California Adventures: Monterey, Sunset, Aunt Pam's, Home Again

Saturday morning we drove down to Monterey. We explored the bay and visited the souvenir shops. Mieren found the maple fudge she was looking for, and I bought a sweatshirt because I was cold. When we stopped for a picture, Jane did not want to cooperate. The forced pictures are so much fun! Paul and Seth decided to act like Jane so they 'cried' too!

While we were looking at the shops, we got separated from Les.  Jane, Seth and I stayed at the van to see if he would return and the others went looking for him. It was great that we all had cellphones to communicate with, because we didn't have to worry about the search party getting lost!   

This is us in the van waiting for the search party to return.

Les had gone to the market by the parking lot and bought a case of fresh strawberries.  Those strawberries were delicious!  Jane loved them!

Les and Jane

We drove to a rocky shore and played on the rocks.  This was Easter weekend, so the sandy areas were really packed.  It was a lot of fun to explore the rocks and watch the waves.

Me (and Batman!)

Seth

Me and Seth

Paul and Mieren

Mieren was mesmerized by the water.  I think that she could have stayed in that spot for hours! 

Jane would stand in the sand, wiggle her feet (and consequently her little bum) back and forth to dig her feet into the sand.  It was so fun to watch!  She was kind of afraid of the big rocks and the waves, so we stayed back in this little area and looked at the rocks.  We started to collect rocks and shell fragments that were different colors. Just around our feet we found red, pink, purple, white, black, brown, orange and blue.  It was amazing to me that there was such a variety of colors when closely inspected. 

Mark

After driving around Carmel Beach and not finding one parking spot, yet alone the two that we needed, we drove up to Moss Landing Beach and played in the water.  Mark wasn't feeling much like playing in the water at all this trip.  He played in the sand, made some sand castles with Jane and Mieren, but for the most part didn't get wet (except for the time that he fell down in the water just minutes before we were leaving!)

The cold weather didn't bother Paul, Seth and Mieren- they were in their swimsuits.
The rest of us were covered up a bit more.

Seth had a blast throwing the ball into the waves and retrieving it.

 

 

Jane, Me (wearing shorts!) Paul, Mieren, Mark 

Les and Janet in their beach attire

That evening after dinner a few of us went over to Sunset Beach to watch the sunset. I have a list of things that I want to do before I turn 40, and watching the sunset at the beach was one of them. How fitting is it to check that item off of the list at Sunset beach?! It was a beautiful, peaceful sunset. We had a great time playing on the shore.  Jane entertained herself by chasing the waves- she had a blast!  I went for a jog along the beach. I wasn't gone for very long, but when I was at the farthest point away, I realized that I was completely alone and it felt kind of good to have a small break.

Sunset at the beach

Mark and Paul found a dead jellyfish and HAD to pose with it!

Mark came and watched the sunset with me.

The next morning we changed plans and decided not to go to San Francisco and spend one more night in Watsonville.  It was a great decision because it gave us more time to visit and gave us a relaxing day.  We went to Santa Cruz where we watched some surfers, explored a small section of the beach and Les nearly broke his elbow when he jumped over a fence to get closer to the edge.

 

Mark, Mieren, Seth

My handsome Paul

Seth, Mark, Les, Mieren, Janet

Seth, Jane, Me, Mieren, Mark, Paul

We arrived at Aunt Pam and Uncle Steve's house (Daniel's aunt and uncle- Janet's brother and sister-in-law) just in time for a lovely Easter lunch.  I was excited to meet Pam in person because I only know her from Facebook. It was a short visit and next time we are in town I'd love to spend more time with them.  Pam's sisters (most of them anyhow) were there with their families so we had a nice size group there to visit with. It was great to meet them. We had a nice, relaxing afternoon.

 

ALL of the unmarried people were required to participate in the egg hunt.  Mark and Paul were not thrilled with this rule, so I told them that they didn't have to participate, but only those who do participate get a ride back to Grandpa and Grandma's house.  Suddenly they were willing participants!   

 

See how excited Paul was!?

That's the spirit, Mark!

Jane and Pam's sister looking for an egg.

Jane won the egg hunt by finding the most eggs.  She might have had some help with finding eggs. I think that everyone in the backyard helped her find a few eggs! 

Jane learning how to eat a Peeps marshmallow by watching Paul

She stuffed the whole thing in!

The winner's prize- a chocolate bunny!

A little note about that candy necklace that Jane is wearing.  She got it the day before and ate most of it.  The next day I saw it on the table and almost threw it away, but decided to set it aside.  She remembered the necklace when we got into the van to go to Pam's house.  Luckily, I knew where it was and she was delighted to wear it.  She didn't finish eating it until that night.  It does make a cute little accessory!

Me and Pam

Pam, Steve, Janet, Les

Steve, Janet, Sherron, Les

 

Mieren, Pam, Paul, Mark

After a delightful visit, we headed back to Watsonville.  We went to the beach one last time in the evening, but I decided to leave my camera behind and just enjoy the time with the kids.  I really love the beach! 

 

Monday we went out to lunch with Les, and headed back to Loomis.  We found the illusive I-5 and got there in three hours.  Bright and early on Tuesday morning we loaded everyone up and headed back to Utah. 

We were caravanning with the Butterfields for about 2 hours into the 9 hour drive, but they got a flat tire and had to call for help because they didn't have a spare.  Since I couldn't really help and Jane was getting anxious to get going, we abandoned them out in the middle of nowhere in Nevada and headed home.  (They got their tires fixed and were a couple of hours behind us)

 

We experienced crazy weather on the drive home.  We drove through a rain storm, a snow storm (visibility of 15-20 feet), a dust storm, we were attacked by tumbleweeds, and finished off in a high wind storm.  Thankfully we were safe and everything went well.  Our windshield took a beating and our fingers were sore from some "white knuckle driving", but other than that we were safe! 

A sign that they had a good time!

 Daniel had an entire week home alone.  By the end of the week he was ready for us to be home. He had several days to recuperate from his crazy work schedule (he worked 5 weeks of 60-70 hours a week leading up to this trip). I think that the R&R was needed, but a bit long to be alone.  On the other hand, I was really ready for some time alone.  I genuinely enjoyed this trip with the kids and I really hope to do it again, but when I arrived home, I was ready for a bit of R&R myself.

 

The last ten minutes of the drive we were all a little slap happy.  Call it cabin fever, exhaustion or whatever, but we were all super silly. 

 

When we came into the house, I was greeted by this:

 

I took this picture after we had dinner, but the table was set and there was beef stew in the crockpot.  That was divine to come home to! 

After we unloaded the van and got things put away a bit, we were ready for dinner.  Daniel said that he was going to call the kids up for dinner, but I told him to wait- I'd rather eat dinner without them.  Daniel and I enjoyed a lovely dinner as we caught each other up on the events of the week.  Then we called the kids up for dinner and we sat and talked with them while they ate. 

All in all it was a successful trip.  I am anxious to go again when Jane is a little bit older and isn't quite as much work to keep up with.  It was wonderful to visit with Janet and Les.  Now that I know that the kids travel well- I'm sure we'll make it out again (in a year or so).