California Highlights: Part 2

I'm going to keep this one to mostly pictures, with captions. Joe and I have a dinner date tonight, and I accidentally wasted too much of today doing pretty much nothing, which doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging! I will say it was a lovely, relaxing day off... and that I get soooo much more done in my life when I'm busy :) Here are the rest of the highlights from our trip, or at least the highlights we remembered to take pictures of!



Natalie, my cousin Emily's daughter, was so darn cute! She's super smart,
and will talk your ear off if you let her. Here she is in her ballerina swimsuit
and melon smile :)

Emily and Natalie live in Arizona, but they decided to seek refuge from
the dessert heat by coming home for a weekend. Emily and my aunt, Anne,
 made a fantastic dinner on Saturday night.

 

Sunday we were going to hit up Hollywood for a swank and stylish dinner,
but we ended up enjoying our time in Manhattan Beach too much.
We decided instead of rushing home to change for dinner,
we'd enjoy dinner near the beach, and spend a little more time in this
great little beach town!

 

We at at Manhattan Beach Brewing Company, and enjoyed the simple but tasty food.
Since we were on vacation, we had to have beer flights with our meal!

 

This visit we decided to try Malibu Seafood, after a rave review from my cousin.
It was BYOB, beautiful ocean views, and great seafood.  I love the crazy biker
atmosphere of Neptune's Net, but think Malibu Seafood has them beat in the end.



It's not a trip to Southern California without some fish tacos, right? YUM!

Another obvious requirement of this trip... In-N-Out!

Eating too much, exploring all over, and plenty of time in the waves made for a great vacation. It was so refreshing to just enjoy five days together, away from work, bills, and taking care of regular life. We loved catching up with family, and roaming around town without a care in the world!

Thanks especially to Sarah & Sanjin, my cousin and her husband, for loaning us your house and car. We hated being in L.A. and not seeing you and your adorable boys... but we sure are glad you suggested we take over your house while you were gone!