Tour of California 2026

I'm so behind on chronicling our adventures! Last November, we took a family trip to California. We structured the trip around two awesome sporting events, which I'll talk about later! We started the fun in San Francisco by visiting the Aquarium at Pier 39, conquering an escape room, taking a Waymo for the first time, shopping at Ghirardelli, and then touring Alcatraz.

We left San Fran and traveled to Santa Clara for the next stage of our trip. When you're in town for a 49ers game, you have to stay at the Hyatt Regency. It's walking distance to the stadium and the atmosphere is great on home game weekends. We visited the fan shop at the stadium to make sure we were geared up for the next day! Game day started early for us because we had tickets to the Red Zone Rally. This is a pre-game area where there are games, activities, food, and drinks. We checked that out for a while and then headed into the stadium as soon as we could because our seats were AMAZING!

We scored two front-row seats and two seats right behind those on the second row at the 15 yard line. We saw former players like Jerry Rice and Frank Gore on the sideline before the game and then got to watch the kickers warm up right in front of us. Funny enough I was seated next to a social media influencer, so there were lots of fans coming over to take pictures with him and people on the sidelines talking to him. Sourdough Sam even came over to say hello! It was such a fun experience, and the 49ers got the win.

The next morning we booked a rental car and headed toward Monterey and Carmel by the Sea. The boys braved the "cold" so they could experience the ocean and we had a nice dinner with great views. We did some sight seeing and then ended the day at Avila Village Inn. This is a wonderful option for a family if you can snag the Grand Escape Suite. The kids sleep in the living room on a pull-out bed, the adults get a separate bedroom, and there's a balcony with a hot tub! 

The next morning, we got decadent cinnamon rolls in Pismo Beach and then drove to Highline Adventures outside Buellton, CA. If you've got thrill seekers in your family, I highly recommend this excursion. They've got the biggest and fastest zip lines in CA and it was worth the cost. It was really, really fun and we got great go-pro vidoes of the experience. I was so proud of my kids for doing it! We also did some ropes courses before leaving the site. 

Our next destination was Santa Monica, and we stopped to take in some beautiful views before eating at Paradise Cove Beach Cafe and resting our heads at Hilton Santa Monica. 

The next day (Thanksgiving!) was spent sight-seeing around Los Angeles. We visited the Auto Show, had lunch, watched a movie, and stayed the night at the Intercontinental LA. 

The next day we did some shopping on Rodeo Drive (take all my money, Loewe), saw an animal cruelty protest, noticed lots of references to Scientology and Dianetics, stopped by the Santa Monica Pier, and then checked out the La Brea Tar Pits. 

We then had an awesome sunset snack at Spire 73 atop our hotel before heading to see the Mavs play the Lakers! We bought tickets in a suite and got to see the newest Mavs sensation, Cooper Flagg, take on our former star player, Luka Doncic. The Mavs couldn't pull out the W, but we had a great time as a family. 

What a joy and privilege it is to make these memories with our boys! 

  

Paris 2025

While Meezy stayed in London to work (check out my prior blog post), the kids and I took Eurostar to Paris. It was about a 3.5 hour train ride. The seats were comfy, there was WiFi, and food and drinks were served, so it wasn't too bad! When we arrived in Paris, we made our way to Hotel Villa Nicolo. It's a cute little hotel not far from the Trocadero and Eiffel Tower. I picked it because it was close to a Metro stop and advertised having adjoining rooms. Well, the "adjoining rooms" were next to each other, but they did not have access between them like I was expecting. So, there was a lot of trips into the hallway to go in and out of the kids' room next door. The rooms and bathrooms (and elevator!) were typical for Europe, so definitely on the small side. But, we tried not to spend too much time at the hotel, so all good.

Our first order of business was checking out the Louvre. Previously when my sister and I had gone there, we bypassed the huge lines by going in a little-known side entrance. Unfortunately that entrance was closed for construction, so we had to wait out front with the masses. Once we got inside, I tried to steer the kids toward some of the most famous works, because I knew they wouldn't want to spend the hours it takes to see all the rooms. We checked out the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, Liberty Leading the People, the French Crown Jewels, and the Great Sphinx. My favorite thing to show them was the Wedding Feast in Cana. Head to the room with the small Mona Lisa and then turn around and marvel at the painting that is the size of the entire wall! I think it's funny that people focus so much on the Mona Lisa, while their back is turned to a masterpiece. 

The kids handled the busy museum pretty well, and they always took the opportunity to stop and hover over the floor vents blasting cold air. Haha. 

After we got in as much culture as we could, we grabbed a snack in the cafe inside, and then headed outside for some photo ops. 

My next surprise for the kids included a stop at a cat cafe, called Cafe Miaou. We don't have cats at home, but I know my kids always enjoy petting them when our friends or family members have them, so I thought it would be fun to relax for an hour before our next adventure. The kids were enamored of the cats. It was really cute! We got some drinks and gave out a lot of pets.

To top off our first full day, we attended a chocolate workshop at Musee du Chocolat. We got to create our own custom masterpieces with dark chocolate, white chocolate, and milk chocolate. We dipped some items in chocolate fondue and created chocolate bars with extra ingredients. This was fun for all of us and we definitely didn't mind having our yummy treats available for the duration of our trip! 

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Trocadero and enjoyed amazing views of the Eiffel. I really am blessed to have been able to take my kids to this iconic city!

The next day in Paris started at the Arc de Triomphe. I can easily say this is my favorite attraction in the city. It's a sight to see from a distance and close-up, but it's truly breathtaking once you get to the top. It requires climbing quite a few stairs, but I promise it's worth it. You can spend a long time up there just watching the city and people below. You get 360 degrees of views and can see so many famous landmarks. Do it, if you get the chance. 

We ended the day at the Tuileries Garden where a carnival was going on. We rode a log ride together and then the kids went through a couple fun houses and down some slides. I got them addicted to the coin pusher machines, so we wasted a lot of time there! It was a great ending to our short jaunt to Paris though, because there were lots of smiles and laughs.