Our Trip to Monterey

We decided we needed to get away with the boys. 

 I mentioned to Brad that I really wanted to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium...so that's where we decided to go.  We got our tax refund & Brad booked us a hotel in Monterey & we left on a Saturday morning.  It was quite the adventure driving there because it was sooo stormy!!  I'm am definitely a passenger driver....especially when it's raining & I'm not in control.  Now let me just say that Brad is a really good driver....I just have a harder time in the rain.  It poured so hard in some areas.  It was CrAzY!!  We saw at least 3 accidents going in the opposite direction.  It was a little scary...but we made it safe & sound.  We stayed in this really nice hotel.  I loved the simplicity of the colors & the furnishings in the room.  The bed was just a little bit small for us but it was only 1 night so we survived.   The 1st night we checked out the Fisherman's Wharf & walked around & ate dinner.  It was sooo good.  I loved my Shrimp Louie salad with fresh shrimp & crab.  Delicious & Brad liked his selection too (can't remember what he got because I would never order it).  And then we got some ice cream.  The boys loved that!!  After ice cream Brad took the boys to the "hot" pool for a little bit while I relaxed by myself.

On Sunday morning we got up & got ready, went to "Red's Donuts" (they were good) & headed over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  We got there early so there was plenty of time to look out at the ocean.  While we were taking in the ocean we saw some sea lions & there was even a girl there that was observing them for her job & was telling me about them.  It was so cool & I REALLY actually saw them out in the water.  For whatever reason I never see cool stuff like that & just say "oh yeah...I saw it" even if I didn't.  I think Brad's catching on that I'm not exactly telling the truth.  But I did in fact see them & there was one swimming close enough that I was able to get a semi-decent picture.  The weather was amazing too...not like the day before!! 

Then we were off to get in line & boy were we glad that we bought tickets in advance. 

There was soo much to see & the boys had a blast!!  I think Brad & I enjoyed ourselves just as much as they did.  There was so much to see & do.  Fish, jellyfish, sea lions, sharks, manta rays, penguins & whatever else you can think of.  We went to the "petting" area & I actually touched a mantaray.  I say this because I have this weirdness with touching strange things.  I was lucky to touch one because I think they know that we are all trying to touch them & stay in the corners away from everybody as long as they can.  Blake's arms just weren't long enough but later on he did hold a crab & he thought that was really cool.

It was really a lot of fun!!

After lunch we went outside for a bit to take in the beautiful scenery.  There were all these seagulls outside so Brad & Sonny were feeding them their oyster crackers leftover from lunch.  All of a sudden out of nowhere a pelican flew overhead & all the other birds scattered like crazy & then all of a sudden (again) it landed!!  Like so close...it was crazy!!!  Now these are not the prettiest of birds but it was awesome to be that close so I took some pictures of this crazy bird.

It's like he was posing for us!!  It was cool that I got a picture of him in flight & then standing right there in front of us.  I'm so glad we were outside to witness this.  Who knows if we'll ever see a pelican that close again.  We had a wonderful day at the aquarium & I'm so glad we went even if it was just for 2 days.  We really needed to get away for some fun "Family Time".  Then we headed back home to meet up with Brad's dad for another Birthday dinner.  I can't wait to go back to Monterey when the weather is just a bit warmer & we can spend some time at the beach.

~Shannon~