Last week, I was able to make a quick trip to California with my sisters and mom to visit the new mall my brother-in-law supervised the building of. We left Thursday evening so that we would have two full days to have fun and see the sights.
Friday morning, we walked down to Venice Beach (literally only a 5 minute walk from Aaron's apartment). We rented bikes for a cruise along the beach, from Venice to Santa Monica Pier about 30 minutes each way. Luckily, we had just a few minutes in the middle to rest our legs (and tushies) and snap a photo.
After lunch at a local cafe we took a walk down the beach to the marina. Of course we had to remove our shoes and feel the sand between our toes.
After admiring all the sail boats at the marina for a little while, we walked back to the apartment along a canal with homes backing onto it. There were so many beautiful flowers, I had a great time taking pictures of them.
We only had a few minutes of rest after returning to the apartment before heading out to Steven and Keeley's apartment. They moved here just a couple of months ago and live less than five miles from where we were staying. I was able to convince the girls to come with me to their new home and then to In-n-Out for dinner. We sat out on the bench talking until we just could not take the cold any more. Thanks Steven and Keeley for meeting with us, it was so great to see you (even if there was a crazy man waiting for us to leave so he could take our cups).
Saturday morning we made our way over to the Third Street Promenade to check out the new mall (the mall is not part of the promenade, it just happens to be at one end of it). First, we stopped in at the Farmer's Market and sampled the asiago rolls and pistachios (yumm-o) and even got some avocados/tomatoes for dinner.
After a short stroll down the promenade and some window shopping, we arrived at Santa Monica Place (the new Westcor mall). Aaron was a construction supervisor and worked with tenants to make sure that their store fronts were up to par with Westcor standards. As we walked around the outdoor mall, he told us so many fun facts that the average shopper wouldn't know about. For example, how they got the three story tall palm trees into the courtyard and then planted them all at different depths to make them appear the same height. We were all super impressed and it was obvious that he was proud to be a part of the project.
Once we had explored the entire mall, we finished our walk with lunch on Santa Monica Pier and pictures on the boardwalk. The closer we got to the end of the pier, the colder and windier it got. California weather is so crazy!
We then walked back to the car, stopping at Pink Berry on the way. My little sister, Lara, really wanted to see the Hollywood sign, so we hopped back in the car and set off to find it. Nearly two hours later, we arrived at Griffith Park and saw the sign from a distance. She was thrilled to have seen it, so I would say mission accomplished.
Sunday morning, before heading home, Steph, Heather and I took a long walk back down the canals to take some more pictures of the flowers and explore the marina again. I felt like I couldn't get home fast enough. I missed my little family and was so happy to be home again... then I had to change a diaper the minute I walked in the door. Boy, was it nice while it lasted and it was great to have a short get-away with my sisters and mom (and you too, Aaron). Thank you to my honey for taking such good care of the kids while I was gone!!
