The brief reprieve from the cold this week gave us an opportunity to picnic at Jonas Green Park. Between the seagulls, sand and sunshine, Dakota couldn’t have been any happier.

WIth all of the plans we had for LA, I wanted to make sure we did something special just for little Dakota. A trip to the Zimmer Children’s Museum in downtown LA was just the ticket.

While Alex was working, Stephen and I took Dakota on quite a few adventures during our stay in LA. I’m pretty sure her favorite was our trip to the LA Zoo. Dakota has always adored animals (after all, “dog” was her first word and she barrels forward to get her hands on any furry animal we come across during neighborhood walks). Needless to say the zoo has become Dakota’s happy place.

When I found out Alex had an upcoming conference in LA I couldn’t have been more excited. It was an opportunity to venture out on Dakota’s longest flight to date for a week of exciting adventures with my brother and Dakota’s uncle, Stephen!

We couldn’t visit LA without showing Dakota the Pacific Ocean so we headed out early one morning to explore Santa Monica.

2017 was full of new adventures for our little family. There were first flights, big city explorations, summer travels, hiking excursions, lake houses, beach houses, pumpkin patches, and more. We spent the final few weeks of the year enjoying treasured time with family and reflecting on 12 months worth of an abundance of the best memories of our lives.

Every year my brother, sister and I get together for what has become one of my favorite annual holiday traditions — a sibling portrait (a tradition made much easier by having a photographer in the family). We usually have the images printed for our parents and grandmother as part of their holiday gifts and it’s been so much fun to add a mini addition to the portrait for the past two years.

All I did was blink. I closed my eyes for a single second and when I opened them a budding little girl sat before me. Those delicious round cheeks still intact but somehow a little less baby-ish. Untamable, swift curls of ever-lightening hair springing out from behind her ears. Her big bright eyes brimming with the same curiosity and wonder as the day she was born but also a touch of wisdom. And all I did was blink.

Alex and I went back and forth on a couple Halloween costume ideas for Dakota but since she loves animals so much (and because babies in animal ears/hats/bonnets are irresistibly charming) we knew that was the right route to go.

What is it about babies and pumpkins that are so irresistibly cute? This weekend we drove out to Easton to explore the pumpkin patch at Councell Farms with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Justin, Aunt Julianne and baby cousin Jaxon.

It’s hard to believe this sweet girl is nearly a year old! Dakota has grown into quite the social baby. She waves at strangers and animals who pass her by, loves making new baby friends at our local library’s storytime class and gym class, and chats on mama’s cell phone when it “rings.”