The summer before A was born was an exciting time for our family. We were enjoying all of J’s new milestones as he reached toddlerhood, trying to soak in our last months with J as an only child, and anxiously anticipating life with 2 kids under 2. Part of this anticipation was the uncertainty of life with two kids. Would we be able to travel like we used to? Would we be able to go out for dinner anymore? Would we ever sleep again? Spoilers: yes, yes, and no.
We wanted to take one last trip as a family of three and as my bump grew, we were still undecided on a destination. We were looking for an area that was mostly walkable, with great restaurants and activities that were both toddler and pregnancy friendly. Our plan started to come together when Scott booked a work trip to Huntington Beach, CA for late June. The mild summer weather in Southern California was very appealing as a break from humid Houston. I started imagining relaxing on the beach while Scott chased J through the sand.
Finally we decided on a family trip to Venice Beach. If we could find accommodations close to the beach, the area is very walkable and full of fantastic restaurants. The beach and boardwalk would provide enough entertainment through the weekend and Santa Monica is just a short jaunt away. We were so excited for a SoCal weekend of fun in the sun!
Day 1
Because Scott was already in LA for work, our long weekend would start after J and I flew from Houston to LAX all by ourselves. My first solo flight with a kid! Rest assured that I was terrified, like any parent would be. We even made a last minute decision to buy J his own seat next to me even though he was still under two. We weren’t sure how well he would fit in my lap along with my six month baby bump. We also planned ahead to have my mom graciously drive J and I to the airport so that I didn’t have to wrangle him and our luggage through the parking shuttle. Knowing that Scott would be with us on the return trip was a nice reassurance that I only had to get through one leg alone. And we wouldn’t have to impose on anyone for a ride home since Scott’s car was already parked at the airport.
My flight to LA was in the afternoon, and we bumbled through check-in and security. Before the trip, I went through a lot of mental gymnastics thinking through each step of the travel day and assuring myself that I could handle it by myself. I would never want to be a burden on fellow passengers. Even still, many thanks to the kind individuals who helped when I had trouble with luggage and when managing everything in the security line was too much. Note: solo travel + young toddler (technically still a baby at 16 months) + large baby bump = lots of kindness and grace from strangers. If you are ever in a similar position, accept any help offered; it will really make the day easier for everyone.
Since I knew I would have trouble carrying J for any length of time, I checked our large luggage and carried on our diaper backpack and brought an umbrella stroller to push J through the airport. We don’t often bring strollers on our trips because we don’t use them much in general, but this was unavoidable for my solo day of travel, and we knew we would want the stroller in LA anyway. J and I shared a lunch at the airport and boarded our plane. Though not before a misfire with folding the stroller and sending it rocketing down the gateway into several other passengers. I apologized profusely but was still pretty sure that my hot mess status was confirmed before we had even found our seats on the plane.
The flight itself was not too difficult. Of course J was in a major stranger danger phase so refused his own seat, only calming down when wedged onto my lap. That was ok because he ended up sleeping most of the flight. Victory! Fruit loops also played a large part in the success of that flight, so I can’t take all the credit. Finally we were touching down in California.
After a week away from us, Scott couldn’t wait any longer and met J and I at LAX arrivals. He also arranged a car with a car seat to take us from the airport to the AirBnB in Venice Beach. We were staying in an absolutely adorable two bedroom house, just two blocks from the beach and walking distance to lots of stores and restaurants, including the famous Abbot Kinney strip. The best feature of the house was an amazing front porch, where we would spend a lot of our time relaxing during J’s naps and after his early bedtime.
By the time we were settled into our accommodations, and Scott had gone on a quick grocery store run, it was early evening and I was dying to explore the area. We headed straight for the beach and took a nice walk along the boardwalk, scouting potential dinner spots along the way. At the end of our walk, we enjoyed a relaxing dinner at the Waterfront Venice Beer Garden right on the boardwalk. With views of the beach and amazing people watching, we had a great evening. Even J had a blast. Give this kid a soft pretzel and he is happy! This was the perfect ending to a stressful travel day, and we still had the rest of the weekend to look forward to.
Day 2
Like most of the days of my pregnancy, I woke up starving. (I know, I was very lucky that I didn’t have the typical morning sickness.) Breakfast was always very important to me during this time, and Venice Beach had a ton of great options. Our first morning was spent at Gjusta, lingering over breakfast in their back patio. Decaf coffee for myself, americano for Scott, and a sippy cup of milk for J. Our food was delicious! My breakfast sandwich hit the spot, J devoured an almond croissant, but the star of the show was Scott’s croque madame. We enjoyed every minute of our first morning on vacation, reluctantly leaving Gjusta but excited about taking J to the beach.
