A Quick Trip to Monterey

Ten years ago Scott and I had just moved to Monterey.  We lived in a small apartment a few blocks above Cannery Row.  It was great.  Now, ten years later, we have just moved about 45 minutes from Monterey.  We headed down there this past weekend 'cause Scott had some business on the base there.  We didn't do all our favorite things, there is plenty of time for that.  But we did visit a few favorite places.  Scott's parents were in town that weekend helping us with some moving in jobs.  They came with us to Monterey.  First stop:  Dennis the Menace Park.  We played there while Scott went on base.

Waiting for the roller slide

Roller slide!  Reminds me of Okinawa.  But this slide was kind of slow.

Everyone had fun on it anyway.

Love that wiggly bridge.

Emma walking with Grandma

The duck boats were going that day and they were selling sno-cones.  

Maybe we'll come back another day for those activities.

We went to Gianni's for pizza after the park.  Despite it being kind of crowded near the Wharf and Cannery Row, Gianni's was empty for lunch.  Maybe the tourists don't go there.   This picture makes it look like the kids didn't like the food.  They did.  Just not a good picture.  :)

We drove up to our old apartment.  Matthew was born while we lived there and only 10 months when we moved away.  He doesn't remember it.  ;)  It looked exactly the same as I remember.  We could look from our porch or balcony down to the bay.  And the fog horns, clanging buoys and barking sea lions could be heard perfectly well at night.  Memories!

We drove by the hospital where Matthew was born and then drove 17 Mile Drive.  We stopped at a few beaches along the way.  It was a little breezy and chilly at the beach.  I learned my lesson.  Brought light coats or hoodies for all the kids.  No matter how warm it is, it can be chilly at the beach.

Exploring

Later on along the drive.  We saw beautiful scenery and some seals and sea lions.

At the Lone Cypress.

Grant only wanted to be photographed on his own terms...

...doing karate moves

Pa2 and Matthew

Ma2 with Emma.

So we had a fun day in Monterey and  I'm glad we got to go.  Now I have to try and remember all the other things we want to do there when we come again.

To Do In and Around Monterey:

The Monterey Bay Aquarium

Tide Pools

Fisherman's Wharf

Dennis the Menace Park

Walk or Bike Along the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail 

(Fisherman's Wharf to Lover's Point and Beyond is a favorite part).

17 Mile Drive and Pebble Beach

Explore Cannery Row (Ghirardelli's, Wave Street Cafe, First Awakenings for breakfast)

Gianni's

Visit the Naval Postgraduate School (maybe only NPS grads would care about that)

The Beach at Carmel

Big Sur

Sunset Beach

Summer is slipping away and I can't always wait for weekends to do outings and such - there are only so many weekends left before school starts.  This past week I summoned my courage and took the kids to the beach by myself.    We went to another local beach this time.  It was pretty nice.  But like Palm Beach there was a high sand dune to hike over from parking lot to shore.  And I brought more gear this time (blankets, snacks, sweatshirts, water, chair etc).  I carried all the gear and Emma up the sand dune.  It was tough with all that deep sand.   I just tried to think of it as an extension of my workout (it burns!!)  We made it up the dune and to the beach.  The older three kids took off to the water right away.  John asked for snacks and Emma cried if I ever put her down.

Grant came back and forth from the water with many "treasures" and I use that term loosely.

One man's trash...

He begged to bring home a weathered stick he found.  It's sitting outside our front door now.

Emma insisted on wearing a hat (smart girl) and sat with me the whole time.  

She wasn't at all interested in getting sandy or wet.  She did enjoy watching the seagulls (she insisted they were "ducks").

John also liked the seagulls.  He would run up to them and shout "BOO!" until they flew off.  When he tired of that he decided to head to the water.    He made friends with a little girl down there and had a great time.

It was a beautiful day.  Warmer than last time.  We even saw some sea life.  Grant thinks it was a whale, I think more likely a dolphin.  I've seen both off the CA coasts just standing there on the beach, so who knows.

The nice weather turned a little colder when the wind picked up.

Emma didn't like the stiff breeze.

She was placated for a time with crackers.

Anna found a complete sand dollar which was exciting.

We've found lots of pieces of them here but not a whole one yet.

Matthew was making a sand design.  We must bring sand tools next time.  I'm sure they are in one of these boxes.  Or maybe we didn't have any in Illinois or Colorado.  I don't even know anymore.

Beautiful day at a beautiful beach.  Everyone wanted to leave after the wind picked up and I was ready to call it a day too.  Of course it meant I had to hike back over the sand dune again.  I had jelly arms by the time we got back to the car.  Good workout.

Gilroy Gardens

We've been busy unpacking lately and doing other post-move things.  We took some precious weekend time to go to Gilroy Gardens (a small local amusement park) last week.  Here are a few pictures.  The entrance.  They are having a special Chinese culture exhibition in the evenings.  So the red lanterns are for that.

Anna on the carousel.

Most of the rides are for younger kids but there are still lots for which John and Emma are too small.  While the bigger kids went with Scott on a roller coaster (a small one) I took these two on the Goldfish ride.  John looked terrified or like he was going to be sick for a lot of it.  He survived though.

