beach vibes, part two

Thursday was another gloriously sunny day and while we were tempted to set up camp at the beach, we decided instead to break out of our idyllicÂ Santa Monica bubble and check out some of LA’s other offerings (after grabbing coffee at tried-and-true Blue Bottle on Abbot Kinney).

We found ourselves at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art mid-morning – we haven’t done the grownup museum thing with Juliette before and decided to give it a go, since we heard LACMA was pretty kid-friendy. Â This forest of lampposts was certainly a hit!

And once inside, we breezed right past a beautiful Matisse and landed squarely in the middle of the children’s painting room. Â Once again, it’s all about Jules…

Although truth be told, she’s one of my favorite artists!

WeÂ wandered back outside once Juliette had finished her masterpiecesÂ and let her run circles around this Calder.

She got a kick out of throwing pennies into the fountain, begging for more coins to “make them wash” (the concept of “make a wish” was lost on her).

Finally, we made it over to the contemporary collection, which was incredible. Â And incredibly stressful with a three year-old in tow! Â It’s hard to trust a kid that age not to put their sticky paws on a multi-million dollar paintingÂ – I felt like I spent much of our time there asking Juliette not to stand so close and not to touch anything and not to run and not, not, not…we might NOT be ready for the big-time museums just yet. Â That said, Shane did camp out on a bench with her for a bit so that I could spend some time with Dubuffet and Motherwell.

One more lap around the lampposts, and then we sprinted right out of there in search of lunch.

We chowed down on tacos and slurped mondo margaritas at Sonorities…

And then, because it’s a must any time we’re in LA, shaved ice at Blockheads. Â Their green tea shaved ice with mochi and a drizzle of condensed milk is the dessert of my dreams.

All three of us dreamed sweetlyÂ that afternoon, taking a big ol’ family nap in our big ol’ king-sized bed. Â Rested and refreshed, we were back out again in the evening to Tongva Park, which is another Santa Monica staple. Â Juliette has bumped down this roller slide for three years running.

I asked Shane if he was up for walking to the pier, which is so not his thing, what with the crowds and the noise and the tourist shops, but he obliged, because he’s the best dad ever.

Juliette pleaded with us to take her on the roller coaster, but it looked a little fast even for me, so we settled on a few whirls around the wheel, which ended up thrilling her to no end.