We were so excited to hear that our friend Michelle and her daughter Megan would be visiting us in August — YAY! Our first official visitors arrived last Thursday night!

Michelle and I have been friends since high school, and despite both our various state-to-state moves, we’ve managed to stay very close. It was such a treat have her and Megan stay with us. Ethan loved having a friend with whom to pal around.

We had LOTS on the agenda, but with kiddos in tow, we only managed to accomplish half of our ambitious plans. Here are a few highlights from their visit…

Sprinkles Cupcakes – The best cupcakes I’ve ever tasted. Michelle and I deemed the dark chocolate and pumpkin our favorites. Megan enjoyed her treat right away — I think it was a hit!

Rodeo Drive– We made the short walk from Sprinkles to Beverly Hill’s popular Rodeo drive. It was fun to walk along the haute couture shops, and just for the heck of it we checked out Versace. It was fun to see the eccentric stilettos and boots that were showcased inside. I doubt I’d be able to stand in any of the shoes we saw much less walk in them.

The Beverly Wilshire Hotel – Michelle is the biggest Pretty Woman fan I’ve ever met, so we had to see one of the filming locations for the 1990 movie Pretty Woman while in the neighborhood. We weren’t sure if we could walk right into the hotel, but we did — and it was beautiful.

Santa Monica State Beach – What’s a trip to the coast without an afternoon at the beach? The kiddos had so much fun splashing in the water, being buried in the sand, making sand angels and of course Michelle and I were just content to enjoy the sunshine and listen to the surf while letting the kids wear themselves out. We were hoping to spot a dolphin or two…maybe next time.

Ethan and Megan at Santa Monica Beach August 2011 from Eric Danker on Vimeo.

The Creperie and 3rd Street Promenade – We had to take the girls to our favorite breakfast spot in Santa Monica – the Creperie. We then explored Santa Monica Place and Brentwood near our home. I had to introduce Michelle to my new favorite store Lululemon as well as our little Frozen Yogurt place.

The Original Muscle Beach and Santa Monica Pier– We spent our final night together walking along the site of the original Muscle Beach and exploring the Pier and its small amusement park. It was a beautiful night and the kiddos loved the rides. Ethan even decided to take his first roller coaster and ferris wheel rides! He was such a brave and fun date!

Thanks for being our first visitors, Michelle and Megan! We hope you had a great time exploring Cali with us. Grandma and Grandpa Danker and Uncle Tim are next!