California Road Trip Day 5, 6 and 7

We started day 5 out in Pismo Beach before making our longest drive of the week down to Santa Monica.

Breakfast of champions overlooking the ocean. ; )

We met our good friends, the Salsas, for lunch before we all headed to the Santa Monica Pier. The kiddos rode the carousel with their dads and then we played on the swings on the beach. The rest of the day, we took it easy hanging out and catching up. It was so great to see Eric and Diana and meet their precious kiddos! Thanks for having us, guys!

Rael and Carson were fast friends!

Our last full day of the trip, we made our way south to San Diego to visit the zoo and meet our friends, the Beltraminis, for dinner. It just so happens that we caught the zoo on the 1 in 5 days that it actually rains in San Diego each year. What luck?!?!? Thankfully, they had a bus tour that we could take around the zoo to avoid the rain for a bit. The rain cleared up after a bit, so we were able to enjoy the zoo even more. It was a great zoo!

It was so great to see Ryan and Alisha and meet their adorable kiddos! Oh, how we wish these California guys were closer! Love you all so much!

Someone obviously wasn't interested in having her picture made, ha!

Precious, precious girls!

Love this girl!

The main item on the itinerary for our final day was enjoying a spanish latte from Urth Caffe. It did not disappoint!

We had such an awesome week together exploring the California coast. I am so glad we took the leap and made the trip with the kiddos. The kiddos were great, maybe even better than we ever expected. Here's to many more adventures! We are looking forward to it!

California Road Trip Day 4

We spent our fourth day driving through Big Sur. I'll let the pictures speak for this area. : )

Bixby Bridge, one of the tallest single-span concrete bridges in the world.

We stopped at the Big Sur Inn & Restaurant and walked down the river, where Reed refused to leave without walking through the freezing water to the bench in the middle.

He made it!

Cool tunnel on the PCH. Carson discovered a new found love of tunnels on this trip. It might be because we instituted the screaming when we go through tunnels rule.

A male elephant seal

Lots of elephant seals.

Random zebra farm on the side of the road!

We made our way to Pismo Beach and the kids loved running on the beach in the frigid water.

Chris and the kiddos even got into the pool at our hotel. Chris said the "heated" pool had gotten the ice knocked off of it. Carson was shaking shortly after this pic and had to get out to warm up.

California Road Trip Day 3

Our third day began with breakfast at the Quail Lodge, our home for a mere two nights, followed by a quick 9 hole round of putt-putt. It was a little chilly but still such a fun morning. This was most definitely our favorite place that we stayed. 

After breakfast and putt-putt, we made our way to the Monterey Aquarium. We had a fun morning there. It was a really good aquarium, although it didn't really hold a candle to the Georgia Aquarium.

This stingray was trying to reach up and give Cars a kiss. ; )

The view from the viewing deck of the aquarium. They definitely have the Georgia Aquarium beat with this view.

After a quick bite to eat, we made our way to the start of the 17 mile drive that would take us by a lot of cool stops including Pebble Beach golf course.

Bird Rock, named for the white top due to all the birds that call this rock home.

The Lone Cypress. This tree has lived on this point for 250 years. It now has many ropes attached to it in hopes that it never comes down.

Pebble Beach golf course. Chris was pretty bummed that he wasn't here to play. Next time. Next time!

We ended our day with a long walk on the golf course.

Totally random, but this was the walkway from the parking lot to our room. So pretty!