First Family Vacation in Encinitas, CA

It was Riley’s first birthday and Scott’s thirty-fifth during the first week of May this year — and we celebrated with a trip down to the beach town of Encinitas, California, about one hour south of us here in Costa Mesa. It was our first vacation since Riley’s birth and it really convinced us to do this much more often with her now! We feel like she reached an age where it was a lot easier and more exciting to travel. Less naps, more activity, and her genuine interest in experiencing new places! Plus we felt more at ease as new parents too.

The first year really rocked us, it was a toughy. I’ve been told after a year things just get fun, and so far, it’s proven to be very true. Here is a recap of our first vacation together, it was incredible and Encinitas should definitely be on your list when coming to visit California (or if you live here and are in need of a nearby vacation spot, especially with a baby who doesn’t like being in the car for more than ten minutes!).

Day 1

We drove down in the late afternoon after Riley’s second nap of the day, making it to our AirBnb in time for unpacking, dinner, and setting Riley up for sleep. We were amazed by our AirBnb! It is beautiful, minutes walk or bike ride from the beach, on the cutest street, and tucked away with everything we would need to feel comfortable and peaceful for a few days.

This night was nerve racking for me having Riley sleep in her travel crib for the first time. But she did really well! It took a few times settling her and rocking, singing, letting her know we were here and in a safe place before she fell asleep. But eventually she did and she slept like normal that night with her typical few feedings. I slept incredible too in this bed! A king! And so many pillows.

DAY 2

We woke up this morning and packed up for a bike ride to Ironsmith Coffee and Moonlight Beach. This was such a beautiful morning! Biking in Encinitas was really easy and the coffee was delicious. We fell in love with Moonlight immediately, there is a playground with beach sand and the neatest equipment. Riley enjoyed a little breakfast on my lap and we did lots of crawling up stairs and goin down the slide. Over and over. This is parent life of a one year old!

We biked home for her first nap of the day and relaxed in the backyard sunshine. It was heavenly. I walked around the neighborhood exploring solo a bit too. When she woke we went Back to Moonlight for an afternoon of sand, sunshine, and more playing! Scott’s camera battery was dead for this outing though so I don’t have photos here from this beach time.

During the evening, after her second, and last, nap, we went for a neighborhood walk together and then drove to Birdseye (Thai food) for dinner. This place is incredible! I wish we had one here in Costa Mesa, I would go every week. I had the kabocha red curry with rice and tofu. Riley had the tofu, broccoli, and rice with peanut sauce. Lastly, Scott got the basil fried rice. All three we enjoyed immensely! However, beforehand Riley was hangry and her stink face below made me laugh real good.

Always hanging out in the cleanest of places…

DAY 3

Best morning! We set off on foot and walked down Vulcan to a small park for Riley to get some wiggles out on — neatest park equipment in this city. Then we walked under Coast Highway to the main strip and up to… Ironsmith Coffee, again! It was just too good to pass up and they have nice outdoor seating for feeding Riley her breakfast.

We then looped back around to our AirBnb in a way that took us by my favorite park of the trip (so very closely tied with Moonlight) where we met the nicest moms and kiddos. One little boy even gave Riley a kiss on her head and kept offering hugs. Riley definitely played hard to get, hah! It was so sweet. This park was surrounded by tall trees and, again, had the raddest equipment. (It was Cottonwood Creek Park here.)

After Riley’s morning nap we packed up to bike down to Moonlight Beach again, stopping by Goodonya for a burrito to go for Scott (we did this the day before too, this place is really good! He loved the Thai salad wrap and Mexican veggie burrito. I ate lunch at the AirBnb during Riley’s first nap both days, I get hungry much earlier.). It was a beautiful afternoon for more sand and playground time before looping back to our AirBnb for Riley’s afternoon nap — snagging a gelato for Scott on the way.

This evening we kept very chill with a stroller walk to the lookout above Swami’s beach, then home to the AirBnb to finish up some leftovers for dinner and spend the evening before Riley’s bedtime on the patio in the hammock with the fire pit lit. This place we stayed is every bit as magical as it looks and sounds. I couldn’t stay anywhere else on future trips and am so grateful for the times we had as a family on our first vacation together in this space. See her listing here if you are thinking of heading this way.

DAY 4

Pretty swift morning! We packed up the quickest we’ve ever done (painfully) and drove home to get Riley there in time for her morning nap (parent life). We got coffees from Ironsmith to-go and hit the road for a swift 55 minutes home. What a special trip this was! It felt as if we were much further from home then we really were. Which was a blessing for Scott and I who needed to really get out as well as for Riley who dislikes car rides (!). Haha.

I hope you enjoyed our little recap of our first family vacation together. I really make these for Scott and I to look back on mostly, but know there are a few of you who plan similar trips based off of places I share here (super neat!) so please feel free to comment or message me any questions you have if you do plan a trip and I left out something! Till next time, Encinitas.

(Biggest regret is not snapping more nice photos of Scott or getting a family photo of us three! Noted for next time.)

x Jessie

First Family Vacation in Encinitas, CA

Day 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

DAY 4

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