Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Our trip to Solvang.

Solvang is this little town about 40 minutes north of Santa Barbara. It's claim to fame is that it is a Danish replica - and it does a pretty good job. Most of downtown is built to resemble classic Danish architecture. And there are a bunch of shops that sell European pastries, Danish food, and European artwork.

We started our day eating at a pancake house. The kids had pancakes and waffles. Jon and I had Danish sausage and eggs. We loved the sausage. The eggs not so much. And Abby ate my hash browns. So I was hungry by the time we left the pancake house. 


So we went walking. We first went to the Christmas store. I think Jon was hoping that the store would be closed. Nope. It was open!!! And I love the ornaments there. We are totally shopping there a few times a year. I can't spend all my money at once, so we will go a few times a year and stock up on ornaments. Our kids are older, we can get nicer ornaments now. 

We also hit up a bakery. Which was great for me. They had some gluten free items, so I could eat. The best part was they also had chocolate cookies, so the kids didn't try to steal my food this time around. I love the European bakeries. Jon did too. I even stopped on our way out of town so we could bring a bunch of things home. Jon has been eating eclairs every day (I got him 3). He's gone through them all now, and found me a recipe for them online. I wonder if he wants me to make them?


After the bakery, the stores were open. So we went into a bunch of them. We got new hats. We got salt and pepper shakers - because our old ones didn't make the move. We bought trinkets for people we love (my sister and mom) - and Abby and Nicholas insisted that we get a spoon to add to my mom's collection of spoons. 

We also went through a bunch of shops where we didn't get anything. If I am ever going to get a new clock for our house, I know where I'm getting it. There was a glass blower that made the most amazing clocks. I really wanted one. At which point I checked the prices and decided I didn't really need one that day.


Nicholas got a captain's hat. I got a big southern hat for the beach. I'm super excited about it. Nicholas didn't take his hat off for the rest of the day.

We left downtown and headed outside of town to a castle playground. We had so much fun, I forgot to take pictures. But we played around for a little bit, and then went to a miniature horse farm and saw the horses. We just got to stand around the fence and look at the horses. But it was a fun break before we headed back to downtown for lunch.


We left after lunch (which we ate at about 1p). It was a long day for the kids since we mostly walked. I had on my pedometer, and we went about 4 miles of walking that day. Some of it I did carrying Abby. Nicholas walked the whole thing by himself. Aided by some sugar from the rock candy his father bough him.

When we moved to Santa Barbara, we made a family promise - that we would get out and explore more as a family. So far we've been keeping that promise. On Saturdays we head out on an adventure. Sometimes it's just to a new restaurant and exploring a new part of town - or the beach - or, like this time, to a new area to explore. I'm really loving the family aspect of life down here. 


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