Spring on Mount Tam

Ed asked me during the week if he could take us away for a surprise trip. I wasn't too shocked that he brought us to Mount Tam. 

Evan has gotten so into hiking lately - he was excited to get up on Dad's back and get going. 

Evan especially loved all the water crossings that are still trickling for a little while longer. 

When he saw this, he kept saying, "Woah! Woah!"

The first part of the hike was all under the forest canopy. And then, we stepped out into this. 

Rolling green hills. Bright blue sky. And flowers. 

Thousands and thousands of flowers. 

We've been here so many times, but I've never seen wildflowers like this. 

We decided to try a new off-shoot that took us to a bluff overlooking the ocean. We could even see a glimpse of the golden gate. "Bridge! Bridge!"

There were so many happy people sharing the trails. 

One little girl saw the cloud bank and exclaimed, "Mommy! We're in heaven!"

We took a break to take in the view and give Evan a snack. 

Then it was time for him to explore. He loved the "purple flowers"

And he loved hiking. All by himself. We couldn't get over how grown up he's getting. We also realized that he may need trail shoes sooner rather than later - his play shoes don't have nearly enough traction :). I love how you can see the hill where Ed proposed on the left, and the point where we got married on the right. Such a special spot. 

Once we got back to the main trail, it was back up for a little bit more. This is my favorite open trail on Mt Tam. Hills to the east and ocean to the west. What more could you ask for?

We headed around one more bend before turning around and heading back to the car. 

Once we arrived, we sat down for a well deserved lunch. Our little hiker did such an amazing job!

Our Kitchen

Next up, the kitchen! Before, it was intense - very low ceilings (with a grapevine trellis wallpaper thing), all tones of brown, and a macrame window cover. 

I actually sort of liked it, in a very retro way, but with super outdated appliances, it had to go. 

We kept the cabinets themselves, the fridge, and the ovens. Everything else was out!

It was amazing how different it felt once it was gutted! Scary, but exciting. 

And here it is, after. 

We are in love with this space - so bright, with out beautiful quartzite countertops and glass cabinets.

The old appliances look so much better in the new space, and the added ceiling height makes such a difference. 

Our favorite detail is probably the backsplash - a hand painted ceramic from local Heath Ceramics. 

This room took a while, but was worth the wait. 

Our Family Room

Now that phase one of our renovation is done, I want to show off the results! First up, the family room/Evan's play nook.

As a reminder, this is what we started with, in all its paneled glory.

And this is it now!

 

We love our new space :)

Another Home Hike

Another overdue post from a couple of months ago. This was the first real hike we did onto the trials together.

Our trail that parallels the road and creek. Evan and I walk this almost every day. 

He loves saying "Goooooo!" and running.

And of course getting a ride when he gets tired.

Ed made a silly face to get our boy to smile :)

It was cold, so I bundled Evan up inside my jacket.

The sun was starting to drop as we walked back home. It's wonderful having nature so close. 

Evan's Daycare

I realized I started this post back before the holidays, so sorry that it's a little overdue. But, here is Evan's current daycare! We love the space he has here to run around and explore :). Hard to believe he has less than 2 months left in the 1-2 year old room!

Hiking from Home

Whew...it's been a busy winter. Between holidays, work, and lots of sickness, it's been pretty easy to fall behind. So, even though I'm sick yet again, I'm trying to find some time to update. 

We are finally done with our renovation as of a week ago, and are loving our new home and not having someone else in our house all the time. We still have more to do, but we're taking a break, which feels great.

Part of enjoying our new home is actually getting out onto our backyard trails. Ed took us on his favorite trail yesterday, which is about a 5 minute walk from our house. 

Everything is so green and beautiful right now - this was a prefect hike, made sweeter by being so close. 

Lots of beautiful views to enjoy!

We could even see Spring Lake - Ed takes Evan for runs to there all the time, and it was fun to see how close it actually is. 

Ed and Evan have been doing Father/son hikes together at least every other week - we're hoping to raise a little boy who loves the outdoors as much as we do.

We probably only hiked a couple miles, but it felt like we were a world away. I told Ed that we really have no excuse for not hiking every weekend, especially when we have such a wonderful one from our front door. 

Evan had a great time as always, and enjoying doing the last part of the "hike" up our street. What a beautiful day.