Magic Moments – Family fun in Solvang

It was one of those Sundays that just ‘worked’. The only pre-planned event was my first ever morning yoga class on the beach (bliss). After I returned from my yoga class, feeling very zen and at one with Universe (carrying Blenders smoothies with a supplement of bee pollen for everyone in the family), everything else in the day was simply destined to go with the flow (a good flow; streamlined, smooth and plain sailing).

There was a call from the man of the house to do something different. He suggested taking our daughters to Solvang, where I’d finished my first half marathon the weekend before. The girls had stopped at home with our visiting friend from New Zealand and had never seen Solvang – a very Danish town in the middle of the Californian wine growing countryside of the Santa Ynez Valley. Solvang is just over a half hour drive, through scenic countryside, from Santa Barbara. In all appearances you could be in a Danish town, but there’s obviously the American flags flying along with the Danish and no one speaks Danish (at least not to the tourists).

So, we got the girls away from their Minecraft world and took to the real roads.

We arrived in Solvang, the town of pastries, wine, coffee, cakes, art, toy shops and windmills, under a typical Californian blue sky.

A couple of hours wondering the streets, eating, drinking, buying a few trinkets for our dolls house, and watching the Clydesdale horses pull the tourist tram around, were well spent.

We also drove the course that I’d ran (the girls were vaguely interested, but really they were hanging out for their Danish pastries after the drive from Santa Barbara) and stopped at a very cute playground.

A magic place and somewhere that we could spend many more pleasurable hours… enjoy some wine tasting – if only we could find someone to watch over the children – ah well – that time will come again… and then we will no doubt be all reflective and misty eyed, remembering ‘those days’ with our children always in tow – and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Feeling very blessed indeed to have such a happy family and the opportunity to experience gems like this.

________________________________________________________

Linking up with the lovely ‘Magic Moments’ at ‘The Oliver’s Madhouse’: