Beach Babe

She's so stinkin' cute.
This is at Huntington Beach with Manuel, Yoli, Bri and Christin.

Ho, Ho, Ho! Greeeeen Giant!

Today I heard Lilly say, "Mommy, look at my lips." I turned around to see that she had used a green, nonwashable marker to turn her lips and much of the surrounding area to a lovely shade of green. She looked like she had been making out with the Green Giant, or his little buddy Sprout at least. So we scrubbed. And scrubbed. She's still green.
She not worried about it. But the marker's fate was to be tossed into the trashcan, never to be seen again.

Stick up Your Dukes

What is it with kids and brushing their teeth? Sometimes it takes both of us to hold her down in order to get a good brushing in. It is amazing how strong she is. But look at her here. So grown up and responsible. Maybe there is light at the end of the tooth brushing tunnel.

Then she had to get completely silly to compensate for all of that mature, big girl, tooth brushing.

Grubbin'

The best part about going to new places is trying out the food.Anderson's Pea Soup in Buellton

This thing is weird. What are they doing in that picture? Is that how you make pea soup?
Both Rene and I have driven past this place many times in our lives without actually stopping. It was really good, especially since you get a little plate/smorgasbord of toppings to add to the soup.
Sausage Platter at the Red Viking restaurant in Solvang.

That little annoying Dolphin traveled just about everywhere with us. She kept losing it and/or dropping it and then subsequent fits ensued. That "Baby Dolphin" should consider himself lucky that he made it home with us. He almost got tossed out of the car window, many a time.

Sleepy Bear

If you read this blog on a regular basis you know that I cannot resist posting pictures of Lilly sleeping.

Needless to say, Lilly slept well every night of the trip.

The Beaches

This is Lilly heading down to the beach at the campsite.

Besides going to Abi's, Noni's and Jessie's, Lilly will most often tell you that she wants to go the beach.
Most spots in our vacation had a beach within walking distance.

This one was quite a hike down.

And then back up...
There were tears.

This was a beach in San Simeon.

Rene insisted on bringing the fishing pole. Maybe Lilly and Daddy can go on a fishing trip together. Sounds like a plan.

Nepenthe

This is one of the coolest places I have ever been. Rene and I actually saw Flea (of The Red Hot Chili Peppers) there one day.

It is in Big Sur.

Nepenthe means "no sorrow." The location and view are phenomenal. It has a bohemian feel and it makes you melt into a relaxed state.

The seats in the background all look out over this:
This is were you can sit and chill while you wait for a seat:
They, of course have a gift shop with lots of fun things to play with.

'Cation

Priceline is pretty awesome. You just type in the city and the stars and, boom, your adventure begins. And since Lilly is getting much better at handling long car rides, we decided to go up north for a "'cation."
We took it easy. We stayed in Paso Robles the first night.

Then we headed up to our hoped destination. We have driven past camp sites in the Big Sur area many a time but have never camped there. We so lucked out and got an outrageously beautiful site in the Kirk Creek campground. There was hiking, a rocky beach with tide pools, an unbelievable view and these insane little squirrels.

Lilly needed to take a load off after all of that traveling. And then she made friends with the locals. These little dudes were all over the place. They were super friendly and cute.
That is until we read the "Bubonic Plague" warnings posted in the bathrooms. None of them were foaming at the mouth, so I think we will all be okay.