SLO: First time to San Luis Obispo!!

Mike had a work event in SLO that he needed to go to over the weekend, so the boys and I tagged along! I've never been, the weather was supposed to be delightful, and the company was paying for the hotel room, Mike's food, and his travel/mileage. How could we not go?! Plus ... Friday was deemed a 'travel' day so that meant he had to check email on his phone and be available for phone calls but otherwise, he was on vacation. Can't complain at all!!

So we headed out a little later than we wanted but still at a decent time (10am). Had to make a stop at Safeway for allergy medicine and to drop off some dry cleaning but we were on the road before 11am. We made great timing and hit the beach at 2pm in Avila. Which we managed to get a perfect spot to enjoy the spectacular sun and sand and even hang around to check out their farmer's market on the beach and dinner at a local hotspot too! The boys slept for almost 2 hours of the 3.5hr drive so they were rearing to go when we got to the beach! And this time, Caleb actually not only adventured out onto the sand to be with David and Mike, but he also went with Mike to the water and played in the crashing waves!

 
 

Enjoying ice cream at Doc Burnstein's in downtown San Luis Obispo

 Checking in to the hotel ... looks like he's ready for vacation right? Wouldn't you know, he'd just had a meltdown in the car because he wanted to go home and sleep in his bed and not stay in the hotel. I even video taped it!

 After breakfast with daddy before his event, we played in the little video arcade before heading out for a run. Or at least that's what mommy attempted to do anyways.

 

We headed out to attempt a run but I couldn't find a place that was BOTH stroller and runner friendly nearby but we were directed to a park nearby at Laguna Lake Park. We played at the park for a little while then headed back to the hotel for lunch and naptime before daddy came back from his event. 

 





 My sleeping boys, the only time they're truly 'peaceful'. It took about 30 minutes to get them down but they loved being next to one another.

 

When the boys woke up and Mike was done with his event, it was time to head out and enjoy more adventures! So we headed out to the Avila Valley Barn for some animal petting and feeding and a hayride too of course! We even enjoyed some roasted corn on the cob while we were there. It was a fun little family farm with deli, ice cream and tons of produce to choose from. It was fun to see the plum and peach trees with produce on them while on the hayride. They even have a beautiful manicured lawn in the middle of the farm for special events like weddings and parties.

 

 

 

 

After the Avila Valley Barn we headed out for dinner. Mike and I haven't had sushi in ages so we checked out a place in Pismo Beach called Kanpai Sushi. It wasn't without aggravation to get David to eat his yummy teriyaki salmon but he finally did. He even tried the edamame and enjoyed the beans! From there we headed out for more ice cream for David and Mike. David really wanted just vanilla ice cream but Mike wanted to check out a specialty store called Batch. They make ice cream cookies where you select your cookie and ice cream filling. It sure looked yummy but I didn't even try after all the yummy sushi I'd just enjoyed.

After a long night we got ourselves up and at 'em for the day. After a scrumptious breakfast we packed up the car and headed to Pismo Beach to check out a new spot. Definitely a windy day in general, it was a bit hard to enjoy the beach with the wind whipping sand everywhere.

From Pismo we headed out to See Canyon in Avila to the Kelsey Winery. It was quite beautiful and is known for their flock of peacocks that loiter around the property. Mike happened to come across a Yelp deal for 2 free tastings. We got to try every single wine including their apple wines. Uhh, not fans. But we did like their white Pinot Noir, Syrah and Zinfandel.

After the winery and a tearful departure because of pure exhaustion ... we hit the road to head home before it got too late. Within 5 minutes of being on the road ... both boys fell asleep. David actually fell asleep before Caleb did! They stayed asleep for just over 2 hours again which was perfect for Mike and I. We actually got to have a conversation while awake and without telling David to let us talk. LOL! We turned Caleb's carseat forward for the car ride home so the boys could watch movies together. We thought for sure Caleb would LOVE having his seat forward when in reality, he seemed pretty indifferent. And I think it all boils down to not being able to interact with David. Which is something I've said in the past. That it'll be easier to have him rear facing longer just because they can interact more easily with one another while he's facing the back. :P 

They woke up shortly before Gilroy so we made a pit stop at Mc McDonald's Has A Farm, as David calls it, so they could have dinner. We ended up with a "Happy" party (Pharrell Williams "Happy" song) with a video to go with it where David belted out the lyrics to the song!! Then we got back on the road and I had an epic mommy moment where I realized that I could plug the Kindle into the speaker system of the car so the boys could watch a movie. I had Cars 2 on for Caleb and he kept yelling at me. Finally I realized maybe he wanted another movie. Preciously he had selected Wreck It Ralph to watch so I put that on and all was well with the world. :)

 

We had a spectacular family trip and I really enjoyed SLO and Avila. I look forward to going there again in the future as a family. The only thing we didn't really get to do was hit up the Madonna Inn where my folks spent their wedding night. It was so unique and cool. We did drive around the grounds of the hotel site but did not get to go in and check it out. Particularly the Men's Room ... which was told to us by a few people to check out. Hmmm ... but the boys had already fallen apart so we hit the road. Next time ...