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Joel Madden whisked girlfriend Nicole Richie and their three-and-a-half-month-old daughter Harlow to the California desert this weekend for a surprise family vacation, the Good Charlotte singer tells People.
The Richie-Madden clan headed to the Palm Springs area for the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, a three-day event headlined by performers including Prince, Jack Johnson and Roger Waters.
“[Nicole] hasn’t been able to do a whole lot over the year, so we’re having a little family trip,” Madden told People at the BPM Hpnotiq Smurf House, where he DJ’d a festival pre-party Saturday afternoon.
“I [rented] a house and surprised Nicole with a weekend trip because she likes Coachella. She was like, ‘I really want to go!’ So I surprised her. We brought the baby.”
And their activity? “Hanging by the pool.”
While Madden, 29, spun music for party guests including Dave Annable and Taryn Manning, a smiling, relaxed Richie, 26, chatted with friends about her daughter, who was being looked after at their nearby rental home.
Benji and Paris, Too
Meanwhile, Joel’s twin brother Benji Madden and his girlfriend Paris Hilton, who last week celebrated their relationship’s two-month anniversary, were also in town for the music festival.
So which couple will make it to the altar first? “We’re the family with the baby so I think probably us, but who knows,” says Joel – who remained mum on his and Richie’s wedding plans.

The pint sized star was dwarfed by her two hulking bodyguards as she walked with her Starbucks cup and over-sized yellow glasses.


Nicole Richie showed off her three-month-old daughter, Harlow, at Baltimore-Washington International Airport on Monday.
Richie was traveling with beau Joel Madden, who is on tour with his band Good Charlotte.
The new mom, who flaunted her post-baby bod in tight jeans and a loose sweater, browsed magazine racks while Harlow, in a gray-striped onesie, snuggled against her.
Madden pushed the stroller, and even popped his daughter’s pacifier in his mouth at one point.

“Beyond amazing” is how Nicole Richie describes her new life as a mother. “It’s definitely nothing like I could have imagined,” she beamed to Extra last week. But the new mom — who gave birth to baby Harlow in January — may have more than motherhood on her mind.
Nicole was spotted leaving an audition in Toluca Lake, Calif., on April 11, clutching a script. She explained to an onlooker that she was simply “getting back to work”; however, friends of the star are surprised that Nicole, 26, would be willing to jump-start her career again. “Nicole is thrilled with the way things are in her life, and she couldn’t be happier,” one of her friends tells OK!.
While her fiance, Joel Madden, 29, is on the road with his band, Good Charlotte, the pair keep in touch via iPhone. “While he’s away, Nicole is always sending Joel pictures of little Harlow,” the friend says. “Joel responds by calling back and singing little lullabies into the phone, which always makes Harlow giggle and smile.”
Friends have noticed how this domestic lifestyle suits Nicole, who loves low-key, suburban Glendale, Calif., far away from the glitz of Hollywood.
“Nicole really loves living the simple life in Glendale,” a friend tells OK!. “She loves being at home with the baby. Ever since Harlow arrived, Nicole’s happier than I’ve ever seen her.”

