California with kids - Santa Barbara

I’ve been wanting to put together a post about our California trip since we got back, but I honestly didn’t know where to begin. I decided to split it up, otherwise it would’ve been way too long. We’re starting off with Santa Barbara (and a tiny bit of Solvang)!

We went to the US to visit my husband’s family, and to be honest I wasn’t super excited about this trip at first. The short flights we’ve done in Europe recently were frankly overwhelming. Our toddler decided to use us (mostly YY) as punching bags from take off until about 10 minutes before landing, when he would inevitably pass out - leaving us beaten and a little bit shaken up. As you can imagine, I was therefore a tiny bit intimidated and not exactly looking forward to a 12-hour flight with our adorable little monster(s). Experience so far has taught me to keep my hopes waaay low, so my intention was to go into this trip entirely free of expectations. No plans = no frustration if they don’t work out, right?

Long story short: I’m so glad I was wrong. Because overall, the kids were total champs and we actually got to do a lot. I hadn’t been to the US in 11 years (basically since I moved to Europe), but California has this easy-breezy 90s vibe that felt very familiar and extremely easy to get used to.

View from Shoreline park, as I tried to spot whales and dolphins

For the first two weeks we stayed mainly in Santa Barbara with the in-laws, and it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. My husband grew up in this little slice of paradise, and in the 10 years we’ve been a couple we hadn’t yet gone there together. I jokingly told him that’s because he knew I wouldn’t want to leave… No, seriously. I grew up visiting the US almost every year, but Southern California remained a bit of a beautiful mystery to me. And this trip has left me wanting to discover so much more of it.

The Santa Barbara courthouse

View from the Santa Barbara courthouse

Discovering places is great, but discovering places through food is so much better. Eating in California can be a real treat. Since we’re very much landlocked in Munich and any seafood we can get our hands on is inevitably frozen, I was yearning for some of the fresh stuff.

My favorite restaurant meal in Santa Barbara was hands-down the one at Brophy Bros. It was definitely worth the 20-minute wait with a toddler on full meltdown mode, after he had just accidentally lost his last pacifier on the pier water. My one criticism? The clam chowder isn’t served in sourdough bread. Womp womp.

The cold seafood starter mix from Brophy Bros, which YY and I easily shared as our main dish. In the back, an almost finished plate of clam chowder which S loved and almost made him forget his pacifier.

A heartbroken S after losing his pacifier.

While Brophy Bros’ was the best meal we had, the best overall find for me was without a doubt Blenders In The Grass. This was another mythical place which YY would incessantly tell me about, so I was really looking forward to meeting it in person. The Blenders’ concept is to serve “fresh, quick, nutritious, delicious” shakes, and boy to they deliver. The possibilities are endless. I made it my personal mission to taste a different one every day while we were in Santa Barbara. My favorite? Peanut butter. All. The. Way.

Still speaking of food, I was also finally introduced to Trader Joe’s! And I was genuinely heartbroken to said goodbye to it by the end of the trip. We literally went from a Trader Joe’s to LAX on our way back to Munich.

We found happiness at the Santa Barbara Trader Joe’s

While we’re still on this topic, coffee also counts as food, right? Maybe not with/for the kids, but one of our favorite things in the world is to explore cool coffee shops wherever we go. That’s something I’m not willing to compromise as a mom. We’ve been raising kids in coffee shops since 2017, and this trip to California was no exception. And honestly, Santa Barbara did not disappoint.

Although definitely pricier than what we’re used to in Munich, Handlebar Coffee Roasters is a cycling-inspired coffee shop (if you can’t tell by their name) that has some of the best coffee I’ve ever had. It easily beat every coffee shop we went to in LA. The staff is also very willing to look the other way and not scold you if you must change your baby’s explosive diaper, which I’m honestly grateful for since there were no changing tables in sight (few things are more anxiety-inducing to a parent than a baby covered in poop and no place to change them). Anyhow. To this day, we’re dreaming of their nitro coffee and regret not having brought back more of their cool merch.

The nitro coffee at Handlebar is a true work of art.

