La La Land

When one of your best friends invites you to go to LA to stay at his great uncle's house at the beach.. and on his ranch, you just gotta do it. 100% of the time... you just gotta do it.

While I had to pause for a moment before officially saying yes, I knew this would be an experience for them that was just too spectacular to pass up...  

And the rest is history.

This is Aiden and Sam at 5:30am getting ready to leave the Nashville airport.

And here they are, four hours later, and precisely 2,028 miles away (yikes!) at LAX.

Aiden's Great Uncle Jeff and his wife, Dee, treated our kids to the most spectacular week.

They started with surfing lessons.

From what I heard, they were both surfing masters by the end of the day.

The next day, they travelled about an hour inland to his uncle's ranch.

Four wheelers, tractors, tents...  I mean, it doesn't get much better than this!

Oh, I mean, except when you come from a family of Dodger fans, and you get a surprise Dodgers game thrown at you.

Gotta stop and see the Hollywood sign on the way... epic!

Dodgers beat the Cubs at home 5-3.  Mookie Betts hit two home runs.. The boys had a spectacular time!

Meanwhile, this was mama's view from home 😭

Back to the ocean with a deep sea fishing trip the next day.

Six Flags ...  (seriously, could there BE any more adventures in a single week?!)

A 28-mile bike ride along the coast...  all the way up to Malibu.

How did these boys become adults... overnight?

It made me smile to get sweet pictures like this...  heads down doing a word search together...  They're still kids at heart ;)

And s'mores after dark...  

All amazing trips eventually come to an end...  back in Nashville.

What an incredible experience...life long memories for both of them. I feel so proud ... and honored... and blessed to see my kids have these monumental experiences while growing up.  They have entered this magical phase of life where they start to have the freedoms and joys of being an adult, without any of the responsibility and struggle.  

I will encourage them every single day to make the most of these years... They can be magical if you choose to make them that way.