The chilly morning temps were warming up, and the sun was out. Back in the AirBnB, we slathered on sunscreen, packed bags with towels, a beach blanket, and a few toys. The last time we went to the beach, J was just six months old and slept most of the time, so we were PUMPED to introduce him to the surf and sand for real. Loading up our bags, we walked the couple blocks to the edge of the beach.
Then took a deep breath.
We hadn’t planned for the 10 mile walk from the edge of the beach to the water. …Ok, not really 10 miles, but this is a big beach. Most of our beach trip experiences have been along the gulf coast or Mexican beach resorts where you basically walk out of the building to the waters edge. This was the widest beach I had ever seen! I know we did see it the night before, but it didn’t register that we would have to trudge through sand for such a long distance. No worries, we were determined. After a couple steps, we kicked off our sandals, picked up J, and marched to the shore. The entire hike was through some of the whitest, softest sand I have ever seen. If the great weather wasn’t already selling me, this gorgeous beach was another selling point to the popularity of LA.
We set up our blanket and set J down, ready to explore the fun world of playing in sand and running from shallow waves. As with most parenting expectations, J had other ideas. The sand was TERRIFYING. Truly horrifying to him. He wouldn’t touch it, wouldn’t stand on it, wouldn’t stand on a blanket on top of the sand. His only safe place was sitting on top of one of us or being carried in our arms. I had been warned about babies that would eat sand but never anticipated a baby that was scared of sand! Even being carried down to the water couldn’t entice him to play on the ground, only briefly would walk on the firmer sand with his shoes on. Nonetheless, we spent the rest of the morning enjoying the beach. Watching surfers, people walking the shore, all while letting J sit on our laps to protect him from the scary sand.
Even though we were still a little full from breakfast, I couldn’t let a meal time go to waste and insisted that we take a short jaunt down the boardwalk to a Peruvian place with great reviews. We had a yummy lunch of pork and chicken dishes at El Huarique, and since I am a sucker for a good ceviche, ignoring typical pregnancy dietary restrictions, I ate a few bites of a fantastic Peruvian ceviche dish. Worth it! After lunch, we headed back to the house for J’s nap, and Scott and I indulged in a nap of our own.
Rested from our afternoon naps, we decided to walk down the boardwalk toward the famous Venice canals. Lots of great people watching along the way, and then the canals were so cool! Such an interesting feature in the middle of an urban area. We took a few pictures but didn’t linger too long. Since houses back up right to the canals, it felt a little intrusive to hang out basically in their backyards. It would have been so fun to stay in one of these houses for our trip, but there weren’t too many options when we were searching.
We ended the evening by walking back to the house via Abbot Kinney and stopping for dinner at The Butcher’s Daughter. Yet another perfect meal! I was a little worried about eating at such a trendy location with a toddler, but the staff was amazing. They whisked away our folded up stroller to store for us while we were seated at a table on the patio. Knowing food options for J might be limited, we had packed a sandwich and some yogurt for him to eat while Scott and I split a couple dishes from their dinner menu. Pizza and pasta were exactly what this pregnant lady needed after walking for so long. J behaved well at dinner and he even got a compliment from a nearby couple! FYI, there is no better feeling than getting a compliment on your kiddo when you are out in public, especially if you had been self conscious that the noise of a little one might disturb others. The short walk back to the house was some nice exercise after a delicious meal, and we ended the night once again by relaxing on the front patio after J went to bed.
Day 3
We woke up to another beautiful day. I was loving the chill in the morning air (no such thing in summertime in Houston), so we decided to pick up breakfast and eat on our patio. There was enough space for J to play around and we knew there were plenty of breakfast food options nearby. As a fun splurge, we decided to get doughnuts! We selected some assorted varieties from Blue Star Donuts, snagged a couple cups of coffee from Blue Bottle Coffee, and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the AirBnB. It was important to keep up our energy because we had an adventurous day planned.
Our plan for the day was to rent bikes and go up and down the beach. Up to Santa Monica for the morning, back to the house to break for nap, and then down to Marina del Rey for the evening and dinner. There was a bike rental place right by our house, so we headed there after breakfast to get all of our gear. Scott was on a regular bike, pulling a baby trailer with J and our bags, and I was in a low three wheel bike since my doctor did not recommend regular bike riding while pregnant. Once we got situated, our rag-tag crew set off up the beach toward the Santa Monica Pier.
Another thing that is awesome about this area is that the beachfront is kept up so well. It was a few miles from Venice Beach to Santa Monica, but the sidewalks and bike lanes made it a breeze the whole way. J had a great time zipping along. At first. By the time we got to the pier, he was napping. This kid is hard to impress! After locking up our bikes, we woke up a refreshed J and climbed up to the pier. J was a bit too young to really enjoy the ride and entertainment, so we just walked up and down and chased him around for awhile. Gorgeous views!
