all 8 of my alphabet books! xx

📷: twinning pajamas from Hanna Anderson

Quick Sunday brunch at the pier and sandwiches from Boudin’s (yes, again – I LOVE THAT PLACE!) before heading to our last stop – Lombard Street.

They’re in #dotdotsmile dresses. Super soft and perfect for twirling in.

Last funny of the trip I want to remember was our little threat they would be sent to “timeout island” if they didn’t listen to us. Guess where that is!

#goodtimes and the perfect mommy daughter trip. I lost BUT #jetblue found my sunnies and that literally made my day getting it in the mail a couple weeks later. Surprised and so incredibly thankful for Jetblue! #shoutout

Cheers for now and thanks for reading. Hope you’re all enjoying the holidays. This will be the last flying trip until baby #3 makes its debut.

Fun For All – Lake Tahoe.

Took a little bit of debate on where to go for a much needed family vacation with our fav’s, but we finally decided on Lake Tahoe. A lot of fun when your kiddos are close in age, the hubs are good buddies, and of course the mama is my good university friend (and bridesmaid!). #timeflies

📷: the crew (kids are 4 years old, 1 year old, and 9 months)

Lake Tahoe is a great choice since it’s only a short flight (approximately 1 hour from Orange County, CA) to take in the great outdoors, and also rotate with the boys to go to the casinos.

We haven’t taken JetBlue since we left for London so decided on this airline based on them flying out of Long Beach airport – small and nicely renovated airport plus a great price point. They knocked it out of the ballpark with lovely, efficient service, good drinks and snacks. Alcoholic beverages were $7 (good selection of beer). #jetblue #love

Got a rental car and of course had to do a stop at Costco – super close from Reno airport.

• Traveler’s tip: Bring your own car seat if you want to make sure it’s clean! We also decided to buy another one we wouldn’t mind getting tossed around during transit.
• Evenflo (toddler booster seat) 
• car seat cover – this one is great (no wheels) and was only $9.

After much thought into whether or not to get an airbnb, we decided to make it easy and stay at  Hard Rock this time around. It was “nice enough” since it was renovated a couple years back, spacious, good food inside, and a casino right downstairs.

📷: Yes, she’s in Bebeaulait’s Muslin car seat cover & swaddle blankets. I love Muslin breathable fabric and highly recommend getting one for a car seat cover so your baby doesn’t get too hot in his/her car seat (also has a zipper to open/close if needed). Isn’t this print the cutest?!

📷: Traveler’s tip – request a crib (they usually roll) instead of a pack n’ play – so much cleaner! Ask for some flat sheets/fleece blankets to place on the hotel room floor if you have a crawler in the house. Bring also a crib fitted sheet if you’re worried about their sheets on your baby’s soft skin.  P.S. Addison just pulled herself up for the first time here (9 months).

📷: Across the street from Hard Rock is Edgewood where you can play golf. We took a walk there with the kids. It’s gorgeous!

Day 1 – we went to Zephyr Cove to take in the lake and hang out at the beach.  We stopped at the market to get goodies.  They have grills there so we made s’mores!  Gorgeous and relaxing (not very populated) spot to play in the sand. I believe it was $8 per car. Oh yea, clean individual bathrooms.

Day 2 we went bike riding around town and fishing at Sawmill Pond (kid’s fishing location).

📷: Got a lot of questions about my carrier and I love my MiaMily carrier. So much more back support and a compartment to store a bottle, phone, diaper, keys, etc.

📷: Caught 5 fish and brought them to MacDuff’s for them to cook 3 different ways! YUM! Pretty good deal as they provided salad and sides for $20/person. Get the bread pudding for dessert. #nomnom

Day 3, departed Lake Tahoe and headed home. Sweet trip with our fav’s with a lot of memories always. The kids all got sick but hey what trip isn’t complete without that happening. 

Cheers for now and thanks for reading. We love traveling with our kiddos and honestly it’s really not hard! #bringiton #travelwithkids 

xx