Fun Family Outing

Manhattan Beach, CA
September 2008

Two years ago, I won a trip to LA. Brian and I were put up in a luxury hotel in Rodondo Beach, and needless to say, we had the time of our lives. I think what we both remember most is the way each day started there: breakfast on a marina followed by bike rides up the Pacific coastline. We both travel back there often in our minds, and the trip left us with a love of getting an early start in the morning with coffee and adventure. While we would love to recreate that exact California feeling, we live in the middle of swampland and not the Pacific Coast Highway, and well, we take what we can get.

This Sunday, we took the first of what I'm sure will be many early morning outings. We chose Ballwin Park as the destination for our first fun family outing. It has a sort of city feel, which we don't get too often in our little patch of suburbia. It also has nice shaded walkways and a large lake with walking trails around it. The morning was a little warm and sunny for the trails, but we did wander down to the lake for Mary Ellen's first visit to a body of water. And we actually remembered to use the brakes on the stroller when we took the following pictures as to avoid Mary Ellen's first swim.

Mary Ellen loved the trip, she just doesn't remember any of it because she slept the entire time. Brian loved trying out our new stroller (once he figured out how to get the monstrosity into the trunk of a Corolla).

I was really thankful for the Barnie's Coffee. Mmmm...coffee and bagel.

In case you didn't know, Brian is the master of self portrait photography. This was his first attempt to capture our family of three. Not too shabby!

I had to throw this one in because I found it while searching for the photo of us on Manhattan Beach. Here's Brian and me with Olympic gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. Pretty cool, huh?