Our Summer in SLO, Part 1 {The Trip Out and Santa Barbara}

So, as I mentioned, we are spending the month of July on the Central Coast of California.  We are staying at our friend's house while they are on vacation in Canada.  We feel so grateful that we have an awesome place to stay in an awesome location so close to so many of our favorite people.  The weather here is perfect and you better believe that we are soaking up as much outside time as we possibly can before we head back home to the triple digit weather.

Before I get in to all of the fun things we've been doing since we arrived, I better fill you all in on our trip out.  We ended up leaving a day or two earlier than we originally planned because David had an installation that he needed to do in DC the day we were scheduled to arrive.  We definitely needed him for a good portion of our drive...I'm crazy, but not that crazy! So, we left a couple days early so that he could get us through the desert and at least to Los Angeles where he would fly out the next day.

Taking a road trip with David {and the girls} usually means one thing -- I drive and he "works."  It's been this way since we first started dating and went on road/work trips together.  He would need to make phone calls and plan installations so I would drive most of the way so that he could do just that.  And, it has sort of just stuck.  I think I'm a better driver anyway and it gives me a break from having to entertain every need of the girls {although I should add that they are amazing little travelers} so it works out pretty well.

We packed the car about as full as we possibly could.  I did my best to pack some small suitcases for the girls and me to have clothes for a few days without having to dig into our big bags and the same went for David.  Of course we had to have about a gazillion snacks as well.  I mean, come on, what's a road trip without snacks?! We were also bringing Magnum, so he got to have a special place in the back in between the girls.

We are Michelsons, so naturally we left later than we wanted to which put us in to Los Angeles later than we wanted.  And, I'm not going to get in to the details of booking our hotel room, but let's just say that it doesn't always work out to wait until the last minute to make a reservation. {Hashtag I'll let the pictures do the talking!}

We dropped David off at the airport the next morning and escaped LA fairly painlessly.  Thank you, Jesus!  We made a pitstop about an hour south of Santa Barbara for pancakes at IHOP and then reached our Santa Barbara destination by early afternoon.

 I wanted to take the girls to the Santa Barbara zoo.  It was one of our favorite places to take Olivia when we lived out here and I knew it would be easy to navigate with two girls.  Our only hiccup was that we had Magnum and I didn't want to leave him in the car for very long even though we parked in the shade and it wasn't super hot.  So, our zoo trip was short, but sweet.  I even let the girls feed the giraffe like we did when my friend Jill came to visit.

After we left the zoo, we drove around Santa Barbara for a bit to let Sydney take her nap in the car.  It was fun driving around the city we used to venture down to for the day to visit our friend, Michele.  I so wished that she still lived there so we could pop over to the Aveda salon and surprise her like we used to.  {Hashtag those were the good old days.}  Once Sydney woke up, we headed over to our hotel.  The owners were so lovely...they had girls our girls age and they were so intrigued by Magnum. They told us about a beach not too far away that we pet-friendly and I decided to brave a trip there with both girls and Magnum.  Maybe I am that crazy.

It was so beautiful out and the drive there was down a stretch of road that we had never explored.  Magnum was pretty well-behaved mostly because I kept him on the leash the whole time.  It was a lot of work keeping an eye on both girls going in different directions, but fortunately Sydney wants to do everything her sister does so that helped some.  I have to admit that I felt pretty proud of myself that I was able to do this {successfully} with my three little ones in tow...proud and exhausted.  

There was no way I was going to tackle trying to take these sandy girls out to dinner, so we ordered pizza {the first of mannnnyyy pizza dinners thus far} to be delivered back to the hotel.  So, you know, not so crazy.

I'll have to admit, it was sort of sweet snuggling in bed that night ... all four of us cuddled up in one big bed.  I do love our girls {and Magnum} and our crazy adventures.

The next morning, we walked down the street to yet another IHOP.  Apparently, Olivia wasn't as charming at this restaurant because our waitress claimed they didn't have sprinkles.  Olivia's disappointment was short-lived as soon as she discovered strawberry syrup.  

And, how's this for a conclusion:  So that sums up our trip out to the central coast!  ha.  I'll do my best to fill you in soon on what happened after we arrived!