[Fall Bucket List] Nature Walk

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

This weekend we got to check something off our Fall Bucket List that I have been DYING to do for a while! We actually did it once before with our friends Lauren, Seth, and Logan, but I have been dying to go back for a while.

Rewind to a couple of months ago when I won this from The Popsicle Blog

One free bike rental and six ride/game tickets!


Jill writes The Popsicle Blog and blogs about all things Southern California (mostly specific to Orange County). I've been following her blog for a while now and she always has the best giveaways. I always enter all of them and have actually won quite a few fun things because of it! I was so stoked when I got the email that I had won this giveaway since we LOVE Irvine Regional Park!

Fast forward to this past weekend. We actually didn't have any plans, so I thought it would be fun to finally use our free bike rental. We were so lucky with the weather in the fact that the heat wave that we have been having finally broke and it was around 70 degrees all day. Finally... Fall (ish)!

Seth had had the day off work the day before and was watching the Food Network and saw some really great recipes that he wanted to try. So, Saturday morning I made some (store bought) cinnamon rolls and Seth put his own spin on Sunny Anderson's Denver Mug Omelet.



Delicious is an under statement.

After breakfast, we packed up and headed out to the park.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the park was pretty empty and the weather was perfect. We parked and walked over to the bike rental station.





We turned in our free rental ticket to rent a single surrey bike (above pictured are the double surreys), strapped on Mason's helmet (much to his dismay), and we were off!







How do I stop this thing???




The park lets you rent the bikes for an hour and let me tell you, after an hour on the bike, we were done! (In reality after about 10 minutes of pedaling, I thought we had been on the bike for at least 30 minutes... but I was wrong.) My legs were killing me! Nothing like a short bike ride to make you realize just how out of shape you are! Seriously the littlest hill felt like a mountain.

Despite the hard, hard work pedaling the heavy bike with all of us on it, I wouldn't trade it for the world. The park is insanely beautiful and I had the best time on our nature walk ride investing all that the park had to offer. We are so lucky to have this amazing place practically in our backyard.

Once we turned the bike in, we were ready for a snack/lunch. While Seth ordered and waited for our food, Mason snacked and ran around and played. He was having so much fun exploring the trees and especially running through the puddles.


We quickly ate our lunch and then headed over to the train station to use some of our tickets for a train ride around the park. I absolutely love the train and we have been on it every time we have visited the park (including during our Christmas visit when we rode the Christmas train)!


During the train ride, we saw that the pumpkin patch was set up already. We hadn't really intended on visiting a pumpkin patch that day as we have plans to do so in a couple weeks, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to check out the beautiful pumpkins.








Mason was obsessed with the pumpkins and literally ran around and touched and picked up almost every.single.one. There was a little kiddie area that had all the small pumpkins and he picked up about 10 of them trying to get us to buy them all and bring them home.

We did end up buying two small pumpkins for decoration at home (since I had a buy one, get one free coupon), but refrained from getting any more since we are going to the pumpkin patch in a couple weeks.

Overall, we had the best time visiting one of my favorite parks ever.

We already have plans to go back again but next time renting different bikes that might be lighter to ride up all the hills :)


***

Now, tell me!
What Fall fun have you been up to?


Pick an item, celebrate Fall, and link up with us!
I would love to see how you and your family are spending Fall.




 Desiree at Macke Monologues | Stephanie at Wife Mommy Me | Elizabeth at Chasin' Mason




[BOY MOMS] Ashley from Everything's Hunky Dorey

Monday, September 29, 2014

Happy Monday, everyone! I'm Ashley and I blog over at EVERYTHING'S HUNKY DOREY. I'm a mama of one sweet and rambunctious little boy, Wyatt, who is 17 months old. We're also expecting a baby girl, Stella, who is due any day now. But today is all about being a #boymom!
 
I remember when we found out on November 14th, 2012 that we were having a boy, we were both in shock. Although now looking back, I'm not sure why, I had already convinced myself  we would have a boy. Plus, we had always said we wanted a boy first, ya' know, the whole "big brother/protector" thing.


 I was really nervous about having a boy. I knew nothing about boys. I hate anything that's messy -  dirt, being sticky, insects, reptiles, sports, basically anything boy. I really didn't know what I would do all day with him, since at that point I knew I'd be home with him all day.
 
