We ended our last week of our Winter Escape in sunny California once again. Upon our arrival at LAX, we picked up our rental car (along with complimentary car seats we scored!) and drove to our Laguna Beach cottage, the same one we rented last year. We stopped off to pick up our CDM local favorite Thai Del Mar and began our family time on our favorite Thalia beach at our beloved Laguna Beach. It was a week I like to think of as reliving our old California coastal life. We saw our friends, visited our favorite restaurants, frolicked on our favorite beaches, shopped at our favorite stores, entertained in our cottage garden, had our annual Disney time, and took in many beautiful sunsets… one just cannot get enough. The best part is that the boys (especially Taji) remembered the cottage from last year, and had many memories he could recall of everything we did last year at this same exact place. It warms my heart that these experiences are engrained in his mind, as I truly want this to be our annual tradition…. connecting our California roots with our New York life.
On the first and only Sunday we had in Laguna, my parents came over to say goodbye and spend a few hours with the boys and Chloe. This gave Brad and I the opportunity to reunite with local friends, go out to eat, and enjoy time sans kids. We initially planned a duffy cruise but the weather was rainy and chilly on our first day back in Cali.
Luckily, the sun and warm temps came back the next day (gotta love CA…. even with one crappy day the weather completely flips around the next.) I had a girls night with my close friend Laura at my favorite Newport restaurant Fig & Olive.
Family beach time at Main Beach playground, breakfast burritos, Wyland art gallery exploring, and shopping.
Another memory and milestone we stumbled upon…… the exact lifeguard tower Brad and I took our engagement photos 7 years ago….. look familiar?:
This would be my new secret favorite spot to sit and meditate, and maybe even watch the sunset! This place and the deck off of the Wyland gallery…. a spot you can get a great cup of coffee and go sit outside on their back deck and watch the waves crash below. Also, The Deck for cocktails and date night (first photo on this post). Its amazing that after growing up and living in Orange County for so many years and visiting Laguna Beach a billion times, you can still find new undiscovered places such as these!
We had Laura and the girls over for dinner and ice cream
(and a sunset walk down to the beach) one of the nights.
Then on a Wednesday morning, the boys and I met up with an old Czech friend of mine, Dianka, who I have known since we were kids! We met her and her darling Ella at our favorite breakfast joint Anastasia's in Laguna. Dianka and I used to meet up regularly for breakfast at Anastasia's before either Taj, Jax, or Ella were born. Our moms are best friends, and we have become really good friends. Its our sweet tradition :-) After a delicious breakfast, play time at the playground, we walked back into town, and I took the boys to a Sea Lion sanctuary in Laguna Canyon. There they saw almost a hundred seals and sea lions whom have been rescued from the ocean and rehabilitated, then released back into the ocean. Its like a shelter for marine animals. The boys were so interested in this and learned a lot. Taji became very immersed in wanting to learn more about marine animals on this trip, he kept asking to go back to Sea World as he remembers it from last year! We'll definitely have to come back and visit the sea lions again next year!
2 boys and a little lady!
Our annual Disneyland day with Laura and the girls!
Yep, we managed to squeeze in Disney in our California week…. aren't these boys lucky?!
This time we took them to California Adventure, adjoining theme park to Disneyland. I have never been before, and the boys really loved it. It was less crowded and more of their favorite Disney themes like A Bug's Life, Cars and Carland, and Toy Story, and even the Little Mermaid ride. Last year, Laura and I only took the eldest kids Taj and Brooklyn, and this year we decided to take all 4 munchkins and we went on all the rides (the ones they were tall enough to ride.)
So much fun!
We got back into Laguna just in time for sunset! While daddy was out with his friends on the duffy boat, the boys and I picked up a yummy vegetarian dinner and had a sunset picnic on the beach. I took these photos and video from that special mama and sons evening!
IMG 5234 from
jana grover on
Vimeo.
The next day, Friday, one of our last full days in CA, friends dropped by for a visit and to say goodbye, and I drove out to Rancho Santa Margarita to pick up Chloe early from school and surprise the boys! The boys were already at the beach with Brad when we surprised them with lunch. The boys were ecstatic to see their favorite cousin!
after the beach, we all got showered and cleaned up….. played Twister and had drinks while waiting for my sister and Bryan to meet us for dinner.
We walked over to Mozambique and had delicious African cuisine, then rode the trolley back to our cottage!
last day in Laguna…. watched the downtown parade, had lunch, and even managed to get in a little beach time right after checking out and packing up our car.
We headed to our friend Marc's house in Huntington Beach for more beach time, dinner, showered, and continued onward to LAX where we dropped of our rental car and hopped on our red eye flight back home to snowy wintry New York!
Some of my realizations from our West Coast Escape overall were that
1) it was awesome to combine staying at my sister's in RSM with our own Laguna beach cottage time, 2) I have become a sucker for sunsets and outdoor showers,
3) LOVE that we have our consistent home away from home in Laguna Beach that is already familiar to the boys,
4) LOVE all of our family traditions we started last year and the annual Disney day we do with Laura and her girls,
5) Next year, we really want to take the boys whale watching, to the aquarium, and Catalina Island!
and
6) we always manage to leave a piece of heart here in Laguna Beach, and every year we come back to retrieve it and leave another bit here for next time. I just love how this place has become SO special to us as a family and not just because this is where Brad and I had our wedding and many memories of our relationship, but its also because now that we live far away, whenever we come back, we appreciate the beauty and the charm. Its a place where we vacation, no longer live. Its a place where we unwind, relax, and devote to our family. Truly an escape now, but also a reminder of who we are and all the adventures we have had together thus far.
