More Grandma Time

A trip to the CHildren's museum with MeMa was a welcome excursion with some more typical Seattle weather gracing us in May. Braedyn really loves those drums.

Hanging out with MeMa

Braedyn has been going through MeMa withdrawls ever since grandma left. He keeps talking about her and always wants someone around to play with him, probably due to all the attention he got while MeMa was around. He had a lot of fun with her just playing around the house, in the yard, and going for walks to the river.

Vacation Videos

A few videos from our trip:

Playing on the beach...


Watching the train go by...


More beach play...

Grandma

"MeMa" came to town the day after we got back from our trip to see Braedyn. We've been spending lots of time enjoying the summer weather we've been having in Seattle.

Santa Monica

On our way to the LA airport we took the scenic route down the Pacific Coast highway through Malibu and then stopped for a break at the Santa Monica pier. There were lots of fun rides to blow some quarters on and plenty of other fun things to check out. It was a nice break from the car before heading to the airport.

One last beach walk

Our last evening in Carpinteria we went to the local farmers market to check it out. This is an agricultural part of California so there are lots of fresh produce around. After we got home and made a run to the grocery store I was surprised to notice that many of the vegetables and fruit we bought were from Carpinteria, Ventura or Oxnard. I just never noticed before... After that we headed to the beach for a final beach walk and then had a little picnic on the beach for dinner.

Santa Barbara

We spent our last full day in CA hanging out in Santa Barbara. We drove around a little, played at the hugest play structure I've ever seen called KidsZone at Alameda Park, then hung out on State Street for some shopping (long wished for by Mommy). It was a pretty warm day so we looked for all the shade and water we could and then ended up stopping for some ice cream.

Patagonia

Of course the main reason we visited Ventura is because it is the headquarters of Patagonia and the location of the original Great Pacific Iron Works where Yvone Chouinard started what later became Black Diamond and Patagonia. The original metal shed still stands out back of the store. Sort of a trip to mecca of sorts. Nothing too exciting besides seeing the place and buying some fresh clothes!

Mission San BuenaVentura

Ventura has a historic Mission, the Mission San BuenaVentura, originally built in 1782, that we got a chance to see. We didn't go in and visit the mission, but there were some nce fountains out front to play in!

Lunch in Ventura

On the recomendation of a local we stopped down a side courtyard for lunch at a little spot called Zoey's Cafe. It was a perfect day out so outside dining was really nice and it allowed Braedyn to run around a bit before the food got there.

San BuenaVentura

Ok, it pretty much looks the same, but this is the Ventura waterfront. They have a nice walking/biking path along the beach with lots of neat shops. We walked from Surfers Point down to the Ventura Pier and then headed into town where we hit a playground and some shops.

Amtrack

We planned a day to head down the coast a ways to Ventura to check that out. Instead of driving there we hopped aboard the local Amtrack to get there. This was the highlight of the day for Braedyn. It was a great little ride, only about 20 minutes, but it went right along the coast the whole way and had some gorgeous scenery.

Rincon Beach

We headed to Rincon beach for an afternoon to check out some more famous surf breaks. It was pretty busy and we had fun sitting and watching the surfers while Braedyn threw rocks and sticks. He got quite a few comments in his little surf outfit.

Carpinteria State Beach Park

Our condo is across the street from Carpinteria (Carp for short) State Beach Park, dubbed the "World's safest beach". This is a couple mile long stretch of soft, white sand. Lucky for us there are quite a few rocks strewn around in the sand so that some little kid we know can pratice his favorite past time of hucking rocks into the water. Unfortunately, daddy let Braedyn get mowed over by a little wave on our first foray out to the beach so it has taken him a little while to want to get close to the water again, but he's coming around already.

Seal Sanctuary

Right next to the Carpinteria Bluffs is a protected beach where a large rookery of seals lives. It was quite a site seeing maybe 200 seals hanging out on the beach. The trail takes you to an overlook directly above where they hang out so you can see (and smell) them. There is a person from a local group that works to protect the seals hanging out to answer questions and make sure people are respectful (or maybe just listen to his IPod while watching the sunset). Anyhow it was quite a sight and got Braedyn quite excited, even though he wasn't allowed to chuck rocks over the edge at them.