When Wyatt entered our lives on April 26, 2013 I knew all was right. And I couldn't wait to experience everything with him. When you have a baby, every experience is so exciting because you get to experience it for the first time all over again.


 I've had so many fun, "first", experiences with Wyatt. From swimming to zoo trips to parks and the  holidays. The list could go on and I know we'll continue to experience so many new things together.



 He has taught me so much about being a mama. I've definitely become a lot more laid back in "messy" situations. The boy knows how to make a great mess! He's shown me how much the "little things" in our everyday matter. I really couldn't imagine anything different in our lives at this point. We spend our days playing in rocks, building with blocks, and playing with cars and tractors.





I'm definitely looking forward to experiencing this next journey of life with him. I know he is going to be a wonderful big brother!
 
Thank you Elizabeth for letting me be apart of this wonderful series!

********

If you would like to share a post about you and your son, email me at chasinmasonblog@gmail.com .
I would love to feature you! You don't have to have a blog to participate!


Friday Favorites!

Friday, September 26, 2014

Happy Friday!

Though this week seemed to go by relatively quickly, I, for one, am VERY happy that it's finally Friday! We have some Fall fun planned for the weekend and I can't wait for the weekend to start promptly at 3:31pm :)

Before we get to the fun of the weekend, here is what I'm loving this week :

ONE.
Fall Shows.


Thursday nights just might be the best TV night of the week. Is anybody else watching? Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder. AMAZING.

TWO.
New scarves.


one // two // three (similar - couldn't find exact online)

My sister-in-law got me scarves as a present for my birthday and to say I love them would be an understatement. Seriously, she has the best taste! I promptly pretended that it was Fall on Monday and Tuesday and wore one the first two days of the week this week even though it was 80-90 degrees each day (in my defense 84 degrees on Monday actually did feel kinda cool...as sad as that sounds).

THREE.
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse shirt.


I found this shirt from Hey There Baby Clothing on Etsy and I think I love it. It would be perfect for Mason, right?!

FOUR.
Little Blue Truck Christmas.


As soon as Laura shared months ago that the Little Blue Truck book had a special Christmas edition coming out in September, I promptly pre-ordered it. Mason loves the original (and the sequel) and I knew he would love this one too. I had to wait months for it to come and it finally came on Wednesday! I'm so excited to wrap it and for Christmas to come so we can read it as a part of our 25 books of Christmas.

FIVE.
Giveaways!


If you haven't already, don't forget to enter the Dear Owen Co. giveaway (closes tomorrow!) and the beautiful card giveaway from my friend Molly!

Have a great weekend!

***

Linking up with Momfessionals.
Momfessionals

Happy Thursday + a giveaway!

Thursday, September 25, 2014

You guys! I had so much fun giving away a headband from Sadie Sky Boutiquea TOMS flag make-up roll from BYBMG, and a shop credit to Dear Owen Co. that I wanted to do one last giveaway to wrap up my birthday month. 

I mean... really? Aren't birthdays meant for celebrating all month anyway? I like to think so!

Today's giveaway is from one of my dear friends from college, Molly Kennedy-Darling!

Molly is a graphic designer from Portland, Oregon whose passion is designing patterns. In 2014, she is challenging herself to design a new pattern every week. Each month she assigns herself different design constraints and then creates a series of four patterns that work as a set. All of the patterns are posted to her blog: http://mollykd.tumblr.com and instagram: @patternsbymollykd

Molly so generously offered to participate in a giveaway on the blog and to give away four cards to the winner of the giveaway - cards of the winner's choice!


 In order to enter the giveaway, you will need to go to Molly's Etsy shop and like 2 of the items. This shouldn't be too hard (the hard part is picking JUST two!) because all her items are fabulous! I mean look at this beautiful cards!



Molly also created the Coupon Code: MASON to get 20% off all items from her shop. Offer runs from today (September 25, 2014) to October 9, 2014!

Now for the fun part... enter to win some of these wonderful cards!


Giveaway will run from Thursday, September 25, 2014 at midnight Pacific time to Thursday, October 2, 2014 at midnight Pacific time. Winner will be announced and contacted shortly thereafter.



Good luck! And don't forget to check out Molly's blog and to follow her on Instagram to see all her beautiful patterns!





DESIGNED BY ECLAIR DESIGNS