Oh my goodness, I've been away for a bit. It's been a whirlwind around here lately and we just returned from our California roadtrip. Note to self: Sprout more arms and do some yoga before traveling with a toddler & two dogs.

It was a great trip and lots of fun, I was able to check off seeing the Redwoods from my bucket list as we cruised through the Avenue of the Giants and took the Skytrail gondola ride through the forest. We then headed down to Sonoma Valley wine country for a little tasting excursion and some relaxation. The trip came to a close after a few days in Piedmont-Oakland area visiting my brother-in-law. A night in a cute cabin creek-side in Ashland was the last stop on our way back home. Whew!

First.. traveling with a toddler was a bit of a reality check. We realized that was sleep-trained Aria to sleep in her crib a little too well. There was no sleep to be had by anyone the first two days, but we got into a groove and it got better. Snacks all around and lots of pit-stops for fresh air were the ticket.

Second, I love Airbnb. We used them to book 3 of the houses/cabins to stay in during our trip and each one was fabulous. Highly recommended for your next trip! Here's a link for $25 credit. :)

The first part of the trip was amazing, yes, I was amazed by trees, but really.. they are huge and very humbling. As I mentioned the Skytrail was great, Aria especially loved waving to people in the other gondolas as they passed by. We even picked up a couple tiny Redwood trees to try to not kill here at home.


Part two in Sonoma was super fun. We loved the little town of Forestville where we stayed. It was cute, quiet and friendly. The roads into and out of town were lined by vineyards close to harvest. I'm pretty sure you could live there your whole life and still not visit all the vineyards and wineries. Lots of great wine, way too many to choose from, I may have brought more than a few back home to hoard.

The house we stayed in had a 5 min walk to what they call "Mom's Beach" a open span of soft gravel beach along a slow-moving and shallow portion of the Russian River. A hit with everyone during the hot afternoons.


The third portion of the trip took us down to the Oakland/Piedmont area to see Seth's brother. Aria loves her uncle and had lots of fun, she even learned how to climb stairs. The Bay Area has so so many great places to eat, we were hardly disappointed. And a trip to the park with the pups after my first afternoon Ikea excursion kept us sane.

Our trip home was met with a sigh in which we were bummed to already have to return home to real life, but relief to finally get home too. So many great memories were made. This ended up a long post even with the short and sweet summary. So happy to finally share it with you.