With an excuse to attend a charity event, we went south for a much needed child-free weekend getaway. I think the last time we took a couple of days off for R&R sans kids was in 2006... right before Smarty Pants graced us with his enigmatic presence.
enigma, no?
actually this is the result of being left alone with daddy, unsupervised ☺
The Mister was out of town the week prior, so the boys and I were left to hunt and forage for ourselves (hey, it IS a jungle out there). When he returned he must've seen the blank look in my eyes, not to mention that I also took scissors to my hair (chop), so to celebrate our anniversary, he surprised me with a 2 night stay at the Ritz Carlton in Dana Point.
Now usually, when we're with The Mister's car buddies, we stay at places the equivalent of Motel 6... verging on Motel 5... So this was a REAL treat!
With my mom and dad graciously agreeing to watch the kids... we were off!
We were really lucky with the weather. The coast can be hit or miss in the fall. It can be socked in, or it can be beautiful like this...
and this...
and, of course, this...
We spent the morning enjoying the outdoors. I spent a lot of time stalking this beauty...
really, i was stalking it... with my sun hat on, i must've looked like a crazy tourist.
Then, I started stalking this scaly little fella...
I had the urge to exfoliate him...
Luckily he hid...
By early afternoon, it was a tad warm, so we decided to get some refreshments on the patio...
my passion fruit mojito was yum-my...
and you know how kids are when they don't want to be picked-up?
like all the bones somehow left their body?
i pretty much felt like that.
I took a few photos of the ginormous lobby...
I thought this modern art / room divider was pretty neat too...
Parents with young children are fascinated with things like this...
our mouths drop open and the world "really..." can be seen etched on our lips...
in slow motion... r-e-a-l-l-y...
even the sound is distorted... rrrrrrrr-eeeeeee-aaaaaaaaa-lllllllll-yyyyyyyyyy
Sorry, where was I?
I was also fascinated with the lobby's floral arrangements. When we arrived they were in purple hues, and when we left they were hot, hot pink...
I wonder if the bride of this wedding had anything to do with it?
We capped off our weekend with the amazingly decadent Sunday Brunch. It was delish! I would've taken photos, but I was too busy eating... and eating... and eating... I swear, I still feel full.
I believe this rose has the best view in the world...
It was such a wonderful experience staying at a place that is strikingly beautiful, and all the employees are smiling and friendly, and the food... oh, the food (sigh)... And how in the world did they get our room to smell so nice without being overpowering? Pure heaven, I tell ya! Well, I was a leetle sad to go, but I missed my little munchkins... after a two day absence, even their meltdowns seemed rather charming. Plus, I kinda felt like I was missing out on something...
