This morning at Manhattan Beach

Glenn decided to take the morning off and go to the beach with Violet and I today!  We had the nicest morning.  We played on the beach for about an hour and a half, and then walked down the pier to the aquarium (which was closed, which made Violet very sad).

(Courtney, you are right, she makes a crazy face every time we take her picture lately!) 

Then we went to Wahoo's for lunch!  We do this almost every time we go to Manhattan Beach, and I was really looking forward to it today!  Today, though, I branched out from my usual, the Bonzai tofu burrito, and instead got the Bonzai shrimp burrito.  And can you believe it?  The tofu one is better!  Now I know to stick to what I know.

Afterwards, I convinced Glenn that we should go to the creamery across the street, and it was probably the best decision I've ever made in my life.  I always see it when we are there, and we've just never taken the time to go.  Now you won't be able to keep me away!  I got pralines and cream ice cream (sooooooo good!), and Glenn got red velvet.

They also had the most amazing looking cupcakes I have ever seen, which is what I might try next time we go, and lots of delicious looking chocolate covered things.  Someone come visit us so I can take you here!

At the beach with Glenn

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Violet and I have been at the beach every week this summer!   Glenn, however, has not had as many chances to go.  When our parents were here two weeks ago, Glenn had SO much fun at the beach, that he insisted we go as soon as finals were over.

So yesterday we went to Manhattan Beach.  First, we stopped at Jacks 'N Joe, our favorite breakfast place, to have breakfast.  

Then we headed out to the beach.  We took turns boogie boarding while the other person played with Violet.  The waves were so big!  We actually broke our boogie board.  I couldn't even hold on to the board when I'd catch a wave because the wave was so strong!  Glenn also thought the waves were stronger than they'd ever been, but he had a lot of fun, and stayed out in the water for a long time!

Glenn catching a wave:

Me:

Violet had a great time too, although predictably, she wasn't very happy when it was my turn to play with her when Glenn went out in the water.  

Also, we spotted some dolphins!  They were so close to the beach, and swam back and forth in front of us for a long time.

The beach with friends

We went to the beach this morning!  We went with a few moms that I don't know very well, except for one of them.  They all have little girls right around Violet's age though, and she had so much fun!  I was so glad that one of the other moms took pictures and emailed them to me.

All the girls in one shot - a miracle!

Violet saw Amelie swimming like a fish, and decided to join her.  I thought the water was pretty cold; they are brave!

But Violet did insist that I play with her a little bit in the water.

Violet is loving the beach so much the summer!  We have gone almost once a week!

Family Trip - Day 2

On Friday, July 5th, we headed out for our second day of adventures!  As I mentioned last post, Violet didn't sleep much the night before, so we were relieved when she went right to sleep as soon as we buckled her into her car seat that morning.  She slept for about an hour while I navigated some pretty scary hairpin turns on the craziest part of the PCH that we encountered on our trip.

After about an hour of driving, we got to Bixby Bridge!  It is beautiful, but you really just get out of the car and take a picture, and then there isn't really anything left to do but get back in the car.  We knew it was going to be a quick stop to just stretch our legs, so we weren't disappointed.

We went a little crazy with the panorama setting on our camera on the second day of the trip, so I'll try to only post the best of those :)

Our next stop was at Point Lobos, and it was probably my favorite place we saw the whole trip!  It is a big nature preserve where wildlife is abundant.  We hiked about a mile in to get to "Sea-lion cove".  The sea-lions were too far out to see well, but the seals were really close!  They are on that rock behind Violet and I in the next picture.  We continued to hike down, and ended up on that little gray beach you see on the right.

Violet is thrilled to be getting her picture taken with me, as usual.

We didn't take any pictures of the next place we stopped: Carmel-by-the-sea.  It is just a really quaint, touristy town, with lots of antique stores and pricey boutiques.  We ate at a landmark restaurant there called Katy's Place.  It was delicious, and their specialty was breakfast-all-day, so of course Glenn was thrilled!  Ironically though, he ended up getting a hamburger, and I got biscuits and gravy.

We made it to our hotel on the Monterey Peninsula by 3 o'clock that afternoon.  No nap for Violet again, but we did get to explore the peninsula that afternoon.  This lighthouse is one of the main attractions there, but I guess it closes at 4, so it was all gated in once we walked over there.  But we took a picture with it anyway...

If there is a beach, Violet can entertain herself, so of course we spent a little more time on the beach that afternoon.

I just can't tell you how relieved I was when Violet went to bed that night at 7:30.  And then I was even more relieved when she slept all the way til 6:30.  She was like a different person the next day, with a good night's rest behind her.

And if I had to guess, I would say that Violet's favorite thing she saw on this whole trip was probably this dolphin statue in the hallway outside our hotel room:

First family trip! Day 1

We just got back from our first family trip with Violet!  We have, of course, gone to Arizona with her, but this was the first time we picked a different destination and planned an itinerary and got a hotel.  

We drove up the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) to San Simeon on the 4th of July, and then up the PCH to Monterey on the 5th.  Today, we drove all the way home from Monterey without stopping to see anything.  We have been wanting to do a trip up the PCH, and since Glenn had a couple of days off for the 4th of July, we decided to take the opportunity and go!

On Thursday morning, we left around 8:00, and drove to Solvang.  Solvang is a Danish town just north of Santa Barbara.  It took about 2 1/2 hours to get there, but that was the longest stretch of the whole trip, besides today when we drove all the way home.  

At Solvang, they had an Independence Day Parade!  It was fun to watch, and Violet loved the horses.  Also, I had read that the one thing you have to do in Solvang is get some baked goods, since that is one thing the Danes are famous for.  We got a Danish, naturally, and also a huge oatmeal cookie sandwich dipped in chocolate.  They were both delicious!  

