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As a mom, it can be hard to give your children one-on-one attention. Between work and taking care of your family, there never seems to be enough hours in the day.
We all know how busy life can get, and it’s especially hard to find time for quality mother daughter bonding.
Why not take a mother daughter getaway trip? These trips are the perfect way to relax and reconnect with your daughter. Plus, you’ll both have memories that will last a lifetime.
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Mother Daughter Getaway Trips
We started a new family tradition…the DIY Mother Daughter Getaway. A close friend of mine planted the idea, and it took root quickly. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, homeschooling, and even planning travel, the busy-ness can take me away from giving my children one-on-one, undivided attention. You know, quality time. There’s got to be a better way. Enter the DIY Mother Daughter Getaway.
It’s a great way to bond and get to know each other better. This can work for daughters of all ages. At the beginning, they were just overnight getaways. They have since expanded to a mother-daughter weekend getaway.
While this mother daughter getaway is focused on Southern California, you can adapt these ideas for any location! It can also work at any time throughout the year, including winter months! The best mother daughter trips are made up of whatever works best for you and your daughter!
What is a DIY Mother Daughter Getaway?
First of all, here’s what it’s not.
It’s not staring at electronic devices. Keep electronics usage to a bare minimum (such as mapping your way to good eats & fun activities).
(For our family), it’s not a camp out. Going camping is in my husband’s domain. Can mothers and daughters bond by going on a camping trip together? 100%. It’s just not this mama’s choice. And that’s okay!
It’s not packaged and one-size-fits-all. There is no best way. It’s what works for you and your daughter. There are many family camps and retreat centers that provide lovely organized mother daughter retreats, if that is the type of getaway you’re seeking.
We started a new family tradition…the DIY Mother Daughter Getaway. #familytravel Click To TweetSo, what is a DIY Mother Daughter Retreat?
It is time away from the regularly scheduled program to provide concentrated focus on the mother daughter relationship!
It is food, fun, and connection.
It is planning mother daughter trips on a budget…semi-budget, to be exact!
It is demonstrating the importance of the mother daughter relationship, including open lines of communication and fostering growth and mutual trust.
It is planning a getaway with some structure, as well as some flexibility for spontaneous conversation and activities.
Mother Daughter Getaway Lodging
My daughters and I appreciate comfortable beds and climate control. As such, I’ve sought out semi-budget travel hotel and vacation rental accommodations for our overnight getaways.
For our mother daughter getaway in Newport Beach, California, we booked one night in a lovely Bay View Suite at the Newport Beach Marriott Bayview. SoCal—especially coastal—lodging isn’t the cheapest in the world. We found a great rate, however, and the location was perfect for our needs.
The Newport Beach Marriott Bayview is situated along Upper Newport Bay State Marine Conservation Area and Nature Preserve. It’s less than a 10 minute drive to Highway 1 and the coast.
NOTE: Standard check-in time at the Newport Beach Marriott Bayview is 4:00 p.m. When we arrived at 2:30 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, there was a guest room available for us but not with an unobstructed view of the upper bay. We opted to take a room with an angled view of the bay, so we could get settled into a room sooner.
Our room was more than adequate, including the much desired comfty bed and in-room climate control. There was a full sitting area with couch, chair, ottoman, desk, and small balcony. A mini-bar included a mini-fridge. The bedroom was separated by French doors, and the large bathroom (including tub and separate shower) was accessible through either the living room or bedroom.
The Newport Beach Marriott Bayview also has a unique indoor/outdoor pool for guests to enjoy.
Meals & Snacks
We like our good eats, and especially when we’re away from home, we like to try new and different places. On past mother daughter retreats, we’ve brought our own snacks, but Orange County has too many tasty treats that we couldn’t pass up. Bring on the local restaurants!
Moulin Bistro in Newport Beach
Croque monsieur! That’s a French hot ham & cheese sandwich, y’all! And, this one at Moulin was amazing! Just look at all that crunchy cheesey goodness!
I have to admit, when we walked into Moulin, it wasn’t obvious to us how things worked. We stood there looking like “we’re not from around here,” until we asserted ourselves a bit. Then, multiple helpful employees showed us the way.
