5 Family Friendly Southern California Outings to Explore & Rejuvenate!

Here in Southern California, we are quite lucky that there is never a shortage of things to do with the family! Getting the kids out of the house and into discovery mode is as easy as a trip to the beach tide pools or one of our numerous kid friendly museums.

This past Fourth of July weekend, we took full advantage of our geographical location by visiting a few of our favorite family spots and discovering a new family fav! I also included two great summer festivals we enjoyed this year that will definitely be on our list for years to come!

Hollywood Beach, Channel Islands Harbor

4th of July Gram Snuggles!

We discovered Hollywood Beach by The Channel Islands Harbor just a few months ago and although it's a 45 minute drive, it offers silky smooth white sand, zero crowds, calm surf and is loaded with sand crabs for the kids to discover! It's located just blocks away from the Channel Islands Harbor which has it's own share of fun activities including a farmer's market, yummy fresh seafood markets and an outdoor Concert By the Sea series!

Chillin' with Baba!

Gull Wings Children's Museum

The Gull Wings Children's Museum is a new discovery for us! At first glance, I wasn't sure it was going to be worth the admission, but we decided to meander through and we were pleasantly surprised by its interactive exhibits designed to challenge and encourage a kid's imagination!

5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... Blast Off!

We spent hours there exploring rocks and minerals in their "underground caves", pretending to be a paleontologist in the Fossil Quest and an astronaut in their 5 chamber rocket ship! We'll be back for sure!

Underwood Family Farms

Farm Fam!

Underwood Family Farms is in constant rotation on our activity schedule. Not only does the baby love it, but it's seriously one of my favorite places too! We can spend hours strolling through its fields, picnicking under its majestic eucalyptus trees and eating the fruits of our picking labors. Over the Fourth of July weekend three generations of Fontaine females went and we picked our weight in sweet, delicious strawberries!

The California Strawberry Festival

The California Strawberry Festival has been around for almost 30 years and offers a massive kids area that includes, crafts, jumpers and a carousel.

Strawberry Monster!

Foodies can enjoy everything from Strawberry Beer to Strawberry Pizza, but our favorite was simply the Dark Chocolate-Covered Strawberries! Sooooooo yummy!!


The Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Festival

Ok, granted I'm from New Orleans so I will go anywhere and try anything that even remotely purports itself to be "Cajun" or "Blues" just to feel a sense of home and most of the time it falls miserably short, but not this one! Last year, I took the baby to The Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Festival on a whim and we had such a great time that the whole family went back this year! And yes, it is now My Mom Approved!

Dancin' Queen!

The festival grounds are on lush, open, soft grasslands, the live Cajun, Zydeco and Blues music is to DIE for, the food is AUTHENTIC (somewhat) and there is a great kid's area! This is a must and we will be back next year!

This Sunday the family will be off to the woods!! We'll be in Sequoia National Park decompressing and discovering all of the beauty Mother Nature has to offer! I can't wait to share it with you when we return!

Finding Beach Bliss in Oxnard, California!

I must admit that although Oxnard, California is just under an hour north of Los Angeles, in the 17 plus years of SoCal living, we have only been once (about a year and a half ago, we drove up for a 3 day camping excursion at McGrath State Beach). Boy, have we been missing out!

Our visit was very spontaneous, extremely short (about 20 hours), but oh so sweet. Vivi and I had decided to tag along with a friend who had to drive up for a business meeting. As luck would have it, that meeting was a block away from the coast, so we made a beeline for the beach; its sand a pure, fine, white blanket and its waves gentle and lapping, perfect for toddlers! 

Hollywood Beach, Oxnard, California

There wasn't a single tourist in sight (except for us, I guess!), just the occasional friendly local walking their dog or enjoying a midday jog by the shore, so we felt as if we were on our own private beach! For hours we laughed, played in the water, built castles, threw sand at each other, rolled around and laughed some more! We were in heaven! 

Hollywood Beach, Oxnard, California

V even made a friend, who's dad was sweet enough to lend us a towel being that we had no intention of ever ending up on a beach covered head-to-toe with sand!!

Hollywood Beach, Oxnard, California

After a quick shower down, we met back up with our friend and walked into the first restaurant we saw Sea Fresh Market, which just happened to be snugly perched on the Channel Islands Harbor with a plethora of ducks to chase, a gorgeous view of the boats and an even better happy hour (did someone say oysters?!)

Oysters! YUM!

So, short story even shorter: I had no idea that 24 hours in Oxnard, California would be written down in my memory as one of the best days ever, but it has been.