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Henry was 5 months when we went on our first road trip in September of last year: 2.5 hours one way to Santa Barbara to celebrate my husband’s 30th birthday. Travel Tip #1: Leave at the Start of Nap Time For both road trips we left at 11:00am, when Henry usually starts his 2nd nap of the day. We forgot our white noise machine during our second road trip so we had to sacrifice one of our phones and leave the Air Conditioner sound on the White Noise app running all night. I listened to a podcast episode before our first road trip in which the guest stated that parents should anticipate time on the road taking twice as long with a baby!

There are so many baby-friendly outdoor activities I am looking forward to now that the holiday season is officially underway! With our adventurous 6 month old (going on 7 months! ! ) in tow, here are 10 baby-friendly outdoor activities I am looking forward to this holiday season: There are so many great farmer’s markets near us, including the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano, the Irvine Great Park Farmer’s Market, and we even have a community farm in our neighborhood! My husband and I have a tradition of going on a hike on New Year’s Day and I plan to keep that tradition with Henry.

I got the idea to pick a word of the year in September after listening to an episode of Gretchen Rubin’s Happier podcast in which her and sister discuss choosing a word or phrase as a way to theme your hopes and dreams for the next year. In 2017 my word of the year was Joy and in 2018 my word of the year was Slow. My word of the year for 2019 is Enjoy and I am so happy about the intentions I have set for myself as well as excited for the endeavors that will be filling my time, all of which relate to that one word. Do you pick a word of the year?

South Wagon Wheel Trail in Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park is a flat, 2.5 mile out and back hike with plenty of shade, is close to a gated community, and is perfect for a young family with a stroller in tow! It had been months since I went on a hike so going out with my new baby boy and husband was just what I wanted to do to celebrate turning a year older. Every year on the weekend around my birthday I like to go on a hike and since this was our first one as a new family we decided to return to the spot where we had our maternity photos taken. South Wagon Wheel Trail is one of many trails in Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park, most of which are in a more wilderness setting and include some hills.