California Dreamin’

From April 15th to the 22nd, Matt, Bliss and I had the fun opportunity to join our church’s staff on an amazing trip to California. When we were first asked if we’d like to go, I was nervous about leaving my littles. Even though I knew it would be hard to leave the boys, I was 100% sure that I wouldn’t be able to leave Bliss…so, we said that if she could go, we were in!

Thankfully, everyone was supportive and understanding of Bliss going and we were able to book our flight and get excited about the trip. After much prep for the grandparents left behind with Q and Nasher…and after lots of packing for Matt, Bliss and I, we boarded a plane at 9:00 on Wednesday morning. Bliss was busy busy but a trooper for the 3 1/2 hour flight. I was thankful when the wheels hit the ground!…and so was the gentleman sitting next to me, I’m sure! As soon as we arrived in Orange County, we made a quick stop at our hotel to freshen up before heading out to San Diego for the evening.

Our time in San Diego was super limited, so we just made a quick stop at this Naval Yard.





 
Then, we had a crazy amazing meal at Hash House a go go in San Diego. I have never seen larger portions in my life! And, we were all starving…so the large portions were a good thing.  
On Thursday the 16th, we got up early to head to our first day of the Catalyst Conference. This little lovey slept great and was ready to go.







The conference was so amazing and we heard so many amazing speakers and bands. Our sister was such a good girl. She would sleep in my arms and stayed so happy and quiet at the other times. So thankful for her.
The conference had a whole food truck park for us for meals. We ate some YUMMY Cousins Maine Lobster tacos one evening!
On Thursday, we had another day of Catalyst. The church that hosted the conference was beautiful and had lots of space for us to be outside. With perfect California weather, it was hard to resist!  


Then, on Thursday evening, this girly stayed up way past her bedtime to hear Hillsong’s concert…I’m sure she thought it was totally worth it!
 
On top of that, we ate In-N-Out more than once…
Smelled this amazing Jasmine EVERYWHERE we went…
And then got the dreamy chance to take our baby girl to Disneyland all day Saturday! (post coming soon!)

We then spent our Sunday morning at Saddleback church before hitting the road. On Sunday, we drove 4+ hours before reaching Morrow Bay…We were so happy to get there because it was a rough drive for Bliss. She slept all of 15 minutes!

Dinner and a little exploring before heading up the road a bit to get the yummiest cookies at the Brown Butter Cookie Company in Cayucos…

Then to hustle down the road to San Simeon to see the Elephant Seals before dark…

After a little more driving and a LOOONNNGG day, we made it to Ragged Point. We couldn’t wait to wake in the morning to see our view…
And, it was worth the wait. The sounds and the sights were just amazing…and we even saw whales! Pictures never do things like this any justice at all!…

On Monday morning, we hit the road for another long but fun day up the California Coast…
We saw beautiful sights all along Big Sur…



 

My favorite stop was McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. It was quite possibly the most beautiful water I’ve ever seen! …so turquoisey aqua…amazing!











 








My love…goodness, I love her…

After a little more driving, we stopped for lunch…


And then went to the amazing Pfeiffer Beach. It was so beautiful and the water was so active…Matt, especially, had a blast playing…

And look how handsome…













 
Pastor Bruce and Matt…







 
In less than an hour, we entered the dreamy world of Carmel…Oh My! Can I move here? I loved every second we got to spend roaming the streets and on the beach! A MUST-GO-BACK place, for sure!

The sweetest older couple, came up to us on the beach of Carmel and said that they had watched Matt and how darling he was with Bliss. They said that they always walk along the beach and say things they’re thankful for…and, that, today, they were thankful for that sweet man with his baby! It melted me. Then, the wanted to take our picture! What a precious compliment from a precious couple!

 
And this baby girl LOVED the sand. She would have played in it all day, I’m sure… 

We then drove to Monterey as our last destination for the day. We visited the seals (and facetimed the boys so they could see them) before dinner and then headed to our hotel for the night.





Yummy dinner…and an especially large and yummy pretzel…at Cannery Row Brewing Company…

On Tuesday morning, we took the almost 2 hour drive to San Francisco. We started the day at the famous Boudin Sourdough Bistro…
 
We, of course, did lots of sight seeing. This was my first time to visit San Francisco…so, I was a little star struck by the bridge…

I was not prepared for how chilly it would be once we left Orange County. We were COLD!!!…

We found Bliss Road when heading to Fisherman’s Wharf…
And then had a fun day exploring the rest of San Fran…
Ghirardelli Square…

Trolley riding (and facetiming the boys)…

Famous Lombard Street…

 








More trolley riding and shopping to warm up our girl…

Street vendor selling flowers…
Cozy in her new hat and San Francisco fleece…
Even more trolley riding…and sneaking some kisses and selfies from that sweet girl…





After our adventures, the three of us headed out to find the sweetest little jewelry store in town. Can you even believe it? We, of course, had to take lots and lots of pictures!…

It was truly a great day…but this girl seemed ready to get packin’ and get home to her Bubbas…

After one more night in a hotel (we’d spent 7 nights away in 4 different hotels!!!), we loaded the plane and were given the ENOURMOUS blessing of an empty seat in our row. Our girly played and slept and played some more. It made the flight home so much easier!!
 

Finally, after seven long nights away, we were reunited with our two favorite little guys on the planet. We were so happy to see them…and the feelings were pretty mutual. We had sussies to pass out and memories to share! Matt and I are so thankful that we had the opportunity to go on such a fun trip! It was full…but so fun! We crammed so many amazing things into such a (relatively) short amount of time. There’s no doubt that we’ll have to make the HWY 1 trek again once the kids are bigger.