OH MY. We had the BEST and most EXHAUSTING weekend! LOL Funny how those seem to go hand in hand ;)

We decided on Wednesday of last week that this weekend would be the best and possibly ONLY weekend to go down south to visit my family. Sometimes, it's those last minute trips that work out the best. We called down to make sure the timing worked for them and before we knew it, it was time to pack!

Friday after the gym I ran around the house trying to clean and finish packing. As soon as the hubs got home we packed up the truck, picked up the Boy, and we were on our way!

After THE LONGEST DRIVE EVER we got in super late but they were up and waiting with cold beer and a glass of wine :)

My hopes of the late drive helping Lil Miss sleep in went up in flames when she woke up bright and early at 6:30am ready to play the Wii. I stumbled into the kitchen and the hubs and I sat bleary eyed as she and the Boy beat each other silly in Boxing.

Then we took our coffee out to the patio :) Their backyard is just awesome. It over looks this canyon and has the most amazing view! So instead of our normal vacations where we run around always off to do SOMETHING (which is great too) we took our coffee out to the patio and just relaxed :)

After lunch, my Aunt took us out for a drive on the coast.

She took us to a place that is famous for it's tide pools. We walked down the trail and into the cutest little beach community called Crystal Cove.

It has a bunch of super cute old beachy style cottages for rent and a restaurant all RIGHT ON THE BEACH!

We walked down a bit to the tide pool area and the kids ran all over squealing with excitement at all of the stuff they found.

It was absolutely PERFECT weather!





Just another beautiful place that makes me love living in California even more :)



This would be SUCH a cute photo if Lil Miss would just look at the camera >:-/

Seems these days she's allergic to it. She either looks away (ON PURPOSE I SWEAR) or she makes this very UNsmile-y smile that kinda just looks like she's constipated.

It's very pretty, I assure you.



After we annoyed played with the sea annenomies, crabs, and star fish we went out of a snack at a fish market at the harbor.



Lil Miss just adores her Aunt :)


When we got back to the house, the kids played with the dogs and the Hubs and I got to relax

We took a glass of wine out to the patio and just enjoyed the lovely Southern California evening weather :)

The kids played so much with those poor dogs that they were ALL worn out! We got them settled and in their jammies and then we got to head out for some time alone!

The Hubs had been dying to try out this wings place and we don't have one in our neck of the woods so went in for a drink and little snacky snack.

After that we walked around the outdoor mall and listened to the live music playing in the piano bar. It was SO nice to get out and have some time alone and go to places we don't normally get to. I'm so grateful for my sweet aunt and uncle for watching the kids and getting them to bed for us!

And that was just our first day!