Hip Hip Hooray for Monterey!

We had the most fun last weekend when we flew down to the Bay Area to visit Ian and Owen (and their parents!). It was so great that Evie brought some pictures and videos to school on Sharing Day. Here's a quick recap and you can just pretend that Evie is actually talking to you about it instead of you reading this page.

First, after we landed, we drove to this awesome bakery/restaurant in Capitola. Evie and Nora's eyes about popped out of their heads when they first saw the desserts section. We allowed everyone to get one dessert item and every one of them were delicious! 

Can you guess what each person ordered?

While we waited for our food, these two cuties caught up with each other. How sweet are these pictures of them?

After lunch, we stopped by the Martinelli's tasting room! Who knew that this even existed?! You could try ANY of their drinks, and itt was pretty fun to try some of varieties I've never even heard of, like Blood Orange.

Blood Orange was my favorite, followed by Apple Mango, which tasted like sparkling POG!

Evie is not a fan of apple juice, and she was not a big fan of apple cider either.

The tasting room was only about 10 minutes away from our rental for the weekend, which is in a community called Pajaro Dunes. The condo we rented was on the bottom floor and was nice and private since it was an end unit. It didn't have views of the water, but that didn't matter because the beach was literally just steps away! As soon as we brought our luggage in, the kids IMMEDIATELY ran to the beach. It was a little cool out, but that didn't seem to bother them at all. They splashed around and dug holes and generally wore themselves out hanging out at the beach all weekend.

The view as you walk out towards the beach from the condo complex.

I remember when this little one didn't like her feet to touch the sand!

Family photo, with the condos in the background.

Only Uncle Dots was brave enough to go in the water with the kids.

Another family photo!

Action shot of Nora playing frisbee.

I love her expression here!

Pretty Evie, taking a break from digging holes.

On Saturday, we took a break from the beach to drive into Monterey to check out the Aquarium. I haven't been there in YEARS - since before I moved to Seattle. I didn't remember anything about the aquarium so I was stoked about all the exhibits as much as the kids! My favorite was definitely the jellyfish!

Lots of fun interactive displays for kids.

Nemo! Dorey!

We took a break to watch a show on Baja migrations. O-O liked sitting with Uncle Dots.

Perfect spot for little people.

How many kids can you fit inside?

Jellyfish!

Nora watching the sardines!

A decent group shot of the kids.

With their favorite Yee Yee

On Sunday, after a morning at the beach, we drove into San Jose and went to Happy Hollow Park and Zoo. I've never heard of this place, but Way said there were animals to pet and rides to go on and so off we went! It reminded me a lot of Remlinger Farms but better - although there weren't a ton of rides, they were more stable than the rinky dink Remlinger ones. And, while there were only a few animals to pet, it was enough to keep the kids occupied for a good amount of time. In fact, we didn't have any time to go check out the actual zoo portion of the place because we had to head out to catch our flight home.

Evie and Owen feeding the cow.

Some funny ride that was powered by Mommies and Daddies.

Selfie on the roller coaster.

We were sad when we had to board our flight home because we had so much fun! Thanks Yee Yee, Uncle Kevin, Ian and Owen for showing us a good time. We can't wait to go back and hang out with our favorite Bay Area family!