Nice weekend visit form my parents

My parents came on Friday to visit a Chinese doctor for my dads knee. It went very smoothly and we had a chance to enjoy quite a bit food - Vietnamese, ayce buffet and Korean bbq - gained a few pounds but worth it ;-)

Isabel’s robot in a maze

Isabel did a similar program and she added some sound effects with also a victory dance at the end

via https://youtu.be/jXutLlOmfwE

Alexis plays with robots

I took both kids to creativity museum today. They both love playing with robots in this maze. Here is how Alexis programmed her robot. ;-)

via https://youtu.be/Rh2sMwSadXc

Pretty nails day

Since we were all having the post vacation blues, I told the kids we can paint their nails this week. I have to say they got pretty creative with the designs they chose

Summer holidays day 10 - back to Venice beach

Since it was our favorite beach, we went back for more sun, waves and good food. I loved the poke shack nearby. Fresh tuna and salmon with all kinds of veggies. We also rode the waves more today by walking more into the ocean and jumping around when the waves came. Alexis felt the safest on my back and the water was fairly shallow. Kids Loved it. Next time we will have to bring a boogie board to try.

We wrapped our last day with dinner and drinks in Venice beach at surfside cafe before going home to watch a movie and pack.

Both kids LOVED the vacation. Alexis counted down everyday and was super sad as we got closer. Our airbnb was perfectly located for good food, beach, and shopping. I will look into coming back for a month next summer. ;-)

What Alexis did - my gym in LA

While isabel and I were away at universal studios, Alexis had fun with agnes at a nearby Mygym with little zip line and Play area

via https://youtu.be/7XUIt_tDm20

Day 8 - Venice beach

This turned out to be our favorite beach with easy pay parking, great tourist shops and cheap eats.



Sent from my iPhone

Summer holiday day 4 and 5 - swimming and shopping

I realized we didn't take that many picture on Sunday and Monday.

Sunday involved
- walking around our area - found a great popsicle store, and a local farmer market - got books for kids, tacos, yummy yogurts and sweet nectarines.
- swimming in the complex. Huge Olympic size pool just steps from our building at plaza level. The kids probably spent 3 hours. Met some cool neighbors who shared mimosas and grilled chicken plus local tips.

Monday - daddy had to work so good day for us to go Site seeing and shopping. We drove through rodeo drive but didn't stop and was headed to the grove for shopping. On the way we got distracted by a mall that had all the discount shops - Marshall's, Ross, tj max, Nordstrom rack. Ended up spending 4 hours there. Had ayce soup and salad. Kids loved the free soft serve included.

We ended up eating dinner close to home at a place called Tokyo fast food. Yelp did it again. It was a hole in the wall with great Japanese food. The server there is Caucasian who speaks Japanese fluently. The chef is Japanese and food was huge portions, delicious and very inexpensive. ;-).

Summer holiday day 2 - pismo beach and Santa Barbara

Our second day was a day of surprising finds in Pismo beach and in Santa Barbara. We hit some good shopping and a little beach time in pismo beach (super fine sand). Also found this great Splash Cafe for some seafood. Got isabel chicken tenders next door. The clam chowder with added clams was delicious.

Our drive to Santa Barbara focused on checking out one of the largest living fig trees in ca. See photos. We then drive down state street but didn't park to walk around. Was too crowded for kids. We then drove to Ventura for another hour for second night hotel at best western. It didn't look like much but was quite comfortable and had a great free breakfast. Also was close to everything. We are at this Yummy Thai place near downtown.

Summer holiday day 2 - pismo beach and Santa Barbara

Our second day

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Summer holiday - day 1 - Cambria, ca

We drove about 4 hours to this small beach town by highway 1. It's 10 min from Hearst castle. We didn't go as the kids said in unison "that looks boring" when we looked online so thought we head to moonstone beach instead. They loved it. Millions of pebble stones to pick from.

It was a brisk 65 degrees but the ocean breeze was refreshing. We stayed about 5 min away at Cambria pine lodge in a double queen suite. Surprisingly spacious, comfortable with separate living room. Jaime loved the separate living room for him to watch tv and hang. Free buffet breakfast was also very nice. It's a nice serene retreat, perfect for a one night stay. Didn't even get to use pool or hot tub

On the way, we ate at Gino's fine Italian food in Salinas. Awesome garlic bread and then Mexican food at La Terraza for dinner in Cambria - garlic shrimp and rib eye steak plus free chips and salsa. Difficult to find as the map is half a block short but very nice huge dining room and setting.

All in all, great for a one night visit. Now off to drive up highway 1 to pismo beach, santa Barbara and Ventura. :-)