Expecting a bit of rain, we checked out The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. The rain held out long enough for us to explore the beautiful grounds, which turned out to be a good bit larger than we had anticipated and currently features a fun exhibit of large scale creatures built with Legos. Dakota especially loved navigating the steps and bridges in the Asian Garden.

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.

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.

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.

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.