Monterey - Day 3

Our time in Monterey the 3rd day was short.  We drove around a bit checking out the scenery, ate some breakfast, and headed home.

We decided to take the LONG way home down Highway 1 to check out the scenery.  Man, is it BEAUTIFUL!  I've driven it many times, but for some reason I forget what a wonderful place we live in!

Words can't describe and pictures can't portray the true beauty that is Big Sur and the California Coast!

Of course we had to stop and do some exploring and rock throwing along the way!

I love my boys!

I love California!

The boys spotted Hearst Castle in San Simeon, so naturally we had to stop by.

The boys were very disappointed that tours had already ended for the day.

So we checked out the museum and gift shop (for the gazillionth time)

Our last stop before home was Cayucos.

Does vacation really have to end?
We had SO much fun, we can't wait to go back and do it again!

Monterey - Day 2

This was our BIG day.  We jam packed it with so much fun stuff!

We started our day off at our little quiet beach (the one we discovered on Day 1).

There was this HUGE military warship at bay.  It was so cool for the boys to see!  The best part was when a little fishing ship got too close, the ship let out this LOUD horn.  When it kept coming, these 2 smaller ships when chasing after it.  The little fishing boat finally got the hint and left the scene.  VERY cool for the boys to watch (I think Daddy liked it the most!).

Our little scientist.

Our little explorer.

Our sweet angel baby.

Our super cool dad.

Our super mom is hidden behind the camera in case you're wondering.

Our discoveries

When we were done exploring the beach for the day, we headed back to the aquarium (there is SO much to see!).  We were so beat when the day was through!

There were lots of seahorses.

What would an aquarium be without Nemo?

Jax LOVED the turtles and penguins!  He begged to take one of each home with us.

Jonah HAD to get a picture with the whale.  It's Jonah and the Whale! :-)

Jellyfish are so amazing.

We called these chubba jellyfish.

They're like obese jellyfish!

Jamen was Daddy's little buddy for the day.

They discovered Jamen LOVED the kelp tunnel.

He did some snoozin' too.

After 2 or 3 hours at the aquarium, we headed to the Dennis the Menace Park.

One of my few memories about going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium as a kid was also going to this park.  It's changed pretty much all together since I was last there.  The kids had SO much fun, but it was a nightmare trying to keep track of our kids.  There were TONS of other kids and the park is set up really bad, so unless you're standing RIGHT next to your kids, there's always a slide or rock wall or something blocking your view.  Not real planned out.

They had fun climbing on the train engine

and swinging on the crazy swing

and sliding and sliding and sliding!

David and Jamen hung out while I chased after the kids.

After the park (can you believe there's still MORE?), we headed to Fisherman's Wharf.

There were seals everywhere!

The crew...hey wait, is that really Julie in a picture?

Remember this ship?

We watched some of the crew come to shore.

The boys were SO excited to meet some of the crew!

We had dinner at one of the restaurants on the wharf.  Yesterday the boys requested shrimp, today, crab legs!

Monterey Vacation - Day 1

I can't believe I've let so much time go by since my last post.  To be honest, there's been times I've sat down to do it, but didn't know where to start...I'm SO behind!  And I can't believe how fast I've forgotten details.  Ug!

Last July (yes, over a year ago!) we decided we needed to go on a "real" family vacation.  "Real" meaning a vacation that doesn't involve visiting family.  Sadly I think we've only taken 1 or 2 non-family visiting trips (that were longer than a day) in our whole almost 11 years of marriage.  Sooo we spent 3 days in Monterey.  I LOVE Monterey.  David teases me that its because I was born in Monterey County (there's some Julie trivia for ya...of the 6 of us kids, only 2 of us weren't born in SLO!).  Its just so beautiful and there's so much to do and so many nice, quite beaches for the kids to play at.

Our main focus of the trip was to check out Monterey Bay Aquarium.  We spent some time there all 3 days and actually got an annual pass so we could go back on day trips throughout the year (plus it was cheaper to buy passes then to pay for a full ticket for each of us for 3 days!).

We spent the entire afternoon at the aquarium.

My fave (as you can tell from all of the pictures, was the jellyfish..

It was one of Jamen's favorites too.

The boys liked the BIG tank with the tuna and sharks and rays.

David's favorite was the sardine tank on the ceiling.

Jamen was such a good sport.  He chilled with Daddy most of the day.

We saw lots of weird, but cool things.  Like this...thing...

There were lots of hands-on experiences for the kids and they got to watch a diver feed the fish and sharks.

Love this sign...I'll try not too :-)

The crabs & sand dollars.

The ray pool where you can touch them was a hit (it was when I was a kid too!).

This was totally the highlight of the day!  Jax LOVED the tunnel where the tide came in and out.  He'd run in and out and try to catch the tide.  It was so fun to watch!

After a couple of hours at the aquarium, we took a stroll down Cannery Row.  Of course we had to pose in a sardine can (that's what Monterey used to be known for, their sardines).  And the boys played hula-hoop outside one of the restaurants.

We found a quiet little beach where the kids played a bit.

The boys did a little exploring.

And my perfect baby was so sweet in his stroller!

For dinner we tried out Bubba Gumps.  All Jonah wanted was shrimp, so we got a Bucket O' Shrimp. ..my boys were in heaven!

And what would vacation be without ice cream?