Vacation Day 10: Monterey Bay

We took the girls to the Monterey Bay Aquarium today. Two lessons learned though:

1) Always buy your tickets through AAA - not only are they cheaper, but it saves you having to stand in line for a good 45 minutes.
2) Do not try to make the drive down & back in one day. You will do nothing but become cranky and begin to strongly dislike each other by about Fairfield on the way back :) He who said, "Life is not about the destination, but the journey" never drove southbound on I-5.

We felt blessed once again that the girls are such great travelers. They chatted and colored & played with playdoh on their trays on the way down. At one point Caleigh exclaimed, "Look! A zombie! He wants to dance."

With that said, the girls had a fantastic time there. We spent a good 3 hours there & saw EVERYTHING there was to see. Particular favorites of the girls were the sea cucumbers, the sea horses & the river otters.

It was said river otters that became the most memorable and the girls would tell everyone who would listen about what they had experienced. As a "yeah, these fellows are certainly cute, but you wouldn't want to have one for a pet" warning, there was a little container in front of the exhibit that had a sample of what otters use to mark territory - a mixture of musk and, well, you know. For days afterward, the first thing the girls would say when someone asked them if they had fun at the aquarium was, "We smelled otter poop!"

After the aquarium, we had dinner at Bubba Gump's and ate while watching the seals disappear & resurface and the birds playing on the breeze. On the way home, we stopped at a little beach for a quick romp in the surf. Alessa was not too keen on the big waves.

We had a long, fun, chilly, humorous, sandy day.

Vacation Day 9: Christy's Mental Hang-Up

I've realized - as the date is actually September 12 and not July as it states - that my mind has a tendency to get hung up on something and not let go. At all.

For example, I was having a hard time summing up the rest of this "self imposed vacation" I've been chronicling. I got stuck on our one night trip up to Tahoe with the Clems and there's where I've stayed... for 7 weeks. Therefore, I'll be doing the much abridged version of the last few weeks with the promise to myself that I'll be a less harsh critic toward myself and my posts. So....

We spend the night up at the Lemos' cabin in Tahoe with the Clems. We all had a great time relaxing & hanging out.

Uncle Kaka is such a good role model :)

We went to the stream profile at the Rainbow Trail.

Amy was enthralled with the girls and they with her. Whenever the girls came into view, she would giggle, reach out & attempt to pull the girls in for a wet, open-mouthed kiss if they ventured near.