Treasure hunting...

On Sunday after Scott's birthday party my mom left to go up north for a week long watercolor class in Cambria. My sister and I and the boys drove up the Friday the class ended to pick her up and spend a glorious weekend on the central coast. The class was being held at an adorable lodge in Cambria and that is also where we stayed the first night. A picture of the main lodge above...so quaint!

The property was surrounded by gardens and paths that we got to explore in the afternoon. We loved this one area that had a bunch of cottages all around. In my mind it was a whole land where fairies live and come out at night to dance and play....

More pretty gardens...

I loved this door....It reminded me of the entrance in "The Secret Garden" and a butterfly to boot....so magical...

Behind "The Secret Garden" door the boys found plenty of dirt to dig in...and I'm pretty sure they both had their first taste of dirt.

There was even a wishing well....MAGIC!

Scott just loved smelling all the flowers...I didn't even have to show him how to smell them he just walked right up and submerged his face in the petals.

I couldn't get enough of this 'Flower Bed'...it was an actual bed frame that they let flowers and vines grow all over...."A Place to Dream".....I could have stayed all day....

That night we walked around and found this fun pharmacy that had millions of rubber ducks in the window!

Then to a "nice" dinner...food was great....nice ambiance....but with two wild boys shrieking at each other, throwing food and eating crayons....nice dinner becomes a little different....but I wouldn't trade their company for a million fancy, peaceful dinners.

The next day the treasure hunting commenced...we call it treasure hunting because we hit all the antique stores, boutiques, cafes in search of....treasures!! First antique store and Scott found his favorite treasure: A cool bear wearing sunglasses!!!!

After breakfast and some antiquing in Cambria we headed to SLO and stopped at Morro Bay on the way. The weather was gorgeous and sunny...we could not pass up a day at the beach.

Good thing the sand toys are always in my car

Mommy and Scott, so happy to be at the beach...

Mommies and Babies...

Scott turned all the rocks on the beach into his fleet of cars and zoomed them all over!

Building sandcastles...

It was even warm enough to go in the water....well to put our toes in....for a second!

Parker J. couldn't get enough of the ocean

After all that beach playing Scott needed a nap in the stroller when we got to SLO

He napped until he heard us mention lunch....he can't miss out on lunch of course. We went to this little Morrocan place we had been to about six months ago and couldn't wait to go back. We were not disappointed. It is the yummiest food...and we splurged and had desert...they a vegan halvah dish and a roasted pear dish...we split both : ) If you are in the area its a must eat...its called Oasis - try it, you won't be disappointed! Another treasure!

Parker J. enjoying chicken tagine!

And right across the street: Tom's Toys. This place is chock full of treasures!

But the boys could have literally played with the cars for the rest of the weekend! Don't worry we cleaned up after ourselves!

Then Grammie took the boys for a walk to the park and back while Hilary and I stopped for a bit of wine tasting! We made friends with the bar tender (is that what he's called...they guy who poured our tastes...there is probably a more wine snobbish term for this) because he was trying to decorate a sign for a beer tasting they were doing that night and it was atrocious - so we fixed it for him and he gave us a free glass....total treasure!

My favorite was a Riesling from Trefethen (I bought a bottle...hey it was my treasure)

Before dinner we played a the mission for an hour or so...there was a fountain and tons of stairs to play on. And we got to see a bridal party come through! How fun!

Sunday morning before going home we stopped for brunch at The Apple Farm. This place is a true favorite of ours that I distinctly remember stopping at many times as a kid. It was super special to get to take the boys here! And they had their first taste of homemade blackberry preserves....talk about a treasure...they couldn't get enough! Love these jammy faces!

Then a quick stop at the park before the rain hit and we hit the road....check out the hard core pouty face below....oh the drama!

We all had to do some tree pictures too....

Scott also "vacuumed" the grass with his super cool stick!

It was such a fun and memorable weekend! The weather was perfect and the company was divine!