Venice

Brandon was gone four weeks this month for work.  Which means he was only home a few days in January.  He made it home for Jules' birthday party, but then had to jet out the next morning at 4:00 am.  Luckily my mom lives down the street or else I'd be on my last nerve.  So when he came home, we decided to pick him up and spend a few days doing fun stuff as a family.  Since Marina del Rey and Venice Beach are near LAX, we decided to hang there for a day and then go to Disneyland.

We dropped our luggage off at our hotel and then went to brunch.  And I really wish I remember the name of the place.  It was on Abbot-Kinney Boulevard and I had the sampler breakfast, which included a poached egg, muesli, fruit salad, a slice of toast, and a pretzel-croissant.  And I had a Bellini.  I had to celebrate my husband's homecoming.  It's not my fault.

By the way, when we checked into our hotel, our bellhop asked if we would like him to clear the refrigerator to make room for mommy's happy juice.  That's exactly how he described it.  I thought he was very thoughtful.

Paige celebrated sensibly with some milk.

So happy!  By the way, this cafe felt very LA.  Everyone had on hipster glasses and seemed to be talking very earnestly.  The woman next to us had a book on meditation with crystals.

Look at the eyes on those two.

After lunch, we headed off on foot towards the beach.

I loved all the murals.  These girls in lines were awesome.

Aqua walls and grungy greenery.

Shades for sale on the boardwalk.  We didn't hang out to long at the beach - it wasn't very family-oriented.   But very pharmaceutical-related.

Instead we walked over to the canals, which seemed to be where the stroller set was hanging.

Love the plants.

I want a faded old canoe.

We found a cool toddler park in the middle of the canals.

Gorgeous.

Here's Paige in her hipster-sunglasses pushing Jules on the swing.

She's so LA.

I loved this fence.  These flamingoes were awesome.

Starship Enterprise, canoes and pelicans.  Sigh.  We want a house on the canals.  Speaking of which, my parents used to live in a cute house on a canal in the 60s.  I'm jealous.

Love this coffee shop mural.

Rosemary in bloom.  Love.

And back to Abbot-Kinney Boulevard.