Everyday Brilliance Photography: July 2016

Summer Road Trip to Santa Barbara and Solvang, California

July 20, 2016

With summer vacation almost coming to an end and my pregnancy also coming to an end I knew I wanted to take one more little vacation before school began. Looking into nearby California cities I could take a one-night vacation to lead me to the little Danish town of Solvang which is only 45 minutes from the beautiful beach town of Santa Barbara so we decided to check out both places. Day one took us to the Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara where we got to have a yummy beach lunch over looking the water before we headed to Solvang. While in Solvang we got to check out all of the little shops and try all the great danish food. We had everything from Danish pancakes, aebelskivers, and weinerschnitzel. After spending the night in Solvang, we headed back to Santa Barbara and went to the famous Santa Barbara Zoo. The highlight of the Santa Barbara Zoo are their giraffes and how you can interact with and feed them which of course we did. After that it was time to go home, but luckily even though it was short it was a fantastic trip filled with great food and adventure.

Fillmore Adventure

June 15, 2016

Once summer vacation started I immediately tried to find little "filed trips" I could take my kids on to occupy them over the summer. Living so close to Ventura, California I have taken many trips on the 126 through the small town of Fillmore and have never stopped at the many of the little places I have seen on the way there, so I decided to make a day of exploring the Fillmore area. First, we took a stop at the Bennett's Honey Farm and sampled multiple types of local honey and bought way too many honey sticks. Next we stopped by Francisco's Fruit Stand. There we got to buy some fresh produce and some yummy snacks like chocolate toffee covered almonds. Next stop was the Fillmore State Fish Hatchery, which is where they raise the rainbow trout that they use to stock the local lakes and rivers. We were able to see the trout in the different stages of life and we were also able to feed the fish. Our last stop took us to the Fillmore Train Museum which sadly wasn't open at the time so instead we just walked around and looked at the multiple trains that they had on the property at the time. After grabbing some lunch my kids talked me into one more stop which was the beach, so we went to the beach in Oxnard and they had a great time playing in the water. All in all it was a great day and if you are in the Fillmore area I suggest stopping and checking out these multiple locations.