Our So Cal tour visit

Our final guests of this round of visitors was Mat and Jen. This was their third time here, but really the first time they've had good weather (glad to know they weren't really bad luck like originally thought). One fun thing about their visits are all the pictures we get. Mat is adamant about not being in photos so he is constantly behind the camera, which is nice because I'm usually the one trying to capture the moments at other times.

They had each day planned out to make the most of their time here (Jen just got a new job so isn't sure when she'll get another vacation) so I spent the days with them seeing fun sites in the area.

Tuesday: La Jolla/San Diego
We spent the morning shopping in downtown La Jolla. Jen got some cute cheetah flip flops and I bought a guest book (we decided this was essential considering all the guests we'd been having and seeing as we will probably be living in different locations for the next couple of years at least). I'm excited to get it caught up and see who else we'll have come visit :) 

 After shopping we checked out the cove and sea lions hanging out there. It was a gorgeous day!

The water was SO clear. Grant and I definitely need to go back with our snorkel stuff. I know it won't be tropical like Hawaii snorkeling, but I'm sure we'll still see a lot (like rays, small sharks, starfish, etc). Grant just likes floating in the water, so really he doesn't even care if there's anything to see.

After La Jolla we headed home to pick up Grant and head down to San Diego for dinner and dessert. We've been wanting to take Mat and Jen to Extraordinary Desserts and this trip was finally their chance :)

After dinner we walked around Seaport Village before heading to dessert...Coronado Bridge in the background.

 Dessert time!

Wednesday: Balboa Island/Laguna Beach/Oceanside Harbor
I'm not extremely familiar with Orange County having spent most of my southern California time in San Diego, so Mat and Jen have been kind enough to show me some of their favorite spots up north (since we really do live surprisingly close to it all!) First stop was Balboa Island, an adorable little area with picturesque homes and a cute street full of shopping.

Some really cute home stuff that I wanted for my "beach home." However, I'm trying to hold off because I already have a lot...and I don't know where we'll be moving next!

We bought a "Super Delicious Sandwich" (yes, that's what it said on the checkout tag) at the cute little market and enjoyed it on the harbor. It was indeed super delicious.

Paparazzi sandwich eating :)

Houses were SO cute and had their own private piers with boats pulled up, stand up paddle boards locked on the sides, grills and chairs at the end...seems pretty amazing.

After Balboa Island, we headed a little bit south to Laguna Beach where again we enjoyed the views and the shopping.

We got home a little before Grant got off work so hung out on the beach and waited for him. Mat snatched this shot of Grant driving home :)

 Then we walked down to the harbor and tried out Rockin Baja, a place we had heard good things about. The portions were HUGE, and we tried out the Fish N Chips bucket, fish tacos, and a plate-long chicken burrito...(it was so good we went back again the next night ;)

 I love that our walk home from dinner is along the beach...this really is all a dream come true.

The tide was a little high so we headed up to the road for the second half of our walk home. I love the contrast of colors between the sand and grass. This complex has immaculate landscaping so it's always fun to see what they have growing.

Thursday: BEACH DAY!

I love Stand Up Paddling (SUPing)...it's just a relaxing fun way to "walk on water." Jen wanted to try it out so we headed to the harbor to rent some boards in the morning.

She did a great job and we paddled out into the middle where the Camp Pendleton Harbor meets the Oceanside harbor and had a beautiful view of the pier and our street.
Afterwards, we headed to the beach for the afternoon and enjoyed a perfect sunny beach day. I tried hard to get them to come in the water and boogie board with me (even though the waves were pretty flat), but I think my first road block was showing them the sand crabs. It is incredible how many are here...some people love it and some people are totally creeped out by it :)

So...I enjoyed the water alone; however, Jen was kind enough to come out with me at the end of the day and we had a lot of fun cooling off in the water.

It was a great visit! Jen, hope your new job treats you great!!