Ryan Gosling Takes Family to Beach Amid 'Barbie' Billion-Dollar Milestone

Ryan Gosling's still in Ken-mode amid 'Barbie's' continued success -- he took his real-life brood to the sandy shores of Cali ... and was leaning heavily on the matriarchy, it seems.

The actor hit up a beach near Santa Barbara Friday, and the whole Gosling household was in tow -- including his partner, Eva Mendes, and their 2 daughters. There were other adults tagging along, however ... including what appears to be somebody's mother or grandmother.

Eyewitnesses tell us Ryan was actually very focused on this older woman, helping her get through the sand in her walker ... and carefully assisting her down to the actual water.

Again, we're not sure who this woman was exactly -- but it could very well be Eva's mother, Eva Perez Suarez, who's been in ailing health of late ... according to her own daughter, anyway. We know Eva is incredibly close with her family, and also values privacy.

As for the other 2 adults ... no idea, but they were certainly rolling with Eva and Ryan, and keeping a watchful eye over the kids. Speaking of the two girls ... we're told they had paddleboards with them. And with Mama and Papa Bear -- they chatted, but no PDA.

Anyhoo, this really is an example of life imitating art. If you haven't seen 'Barbie' yet ... there's a running joke about Ken (played by RG) and his job, described as just "beach."

Seems like Ryan took that theme right off the script and manifested it in the real world -- only here, he's much more reverent of the women in his life ... unlike his onscreen character.

BTW, 'Barbie' is expected to cross the billion-dollar mark at the worldwide box office this weekend -- not to mention three-peating as the #1 movie folks are flocking to see. The crazy thing is ... there's no sequel in the works just yet, which is unheard of in this day and age.

Interestingly, Ryan and Margot Robbie didn't sign a deal for movie #2 in their OG contracts with Warner Bros. -- so if they do agree to do it at this point, they're in for a fat payday.