First-Ever Anderson Family Vacation!

After nearly five years of marriage, Tim and I have kind of gotten into the habit of taking a fun vacation every summer. Last year, we went to Hawaii and Europe. That, by the way, was pre-baby (hahaha). This year, we decided to keep it a little simpler, and we headed north for a two-night, three-day stay in Cambria on the Central Coast. So, Weston braved the carseat, Tim and I braved Weston, and we actually all ended up having a great time!

Cambria is a lovely little town just north of San Luis Obispo, full of trees, fields, rocky shorelines, charming little boutiques, bistros, and fresh baked goods, along with plenty of 60- and 70-year-olds with gray hair, stone jewelry, and fanny packs. (Yes, we saw lots of this demographic, and apparently that's the group that's most attracted to the area.) Nevertheless, a couple of young'uns with a baby still managed to have fun -- we toured the famous Hearst Castle, viewed an elephant seal colony, shopped, dined, enjoyed the beach, and learned a lot about the curious Olallieberry. Overall, I give the vacation an A+, especially since we survived with a 10-week-old in tow. (Seriously, it's so nervewracking to try new things with a baby! But, the more we try, the more confident we become. ....Right? Sure. Whatever.)

We stayed at the Cambria Pines Lodge, which was a flowery, polished resort with gardens, fresh air, peace and quiet, and most importantly, a free breakfast buffet.

We sprung for a suite so that we could have some extra room for the baby. That red suede couch was heavenly. (Don't tell the lodge personnel, but it is now graced with a small amount of Weston's spit-up. Haha! Gross.)
The bedroom, with a neat little terrace overlooking the trees.
Cambria has a beachfront boardwalk, which made for a very scenic (and very windy) evening stroll. Thanks, kindly passerby, for taking our picture!!
Down on the beach with the wee one (a few minutes after his spit-up explosion down the front of my shirt).
The Central Coast. (Pleasant sigh.)
The lodge had flowers everywhere. (Man, that place is going to be swarmed by ladies on Mother's Day, lemme tell ya.)
I tried to take pretty flower pictures. Behold.
A guest house (yes, guest house) at the ol' Hearst place.
WR's "Neptune Pool." Sorry, did you say "over the top?" Nah, I think that Roman columns are perfectly common with swimming pools. :-P
The Casa Grande at the ol' Hearst place, with WR's 3,500-year-old Egyptian statue in the foreground.

The Elephant Seal Rookery. Yep, there were lots of them. They were cute and wiggly and blubbery and, well, rather stinky too!
Lounging by the water's edge. (I like the one on the right who's raising his hand. Yes? Do you have a question?)
Picnic lunch by the beach.
Okay, okay, I asked Tim to pose for this one. Ya got me! Isn't he dashing, though? Especially when he's so contemplative.
Our cute little Beach Baby Bundle!!

I LOVE those sunhats on babies. LOVE them. So cute. Does it get any cuter? No. It should be mandated that every baby in the whole world wear those cute little sunhats.
Pretty flowers by the beach. Lovely lovely!
The Rock 'n Roll Diner along the Pacific Coast Highway. This is just one of the ridiculously random establishments that one finds along the ol' 1 -- a '50s diner made out of two train cars. (Of course we had to stop and eat lunch here.)
Rockin' to the oldies!!