Meeker 50th Anniversary

This was the coolest parade outside the restaurant!

They were singing and chanting about a Saint.

It made me want to be an Italian.

My parents celebrated their 50th anniversary in style, at a cozy restaurant in the north-end of Boston with a bunch of friends and family. We all enjoyed a yummy Italian feast and good conversation. Gabby did a nice job of talking with everyone and showing them her new Sesame Street hair-ties from my mom's friend, Berna. My sister-in-law, Annarita did a lot of the work so I can't take much credit. She's awesome at organizing things. All in all, a wonderful celebration!

Mikayla Rose Meeker is born!

We are so excited to have another niece! She is the sweetest thing... Todd and Annarita are great parents and Gabby is enjoying being her big-girl cousin. Here are some pictures...

New York City

It was pretty much a whirlwind... we took a red eye flight on Thursday, had a layover in Chicago, and arrived in Boston at 9 am. Travis took a bus and train to get a car and came back to pick Gabby and I up at the airport. We promptly drove to Long Island and got stuck in traffic for a two hours... we finally arrived at or friend's house, Carlie and Hayes at about 6:30 pm. We were EXHAUSTED!!! As always, it was great to visit with them and their gorgeous son, Kai. We also got to see our good friend, Kamara. Two trips from Long Island to NYC (Central Park Zoo, Times Square, and FAO Schwartz) and some time with our buddies and we were on to our next adventure in Boston... Dang, we will miss these people!

L.A. and San Francisco

Pink's Hotdogs... It was okay but I'm not sure it was worth the 40 minute wait. Total tourist trap.

Gabby playing on the California coast... 

She LOVES playing in the sand.

Travis and Gabby

Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco... we stayed one night at 

Cliff and Rachael's house- had a blast!

Outside the Museum of Fine Arts. It was so windy!

Drove down Lombard Street

I always wanted to go to Haight-Ashbury... 

we ate lunch here at a place called "Cha-Cha-Cha." 

It was yummy!

Disneyland Trip!

We were fortunate enough to be given a three day and two night package to Disneyland by a very generous family from the school we work at, so we are extremely thankful to them that they made this possible... 

Words cannot explain how much fun Disneyland is with a three-year-old... the look on her face when we went on the rides and gleam in her eye when she saw the Disney characters put a tear in my eye a couple of times... just watching her be so happy, makes me so happy. We stayed at the California Grand Hotel, which is connected to the Disney California park. SUPER convenient! They even had gluten free hotdogs and pizza, so we didn't have to bring extra food! It took five minutes to get into Disneyland and we had a voucher to get into the park one hour early on one of the days. Gabby met tons of characters and got their autographs- Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Minnie Mouse, Ariel, Belle, Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty. Gabby's favorite rides included: Dumbo, Peter Pan, and the Tea Cup ride. Her least favorite was the Pinocchio ride because it was a bit scary. Travis and I did some swapping and were able to go one some adult rides- our favorite was the roller-coaster ride, called "California Screamin'". The main highlights of the trip included the "World of Color" light show, firework show (I'm not a fan of firework shows but this was awesome), and the Aladdin show. Gabby talks about this all the time about how Jafar turned into a snake and the Genie was funny. It really was an amazing show! The acting and singing was really impressive. Travis and I were laughing out-loud at the Genie's adult-themed jokes. Gabby also really liked having lunch at Ariel's Grotto, where she got to eat with all her favorite Disney princesses.

My favorite highlight was taking Gabby to the "Bibbity-Bobbity Boutique." It's a place where little girls get dressed-up as a princess of their choice by a Fairy Godmother and get some pictures taken. It's awesome! She picked out the Snow White outfit (not Cinderella, which surprised me) and the lady had the little birdies make the outfit. Gabby said, "bibbity-bobbity-boo!" and the dressing room opened and her outfit was there. She got her hair done, make-up (lipstick, blush, and sparkles), and her nails painted. They also gave her a pick sash that said, "Birthday Princess." When she was done getting ready, there was a big reveal... they turned her around and the little birdies opened up the curtains so Gabby could see herself in the mirror. Her reaction was funny... I don't think she recognized herself. Afterwards, she got to keep everything and got her picture taken in a carriage. She walked around all day gussied-up as Snow White. It was really cute... 

We were so sad when it was all over... these were such awesome memories...