Monterey Bay

Monterey Bay Aquarium was the first planned activity we had.  Kelly and I have been before and we thought the kids would enjoy it.  With the way our trip fell (over the 4th weekend), this was the best way to head there and it was also good because it was a longish drive and we wanted some distance between that drive and our drive up to Washington.

We met up with John and Pat, had a little bit of breakfast, and headed down to the aquarium.  We were all pretty tired still and adjusting our schedules so we got off to a bit of a bumpy start.  Once we had a snack at the aquarium, the kids perked up a bit and started to explore.

This was a hands on activity that allowed the kids to try to "catch" food

Loved the kelp!

Reading the signs and looking for the items in the touch tank

Playing in the splash zone

I love how engrossed everyone is here.

My boys.  How adorable is this picture.  Love them.

We ate at the aquarium in the middle of all that exploring and head back north shortly after 1.  Killian fell asleep (yay!).  Also, so did Mom, Pat, and the girls.  Kelly and John found the beach and everyone got changed and headed down to the beach except for me and Killian - he was still passed out.  After about 20 minutes, I woke him up and changed him so we could play too.  And play we did!!

Killian got right in the action - running to the water and then quickly away from it

Collecting sticks

Collecting sea weed

She was so intent on collecting it and taking it up to where our blankets were set out

Quite the collection!  At one point John came down to the water and told us that Keeley was expecting to take it all home.  She was not happy when we told her it had to stay but agreed to a picture.

Screaming "aaaah!" as the water approached

After about an hour of playing, we told the kids we needed to head back.  We cleaned up, changed clothes, and went on the hunt for ice cream!

Super tasty ice cream place.  The line was out the door and they only take cash.  The kids were pleased.

When we got back to San Jose, it was time eat so we headed over to a restaurant where we could eat outside and had a tasty meal.  Cousin Michael joined us too which was fun!

We dropped off John and Pat at home and then headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up and rested for the adventures the next day.