the bargeron explorers | 4 days in & around Anaheim.

 After spending two glorious days in San Diego, we continued our tour through California and settled in for the next 4 days in...

Anaheim & Los Angeles!

This particular day was extra special because it was our 13th wedding anniversary! It felt so special to spend our day making memories one of the most fun adventures of our lives, and we loved being able to celebrate with our kiddos. We always heard the same phrase over and over again when we first go married: "You better do it now, because you won't be able to do it after you have kids." Instead of accepting that as a fact, we accepted it as a reverse challenge. See as much of the world with our children, even while they are young? Yes please! Celebrating our anniversary while across the country with our kiddos is proof of our values, and that makes me proud. The best part: being together at the happiest place on Earth!

We ate a final breakfast and loaded up our rental car in San Diego, and then drove two hours north. This was our second stop during our two-week adventure, and we were really excited about the things we had on our agenda while there. We drove straight to our first two Anaheim must-dos upon arrival:

First, we visited the Anaheim Angels stadium and team store. Our baseball-loving family was excited about this, especially the two boys. I went to a game here back in 2010, and it felt surreal to be back again years later with my own family.

Second, we introduced the kids to the the best burger place there is: In-n-Out! We all got burgers, fries, and a drink, and it was delightful. The kiddos were instant big fans, and TJ and I were downright giddy to experience it again after so long. Fun fact: this was the first place I took TJ after he landed when he visited me in 2010. So fun!

The next thing we did was actually the thing that we spent the next two full days doing, as well...

DISNEYLAND!

We spent a total of 2.5 days between Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.
Oh, what fun!

Truthfully, it wasn't all fun, because the littlest boy got hit with a fast and furious stomach virus while we were waiting in line for the Snow White ride at Disneyland only a little bit after we entered the park. TJ went back to the hotel with him, and the girls spent the rest of the day trying to make the best of our time without our other halves. We still had fun, and we rode so many rides. We saw lots of characters out and about, too!

The next day, Bethany and I had another girls day while the boys hung back at the hotel with a still-sick kiddo. We lived out best Disneyland lives, and we were happy when TJ and Braxton joined us for about an hour. Our reunion didn't last long, but we were grateful to at least be in the same place at the same time for that hour. Our hotel was the Hyatt House Anaheim, which was only about a mile walk to and from the parks, so it made for easy coming and going (especially if you snagged an Uber). We would stay again here in a heartbeat!

Battling and recovering from sickness wasn't on our agenda for this trip, of course, but we made the most of it. Braxton felt puny and awful, and TJ felt sad to be missing out on the fun, but this little hiccup gave us grown ups an opportunity to serve each of our kiddos in ways that were unique to their needs at the time. I felt extra grateful to be married to a good man on these divide-and-conquer days, even though we would have rather been together. <3

Thankfully, after two days of rest, Braxton felt much better and stronger, and we were able to all experience another park together...

DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE!

Long story short: we were all OBSESSED with this park. The vibes were amazing, and we seriously had one of the best days of our lives while here! Every area of DCA felt like it's own little world, which was so cool. Cars Land literally made us feel like we were characters in Cars, Avengers land literally made us feel like we were Avengers, and so on. The Pixar Pier was especially fabulous, and the World of Color made me cry. I think everyone should experience all that DCA has to offer at least once in their life -- it was THAT good. As bold as this statement may be, we all agreed that it's a strong contender for our all-time favorite Disney park!

One our last full day in Anaheim, we roadtripped through Los Angeles!

Our first stop was the Hollywood sign at the Mulholland View Point where you can see the Hollywood sign and downtown LA off in the distance. We weren't here long, but it was the perfect beginning to our tourist-tastic day!

Next up, we drove to Hollywood Boulevard to see the Walk of Fame.

From there, we went into Beverly Hills & walked along Rodeo Drive (baby).

And to round out our big day in LA, we went to the Santa Monica Pier.

This whole day was very nostalgic for me, because I spent a wonderful summer driving these iconic streets and making the most of all those glorious months gave me. As nostalgic as it was, it was, also, the most frustrating day we had. After big days in San Diego and at Disney and being sick, our kids were tired and grumpy this day. We had been going, going, going for a week at this point, so it definitely wasn't unexpected; but it was hard for all of us for various reasons. It was still a fun day, but the pictures don't tell the whole story so I wanted to make sure to fill in gaps. Family travel isn't immune to big emotions; no, we bring them with us no matter where you go. But it's worth it when you love who you're with and you're excited about where you are.

We felt like we spent just the right amount of time to do what we wanted to do for this leg of the trip, although it would have been nice to explore more of the beaches before leaving. Experiencing these fun things together as a family in Anaheim and Los Angeles was incredible, and I hope we get to do it again one day.

After those four days, it was time to pack up for an early flight to our final stop of our grand California expedition! Stay tuned for where we headed next.

the bargeron explorers | 2 days in San Diego, CA.

 My family recently took our first trip to the west coast together to..

Sunny California!

Our trip began with a mid-morning flight with Southwest out of our home airport and a (brutal) five hour layover before arriving in sunny CA for a 10-day trip that we had high expectations for. We started in San Diego, drove up to Anaheim, flew to San Francisco, and then flew back down to Los Angeles for a final night before flying back to the east coast. It was exhilarating, exhausting, and FUN!

Because we only had two full days in San Diego, we chose a handful of must-do things based on our personal interests and preferences. We loved San Diego and definitely wished we had more time there, but we were so happy with everything we did during those two days! San Diego has such a cool vibe, and it has only gotten cooler over time. (I say "over time" because I gratefully visited twice before this trip while I was in college! I loved it then and loved it again this time.)

