If Andie seems familiar, that’s because she was the former LA Editor before she moved to Amsterdam. Two years later, she’s back and thrilled to be covering the LA market again, as well as national and personal stories for the site. When she’s not checking out new travel destinations, events, museums and restaurants to keep her and her kids entertained, she can be found wandering around flea markets and thrift stores looking for cool vintage finds—not a hard thing to do in and around Los Angeles. Follow along with her adventures on Instagram!

Favorite place to play outdoors: Malibu Tide Pools at Surfrider Beach. Whether it’s cool or warm, there are always a ton of surfers to watch out on the ocean, you can often see dolphins, and of course, climb around the tide pools to discover local sea life.

Favorite thing to do on a rainy day: LACMA, Natural History Museum or the California Science Center.

Favorite street for an afternoon of fun: Grand Street Park. It has a massive splash pad where you can either get just your toes wet or do a full-body splash, not to mention, it has convenient bathrooms. There’s usually some sort of festival taking place in the park too so you can always wander around for great music and great food. It’s always a favorite destination, any time of the day, any day of the year.

Do you have a go-to restaurant you like to take the kids?: Dinah’s Restaurant in Culver City—a total 1950s throwback with half-circle booths and a long counter with swivel chairs. Order anything from pancakes to their famous fried chicken, you can’t go wrong. It’s definitely our favorite, local weekend spot and one of the first places we ate at when we landed back in LA.

Can’t-live-without mom product: Sunblock, sunblock, sunblock. And not just for me, that goes for the whole family.

Favorite thing about raising kids in LA: I love the laid back pace coupled with big city benefits. We can hang out in our neighborhood and chill with our friends and neighbors at a block party or we can go see a first-class art and entertainment, all within a few minutes of our home. I also love how easy it is to hike around the beautiful mountains and have been introducing various hikes to the kids.

Most unique (or daring) thing you’ve ever done with your kids locally: Taking my son for a horseback ride through Will Rogers State Park. His horse was bigger than mine and watching him navigate and try and control such a large animal was both terrifying and inspiring at the same time.