Monterey

We just returned from a jamm-packed two day trip to Monterey with a pit-stop in Santa Cruz with the DeVries fam. My parents treated us all to a great vacation and it was a lot of fun, but we all pretty much decided that 5 kids between the ages of 1 and 4 3/4 will wear you out. The kids did great but they have A LOT of energy. We left Sunday morning with 6 in our van (my parents rode with us) and 5 in Brett and Kelly's van (their fam) and stopped in Santa Cruz to check out the Boardwalk. The weather was perfect there and we played at the beach a bit in our clothes and then conquered the log ride. Leyna wanted to ride with us saying that she "is a big girl" but was pretty scared at the same time. After arriving in Monterrey we went to the beach again, but this time it was pretty cold. After the kids, Leo, Brett and Kelly (they were skim boarding) dried off and warmed up we went to a really cool park across the street. Later we put the kids to bed and played a game of Settlers of Catan in my parents' room. The next day we headed to the aquariam. The Monterey Bay Aquariam was the highlight of the trip and the kids were just amazed by everything. Katrina said her favorite was the shark and Leyna just copies Katrina so we are not sure what her favorite was. Actually, she loved the sea otters and said that they were swimming to see her since they kept playing near her part of the glass. At one point she was being a punk and I was trying to distract her by saying, "Leyna, look at the fish." To which she replied with a pouty face, "No fish, I don't like the fish." After a full day without a nap we had a long ride home. I figured Leyna would fall asleep like she always does, but my parents had no such luck. She decided to scream for a bit because she was mad about something and then she acted like she was on a sugar high for the rest of the trip singing and dancing in her seat. What a show my parents got. After we dropped them off, she fell asleep within minutes on the rest of our ride home. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for a great trip.