After arriving as the sun set the evening before and crashing from a long travel day, we woke up with so much excitement on our first full day! We stayed at the gorgeous Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, and were blessed with a large room, separate sleeping space for the adults and kids, and a beautiful view of the San Diego Bay from our room. This particular hotel, also, has a club where we received breakfast, snacks and drinks throughout the day, and heavy hors d'oeurves and desserts in the evenings (our access is part of my status with Hyatt hotels). We took advantage of this perk every chance we got, and it was always delicious each time we went.

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Day One

On our first full day in San Diego, we did ate breakfast at the hotel, and immediately called for our rental car from valet and headed to start our trip with a bang at the...

San Diego Zoo!

We explored this amazing zoo for over five hours, and it was AMAZING. If five hours at a zoo sounds crazy, let me say this: we could have easily stayed LONGER. There were so many exhibits, and all of them were just outstanding. The kids were on cloud nine all morning -- and so were the grown ups! We saw koalas (!!!), elephants, a polar bear, a tiger, a rhino, and MORE. We don't get to see animals like this on a normal day, so you can imagine our excitement. We splurged on frozen icees, t-shirts, and stickers to commemorate such a fun morning here.

After we left the zoo, we headed to another iconic place in San Diego:

Old Town San Diego!

While in Old Town, we walked the streets, went into (what felt like) a million shops, devoured street tacos, watched a folklorico dancer performance, listened to a mariachi band, and more. The character throughout Old Town is just incredible and full of Mexican heritage and historical sights. We spent around three hours here, and (again) could have stayed longer.

After leaving Old Town, we went back to our hotel, ate dinner in the club, and then walked a mile along the bay so the kids could play at Waterfront Park. We saw this park on the way in from the airport, and immediately knew that we would play here at sunset one evening. This was the night, and it was so fun! We have a thing for scoping out parks while we're traveling, and it's one of my favorite parts of every trip. I know we'll outgrow this particular tradition once day (a reality that makes my heart ache, honestly), but I love that it's ours now. Pro tip: kids will enjoy traveling a lot more when they feel like the things they like to do matter, too.

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Day Two

After exploring some hot spots the day before (and walking twelve miles in the process), we spent our second day in San Diego staying near the coast. We love a good beach day, and this was one of the best! We started the day with another hotel breakfast, and then hopped in the car to do some more exploring. Our first stop was...

La Jolla!

This is a truly must-visit when in San Diego. The houses, the atmosphere, the seals (yes, seals!!). Just all of it feels other-worldly. We didn't tell our kids about the seals we were headed to see, only that we were going to hang out a fancy beach town for a bit. They were totally surprised and giddy, and it was such a fun surprise. We were giddy, too!

We parked at Children's Pool (super easy to find with GPS), watched the seals and birds up close for a while, and they walked along the La Jolla coast to admire the town's seaside character. The majestic rock faces are hard describe but easy to feel, and watching the waves crash into them is an experience that I think everyone should have at least once in their lives. Again, hard to describe but easy to feel. A beach with caves? Yes please!

After a couple of hours in La Jolla, we hopped back in the car and backtracked to spend the rest of the day at one of the most fun beaches on earth...

Mission Beach!

Tacos on the beach? Yes please! A theme park right off the beach, too? Again, yes! People rollerblading along the beach path between the ocean and all the action? How fun! Although we didn't go to the theme park or go rollerblading, it was still a fabulous atmosphere all-around. I came here once during college and thought it was just so cool, so it was extra fun to be able to bring my family here over a decade later. The water was freezing, too, by the way, but we still got in just to be able to say we did.

We did, in fact, eat tacos with our toes in the sand and it was the best. The simple things really are the big things, huh? They have proven to be for me, anyway.

After a few hours at the beach, we loaded back up and headed back to the hotel for one more club dinner here and a night of resting in the room after two big go-go-go days. We had many more go-go-go days in our future, too, and we have learned to pace ourselves so we don't burn out too quickly. Some say that we are still too intense travelers for their liking, but I stand by this statement: your pace may not be my pace and that's okay; the important thing is that we are aware of the paces that are best for each of us.

We all agreed that two nights wasn't enough for us to fully enjoy San Diego, but it was the perfect start to our big California adventure. Stay tuned for where we headed next!

twenty-one years of us.

We’ve lived a lot of life since our early days.

Twenty-one years ago today, on the 9th of September in 2003, our today was officially set into motion. A happy, happy day, indeed. One that we’ll always celebrate. I love my Teesh with everything in me. We celebrated 21 years with a full day of serving in unique ways, a home cooked meal, a youth football game, a picture in our kitchen (taken by our son), and a heart-to-heart with both tears and laughter before bed.

Simple but beautiful.

I love us.

Everyday we spend together gets better, even as the hard days crash into us. The hard only makes our roots sink down deeper into the ground, and we rejoice because we have lived just enough life to know that this is not always the case. Steady love, that’s what we have. We fight for it and give it space to grow, but the real miracle is that we don’t just love each other — we like each other a whole lot, too. I would still choose him and he would still choose me over and over and over again.

What a gift to have loved (and had a big ol’ crush on) this man for 21 years and get to shepherd a family together. Every season has brought both sunshine and rain, and I pray the shade from our deep-rooted pursuit of each other and our Lord blesses generation after generation.

p.s. We’re legal!