Avila Getaway

Since Jeff and I were going to celebrate our 10 year anniversary in June we really wanted to take a trip...alone. We had long envisioned a week's stay revisiting our honeymoon destination: Hawaii.

But as my parents began planning a Summer trip to Alaska, we quickly realized that a whole week for Jeff's parents to have the kids was probably not going to happen.

 

Meanwhile, Dominic had two camps planned back-to-back and needed to get home from one of the camps a day early...a 5 hour drive one way.

 

So Jeff and I began our search for an anniversary destination that could coordinate with picking up Dom at the end of our trip.

Finally we decided on a cute little town on the coast down by San Luis Obispo...

Avila Beach.

We had taken the kids to Avila last Summer while visiting Jeff's aunt and uncle, and we all loved it!

And thanks to Jeff's parents we were able to get away for 3 full nights!

With three kids at home, and barely being able to talk for 10 minutes without being interrupted, 3 nights feels like heaven!

 

The beach at Avila is amazing!

It's shaped like a C and actually faces South, so the sun sets over the hills...which is kinda weird.

But the beach is also really protected so there are no giant waves to contend with, which makes it perfect for the family.

Thanks to TripAdvisor we found a very romantic place to stay: The Avila LaFonda Hotel. 

We loved everything about this place...except the bed.

Aside from the amazing service, they had fresh baked chocolate croissants and coffee every morning (which we grabbed for breakfast on the beach,) nacho bar in the afternoon (which we never made it to,) and a wine reception every evening!

Fresh baked cookies and milk at midnight too!

(OK...one night that happened!)

 

And if you know me...you know I love myself a good hot bath...

Here is the tub in our room...! 

Can I just say how good it was to reconnect with my hubby?!

Sometimes we wonder with all the craziness of the kids and daily life...

Do we still have it?

And the answer is a resounding...YES!

We talked so much...and yes, a lot of it was about the kids.

But we decided that's ok...we created those kids together!

And we decided we still like each other too.

Good thing!

We enjoyed sunsets and yummy meals. 

One evening we drove to Morro Bay and met Jeff's aunt, uncle, and cousins for dinner.

And the next day we headed to The Dolphin Bay Resort at Pismo Beach for a couple's massage.

(Jeff's first massage ever. And he tried to get out of it. He was glad he didn't!) 

The resort is amazing! The grounds, amenities, and weather felt like Hawaii!!

And because we enjoyed a massage there, we had access to all the amenities for the rest of the day. 

So we soaked in the sun, consumed some beer and wine, and took a dip.

Heaven! 

On our way back to Avila we stopped by The Avila Fruit Barn.

So cute!!!

All the fresh fruit, produce, and flowers you could imagine!

Cute gifts.

Fresh baked pies.

Tractor rides.

Farm animals that the kids could pet and feed.

And an ice cream shop.

Perfect for families! 

Yes, there were a couple times that we thought,

"The kids would LOVE this!"

But then as we enjoyed treats like this, we remembered that we didn't have to share! 

On our way across the valley and up to the mountains to pick up Dominic,

we rehashed the last 10 years...

How much we've accomplished.

How much we've "survived."

And how much more in love we are today than the day we married. 

Life has a way of quickly throwing you back into parenting and the daily routine,

but it was so nice to reconnect, enjoy my hubby, and well...

just sleep in!