After awhile we were getting hungry for lunch and decided to visit the Santa Monica Farmers Market just a few block off the beach. We had a great time wandering through the stalls and sampling local fruit. We grabbed lunch from one of the food stalls and ate picnic style in an open grassy area. J was happy to run around, and Scott and I were happy to listen to some live music while we ate. We didn’t end up buying anything else, but it was a fun stop for the afternoon.
Back to the bikes, we started back toward Venice Beach. About halfway back, we detoured so that J could play in one of the beachfront playgrounds. He looooves swinging! Finally back in Venice, we temporarily stored our bikes at the rental shop (we rented for the full day) so that we could get J home for his nap. We don’t mess around with naps or bedtimes in this family. I even joined in on this nap time again. Vacation was wearing me out, haha!
Our evening bike ride down to Marina del Rey was little more challenging than the ride up to Santa Monica. This part of the beach was much more crowded, so maneuvering down the bike path was harder. Though the people watching was top notch. So many characters hanging out along the beach and the skate parks! I guess the LA crowd was getting Fourth of July celebrations started early, and there were quite a few beach parties in full swing, making me a little nostalgic of years in the past when this would have been my scene. I got a big kick out of all the holiday weekend parties we ventured past. Everyone looked like they were having a blast, and cycling past party after party made it feel like we had our own music soundtrack to the ride.
For dinner, we parked our bikes at the beach and ate the best tacos I had all weekend. Tocaya Organica could not have been better. This was a casual, order at the counter style place with a nice side patio, perfect for a squealing toddler. J was happy with fruit, guac, and a cheese quesadilla. Scott and I shared a variety of tacos, but the fish was hands down the star of the show. We even want back to the counter to order a second round of fish tacos! I totally blamed it on the baby bump, but for real, even not being pregnant, I might have done the same.
Our ride back to the bike shop was about the same as it was the last time: crowded and lots of people watching. We stopped briefly to watch some of the street performers and thanks to a low flying seagull, possibly scarred J for life. We were getting back to our bikes when a bird basically buzzed right over J’s head, resulting in terror and hysterical crying. For the rest of the weekend, any time we saw a bird get close, J would panic. So for anyone counting, this is two new fears developed over one weekend: sand and birds. We were totally killing this parenting thing.
Day 4
On our last full day of vacation, I woke up with a serious breakfast burrito craving. My motto during any pregnancy was always “what baby wants, baby gets”, so burritos were mandatory for breakfast. (Scott was such a good sport.) Luckily we found a cute place called Flake a couple blocks from the house, and baby girl got her breakfast burrito as we dined in the sidewalk patio area. Once baby was happy, we went back to the house to get ready for the day. One of our friends had moved to the LA area from Houston about a year before, so we were going to hang out together that day – beach and lunch. By some miracle, our friend snagged a street side parking spot right in front of our house, so meeting up was super easy. Yay! This also meant we had an extra set of hands for the trek down to the water.
Once again, an overcast and chilly morning turned into a gorgeous day, and it was perfect beach weather. Despite our high hopes, J was not budging on his sand-is-bad position, so we enjoyed another beach day holding him on our laps and in our arms. He was still scared of the birds too, but liked watching them from afar. The waves were another form of entertainment. We mostly just spent the time soaking in the sun and the atmosphere and catching up on our lives.
When we started feeling hungry again, we headed back to the house for a quick clean up and then set out for lunch. Our friend recommended a nearby restaurant The Firehouse. Apparently on her last visit, she saw Arnold Schwarzenegger, and this was supposed to be a big body builder hangout. No celebrity spotting on this visit, but we did have a yummy lunch of sandwiches and French fries at one of their inner courtyard tables. I don’t know how I would transition back to the weather in Houston where it was almost peak summer time temps, and therefore, outdoor dining would be out of the questions for several months. It was amazing that we got to enjoy so many meals al fresco on this trip!
Eventually our friend needed to get back home so we said our goodbyes just as J was going down for his nap. Our evening was very low key. We spent time packing for our morning flight home the next day and grabbed another casual dinner at a nearby taco place. J surprised us all by eating most of a huge chicken quesadilla all by himself – just grabbed the whole thing and went to town before we could cut it into reasonable sized bites for him. Just a sign of what was to come as he grew into his independent toddler phase. After J’s bedtime, we spent one last evening on the gorgeous patio. I was certainly going to miss the lazy afternoons and evenings here.
Our visit to Venice Beach was the perfect mix of activity and relaxation, which is exactly what we aimed for. When we planned the trip, I wanted to enjoy the beach, eat delicious food, and have enough activity sprinkled in so that we didn’t get bored. I think we accomplished all of the above and really got to explore the Venice Beach area. On our uneventful flight back to Houston, I was already missing the beach and the California weather. Hopefully we will get another visit to the LA area soon!
