McWay Falls/Big Sur

Last weekend our big adventure was finally getting to see Big Sur in all its glory. Unfortunately we learned that Monterey sits in the "sunny patch" and as soon as we got past Carmel on the 1 it was fog all around. The cliff/ocean views along the Pacific Coast Highway you could tell SHOULD be amazing but we saw mostly fog... so we'll have to stop to eat at Nepenthe next time, maybe when one of you visits :)
We did get to see one of my must sees. The waterfall that has been speaking to me since before we left North Carolina! We parked at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and did the little hike to McWay Falls (which I learned is a tidefall, not a waterfall, since it flows right into the ocean)

Pacific Grove Saturday

A perfectly perfect Saturday exploring our new home!

Sharing Saturday (i.e. free with special activities for kids) at the Pacific Grove Natural History Museum. Grant saw a real Peregrine Falcon- which he is doing a project on for school. The big boys made pinecone bird feeders and got to play in this fabulous nest.

The we walked down to Lover's Point to stick our toes in the Pacific- I can't wait to go back with a picnic

Up next was the Pacific Grove Butterfly Sanctuary.  The Peninsula is home to the Monarch butterflies before they mate and migrate so every winter there are thousands and thousands that clump together and hang from the eucalyptus trees. I know the pictures aren't the best but it was amazing to think that what you at first thought were rustling leaves were actually butterfly wings

We ended the afternoon with our first drive down 17 mile drive. We are in paradise and this half hour reminded me both the Norwegian archipelago and the Almalfi coast. Rocky cliffs into beautiful blue water, mega-mansions built into the cliffs, sun shining as we drove through Pebble Beach, Spyglass and Spanish Bay courses, our first glimpse at the famous Lone Cypress... smiles all around!

Whalefest

Last Saturday was Whalefest- a fun festival down by the wharf to spotlight the marine life of Monterey Bay. It was obvious the booths were required to have an interactive lesson or component for kids which was awesome- usually the boys just gloss over info booths but they were all in on this one. The highlight in their eyes was the Wheelie Mobile from the Monterey Youth Museum- a mobile kids play museum, right up their alley... overall a PERFECT way to spend some Mommy/older boys time while Davis napped

Fun Friday #2: Aquarium and LouLou's

For this Friday's adventures we celebrated my mom having just landed- we picked Grant up at school and did a brief stop at the aquarium. The boys each got to pick something to show her. Carter picked the Sea Otters, Grant picked the Tentacles exhibit and then Grandma chose Penguins.

For dinner we went to the pier right at 5pm and got into LouLou's right when they opened. LouLou's Griddle in the Middle is a famous Monterey staple but it tiiiiny- there were 4 4person booths and 6 seats at the bar- for our party of 6 they turned 2 of the 4 person tables against the wall and we ate facing the windows. LouLou's is the epitome of Sea to Table- Geoff ordered the crab special and we saw the boat pull up to the pier and a fisherman bring up nets full of Dungeness Crabs- 10 minutes later Geoff was served one! (and the boys enjoyed playing with the claws) They split calamari and fries, Mom got a delicious Sole special with pineapple mustard and Polenta and I went with crab cakes- yum yum yum

Our first Fun Friday: Aquarium and Hula's

On Fridays Geoff only has a morning lecture so after hanging out at home, we loaded up the younger two to pick Grant up from school at 3 and have some fun. We tested out our official Aquarium passes for a quickish tour before they closed.

This visit we focused on jellyfish (with a stop-by at the otters and penguins of course)

"If it ain't broke don't fix it" was going to be our mantra, as we planned to go to Gianni's for pizza- I mean it is simply incredible pizza- but we realized we've got a whole city to explore so we went to Hula's, a fun Hawaiian tiki restaurant. The boys surprised us by polishing off not only the white Mac n Cheese but also enjoying their calamari steak!

The timing of our Fun Friday works out well because you can go from school to the aquarium to a reatiarant (where it is still happy hour) and be home by 6:30. Win, win, win!

Enjoying a Hotel Christmas

When we realized that our coast to coast move would inevitably fall over Christmas I was bummed- I knew it would be different but I wanted to make sure it was a fun different, not a lame or boring different. We happen to be in Albuquerque NM for Christmas Eve/Christmas morning so here is what we did...

There was a family restaurant (Denny's-esque) in the same parking lot so we ordered 3 turkey/mashed potatoes/stuffing/corn/green bean meals to eat in our room. I was determined to not have McDonald's burgers and fries!

We set a tin of cookies and a gas station procured bottle of milk out by the fireplace in the lobby of the hotel and settled into bed in our matching Christmas jammies

 

Then at 6am we had arranged for the front desk to call our room and ask for Grant, telling him that there had been a delivery for him overnight. The boys were curious and headed to the lobby (though Grant did guess that maybe thats where Santa had left his gift) they saw that Santa had enjoyed his milk and cookies

The sweet man was so excited to hand over the santa sacks. (Geoff had left them at the front desk around 11pm the night before once the boys were fast asleep while I decorated the room)

 In all of the excitement of the wake-up call and learning that "Santa had found them" the boys didn't even see the paper tree and remaining presents that had been set up while they slumbered. It made it that much more fun when mid-santa-gift-opening Carter spied the set up!

All of the gifts had been in a cardboard box buried in the trunk so the boys had no clue they were traveling with us the whole time!  We had a magically, memorable holiday- and capped it off with a snow-filled visit to the Grand Canyon! Its nice to know that the wonder of the holiday can translate to even the most ho-hum situations, even a random La Quinta in the middle of the country

Pit Stops

After leaving Fayetteville we stopped in Durham. Mom had graciously taken the older boys for the last few days of packing- they had museum dates and playground time and were overall spoiled! We continued our perpetual Christmas after having done round one in DC with Brian and Kate a few weeks earlier, and then hit the road

The next stop was Snellville to see/ say "see you later" to /have perpetual Christmas #3 with Geoff's family. The highlight for the boys was a chance from Grandma and Dudad to see REAL LIVE SUPERHEROES a.k.a. tickets to see the Marvel Live stage show.

After passing through Louisiana we got a fun fun stop in Dallas. We stayed with my uncle and cousin and got to visit Shenaniganz, a fun entertainment center whose owners are the family of a sweet friend from high school. My cousin Kristen came to play too and we enjoyed the arcade, putt putt, go carts and bounce houses- my friend Nicki even left us a car trip survival kit at the front desk for us!

On the way out of town the next morning we stopped by the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. Once upon a time an art group installed 10 half buried Cadillacs off I-40 that people tag with graffiti. Nothing says Merry Christmas(Eve) like some spray paint so we added our own!

On The Road Again