Weekend Redux: California Dreaming

This past weekend we went on a vacation to Southern California. Originally this week was supposed to be spent in Florida with my mom and stepdad. But my mom's dad, my grandpa passed away last Tuesday.
My mom had to cancel to our plans to tend to some sad details in Northern California.

With time off I figured we could switch gears and go to a Pacific beach instead. We had a few friends we could visit and the forecast was sunny.

We left early Saturday morning and drove straight to Whittier to meet up with our friend Heather and her son (Hayden's BFF Julian). We spent the day hanging out with them at the park then went to our hotel in Long Beach for a while before catching dinner. Sunday we spent the day with Brian's long time friend Damon and his girlfriend Claudia in Santa Monica. We walked down the beach to the pier. Hayden rode the carousel and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery.
When we returned to our hotel later that night I was sunburned and the hotel's wonderful heated pool was calling my name.

Monday we got to attend a going away party for Heather and Steve who are moving to VEGAS! We're beyond stoked and felt a little guilty hanging with their Cali friends who are sad to see them go.
Here are some wonderful pictures from our trip!