Day 2- Monterey

On day 2, we got up early and drove to Monterey to go to the Aquarium, Cannery Row, and enjoy the scenery. DMP and I have visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium before and we were really excited to be back. We split the kids and DMP and I drove with the "little girls"- Birdy and Norah. Nosie is SO cute- she sang and talked to us the whole way. It was pretty busy at the aquarium, and it got hairy keeping track of all 5 of them, but it was super-fun.

EJ got up close and personal with the vine snakes.

The girls were dazzled by this magicians tricks. EJ was over the moon- there was much squealing and amazement!

Our favorite place in the aquarium is the outer bay. It is a three story aquarium with sharks, rays, tuna, and sardines. It is very peaceful and amazing to see them all swimming in front and above you.

Boy- it is hard to get these clowns to all LOOK at the camera at the same time- let alone smile :)

EJ was so funny. After we took the "group" picture at the top of this post, she wanted to sit in the shell and be a mermaid.

Having fun with Uncle DMP at the touch pool- Norah had him wrapped around her finger in the first 3 seconds we were there!

The highlight for the kids by far was the walk-through tidal pool. Every thirty seconds or so, water woud cascade over the glass. The kids thought this was the greatest thing. Look at their faces!

Well, everyone thought it was great except Norah...

Birdy made friends with a penguin and was showing it a bookmark she made- so cute!

Bek and her kids had to get back early, so DMP, the girls and I struck out on our own to explore Monterey. We were in search of harbor seals and tide pools. We walked a little ways from the aquarium and found the beach where the seals hang out. EJ had fun watching them going in and out of the water. Birdy was really tired and cranky at this point, so she didn't like much of anything :)

If you'll look in the background, you'll see the seals on the beach (nope, they aren't rocks).

We explored Cannery Row a bit- ehh, pretty much tourist shops and food. We got an awesome Nutella, banana and strawberry crepe snack, though:

Our quest to find tide pools brought us to beach number 3- still cold and windy, but EJ got brave and stuck her toes in. Cranky Birdy did not.

EJ's one hope for this trip was to go to the beach, find sea shells and catch a crab like the one she has seen in a pic from when DMP and I came once. Well, the sea shell hunting was sparse, but we did manage to find a crab, dubbed "Crabby".

EJ was also tired and cranky, so this is her after we returned crabby back to the wild. For about 30 min. on the way home, a small, sad voice would come from the back seat. "I miss Crabby...". Drama.

We finally found a tide pool after asking some locals, but it wasn't like what we've found in Oregon in the past- just a lot of hermit crabs. Oh, and a dead seal which led to a thrilling discussion of "What is that smell?" and "Why does it smell so bad".

The drive home was eventful only in that Birdy had a nuclear-grade meltdown at In 'n Out in Gilroy. That's what we get for thinking she can skip her nap. In all, though, it was a really great day to play and visit the aquarium and learn some things- like how to say anemone: