Monterey Bay

Saturday, March 26, 2011. My first day off since we moved to California and we think "maybe we should go see the ocean that is just looming over the hills". It was drizzling rain and about 55 degrees outside....why not?! Its not like we have anything else to do! So we load up the car with children and snacks, fill the tank with unleaded, and hit the road. We make our way down to the 101 and the rain soaked hills are a brilliant green against the overcast sky, the girls are watching Popeye and "Betty the Boop" (that's how the girls say it), the boy is sleeping and Manda and I are settled in for the hour and a half drive. When we get to the 101, we head north and are immediately surrounded by acres and acres of vegetables. We're still not sure exactly what is being grown but we assume that its mostly lettuce. Some fields looked fully grown, but most are rows and rows of little sprouts. It rains on us the entire way. We get to Monterey and find our way to the Fisherman's Warf. With the rain still coming down we figure we'd brave the weather and walk to the beach anyway. Ava and Manda were the bravest slushies and made it all the way down to the beach while El, Tru and I waited in the car, watching them from the pier. They stayed on the beach long enough to get some pictures and get soaking wet before they ran back to the car. Now that we'd seen the ocean we figured we would get some lunch, run to Costco and hopefully the skies would clear and we could spend some time exploring the beach. We found a "carl's jr bacon" (as Ella calls it) and had a deliciously nutritious lunch. On the way out the door, the skies had cleared. Yes! So we made a mad dash to the car and raced back to the beach before the rain came back. The sun is shining when we get to the beach, the birds are dodging the waves breaking on the shore and we can hear the seals/sea lions (not sure which) barking in the distance. It didn't take long before Ava started digging in the sand, asking me to make sand castles. Eleanor started venturing off, looking at the rocks and seashells, getting as close to the water as she could before running away from the waves nipping at her heels. And Truman just stared out to sea, no doubt getting an eyeful of the amazing view that surrounded us. During our exploring we found seashells worth keeping, a sand dollar and Amanda found a starfish. The girls had a lot of fun chasing each other and drawing in the sand. We stayed on the beach for about an hour before leaving and agreed that we would come to the beach as much as we could in the days to come.

What adventures await the Grape Slushies? Stay tuned....