Our Central Coast Vacation?!

We're back from our....uhhhh...."vacation"? We went to Monterey for a few days just the four of us. This was our first purely recreational trip as a family (without extended family or work obligations). And it was...something else. We had a sick little boy, the conundrum of getting two kids to sleep in a hotel room, an unbelievable amount of whining, and serious mommy-clinginess. T was still pretty sick with fevers on and off and he has a really hard time with transitions and being in new places. B is just sassy and if her brother wants me then they both want me. There were quite a few moments of exasperation and a few exclamations of, "Maybe we should just go home!" But, I am glad we didn't. 

We have some great family memories of the aquarium (we went 3 times), looking in tide pools, and enjoying the amazing weather and views of the bay. Cannery Row was a lot of fun, as was our stop at Pismo Beach on the way up. We had a wonderful day at Carmel Beach, too, which quickly rose to status as one of my favorite beaches ever. We had some good ice cream and some great laughs. We spent the first night at a Best Western (BW) in Santa Maria, CA about halfway there. We had already giggled quite a bit through the magical towns of Buellton (famous for its split pea soup) and Solvang (apparently the Dutch capital of the U.S.) so when we pulled into the BW and discovered an atmosphere strikingly familiar to many COPS episodes, we were all laughs (some of them nervous). After a magical continental breakfast we were off quite early the next morning. 

     So all in all, it was one of those vacations where we had laughs, frustrations, less sleep, new adventures, and a lot of things that I am sure we will look back on and laugh about someday. Right?! Won't we? :) 

Playing frisbee at Carmel Beach

Checking out the tide pools

T's grumpiness 

B giving T seaweed hair

Daddy and daughter at Pismo