Older Daughter and I shared the croque monsieur, fruit, and an Orangina, so we could save room for Moulin’s patisserie next door. Regarding the Orangina, Older Daughter thought she wouldn’t like it because…pulp. I said it was a mandatory taste test. Now, Orangina will probably be her drink of choice whilst criss-crossing Europe someday.
After lunch, we stepped into the Moulin patisserie for a dessert of chocolate eclair and giant palmier. Yums!
Sharetea at UC, Irvine
While Sharetea is not new to us, we love their selection, prices, and one-size-only drinks. Their drinks are big enough to share (no pun intended), which is what we did! Older Daughter’s favorite is Sharetea’s mango & passion fruit green tea with lychee jelly.
We like our good eats, and especially when we're away from home, we like to try new and different places. #familytravel Click To Tweet85°C Bakery Cafe in Irvine
Oh my goodness. Where to begin? 85°C Bakery Cafe has many locations throughout Orange County, but Older Daughter and I chose the one closest to our hotel…on a Friday night…in a shopping center that houses almost every kind of Asian food you might want (Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center). Let me just say that this place was busy!
I can’t remember the last time I drove around for so long just looking for a parking space. We’re talking crazy busy!
But, it’s worth it! 85°C Bakery Cafe is a feast for your senses, let alone your stomach. Step inside, grab a tray and a pair of tongs (that’s the all-important, I-totally-know-what-I’m-doing part), and indulge!
Older Daughter and I went a bit overboard. This was to be our dinner, as well as our breakfast, and we even took some leftovers home for Daddy and Younger Daughter.
Everything I’ve ever tried at 85°C Bakery Cafe has been delicious. Some of my favorites are: sea salt coffee, garlic cheese bread, matcha choco bun, and mango panna cotta.
H.B. Pita Grill in Huntington Beach
Older Daughter and I shared a gyro plate that would have sufficed as a light dinner for our entire family of four! It was that plentiful! The service was great, and the employees were tidying up the seating area when not taking customer orders. A+ for a quick service establishment!
Matcha Cafe Maiko in Fountain Valley
This is the third Matcha Cafe Maiko that we’ve visited. The first two were in Honolulu and San Francisco. I’ve become somewhat of a matcha connoisseur (ahem), and in my opinion, Matcha Cafe Maiko has the best matcha this side of Japan.
Other places might say they’ve got matcha, but the color is nowhere near this deep rich green, and the flavor is almost imperceptible.
Matcha Cafe Maiko is the winner in every matcha category!
As you can see, a big part of our DIY mother daughter retreat is great food!
Planned Activities & Down Time
The most important part of our mother daughter time together is just hanging out and being with each other…talking and snuggling!
We also wanted to take advantage of the beautiful location that is Newport Beach. Hmmm…things to do in Newport Beach with kids. For this trip, Older Daughter helped choose the location, but I planned two “secret special surprises” to make our time together fun and unique.
Kayaking in Newport Bay
I had an epiphany a couple weeks before our mother daughter getaway. Would it be possible to rent a kayak in Newport Bay and surprise Older Daughter? And, if so, would it be affordable? I found that, yes, it would definitely be possible and also semi-budget travel approved!
Southwind Kayaks offers 2-seater kayak rentals for $20/hour (maximum $65/day)! They also have single kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, and foot-pedal kayaks for rent.
In my mind, we would go on our kayaking expedition Friday afternoon after checking in at the hotel. Whelp, we ran into a little scheduling problem. As we were driving to Southwind Kayaks at 3:15 p.m., I suddenly wondered about the rental hours (um, hello…not my normal M.O.!!!). We pulled off the road, I checked the website, and sure enough, rental hours end at 4:00 p.m., with the last rental going out at 3:00 p.m.
Older Daughter still didn’t know that the surprise activity was kayaking. She just knew we’d be outdoors and that we needed to wear water shoes. Thankfully, I had another surprise planned (see below), and we just shifted our schedule a bit. Mother daughter emotional distress successfully avoided!
After breakfast in our hotel room Saturday morning (round two from 85°C Bakery Cafe), we headed to Southwind Kayaks at our leisure (within the appropriate rental hours, of course!). The weather was perfect, and Older Daughter was definitely surprised!
