Santa Barbara Baby! Sisters Trip 2020

Maggie had some free time and suggested that we go to California for a beach trip. I wanted to go but my boys are so involved with sports - we have games, camps, tournaments, and practices every single night. However, it ended up working out because the week of the 24th of July or Pioneer Day there were no games or practices or anything holding us back so we packed up and went. Hannah was able to get off work and Mom said that she'd drive and pay for the the hotels so in a matters of a few hours our trip was a go!

I love to vacation to California. It's a tradition that started in my childhood. My parents and I lived there when I was young, I went to grade school there as well for a year, then when Dad graduated from Optometry school we moved back to Utah. 

We often would come back to California to vacation. We went to Disneyland and the Beach. Some of my first and favorite memories from my childhood are of both Disneyland and the Beach. I absolutely love the beach. I have spent lots of time not only on California beaches, but also beaches in Europe and Australia. It has been a while since my feet had dug in the sand, so we went to the Beach. 

This was a very lucky pit stop. The kids needed a break from the long drive and so we pulled off the freeway and this is what we found. We ate in Thousand Oaks, CA at the social monk and it was absolutely delicious and beautiful.

 

Here we are at home waiting from Hannah and Mom to come pick us up from Elk Ridge.

Eating at the Social Monk in Thousand Oaks, CA.

In Santa Barbara there are many beaches to choose from. We decided to spend our first beach day at Carpinteria City Beach. It is known as the “World's Safest Beach,”  It is very special and has been rated the #1 swimming beach in California, due mostly to its Southern exposure and its protection by the Channel Islands.

We loved this beach, everyone swam, went boogie boarding, floated on our air mattress that is meant for pools but ended up being a fun raft on the water.

George and I have become very close this past year. We just have. We make plans, dream big, hope for the best, push ourselves, and just talk and hangout a lot. I love George. He is good, smart, and dependable. He loves his family and tries to be a peacemaker. His brothers and I are lucky to have him!

I like taking photos. I love taking photos. But I know that not everyone wants to pose the whole trip, we we took our group photo on day 1 at the beach and then after that we didn't worry about it. I kept taking photos here and there but I'm glad that we got these group ones. Love these people. They're my people. I am so glad and lucky to have lovely Sisters and a wonderful Mom who want to spend time with me. Our kids get a long well and they had a blast on our Sisters Beach Trip!

We got to this beach early. We got a big spot and had it to ourselves until the afternoon came and lots of people made their way to the beach. It was awesome that we did arrive early because we got to see a pod of Dolphin swim super close to the shore. George was out boogie boarding and saw the black fins in the water and got out as fast as he could because from where he was it looked like they were coming right at him. Of course he thought it might be a shark so he got out super fast. 

It ended up being a family of Dolphin. I have not seen Dolphin swim that close to shore before. I would see them on the Ferry when we lived in Sydney. They would swim from the ocean into the harbor but I'd see them on the Ferry when I was going to collect the boys from school. This made the trip a bit more magical seeing these beautiful animals swim near us.

Denali is so cute. He is just the happiest one year old that I have ever met. So sweet and always willing to give you a big, happy smile! And look at those curls - Love you kiddo!

Everest and William became best buddies on this trip. They hung out together non stop. I loved that they had fun together on this trip! They got matching USA hats to keep them protected from the California sun. 

This was fun. We ate ice cream on Stern's Warf. It was one of the main things to do here at Santa Barbara so we decided to check it out. Of course the ice cream was mega expensive but it was a fun moment. The sun hats were amazing too! Day 1 we got a little too much sun, so we got sun hats and made sure to wear lots of sun screen for beach day number 2.

Gregory is so amazing! Love his happy energetic personality. He makes life more fun. He makes life better and happier for me! He wants everyone to have a good time, and has fun even thought is is almost a teenager he's cool spending time with his mom, grandma, and sisters. He doesn't have any cousins his age but he's happy to spend time with us and hangout with George. At least they have each other and get a long so well.

This was beach day #2. We went to Loon Point Beach. Very different from the city beach but equally fun. Maggie and I had our deep swim at the end which made me happy. We have vacationed together four times so far to California and the last time we went and this time as well we go out for a deep swim. Nothing too crazy but far enough to make you a little worried about running into a shark or something. Apparently not far from this beach Great White Sharks were spotted eating a dolphin that had died. At this beach we saw people riding horses, and we even saw a seal. Hannah saw a bunch of seals and even a dead seal. My older boys wanted to see this so they went on a hike around the point and found this dead seal too. 

Can you spot the live seal in the ocean. I saw this seal swimming when we first arrived then it swam on its back right past us again a few hours later. This ocean was full of life on this drip!

William was a stud on this trip. Happy to do whatever we had planned, spent hours playing on the beach using his imagination, and even though the waves made him a little nervous he went boogie boarding all on his own and was able to catch several waves. Love you William!

Cannot forget Tiberius. This baby boy is amazing. He just goes with the flow. Is happy to be with us and is always up for an adventure. He is a great traveler and I love him so much!

Our hotel was amazing. We had a suite with two rooms and two balcony. We'd eat breakfast outside each morning. 

These four were so cute together. They all got along and became really great friends. I love these photos of the four of them! 

This was actually really fun. You could just lay out in the ocean and enjoy the calm waves until after a bit it would push you to shore then it got really exciting! It was like a little ride getting back to shore. If you didn't fall off it was a good rush!

Basically this photo sums up our trip! It was so much fun. I wish I had more photos!! We had fun, spent lots of time just on the beach soaking up sun, playing in the water, and talking talking talking! I love my Sisters I love my Mom and love that we did this trip! Happy memories that will last a lifetime!