Over the past few weeks, we’ve been searching for the best outdoor activities for babies in LA. Because let’s face it. Happy kids make happy parents. After a year of working from home during the lockdown, we’ve been somewhat stir crazy. And sure, screaming babies (in a 2 bedroom condo) MIGHT have something to do with it, too. However, we’ve been taking every opportunity possible to get outside and enjoy the sunny Los Angeles weather. Best of all, the great outdoors in LA is loud. Meaning, the kids can scream their little faces off as the firetruck zips on by!
Ava chomps down on her hat to pass the time on one of our hikes. She looks cute but she has a set of lungs!
After weeks of trying out countless activities — from dining adventures to hiking — we’ve narrowed down our top 3 outdoor activities for babies in LA. But best of all? Each activity is dad approved. So no more wailing from boredom at home — either from the babies or from us.
3. LA Rooftop Pools To Take the Plunge, Outdoor Activities For Babies in LA: Enjoying The Montrose Hotel
Pool time for dad. Oh and the babies! This is certainly one of the best outdoor activities for babies in LA.
Sure, there are the community pools where you can go swimming. The YMCA and even the ocean. Though, that water is a little chilly for our blood! While more and more places are beginning to open up in California, we still can’t find that many community pools open right now. Even if they were, we’d still recommend checking out Resort Pass, which allows you to browse nearby pools, spas and other facilities near your home to enjoy for the day. It’s available in many major cities across the country and even around the world.
How Does Resort Pass Work?
Arriving at the Montrose Hotel in West Hollywood with our resort pass
It really doesn’t get much easier to use Resort Pass. Just go directly to ResortPass.com, and enter your city and date you’d like to use the facilities. There were dozens of options in West Hollywood, but the boutique Montrose Hotel seemed like the perfect option for our family. First, children up to 15 years old are free and adults are $25 per person. The rooftop is gorgeous and even had a bar with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options.
Kevin is excited for his Resort Pass to the Montrose West Hollywood. From the looks of it, our boy Aidan is also looking forward to it.
Many hotels will list whether they’re kid friendly or not (often designating if they’re a 21+ pool only). Some offer poolside dining service (typically with a minimum dollar amount), cabana seating and other amenities like access to the hotel’s gym. For our family, we were simply looking for a place to swim that wouldn’t kick us out with screaming babies (low bar, we admit!). Montrose West Hollywood was even better than what we expected — with its shade covering on the rooftop, the gorgeous views of West Hollywood and the Hollywood Hills and the friendly staff.
I’m pretty sure that my first lesson as a baby was at my high school swimming pool (that closed due to asbestos a few times over the years). The Montrose Hotel is certainly a step up. Once again, low bar…No asbestos! These dads approve.
2. Take An Ice Cream Road Trip And Burn Off The Calories With A Hike
I’m not gonna lie, this road trip adventure was an excuse to check out Eiswelt Gelato, a scoop shop out of Japan that transforms ice cream into fun characters such as a teddy bear, a unicorn and even baby Yoda (made from green tea gelato).
Baby Yoda made from ice cream at Eiswelt Gelato.
The shop is located in a strip mall in Westminster, Calif., an area also known as “Little Saigon” with its many Vietnamese restaurants and stores. We visited on the weekend during a hot afternoon and walked right up to the ice cream counter.
The twins are excited for some ice cream.
The menu includes a list of characters that can be created — varying by price based off the amount of ice cream used and whether you can have more than one flavor. There were so many choices.
It’s truly an art. Each animal is made before your eyes — and the workers even draw on the facial features using melted chocolate. It sort of reminded me of being a kid and watching a balloon animal being made.
Each ice cream creation is made by hand, including the eyes and other features drawn on using melted chocolate.
I loved the idea of getting two animals in one cup, so I went with the double pig option (pig and piglet) with s’mores ice cream and passion fruit.
Kevin, meanwhile, ordered the doggie ice cream. It sort of resembles our dog, Doug!
As of writing, the shop has some pretty limited hours (Friday – Sunday from 2 – 8 PM). We recommend calling the shop directly to confirm their hours at (657) 245-3141.
Post Ice Cream Hike at El Dorado Nature Center
You’re a quick 15 minute drive away from Eiswelt Gelato to El Dorado Nature Center. You’ll suddenly feel like you’ve left southern California entirely and stumbled upon a lake community with lush greenery.
There are three well-marked and easy-to-follow trails with distances of either .25 miles, 1 mile or 2 miles. We opted to do a combination of all three (for a 3.25 mile total hike). Be on the lookout for wildlife along the trail including hungry squirrels. And even ducks that seem completely oblivious to humans. As I walked down the path, Kevin (ever so calmly) screamed “DUCK!” So I did exactly what he ordered — and squatted down right next to it.
I’m ducking!
Parking is $8 on the weekend, and well worth the cost since it keeps the visitors low. We nearly had the entire place to ourselves and could have used the stroller to roll the kids around. We ended up using the baby backpacks to give us more options to go off trail if we wanted.
The poppies are in full bloom. Enjoying our day at the El Dorado Nature Center trail.
1. Brunch Time Out, Outdoor Activities For Babies at Redbird in Downtown LA
Prior to the pandemic, Kevin and I would spend nearly every weekend in downtown Los Angeles. Once considered one of LA’s most dodgy parts, downtown slowly began picking up during our time in LA with hot new restaurants, shops and businesses. Then COVID hit, and like many people in LA, we stopped going there. But it’s coming back. We were incredibly excited to see that Redbird, one of our favorite restaurants, managed to make it work and remain open through most of the pandemic with outdoor seating. Recently, they brought back their brunch menu and we had to check it out and even brought the kids.
Kaya toast, a delicious take on the popular Singaporean dish.
We joined Redbird for a special Easter brunch, and enjoyed a three course meal. The restaurant offers a variety of seating options including in their garden (a quiet and romantic section of the restaurant). We opted for the courtyard seating, which is by the inner bar with a retractable roof. This is great if you want a livelier meal or if you have screaming kids. The energy of the room, nearly drowned them out.
Reservations can be made directly on the Redbird website. Reservations are highly recommended since the restaurant is regularly booked several days in advance (or weeks out if there is a special celebration or holiday).
Post Brunch Stroll Through Little Tokyo
After brunch, we ended up taking a short stroll to Little Tokyo located less than 10 minutes by foot from the restaurant. We love this part of Los Angeles, especially all of the dining options and sushi. You’ll likely be pretty full, but there are many shops in the Little Tokyo complex to peruse and burn some calories (or your money!). You could easily spend an entire day here — in fact, we have a guide for that where we write about the best things to see in LA’s Little Tokyo.
Trendy boutique shopping in Little Tokyo. We love the designs and home goods at Poketo.
Looking for other ideas for a fun meal? Be sure to check out all our recommendations here, including our night of dining with Gastro Garage where they blow torched our entire meal. Is the beach more your speed? Be sure to read our feature on the Malibu mystery picnic, the perfect birthday outing idea for adults. Or if you still feel like staying at home, we have recommendations on the best virtual activities you can do from a drag show with sangria making to a virtual pottery class.
No Comments, Be The First!