A dragon made of porcelain plates.

Disney has Mickey and Minnie but at Gilroy Gardens we have the garlic bulbs.  Their names are Gil and Roy (I had to look that up).  Roy is a girl as it turns out.  Maybe she is the pink cheeked one.

There is a rock maze named Pinnacles.  Some of the attractions are named after some local thing (there's a strawberry ride, artichoke ride, garlic ride, mushroom ride, Almaden Mine rollercoaster and Pinnacles maze).

A waterfall - some of us had fun getting wet by it.  Some of us didn't.

We walked around in the butterfly house (no actual butterflies in there this time) while the bigger kids went on the mine train.

And here Emma and I wait while the other kids are on rides.

She had lots of fun pushing the stroller so it was ok.

It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better

or Unpacking: The Early Stages

We've been in the house a week and a half or so and have gotten some things done but it still feels like there is so far to go.  So many boxes to go through.  Miles to go before I sleep.  I hurt my back yesterday (lift with your legs, kids!) so I am resting a little today and have some time to post pictures.  Here are some pictures from our unpacking and getting settled adventures.  We got a new washer and dryer.  Our old ones still worked but the new houses in CA are all plumbed for gas.  We could have paid a lot to have an electric line put in for the dryer but it was about the same as buying a new one.  And we got a new washer to go with.  Our old ones were getting older anyway.  Emma was mesmerized.  

We needed a fridge.  It's large and in charge and hopefully can handle all our refrigeration needs.  There is pretty much nothing in it now.  It is slowly getting filled with things.

The infamous glass French doors.  We ordered glass French doors for our office but solid ones were installed by mistake.  We liked the solid ones and asked if we could keep them but get a refund on the price difference (glass costs more) and the builder almost did it for us.  But then didn't.  So we have these glass ones.  When the glass ones were installed they didn't align right so we are still waiting for them to be adjusted.  Maybe it won't work out and we can get the solid ones back.  :)

The kids have enjoyed being reunited with some of their old things.  Matthew was excited to find his set of periodic table cards.

Grant and John enjoying Mouse Trap.

Matthew and Anna ride their bikes around the neighborhood almost every day and have made a few friends.  Our neighborhood is gated and pretty quiet during the day so they have been having a lot of fun riding.  They both had bike crashes this past week and had to come hobbling home with messed up bikes.  They were ok except for a few scrapes and bruises.  Anna has outgrown her bike and we said she could get a new one for her birthday so she has been bike shopping.  She found one she really liked!  Matthew also saved up his money and bought a skateboard.  So more scrapes and bruises in our future I think.  :) It should be fun though.

And some of furniture didn't survive the move.  Or has been slowly dying over the past few moves, so we needed a few new things.  This prompted a trip to Ikea in Palo Alto. It's close to Scott's work so the kids and I just met him up there after work one day.  It was so empty, it was wonderful! Matthew is lobbying for a new desk and chair.

John had to try out many beds

I think he was annoying Matthew here.

We got a couple new bookcases at Ikea and Scott was able to fit them in our car.  Hooray!

Emma got up early one morning and I found her asleep on the stairs after I got off the treadmill.  This was also the day I took all five of my kids to the DMV.  I was nervous but was able to get my CA driver's license without any major kid meltdowns.  Success!

Recalled dressers.

We need new dressers too.

Must go to Ikea again.

Emma found a Bullseye rocking horse.

We got curtains hung (Scott hung the curtain rod for me).  In the evening sun shines in that sliding door like you wouldn't believe.  So now we have a curtain and don't have to feel like we live on the surface of the sun when we have dinner.  It's all coming together!  Pay no attention to my messy kitchen.  It's a work in progress.

Dining area and new (Ikea) bookcase just assembled by Scott.

New rug.  Emma had to go stand on it and eat a granola bar to see if it could meet our needs. 

No food on the rug!

Getting ready for a bike ride.

There is a nice bike path just outside our complex that goes through town.

The kid's school is on the bike path...only three miles away.  :(  So they won't be riding to school but its nice for family bike rides.  Once we found the bike pump (which took several days) we went for a bike ride on the path.  I pushed the youngest two in the stroller.  Here is Grant practicing on a hand me down bike.  There is a creek that goes along the bike path.  Or the bike path goes along the creek.

It was hot and I didn't bring enough water.  Everyone stopped a lot for drinks.  Grand didn't even mind that we had to put pink training wheels on his bike.  Maybe he hasn't noticed yet.

We rode to an underpass and the kids had fun coasting down the (very gradual) hill.

Matthew going down the hill.

Grant went down the hill a couple times and then told me his legs were so tired he couldn't ride home.

I gave him a tow with the stroller.  He just had to steer.

Heading back home (towing Grant).  The other kids were much faster than us.  

That waited for us in some shade.

Things are slowly coming together.  Here we got the rug rolled out.

So, really, the house is a complete mess.  But little by little we are getting unpacked.  

More unpacking adventures to come.