The most important part of our mother daughter time together is just hanging out and being with each other. #familytravel Click To TweetWe were all geared up with sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, sun protection clothing, sun gloves (also helpful for preventing blisters/callouses), and water shoes that could get wet and sandy. Life jackets were provided by Southwind Kayaks.
Make sure to also bring plastic bags/dry bags to keep your electronics, keys, and wallets dry. And, have you heard that fanny packs are back in these days, especially in SoCal (oh my)? I went the nerdy route (natch) and wore my Pacsafe money belt as a fanny pack. Oh no, I didn’t! Oh yes, I did! Photo evidence not available…hehe!
The rental (and return) process at Southwind Kayaks was extremely streamlined and easy. The guys working there were super helpful. Within minutes of arriving, we were paddling our 2-seater kayak around Newport Bay.
And yes, I paddled that kayak past Linda Island, Harbor Island, almost all the way around the popular Balboa Island (we took the slight Grand Canal shortcut), and aaaaalllll the way back to Southwind Kayaks…without the strong arms of my husband! Needless to say, it was a great arm and core workout! It is possible, ladies, it is possible!
All that paddling took us a little less than 2 hours. As mentioned above, the return process was seamless, and we were on our way to the next part of our getaway.
Would I rent from Southwind Kayaks again? 100%! It was definitely a unique experience!
For our kayaking adventure, I was wearing my quick dry sun protection clothing, as usual. My Columbia shirt and L.L.Bean comfort trail pants dried fast. I was, however, super stylish with salt residue from ocean water splashes on my pants for the rest of the day!
Shopping
Yes, for reals! Hear me out!
This was the other surprise for Older Daughter. I do most clothes shopping online these days, so to walk into an actual clothing store is something of a novelty for our kids.
If I do go shopping, I’m usually looking for something very specific, and it’s never just the two of us browsing leisurely for fun.
The area near our hotel has two major malls nearby: Fashion Island in Newport Beach and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. So, shopping we went, and we had so much fun! We found some great deals, to boot!
At one store, when the cashier asked if I had any coupons (sadly, no, I hadn’t found any), I asked her if she had any coupons I could use. Guess what? She said yes! Woot!
Down Time with Purpose
With all the food, kayaking, and shopping, you may begin to wonder if we had any down time. The answer is yes! We had several hours of just hanging out in our beautiful hotel room.
Rather than watching TV or playing on devices, this was the perfect time for some down time with purpose.
While we were snuggling and being together “just us girls,” I had thought ahead of time of some topics I wanted to infuse into the conversation. Some fun stuff. Some more serious stuff. Stuff that sometimes doesn’t make it into the conversation very often in the day-to-day at home.
These topics may or may not change from one mother daughter retreat to the next. Let the conversation flow naturally, but be ready to gently steer it purposefully in one direction or another.
Schedule down time with purpose. #familytravel Click To TweetOlder Daughter and I also have a special Mom & Me journal book that we’ve been sharing. It also came along on our retreat.
Learn about your daughter. Let her learn about you. Purposefully provide opportunities to strengthen your mother daughter bond.
Other Activities Ideas
- spa treatments
- horseback riding
- cooking class
- afternoon tea
Other California Locations
Why list other California locations? Well, California just tends to have beautiful weather and lots to do in the great outdoors.
- Palm Springs
- Napa Valley
- San Diego
- Sonoma County
- Los Angeles
Options Outside California
Okay, yes, there are some great places for a mother-daughter duo in other parts of the United States as well.
- South Carolina
- New York City
- Grand Canyon
- Walt Disney World
- Park City
SBT Summary: Plan Your DIY Mother Daughter Retreat
Are you ready to plan your perfect mother-daughter getaway?
Yes? Cool!
Not so sure? How about this? Planning mother daughter day trips might be a great place to start. Even a special morning, afternoon, or evening together can build your relationship.
Consider whether you’d like to let your daughter help with planning and/or if you want to plan some secret special surprises.
Would you both prefer a quiet lakeside location or an urban area with lots to do?
Explore new places or stick with familiar locations? Try new experiences or stay with your favorite spots for activities?
Think about the types of things that will speak to your daughter’s heart the most. Consult this book for some ideas. The best mother-daughter trips are those that will leave you with sweet memories for a lifetime.
We travel for fun, for excitement, for relaxation…but sometimes we travel purely to enrich the important relationships in our lives!
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