The longer I live here in SoCal, the more strongly I believe they’ll have to drag my cold, dead body out of here. Cause there is no way I’m leaving this amazing place, ever.
Over the weekend, we did Philip’s very favorite thing — we took a drive. We left around 10:30 in the morning (after all of us slept in til 9am — heaven!) and we drove up the PCH, with no real destination in mind. Just following the coast and enjoying the amazing views, gorgeous houses, and perfect weather. Peanut, my schedule-loving child, was majorly bugged that we had no specific itinerary, but he eventually got over it and liked watching out the window and finding oil derricks, cars, and boats.
We wound our way through Seal Beach, Long Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, El Sagundo, Santa Monica, and then up into LA, stopping here and there to stretch our legs, admire a golf course, or change a diaper. It felt like vacation!
We stopped in Redondo Beach to grab a pizza at Fresh Brother’s and some lemonade and apples from Whole Foods, then backtracked a mile to pick up some ice cream from Handel’s. It was supposed to be one of the best ice cream parlors in the country and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Peanut got the chocolate cake batter, and Philip and I shared the vanilla caramel truffle. If it wasn’t an hour away, I’d go there every weekend, it was so good.
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| don’t worry — we didn’t actually give him any. he doesn’t seem too interested anyway 🙂 |
Our last stop was the gorgeous LA temple, and then we made our way back home, stopping at the Lazy Dog Cafe for a little dinner and Nordstroms to get my new watch fitted. A perfect day!
my husband was at Vandenburg AFB for a few months and we hope to be stationed there someday! The weather is unreal! And we loved how health conscious it is. It was so easy to find healthy food and places to exercise.
Fun day! Hope you got a stamp at the temple. 🙁
That was supposed to be happy. 🙂
looks like you had a lovely day! xo
http://allthingsprettyandlittle.blogspot.com/
So cute! I love your messy bun. <3
Xx
Rhea
http://fuss.co.in
Your kids are loving! I love your work 🙂
http://carmen-castro-creations.blogspot.pt/
Your kids are way too cute. And as I look out at, literally, seven feet of snow in my front yard, I envy your SoCal location. Enjoy it!
Great photos! You're making me miss my brother-in-law! He lives in the Santa Monica area. Have a great week!
you're living the life I want! lol.
That looked like a beautiful drive! I think I need some ice cream now… =]
Glad to hear you are enjoying it here! And the weather this past weekend was so perfect!
Great pictures! I did that drive a couple of months ago and it was absolutely stunning. Too bad I missed that ice cream though, yum!!
Kristina
Kristina does the Internets
Beautiful pictures! I'm up here in the Bay Area, which isn't quite as nice as SoCal, but I feel exactly the same way about the cold, dead body thing. I'm originally from Utah and all my family is there so when we moved here, I thought it'd be for five years max. Well, we're going on our 4th year here, our 3rd owning a house, so pretty much…could be lifers as far as I'm concerned. As long as the quality of the schools hold up and we don't have to change wards, I can't imagine why we'd want to leave. We had mid to high 70s last week while Utah is still trudging around in snow…no thank you!
Looks like so much fun! We are in South Carolina and it's still too cold for shorts, I'm a little jealous, lol! Love the watch!
Oh! You were in my mission!! It's been a good 5 years since I left but I'm still in love. I spent so much time in almost every place you mentioned (Palos Verdes, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, Santa Monica, and of course, LA!) I lived in the apartments behind that glorious temple for nearly a year. Best mission ever. Glad you had fun on the PCH. That's my dream day! I think a trip back there or me is in order stat.
*for me
Also, if you do this again keep going up through Malibu! Gorgeous. And, unrelated, you have to go to the Getty museum!!
CHOCOLATE CAKE BATTER ICE CREAM? Sounds like a dream come true. I'm glad you're loving SoCal! I'm pretty convinced that you cannot leave, at least not until we hang out!
Agree with Bethany Jane – Getty museum is pretty unreal. I need to learn how to do this "drive" thing. I think my kids might go nuts the first time we do it, but would eventually learn how to sit back and enjoy.
Ohhhhhhhhh so jealous! It looks so beautiful there!
What a fun spur-of-the-moment trip! We love doing that too; it's fun exploring the area around your home. I'm glad you're liking california!
I want your hair and I want to sport that top bun! I can but it will look more like an almond. Looks like you guys had a really good time.
That looks like so much fun! And Buck has the chubbiest and cutest little face! But, I must know … how do you get your bun to look like that?! Mine is ALWAYS short and wide. HaHa
Looks like a very fun and carefree day! It looks gorgeously sunny there I wish we had that weather 🙂
weirdlynormal249.blogspot.com
Beautiful! Oh how I miss SoCal…we lived in San Clemente while my hubby was stationed at Camp Pendleton several years ago. We hope to move back there after he's done with recruiting duty (next year!). Fingers crossed! Are you there on military orders? Anyway, looks like your day was fun!
Love California! I'm glad you guys are enjoying it! Just driving without a destination sounds like a great weekend thing to do. Maybe we'll do that sometime.
Also, by the way, where did you get that graphic tee of yours that you are wearing? It's so cute and I'd love to buy one of my own!
Every time you post a picture of your kids I just want to tell you that you seriously have the CUTEST family in the entire world. Well, maaaaaybe tied with Naomi/Rockstar Diaries, but you guys are pretty high up there on the cute family scale.
SoCal looks amazing. If it wasn't for all my family and in-laws living here, and my husband's job that must be in WA state, I'd move there in a heartbeat.
K one, I love Benson. He's seriously the cutest little toddler ever. Two, your hair is amazing. Did you use one of those chignon/sock thingers or did you just wrap it up in itself? Three, I wish I lived you with you guys. I need some warm air. Like yesterday. And four- could buck be any more squishier? OOOO I wish you guys lived closer to us!!
That looks like a lot of fun! Enjoy the warmth! I miss warmth and sunshine. It is one of the things I wish we had here! I'm jealous!
peanut's little outfit is TO DIE FOR! so precious!!!
Fun! I love how warm it is there (and I'm totally jealous). 🙂
So awesome! I wish we had warm weather for more of the year up here in Canada 🙁 I'm so over winter!
I'm glad to see I'm not the only ones loving on your top bun. Your hair seems to be fine, so I'm wondering how you get it to look like such a full ball?!
PLEASE do a tutorial on your hair!!!
Keep up the great work, I love the site!
great photos! the weather has been insanely gorgeous lately!
So weird seeing you post pictures of my town. (I live in Redondo Beach/Torrance area.) That golf corse is where I work. I love your blog!