Spring Break in Monterey, California 2009

Last month for Spring Break Billy and I decided to vacation in Californiato visit the grandkids and take a little side trip to Monterey, CA. Wearrived in Oakland where Amy and the kids picked us up and we went to a hotel and the kids performed for us on the ledge of the window. The curtains were a covering in front of a deep window ledge that was their stage and it was quite fun. We also had someballoons for them to shoot off in the air and they got quite a kick out of them. We also had Easter eggs for them to find the next day at home in Woodland. We woke up early the next morning and had a wonderful breakfast down in the lobby and then went to the Oakland temple to do initiatories.Amy and the kids walked around outside and visited the visitors centerwhile we were inside. It is such a beautiful temple and is such a greatreminder for us of Annette and Scott's engagement there about 13 or 14years ago. Inside the visitors center is a big huge gigantic window thatoverlooks the bay area. It is such a beautiful sight. Afterwards we droveover to San Francisco with the help of "Virginia" our GPS sweetheart and ate at Boudin's. It was heavenly. Fresh sourdough bread bowls filled withfresh clam chowder. We also bought some bread to take home for Joe to try. We then went into a little town called Sasalito and then back to Woodlandto be with Joe.

Brynn and Abby with new fingernails and making creative sticky styrofoam balls with grandpa.

Isaac was a trooper on the trip. He loves to go and is such a big part of the family. Don't you love those rolls.

The next day was our Easter Egg Hunt. The kids had a great time searching for their eggs and finding the one special egg with money in it that had their name written on it.
Aaron looked at his dollar and wondered what in the world is this piece of green and white paper?

Abby had to show us her Care Bear costume )that was 3 sizes too small) Cute as a button anyway!

After straightening up the house we then hopped in the car and headed for the Jelly Bean Factory. Surprisingly enough it was a busy day at the factory. It was quite interesting as we sampled many different flavors of jelly beans and then took the tour to see first hand how they were processed and packaged. Of course we couldn't leave until we purchased several packages of flip flops. These were damaged or imperfect jelly beans that were sold at a discounted price. It was really fun!

Friday we picked up around the house, then took the girls to dancing and off we went for Monterey. It took us quite some time to get there, but when we arrived at the Holiday Inn express we quickly put on our swimming suits and headed for the jacuzzi. It was so nice. It was an indoor/outdoor room that had pigeons sitting high up on the ledge. We went to bed early so that the next morning we could get up early on Saturday and go to the aquarium and visit the shops on Cannery Row and Pebble Beach. Billy wanted to hit a bucket of balls if possible. It was so beautiful and very breathtaking. The weather was really nice and Brynn and Abby had a ball putting on the green. We then took a beautiful 17 mile drive around the golf courses of Pebble Beach. It was incredible. Next we did tide pooling at the beach. Brynn and Abby were with us and Aaron and Isaac were with Amy and Joe. We found crabs and little fish and all kinds of seaweed and sea animals. Amy and Joe soon hooked up with us and they brought a yummy lunch for us to share. There happened to be several squirrels close by our table and soon we began sharing our lunch with them. They were not afraid of people at all. They were really brave, much braver than Abby as she took off for the van and stayed in it alone for the rest of our lunch break. We then took off for another drive to a beach in Monterey near Carmel called Point Lobos. Billy and I hiked to it while the kids were playing on the beach and knew it would be a great hiking experience for the kids. We then went back to the beach and watched the sun set and watched the seals in the water. The sound of the wavescoming in was such a relaxing experience. After it got dark we drove to Carmel to the "Hogs Breath Inn" in a little quaint town called "Carmel bythe Sea." It was a little pricy so we decided to go to a Mexican restaurant called El Torito that was on the bay by the aquarium. It was a really full day and we didn't sit down to eat until about 10:00 pm in the evening. After eating we quickly hopped in the car and headed for our motel. Sunday morning we woke up early and went downstairs for a wonderful breakfast and dressed in our Sunday clothes and good old "Virginia" took us to church right near Pebble Beach. It was a big ward and was packed with people. It seemed that there were several visitors and the mission president and his wife spoke about missionary work. It was great and very motivational. After church we changed our clothes in the car and drove to Point Lobos for our hiking experience. It was wonderful. We hiked for about 1/2 mile to the beach as it overlooked the bay and then we hiked down into a little cove where a mother seal and her baby were basking on a rock in the sun. We then hiked back up the hill and on further down the path and saw about 20 mother seals and their babies laying out in the sun and watched as the mothers taught their little ones how to swim. It was so fun. We continued to hike until we reached the point and watched as the waves crashed into the big rocks. It was a perfectly beautiful clear day, one I have never before experienced in Northern California. We could see out for miles as the sun burned off the mists on the water. We had fun yelling at the seals to see if they would respond to us and sure enough they did. It was quite comical. Amy was the best horn honker of all and we laughed as the seals would turn around and look up at her as she did her seal call. We decided we had better go and get some lunch and head for the airport as our plane left that evening for home. We stopped in Carmel and couldn't find anywhere to eat with the whole family so we asked "Virginia" to help us find a goodplace to eat. She is a sweetheart! We ended up eating at an Italian restaurant called Allegro Pizzeria that was East of Carmel in a little shopping area. We had a tasty pizza and salad. We then quickly hopped in the car and headed on highway 1 to Oakland. It was a good thing that we did as the traffic was bumper to bumper going 10 miles per hour for about 2 hours. We finally made it to the airport with 1/2 hour to spare. What a whirlwind fun trip we had, but it is always hard to say goodbye.

Billy hit some great shots on one of the Pebble Beach courses.

Bill was in heaven as he hit a bucket of balls on Pebble Beach. Someday he will have togo nine holes with the boys. Brynn and Abby had a great time putting around the greens with the other golfers.

Tide pooling after the tide had come in was so fun. Lots of crabs and sea creatures.

Watching the sun set was so beautiful.

Point Lobos was one of our favorite spots. We were on the furthest points on the seashore and it was very windy and quite chilly! Aaron loved hiking out there and loved the exploration.

Aaron was too busy exploring to be in the family picture.

Yummy food and great company!

This was a great Spring Break and look forward to vacationing with family again soon.