HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NOALL!!! (a little early)

All Noall wanted for his birthday this year was to have a couple of days to get away. We're lucky enough to have quite a few options around here that are close, but we decided on L.A. since we had never gone to explore it together. We started out driving around Malibu and Santa Monica and had an AMAZING lunch there. It was a little cafe inside an old train station. The tables were made out of old aluminum siding, they had flowers in old tin cans - it had a lot of character and the food was AWESOME...maybe no one else cares about black bean burgers, but I have had failed so many times at making them, I was inspired to try again! The green drink is mint lemonade...YUM!!!



We spent the afternoon walking around the Santa Monica Pier and checking out some sports cars. Noall was going to get his picture taken by "his" yellow Ferrari, but that didn't work out!




Later we checked into our hotel...very cool.









Then we headed to a Spanish restaurant for dinner and a flamenco show. I included a couple of videos from the show for my friends who are "dance-appreciaters" (you know who you are). Emma was so tired that despite how loud the show was, she was still zoning in and out. After the show we chatted with the singer who is from a small village in Malaga (part of our mission) - so fun to hear his southern Spain accent!




Day #2 we slept in and checked out the pool on the top of the hotel. Then we headed out to see the L.A. Farmer's Market and have breakfast/lunch. Emma was such a hit everywhere we went - kids are definitely a novelty in L.A.! We were lucky enough to catch the Barcelona vs. Real Madrid game (for all you soccer lovers) and watched it while we ate.





Our last L.A. adventure was to check out The Getty - they had a lot of interesting exhibits to see. It was a shame it was such a cloudy day...the view is really amazing from up there! We ended the day going back home for dinner and a movie (Emma was grateful to be back in her own bed!). It's always rejuvenating to spend a few days together...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NOALL!!!!!!!!!