No. 8 Claremont, CA

Who would have thought a little California town, just 35 minutes away from us, could be so perfect and charming?! I initially wanted to go there to take Weslie to the butterfly conservatory at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, because she LOVES butterflies, but Claremont Village was the highlight for me. It has the yummiest choices for food and sweets/the cutest little shops, and all within walking distance from each other.

Everyone at the conservatory was so nice and answered all the questions we had about the butterflies. They had caterpillars and cocoons and told us that it only takes 30 days to go from an egg to a butterfly. Did you know that butterflies only live for about 30 days? The breeder said those 30 days was just enough time to mate and lay their eggs, so that the process could start all over again. He even showed us a pair of swallowtails that were mating that morning *picture below*, which was actually such a beautiful sight! 

We ate lunch at Fifty-50, which was AMAZING. We ordered the chicken potstickers, mandalay curry, and the fried rice...I could go back just for this food! 

We then walked over to I Like Pie Bakeshop, shared a chocolate chip pie (HEAVEN!), and Weslie played in the cute courtyard and water feature along with the other kids. 

We ended our afternoon at the Packing House for some mint chip A La Minute ice cream. The Packing house was really unique, and the structure reminded me a lot of the indoor section of the Marche aux Puces in Paris - brought back happy memories!

It was the perfect afternoon, and as soon as we put Weslie in her carseat to go home, she told us, "That was fun!". It only took a couple minutes of driving for her to be totally out and drooling.