We planned to stop in Solvang only briefly to stretch our legs, but we still ended up staying almost an hour, and could have stayed and explored a lot longer!

Next, we drove about an hour and a half to Cambria.  Cambria is a really odd city.  It is tucked away from the shore in the woods, and it actually reminded me of a very posh Pine, AZ.  It is basically just one main street, with lots of unique shops.  We stopped in a couple of antique stores, and a place that sold "Rare and Unusual Succulents".  I had chosen the place we ate lunch based on reviews online, and it didn't disappoint!  It was called Indigo Moon, and it was delicious.  Also, the restaurant itself was really cool; it was an old, beautiful house with some tables inside, and a lot out on the big back porch, which is where we sat.  Violet had fun playing in the garden in the backyard while we waited for our food.

(Glenn's chicken-apple-brie sandwich and sweet potato fries)

Our hotel was in San Simeon, which was just a 5 minute drive from Cambria.  We arrived at our hotel about an hour before check-in, so we went down to the beach for a while.  Our hotel was literally on the beach, so it was only about a two minute walk to get down there.  

There were lots of rocks on the beach, and they were so beautiful!  I tried to get a picture of a good selection of rocks to show you, but the colors are not as vibrant in this picture as they were in real life.

Violet loved walking around the beach collecting rocks.  When we finally got into our hotel room, it was time to relax!

Don't let that picture fool you, Violet didn't sleep.  In fact, the only bad thing about this trip was how little Violet slept.  No naps either day, and that first night, she went to bed at almost 10 because of fireworks, and then woke up at 3 in the morning, and never went back to sleep.  Needless to say, we were all pretty tired on Friday. 

It was fun to watch fireworks on the beach though!  It was Violet's first time seeing them, and she loved them.

I'll chronicle Day 2 tomorrow!

Violet Gets Wet

We hardly ever bother to dress Violet in a swim suit when we got to the beach, because she is usually so scared of the water she never gets close.  Yesterday she surprised us by grabbing Glenn's hand and dragging him to the water as soon as we got there!  She loved letting the water wash up over her legs.

After a few waves went up to her arm pits, we took pity on her (she was shivering like crazy) and took off her wet dress.  Naked babies are the cutest anyway.

And then, my favorite part!  She was so cold she needed to be cuddled!  And I savored every moment, because that hardly ever happens.

A weekend of beach trips

We are having beautiful weather here (as usual, haha.  But seriously, even better than usual.)  To celebrate, we went to the beach on Friday with most of the other kids and moms in our ward (which equals two other moms besides me, and 4 other kids besides Violet).  I wish so much that I'd had my camera at the beach, because the kids had SO MUCH FUN.  They played in the water almost the whole time!  Aren't they brave?  Because let me tell you, the water is still very cold.  We went the the beach in the Marina, so there are no waves, and it is very shallow.  It is perfect water for the kids to play in.  There is also a playground on the beach.  We took a picnic, and it was just a really fun time.

On Friday night, we had a ward party where Violet got a kite as a gift in a white elephant exchange.  Glenn wanted to try it out right away, so we went out to Manhattan Beach for the afternoon on Saturday.  We haven't been to the beach in the afternoon much, so we were surprised how crowded it was.  We had a great time, but there wasn't enough of a breeze to get the kite up.  Oh well.  

(before the beach on Friday.  The hat and glasses lasted for about 3 seconds once we were at the beach)

(p.s. Cheeri - If you are reading this, I just wanted to tell you that Violet finally grew into that whale dress and this the first time she has worn it, and we got so many compliments on it.  Everyone wanted to know where I got it, and I just said, "It is a hand me down, and my sister in law has good taste.")

This weekend

We had a great three-day weekend!  I'm a little sad it is over because we had such a good time.  On Saturday, we went to the beach, and you wouldn't believe how wonderfully warm it was!  I actually got in the water, just up to my knees, but it was warm enough that it actually felt good!

Glenn had today off from school because of President's day, so we went to The Grove, the best mall that is relatively close to us.  We didn't find what we were looking for, but we still had a great time (and saw Mario Lopez, as usual).  I'm so grateful for Glenn and Violet; everything is fun with them!

The best Christmas present so far...

Nothing like free parking at the beach to start your Saturday off right!

We went to Manhattan Beach on Saturday morning to get our pictures taken, and had some fun afterwards too.  We didn't know before we went, but there is a cool little free aquarium at the end of the pier.  Violet loved touching the starfish and making fish faces at the fish in the tank.

It took us about twenty minutes to walk back down the pier because Violet was so obsessed with looking over the edge:

On our way back to the car, we decided to stop at Wahoo's for fish tacos, which was a delicious treat.  The best thing was that it never rained!  We were worried about taking pictures on Saturday because it rained for two days before, and it rained Saturday afternoon, but the couple hours of dry skies overlapped with our trip to the beach.  Lucky us!

Family Pictures!

We finally got family pictures taken on beach, which is something I've wanted to do since we moved here!  My friend Brittany is getting very good at using her fancy camera, and agreed to take pictures of us as long as we promised to have low expectations.

Well, of course they turned out beautifully!  Violet was very nervous at the beginning, but by the end had relaxed a little.  Also, there were so many cute candid pictures of Glenn and Violet together.  I wish I'd held her for more of the pictures so I could have some cute ones with her!  Oh well, I'll just remember that for next time.

Here are my favorites:

(this is the one I will probably get printed big and framed)

(love Violet's face in this one.  She looks so earnest.)

(I wish this one wasn't a tiny bit blurry, because I love it SO much!)