A few weeks ago my mum and I decided to take a last minute trip to Newport Beach. Originally it was just going to be my mum, Theo and I, because everyone else had to work. Well, naturally the rest of the family wanted to come along too, so everyone had to rush to get work off last minute so that they could join. It ended up being a pretty good sized group of us which made it so fun! We were able to find a dog friendly house to rent through VRBO so Matix got to join us too!
The drive ended up being about six hours because we had Matix and Theo with us. On the way there Theo only napped for a pathetic 45 minutes. He’s really good in the car though so he didn’t fuss much. We listened to music and he watched movies on my phone which kept him happy. We also stopped at McDonalds halfway there so he could get out and play for a bit. It’s the first time he’s ever been there because I’m not a fan whatsoever, but it kept him happy.
Mattie was an excellent navigator.
The house we stayed at was two blocks from the beach and had the perfect patio for Matix and Theo. I swear the two of them spent 95% of the time we were at the house on the patio. The house itself was really not at all toddler friendly and had a tall marble staircase, but there were enough of us that we were able to keep a close eye on Theo.
Most mornings we would wake up and take Matix for a long walk on the boardwalk. There was a cute little dog friendly restaurant called Alta within walking distance that we ended up going to every morning for breakfast. I love being able to take Matix places with us. I feel like it seriously just makes him so happy and he’s really well-behaved in public which makes it easy. He never barks at other dogs and pretty much just sleeps at our feet.
Patiently waiting to be seated.
We had so much delicious food on this trip. Jordan and I ate at a place called Spaghetti Bender a few years ago when we went to Newport for our last vacation before having Theo. They have the most delicious minestrone soup I’ve ever tasted, like honestly I cannot describe to you guys how good this freaking soup is. I was so excited to go and eat that soup again haha.
We also ate at a place called Woody’s for dinner one night. They had really good seafood and I got the most amazing crab cakes which Theo loved as well. He didn’t have a nap that day so we ended up letting him watch a movie during dinner to keep him happy. It worked, he just sat there entranced and quietly ate his food.
The family picture we got makes me laugh because you can just see the back of his head, he was too into the movie to turn around.
Obviously the best part of this trip was the beach. Theo was quite honestly obsessed and I think he would have stayed there all night if we had let him. It was the first time he’s seen the ocean and he just ran right in. He got knocked over by waves a few times and fell face first into the water but didn’t care the slightest bit. He was seriously covered head to toe in sand. He just laid in it and started rolling around happily, it was the funniest thing. Honestly, I’ve never really been a beach person. I don’t like being in the sun so of course I hate sunbathing, playing in the ocean is only so much fun as an adult, and sand has always made me cringe. I have to admit though, having a kid has changed my mind about the beach. It was infinitely more fun having Theo there to splash around with and I found myself laying in the sand building sand castles with him without a second thought.
There’s nothing better than seeing your kid lit up with happiness. This is the Outdoor beach tent
Jordan’s youngest sister, Karlie, is Theo’s favorite person ever! He had so much fun with her on this trip.
Dogs are allowed on the beach after 4:30p, so one day we brought Mattie over. Theo’s face lit up when he saw his dog and he was excited to play in the ocean with him. Well, sadly that didn’t work out because Mattie is terrified of the water. Once he realized what the ocean was he ran and sat on our blanket and wouldn’t play at all.
I can’t wait to do another beach trip next summer. We want to try and book it in advance next time so we can stay right on the beach. Theo and Matix would love sitting on the patio and seeing everyone walk by on the boardwalk. Jordan has a huge family so hopefully next year even more of his siblings can come too!
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