Trip to L.A.

The kids and I drove 400 miles down I-5 this week to visit Santa Monica, L.A., Julia, Brian and Josie.

I-5 looks like this most of the way ... pretty flat, brown and dull.




Santa Monica was lovely, however, with a nice beach and a boardwalk.









Around the other side of Santa Monica bay are the mountains above Malibu.







The kids had lots of fun playing in the sand.








The park in Santa Monica next to the water









Sunset








Beach kids






We had a snack at Yummy Cupcakes. There are no stores that sell just cupcakes in Davis so that was a treat.







Santa Monica has a fun Third Street Promenade, a shopping street with lots of stores, restaurants, and fun fountains.







Josie ... asleep, as usual








Wednesday morning we went to Venice Beach, which was another fun beach.








There were people surfing...









More sand to play in...









Julia came down, and Josie got her first visit to the ocean (although I'm not sure she noticed).









At lunch








Dozing with mama










We like the beach!








Shark! (OK, not really)








They played with tennis balls...







Catch!








And played at the playground by Venice Beach.







On the 3rd Street Promenade we saw the L.A. Breakers, a breakdancing group. They were pretty amazing.








The view across the street from our hotel








Josie woke up a bit the last day we saw her













Bombing back up I-5...






The kids were watching "Back to the Future" in the back seat









Harris Ranch dining room, where we stopped going both up and down.