Best Place to Stroll

Thanks to Baby Jogger for sponsoring this post. All thoughts are my own.

As a family, we’ve traveled to many wonderful places. But I realized some of the best ones are close to home. Orange County is one of those amazing destinations with lots of mini destinations within, and all beautiful and picturesque in its own right. Fortunately, our favorite family date destinations are less than an hour drive.

I’m sure you’ve all heard of Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach and even Anaheim (hello Disneyland!), but one of my favorite day trips around OC is to San Juan Capistrano. Specifically, the Los Rios district boasts restaurants, nature exhibits, museums, and (Jaxson’s favorites) a small zoo and a bustling train station!

Our day trip normally starts with brunch at Ramos House. One of my favorite places in all of OC, this restaurant has the best beignets! Reservations here book up quick, so I always make sure to plan weeks in advance if we’re stopping in. Next, we’ll peruse the butterfly sanctuary. This season brings so many pretty flowers, which swarms with the most beautiful and biggest butterflies I’ve seen…ever! Jaxson loves to run and try to catch the butterflies, and gets so sad when they barely escape his little hand and fly away. It’s so cute! Once he gets his fill of those butterflies, I’ll strap him in our Baby Jogger City Select Lux and take a couple more laps around. I can’t get enough of all the blooms….it feels almost secluded enough to be my own little secret garden.

Next, we walk through the charming and tranquil streets of Los Rios and head to Zoomars Petting Zoo. Next to Disneyland, this is probably Jaxson’s happiest place on earth. Zoomars keeps us all entertained with a playground, a corn box, guinea pigs, pony and train rides! The weekends here fill up with birthday parties, so we love coming during the week when the crowds are minimal.

If/when we can pull Jaxson away from the zoo, its usually time to head home. We grab a coffee, and watch trains come in and out of the station for a few more minutes!

You might have noticed Jaxson’s new ride on our day trip, the Baby Jogger City Select LUX. I am so glad we got this in time to take with us. It is now the best stroller we own! The overall look and sturdy build is so stylish, but after using it a few times for regular errands and now our family day trip, I can tell you this stroller is definitely an upgrade to my other strollers. My favorite qualities of this stroller are….

Fabric – I love the grey and heavy luxe feel of the material. I’ve had a couple strollers rip on me with the energetic use of a toddler, so now I really pay attention to the quality of the fabric of any baby gear.
Storage – I fit my bag, my hat and an extra pair of shoes in the storage basket underneath. It is perfect for all the stuff you need to carry for a baby on longer trips.
Folding size – Folds super small for such a comprehensive stroller. By looking at the stroller upright, you would never know it folds down so well.
Hand brake/lock – This is definitely the most unique feature of this new stroller! The decelerating brake made me feel more secure when there was a slight downhill grade.
Easy handling – The Los Rios District is quaint and rustic, and also provides a variety of terrain. With the pavement, gravel, unpaved roads, sand and everything else you can imagine, the City Select LUX remained so easy to maneuver even with a 40 lb. toddler in tow…..and sometimes with one hand (when said toddler insists on exploring on two feet!)!

All in all, the City Select LUX is definitely a good trip companion to have. If you’re working on a baby registry, do yourself a favor and add this guy to your list! You can thank me later. 😉

Make sure to visit BabyJogger.com/pages/strollerguide to view their full Best Places to Stroll Guide, filled with great day trip ideas. If you also post your favorite day trip pictures with your little ones on Instagram, using #HowIStroll, you can have the chance to win a City Select LUX by Baby Jogger!