We have been on the go quite a bit over the last couple of months! It's nice to be settled in at home for at least a little while. Our most recent trip was to San Diego and Anaheim California. It's one of our favorite spots to visit and our Summer wouldn't be complete without a trip to So Cal. This trip brought us to San Diego specifically to cheer on Ryan as he ran the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon. Here is our Southern California Family Vacation Itinerary, with a couple of must see spots in case you are planning a trip soon!
We haven't visited San Diego since we've had the girls, so it was a great excuse to take a trip when Ryan decided he'd run the Rock and Roll Marathon. He finished the marathon and did great! We flew Alaska Air which was a quick 2 hour flight for us from Portland. We've had a lot of luck with them being on time for our most recent flights. Our trip was only five days long, so we tried to pack in as much as possible with us also being able to relax a bit. We spent 2 full days in San Diego. We ended up staying in Pacific Beach, which to be honest with you I probably wouldn't recommend if you have small kids. It's definitely a party town and would be great if you were kid free and looking to go out.
We stayed at a VRBO in Pacific Beach and it was in a great location. It was less than a 2 minute walk down to the beach. The girls loved playing in the sand. It's their happy place! On Sunday, Ryan ran his marathon and we went downtown to the finish line to meet him. He was pretty beat after the race, so we went back to Pacific Beach for lunch and to plan out our evening. We ended up driving over to La Jolla which was just about a 10 minute drive from us. I had to stop at La Valencia because it's pink and gorgeous. Hopefully someday we'll stay there!
hotel La Valencia
my top / shorts / shoes / sunnies (use code CHELSEE25 for $25 off!!)
On Monday after a little time at the beach, we made our way to Anaheim but first we made sure to check out the North Park district in San Diego. If you visit San Diego, you HAVE to go here. There are so many cute boutiques, restaurants and coffee shops. Not to mention, it's an Instagrammers paradise with all the gorgeous wall murals. We hit up the shop Pigment first and I could have spent hours in there. So many beautiful home items! They also have the cutest kids department. There are a few really cute walls like the "you are radiant" wall and the San Diego postcard wall.
On our way out of town we went over to Hotel Del Coronado, a spot I've always wanted to see. It was a fun spot for the girls to run around. We of course had to play on the beach a bit. It was sort a June gloom day, so there were lots of clouds out. After our quick stay there, we headed down the One to Anaheim. We were planning on stopping at Laguna but both girls were passed out, so we just took in the sights from our car. Speaking of car, Toyota kindly let us borrow their 2018 Sienna for our trip. It was super spacious and it was hard to give back! My mom came with us on our trip and we had plenty of room for our whole family.
striped beach bag (use code HOOD for 15% off!)
Our next stop was to Anaheim for our visit to Disneyland! You can check out our post from last years' visit here. We rented another VRBO for our stay here and it was perfect! It was actually an apartment building that has some units open for rental through VRBO. The one we stayed in was brand new, had all new furnishings, a huge kitchen, and three separate bedrooms and two separate bathrooms. It was perfect for our family! They also had an amazing pool. It was in a great location and only about a five minute drive to Disneyland. I'd highly recommend renting a VRBO near Disney because you'll have a lot more space. We have tried staying in one room with the girls and it was really tough and we barely got any sleep. With a VRBO, we can choose a place where the girls can have their own room. If a suite is in your budget, that would be a great option as well! Trust me, you don't want to go to Disneyland on little sleep!
On Monday night, we headed to Downtown Disney for dinner and to give the girls a little taste of Disneyland. We ate at Tortilla Jos and had the BEST margaritas. We only spent one entire day in Disneyland on Tuesday. It was jam packed and we ended up making it on twelve rides, met the princesses, met Mickey and Minnie, the Beast, and Alice! McKinlee even got to go on Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain! She was so brave. We were also able to catch the new Pixar Play parade, the fireworks show, and Fantasmic. McKinlee said Fantasmic was her favorite part of the day. I remember seeing that show when I was little and I didn't think it was still going on! We made it till 11:30PM! Madi was able to catch a couple of stroller naps, but was a trooper the whole time!
Since we stayed off site, we parked in the Mickey and Friends parking structure and rode the tram over to Disneyland. It was actually really convenient and didn't tack on too much more time for our visit. I would recommend downloading the Disneyland app to see how long ride times are, see where different characters are located, and make dinner reservations. Another tip is to skip the souvenir shops and head to the local Anaheim Target. We stopped their on our way back to the airport and they had a HUGE section of Disneyland souvenirs for cheap. I got the girls a couple of key chains, post cards and shirts. Our flight home was on Wednesday out of San Diego. We stopped in Huntington Beach on our way there and spent a little too much time. There were only 58 minutes to spare from our arrival to the airport and when our flight took off. Needless to say, we must have forgotten how bad California traffic can be. A 1.5 hour trip took us 2.5 hours. Yikes!
We could barely make a dent in all there is to do in Southern California, but we definitely made a start in our five days!
What is your favorite place to visit in Southern California? Do you have a favorite Disneyland tip? Thanks for reading!
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