Spring Break 2012 Day #4 Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

We spent all day #4 at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.  First we went to Whaler's Cove.  There were sea otters and seals in the water.  This sea otter was munching (loudly) on a crab pretty close by.

 Watching the otters...

 Ready to hike...

 We went on a hike along a shore trail. 

 Ty decided that he wanted to stop here and take a nap with Dad on a bench. 

 The rest of us hiked to this point where we could see the sea lions on the rocks. 

 Jack in a cave...

 Then we had another lunch of peanut butters...

After lunch we went to some tide pools.   The kids had a lot of fun even though it was a bit chilly and windy.

They loved throwing rocks...

 Anders caught lots of hermit crabs...

 Going barefoot (Ty hates shoes sometimes)...

 Climbing on rocks...

 Jumping off of rocks...

 Hanging on rocks...

 Being buried in the rocks...Ethan's turn.

 Jack's turn...

 Anders' turn...

 Climbing up and sliding down (Jack did this for a long time with all the boys)...

When we got in the car, Ty gave me a big smile and said, "Aah, I'm warm!"  It was chilly towards the end.  I packed swimsuits and extra clothes, but not extra jackets.  

We told the kids that we'd try to go to the beach, so they could get in the water.  On the way back from Point Lobos we stopped at another beach in Monterey near the Aquarium.  It was super windy and cold. It wasn't quite as windy down by the beach, but it wasn't warm enough to get wet.

The kids dug in the sand...

 And climbed on the rocks...

 The waves were big enough that a few people were surfing. 

Spring Break Day #3 Monterey Bay Aquarium

We spent our third day of Spring Break in Monterey at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. 

We got to watch two live feedings of lots of fish in the huge tanks.  It was really neat, but I have no pictures because our camera was having issues.  Ty fell asleep when we first got there and were waiting for the feeding to begin.  I guess the sharks weren't interesting to him.

 We went outside and looked through the telescopes on the deck.

 We made short work of the jerky that I made.  Hungry kids. :)

 We went down to the beach next to the aquarium and had a picnic lunch.  We told the kids not to get wet.  That's funny...It was a beautiful, warm day and we were by the ocean.  They couldn't help it.

 They tried to not get wet...for a little while.

Then they got caught up with chasing waves and forgot.  We tried to wring their pants out.  They had to go back to the Aquarium after lunch with wet pants, but they didn't care.  They had so much fun! 

 Ty and Ben took their pants off and dug in the sand without getting wet. 

I loved this leafy seadragon that we saw in the Aquarium (it's one of the few pictures of the fish that turned out that I took). 

 We saw this look from Ty a lot.  Not a happy boy. 

 The crew (minus Norm the photographer).  One of the things that I loved about being with Norm and Melinda and their boys is that our kids were always entertained.  Wherever we'd go, if we stopped for a minute, the kids were usually happy because they were chasing each other around.  The got along really well too. 

 Do your kids do this to you? 

 Right before we took this picture, Kate and Jack were holding hands...

 Two seconds later, the push... Ah, siblings.

 Along the sidewalk in Monterey...

 Kate and Ethan at the end of the day with almost dry pants. 

Spring Break Day #2 Driving and Monterey

We drove from Bakersfield to Monterey the second day.  I loved seeing all the fruit orchards and big trucks full of vegetables.  Not something that we see in New Mexico.
We stopped in Cambria and bought stuff for lunch at a grocery store.  The ladies at the store told us where a park was by the ocean.  So, we went there to have a picnic.

The kids loved seeing the ocean!  Ty didn't eat lunch until we were back in the car.  He sat down on the sand and started digging.  A local lady gave the kids moonstones that she collects from the beach. 

I wish Dave would take more than one picture, so I don't have to look like this...

 We drove up the coast on Highway 1 from Cambria to Monterey. It was a beautiful drive. I loved watching the ocean the whole way. Luckily no one got car sick on the windy roads. The kids all fell asleep along the way.


We were stopped for some construction on a bridge, so we snapped some pictures. Ty was asleep in the car.

We met Norm and Melinda and their boys (who were on spring break too) in Monterey.  We checked into our hotel and then went to Dennis the Menace park for dinner.  I wish I would have gotten more pictures of the park.  It was a super fun park, but I only got pictures of Ty and Ben.  The other kids were running around too fast.  They loved being with their cousins!

 

Spring Break 2012 Day #1 Driving to CA

We went to California for spring break.  The first two days were full of driving. 
The first day we left from Albuquerque (we spent the night at my aunt Karen's house) and drove to Bakersfield, CA.  It is an 11 hour drive.  Kate and Jack were really good.  Ty struggled a bit.  He had some bum issues and didn't want to sit in his car seat. 

He took at least one nap.

 We stopped somewhere before Barstow, CA because Ty was screaming so much.  It was super windy, but we got to watch a train go past.  The kids loved seeing all the trains from Albuquerque to California.

 Jack showed me how high he could jump.

Since it was April Fools Day, the kids were trying to trick us. Dave had the best April Fools Trick. He got out of the car and then when he got back in he said that we had a flat tire. I totally believed him. I was thinking, "great...how are we going to get a new tire here in this teeny tiny town." The kids were silent. Then thankfully, he said "April Fools!" I'm glad it wasn't real.

After driving for a long time, we let the kids watch a show on my ipod.  It's amazing...no one complains about watching a show on a 1" screen.   And they share really well too.