dbxcakes

Heading home from our fourth Dodgers Spring Training in Arizona. Last minute, we left Thursday evening to get a head start. We stayed in Tucson which made us a bit closer to Chiricahua National Monument for a hike.  Saturday and Sunday were spent in Phoenix. We checked out a new Cactus League stadium on Satuday, as we often do, to see the Mariners in Peoria. Unlike the Dodgers stadium, they are surrounded by restaurants and shopping. It was convenient as I need to feed myself quite frequently. The same day we were at Camelback Ranch for an evening game against the White Sox. Sunday's game was back at our home stadium with the Cincinnati Reds. Niner did a great job of choosing comfy, shady seats each time. And I love how small the stadiums are that you can see so well wherever you sit. Always a good time with our boys in blue!  Each Spring Training is always a little different. LODGING Red Roof Inn, Tucson : We did a same day reservation via Priceline's express...

Had a weekend full of birthday celebrations. Had sushi lunch with Natalie on Saturday at Simi. Today we started by celebrating with the Arnold's in Burbank for Gavin's 10th birthday. He had an amazing game truck and pizza party. Then we headed to Valencia for little primo Jacob's 1st Birthday. Scooters Jungle is insanely huge. We had a room of bounce houses to ourselves.  This evening we celebrated Kris's 22nd birthday at C&O Trattoria in Venice.  Good night! 

We went to Portland over Columbus Day weekend to visit our sissy. We had a cute time as expected: we met her boyfriend Andy; ate at Higgins, the French restaurant he works at; hung out with Peppy and Andy's puppy, Polly; hiked; tried to visit the Goonies house; hung out at a brewery; had lots of beer; met the grumpy cat Isis; played pin ball; chased waterfalls; ate donuts; brunched; got rained on at stunning Cannon Beach. It was a packed weekend and Shkrinty drove her sisters around everywhere. Already planning our next trip! 

Just came home from a week in Munich for Ryan's 33rd birthday. He's celebrated the last few years at Oktoberfest in Alpine Village, Torrance. This year, we did the real thing!  It was more than we expected for sure. It was a huge carnival for adults! Compared to the one beer tent that we're used to, there were several large tents, each with a theme and sponsored Bavarian beer. We dressed in dirndls and lederhosen, ate pretzels, pork knuckle, bratwursts, and strudels, rode bumper cars while buzzed, and drank lots of bier (me more than usual). Vi Vadi Hotel was conveniently a few blocks from Oktoberfest. We were also not too far from the city center. We walked around Marienplatz, the main square. Saw a bit of the outdoor market, Viktualienmarkt, mesmerized by the surfers in the river at  Englischer Garten, and had good coffee at Man versus Machine.  We even made time to leave the city a couple days. We visited the oldest working brewery in the world, Weihenstephan. It...