malibu beach bunny

some of our best daytrips are a direct result of boredom and a dollop of "get us out of this damn house."  last weekend's spontaneous drive to malibu was one of these.

we enjoyed a nice lunch at a cafe just down the street, and then instead of going back home to lay around and do nothing we found ourselves hopping on the freeway and heading west to points unknown.  i don't actually know what the hub originally had in mind, but as the bean took a nice nap in the back seat the pri-YES meandered up the 101 freeway, into north hollywood, and with a nice pitstop at starbucks for a shot of caffeine we ended up driving up topanga canyon boulevard (aka route 27).

it got pretty stinking hot as we made our way through the santa monica mountains, but it was a nice drive along a route we'd never traveled before.  and the treat was at the end, where we were dumped unceremoniously onto pacific coast highway for a lovely, scenic trip along the coast.  as the bean woke up, we headed into the super swanky malibu country mart to see if we could scoop up some beachy attire for a dip in the ocean.

after practically barfing at the price tag on swimsuits for the bean ($241 for a simple christian dior color blocked tank suit!  holy shit!), we decided to get the hell outta dodge and headed across the street to a much more budget-friendly strip mall.  we've been there a bazillion times before to pick up a snack at the ice cream store there, and knew there was a store next door that would carry items that were in our price range.

armed with a new swimsuit for the bean, a blanket from deep inside my trunk, and several different types of sunscreen that i keep in the car for swim lessons, we headed towards our favorite beach spot in search of parking.  we managed to find one right across from the entrance, got the bean changed and sprayed down with SPF, and found a nice spot on the sand not far from the water's edge.

"i really like my new swimsuit, mommy and daddy," she said as she modeled for my camera.

as for me, while i didn't score a new bathing suit for myself, i was stoked to find that i'd left my disneyland fedora in the trunk.  perfect.

the hub and i took turns watching over the bean as she frolicked happily in the sand and surf, running into the water, rolling around, jumping up and down, and generally having a pretty freaking fantastic time.

and wouldn't you know it - with all the great eats within reach after we got cleaned up and back in the car, the bean insisted on going home to have some leftover tater tot casserole for dinner.  we ended up grilling some steaks in the back yard and then passing out on the couch.

happy sunday indeed.