Avila

Avila Beach

Avila is a beautiful beach to visit. Especially right now, the seals and sea lions are out right at the pier. Tons of them! The kids walked right down the stairs and were so close they could have touched them, if I were crazy! It was so neat to see, a few were swimming around the pier but most were all lumped on top of each other relaxing in the shade. We also grabbed ice cream cones and took a stroll, watching people fish off of the pier and kayak in the water. Unfortunately I only took my phone and all of pictures were lost when I updated it so I have no pictures from our recent trip there to check out the wildlife. 

I do however have pictures from a previous trip to the Avila Valley Barn which is a must see if you are in that area.

 Starting at the end of September, the pumpkins come out and cover the place! There's a petting zoo type of set up around the barn area and you can get a bag of salad to feed the animals for .25!

Then there is a tractor/hay ride that takes you out into the pumpkin patch to pick your own pumpkins.

Or you can just pick one of the SEVERAL that are already picked for you!

My kids always get a honey stick for a treat, and sometimes we grab ice cream or lunch from the little cafe/ice cream shop.  It's such a fun place to go, we love it!

Nojoqui Falls

I LOVE waterfalls. Really love them. One of my favorite trips ever has been to Niagara Falls. I just love hearing the sound and seeing the water moving and I could visit hundreds of water falls and never tire of them.

Now this was no Niagara Falls but it included a small, kid friendly hike which we all love, so we were very excited to check it out.

This is right on the outside of Solvang and there is a little more info about it here: Nojoqui Falls

Our kids have short legs, like most kids so it took us longer than some of the other people we saw there, but even at our pace it was no more than about 20 minutes from our car to the falls.

We took a stroller the first time, but I wouldn't recommend it, the trail is quite bumpy but not bad walking.

Once you get to the water, theres a little stream area right in front of it, and a rock ledge with a little bench to rest on. It's very beautiful, even if there isn't a lot of water.

Afterwards, we went to the park, which you pass coming into the parking area of the falls, and had a picnic lunch. Great family day activity!

San Diego

We had a long weekend earlier this month and thought it would be the perfect time to check out San Diego! We left about 5 in the morning because we knew it was about a four hour drive and the kids do best in the car when they are a little groggy :)

We researched all the way there trying to decide what we wanted to do! We quickly realized we were not going to have enough time to see even a tenth of the what we would like to see there! The kids did get a vote though and so the first stop was LEGOLAND in Carlsbad!

The weather was beautiful (September) and it wasn't too crowded.  It's an awesome park and the kids had a  really fun time, however our 2 year old was dissapointed that there wasn't as much for him to ride as there was for the older kids (4 & 6).  So, we tried to sneak the big kids off with dad a few times to do the other rides and during a quick nap he took, so that he wouldn't feel too left out! There is alot to see there too, and we all LOVED Mini Land and our kids don't really even play with legos!

We did add the SEA LIFE aquarium option to our ticket and because our kids are obsessed with marine animals, this may have been their favorite part! You can get separate tickets and go to the the aquarium only or to the theme park only.  We spent the entire day there, until the park closed, and still only saw about half! So that will be another trip..

We were exhausted and grabbed Wendy's drive through and watched the kids swim at the hotel for our evening activity.  The next morning we headed to Coronado Island, which is only about 5 or so miles from downtown.  The drive over the San Diego-Coronado Bay bridge is amazing! The bridge is so tall and the view is stunning! The kids squealed the entire drive over the bridge!

Our first stop was Hotel Del Coronado. The hotel is one of the oldest and largest all-wooden buildings in California and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.  Granted, it isn't the most kid friendly  activity, there are several ice cream and candy shops throughout the shopping area of the hotel and there was a hawk demonstration going on in the courtyard.  The hotel is on the beach so after we looked around, we let the kids climb up on the rocks and watch the huge waves come crashing right below where they were sitting!

Showing me her shell :) Hotel in the background

There were huge waves and they loved climbing up to watch them

Then we made the drive down Silver Strand Blvd
to a cute little park on Imperial Beach and had a picnic there! It had a small town beach life feel to it and we really enjoyed our visit!

Beautiful Solvang

We read about Solvang before we moved to California and I was so excited to see it that we went the first weekend we moved here. It ends up taking us only about 25 minutes to get there, so I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more of this quaint and beautiful town.

The excitement began before we even got out of our van.  As you drive in from Buellton, you immediately notice the Scandinavian architecture which was so much fun to see! Having only been in coastal California for a few days, I was still trying to adjust to the FOG and the cool weather so I was also thrilled to see blue skies and feel the warmth from sun again! 

We happened to go on a Wednesday and it was bustling with people. We soon realized it was probably because it's the weekly farmer's market.  The kids have never been to a farmer's market and thought it was the coolest thing ever!  They set up right next to the park which was a perfect place for us to let the kids get their energy out while we soaked in the beauty! 

We spent the remainder of our time strolling the sidewalks, checking out the shops and restaurants and planning for our next visit there!