Just a two hour drive away, Winchester, Virginia is the perfect distance from home for a quick weekend getaway. We can pop Dakota in the car with some snacks, toys, and promises for adventures abound.

About a week ago Alex mentioned that Winchester — a city he works in occasionally — was a cute little town I might like. Within minutes of Googling the town I learned the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival was coming up so we immediately booked a long weekend away.

We can hardly believe our sweet little girl is a year and a half already! She’s grown so much since her first birthday and we couldn’t be happier to witness the little girl she is becoming.

Before tomorrow’s rainfall, today seemed like the perfect opportunity to check out the William Paca House and Garden in downtown Annapolis. We skipped the historic house tour (Dakota is a bit too young and rambunctious!) in favor of the self-guided garden tour .

Lately I’ve been trying to find all adventures in our backyard we can tackle and still make it home before nap. This weekend we popped over to Ellicott City for a stroll in the downtown historic district, a tour of the Ellicott City B & O Railroad Station Museum, lunch at Ellicott Mills Brewing Company (the Märzen was our favorite), and quick skip over to Long Gate Playground.

With sunny skies and cool breezes ushering in what I hope will be long enjoyable spring season, I’ve made a resolution to take Dakota on one new adventure every Friday – outdoors whenever possible.

I was actually more nervous for our recent flight to LA than when we went to Park City because ever since learning to walk, Dakota can barely be contained in a shopping cart for our 15-minute grocery runs at Trader Joe’s. A six hour flight was definitely daunting.

Although we weren’t in San Francisco long, we tried to pack in as much as possible while we were there.

After LA we jumped over to San Francisco to meet with some of our close friends. Just minutes from our friends’ apartment in San Francisco is the California Academy of Sciences. It’s definitely geared toward children a bit older than Dakota but there was plenty for her to explore.

Parks and food. Two of Dakota’s favorite things and quite possibly where we spent the majority of our time in California. Here’s an assortment of photos from some of our favorite spots in LA.