Another cool coffee shop is Dune Coffee Roasters, aka The French Press. I wasn’t as into their nitro, but the iced matcha latte was seriously impressive (and yes, I realize I sound very stereotypically true to my generation with that statement).

Cool wall at The French Press on State Street

I know you’re probably here to read more about actually handling kids while traveling, so here we go. Full disclosure: Since we were staying with the in-laws and YY’s sisters were also around, we shamelessly made full use of the support we don’t normally have in Munich. That is to say that for many of these outings, 2 year old S stayed at home for naps and playtime with his slightly older cousin. L on the other hand, who turned 6 months during our trip, was often with us since I was (am) still breastfeeding her full-time. That said, carrying an agreeable, nap-anywhere-anytime 6-month old around is much easier than a toddler. It all changed when we went to LA and had full custody of S once again, though.

That isn’t to say that we didn’t see our son for days. We sure did some fun activities with him too, like going to the Santa Barbara Zoo.

S with his aunt at the zoo, watching the elephants.

We were also in town for the famous “Fiesta”, which between us…. Was probably the most shamelessly cultural-appropriating event I’ve ever attended. I unfortunately really wasn’t very into it (but of course I don’t judge those who are, to each their own). The kids are too young to care about such matters and definitely had fun at the parade, so I guess that’s the silver lining. I’m just not sure I’d personally go back for it.

S covered in confetti at the parade. He had glitter stuck on his scalp for days after this. Our ongoing joke was that he’d go to college with it.

While in Santa Barbara, we also went to the beach - once. But still, I'm happy I got my ocean fix. We went to Hendry’s Beach, which in hindsight wouldn’t have been my first choice since it’s a very much dog-friendly beach. This meant cute doggos running around, but also having a dog run onto our towels and eating our food (while the owners watched, unfazed) as well as peeing all over the sand which our kids would subsequently, inevitably, eat.

S covered in urine-soaked sand

We also had a really great time at the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum. S was legitimately interested, which is a first for us. There are so many cool activities for toddlers, we could’ve easily made it a longer visit (but then again hunger spoke louder). I do wish we’d had more time for the planetarium.

YY and S working hard at the Natural History Museum.

Finally, we also went to Solvang for a day. Have you heard of it (I hadn’t)? It’s the “Danish capital of America”, and it’s incredibly cute, but also very touristy. We found a great little coffee shop, because priorities, and otherwise walked up and down the main street alongside hoards of Chinese tourists. We were only there for a few hours, but I’d love to go back and explore the less touristic corners.

YY has the same picture at the same age!

Up next: Our stay in LA (and short visit to Palm Desert).

Back to business as usual

Hi there, how are you? It’s been a while since I last updated this blog, and a whole lot has happened since then.

Firstly, I had a few people from literally around the world approach me to say they read and like and take inspiration from what I write. And let me tell you, hearing this has got to be one of my favorite feelings in the world. Like any other millennial (or human, really?), I am constantly on the lookout for my “calling” and am often pulled back into writing. It really seems to be my thing, and I can’t thank you enough for appreciating it.

Secondly, my mom was visiting/helping us out for a few months, then we were away for a bit in Toulouse for a wedding and finally in California to visit family. I also turned 30! In other words, our daily lives and habits have been uprooted, shaken, and tossed around quite a bit lately - and we’re people who mostly thrive on a set routine, or at least I am. These trips were certainly less glamorous than they may sound (with two small kids in tow, nonetheless), but they were incredibly eye-opening and helped us refocus on what we want for our family in the future. They also added many points to our “traveling with kids” skillset, which I’m excited to share and hopefully help you from our experience.

And lastly, but not in the least less importantly, I’ve introduced L to solids! This is an exciting milestone for any parent, but even more so when you’re studying to help other parents introduce solids to their kids’ diet. This time around I’m giving baby-led weaning a go, and I’ve lost count of the amount of raised eyebrows I got or the number of people who asked me when we would start feeding her “baby cereal”. The answer being probably never.

That said, please let me know in the comments what you’d like to read about first:

A. Traveling abroad with small kids or

B. Introducing solids to baby L (while traveling!)

I’d also love to hear about your summer and past few months. What did I miss?