Monterey

Our first stop after arriving in Monterey was the Aquarium.  How cute are these little pearls?

We loved the Aquarium so much that we spent a second morning there, and, of course had to take another picture.

We made it just in time for the morning feeding at the Open Sea.  I loved watching Noah's eyes take everything in.

He's got a couple of books that have jellyfish in them, so Noah was excited when he got to see the real thing.

And, of course, one of the best parts about being at the Aquarium is getting to touch some 'sea creatures,' as Noah called them.

I can't tell you how many times I heard, "What's that mommy?" And when I answered with something like, "That's a tiger shark," Noah always followed up with, "What's a tiger shark do mommy?" That type of conversation can go on for a long time with Noah.  He's got a curious mind, that's for sure.

We couldn't hang out on Cannery Row without stopping at the Ghiardelli store and having some delicious (and overpriced) ice cream.

It was so great being there with the Armstrongs.  Noah and Adalyn are just two weeks apart in age, and had so much fun together.

I mean, how cute is their family?

We watched the sun set one night in Carmel.  And while we waited Noah drew letters in the sand.

But there's NO way he was going to look at the camera.

It's so hard to get a decent family picture these days.  A blurry one is better than none at all, right?

Luke loved being by the ocean and watching the waves.

Before heading home on Saturday we grabbed some lunch and took it to Dennis the Menace Park.  There was plenty of space to run and play.

And, before we knew it, we were saying goodbye and heading for home.  Noah is still asking, "Mom, where Adalyn go? We go to Adalyn's house?"  They both had a great time and were sad to see it end.


What a great trip! Traveling with kids is a lot more work, but I think it's also a LOT more fun.  I loved seeing things and planning to do things around what they would like and watching them just soak in the good times we were having.