The kids were off school all week, and I desperately wanted to get away for a few days. Jonathon was right in the middle of a term at BYU, so he couldn't miss any of his classes. His classes were Monday and Wednesday, so we decided to leave Wednesday afternoon and come home Sunday.
Since we had to leave so late, we decided to only drive part-way that night and stay in a hotel in Las Vegas. And let's be honest... one of the kids' favorite parts of every trip is the hotel. We made it a priority to get a place with a continental breakfast and a pool to make it fun for them. The pool in Vegas was outdoors, so it was pretty chilly, but we all played for about an hour until the pool closed for the night.
Our boys have gotten to be the best travelers. The first day, we didn't stop at all the whole way. The second day was a longer stretch (8 hours), and we only stopped two times for fuel and bathroom breaks. We made awesome time, and there was very little bickering or problems throughout. We arrived in Salinas around 3:00 in the afternoon. After being in the car for so long, the boys just wanted to run and play in the backyard. They jumped on the trampoline, made a fire with Grandpa for making s'mores, and explored. That night Aunt Teresa came over with her kids for dinner. It was fun to be able to hang out with them.
The next morning, the boys were up bright and early, so we all went to the donut shop around the corner to get breakfast. It is a tradition every time we go, and they were excited to do it again. Then the boys made cookies with Grandpa. That is another fun tradition. Grandpa likes to spend time cooking with each of them. He lets them make lots of treats with excessive amounts of sugar... and they love it! I'm sure when they look back in 20 years, they will remember those times with Grandpa in the kitchen.
That day, we headed to our favorite place in the area, Monterey! Our first stop was the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We have been there many times, but it never seems to get old for me. I could sit and watch the huge fish tanks for hours. It is so relaxing and mesmerizing. Since Grandpa and Grandma are charter members, we all get in free. For lunch, we headed to Fisherman's Wharf to get clam chowder in a bread bowl. Yum! We also stopped at the candy shop to get chocolate covered bacon for the boys.Next, we decided to do something new. We headed over to Pacific Grove to go to the Monarch Sanctuary. Apparently, monarch butterflies migrate to that small little area every year, so the city has protected it from development. We were too early in the season, so we only saw a few. After that, we headed to the Point Pinos Lighthouse. It was open for tours, so we watched a short movie on the history of the lighthouse and then went up to the top to look around. It was small, but pretty neat.
We then headed over to Asilomar Beach to look at the tide pools. We found lots of hermit crabs and anemones, and Andrew even saw a white seal sunbathing on the rocks. We named him Kotick, after the movie. The kids loved jumping from rock to rock and searching through the pools. It will definitely be on our list of things to do again.
Finally, it was time to hit the beach. We chose Seaside Beach because it was less crowded and had a huge sandy beach to play on. Again, it was a bit chilly, but the boys had an absolute blast! They chased the waves and the seagulls for a long time. I didn't want to get sandy and wet, so I just hung out on the beach, soaking up the warmth, and watching them play. It was a bit overcast, which was great because we didn't get sunburned. It was such a pleasant afternoon with the fresh, salty breeze coming in off the water. They played and played until we finally had to drag them away because it was getting close to dinner time.
Teresa came over for dinner again that night, and we had a little talent show afterward. The boys played their recital songs on the piano for everyone and did a great job. Then we sang a few songs together and headed to bed.
We left bright and early the next morning for San Francisco. Jonathon and I have been to San Francisco many times, so we wanted to do some new things, besides just walking along the boardwalk. Our first stop was Golden Gate Park to see the Golden Gate Bridge. It was overcast, as usual, but it wasn't too cold or windy. We walked partway across the bridge and took some fun pictures.
Then we headed over to catch the trolley. It ended up being quite a pain because it was really expensive, and they only accepted cash. We were almost ready to just bag the whole idea, but Hyrum desperately wanted to ride it. That was the one thing he had wanted to do, so we decided to spend the extra money for the experience. To make the cost little more palatable, we just bought one-way tickets ($7 each). I rode the trolley with the kids, and Jonathon drove the car to meet us at the end.
Hyrum had such a great time! He wanted to stand like the big kids, so he held on to the pole during the trip. He had a huge grin on his face the whole way. It was totally worth it because the kids were in heaven. They cheered going down the hills and loved seeing San Francisco that way. Afterward, Hyrum said it was the the greatest day of his life! Our plan worked out great, until we got lost and couldn't find Jonathon at the end. After a few stressful minutes where neither one of us could figure out where we were, we finally met up again.
The last thing we did in San Francisco was something we have been looking forward to for a long time. We took a ferry out to Alcatraz and took a tour of the island! It was so amazing. I had heard that the audio tour was world class, so I couldn't wait. It did not disappoint. The whole tour was phenomenal! We got to go through all the old building and grounds on our own, and then we went on the cell block audio tour. Jonathon and Andrew listened to it in Portuguese, and the rest of us got it in English. It led us through the main area of the prison, described each place, and talked about escape attempts. It was fascinating and super engaging. Hyrum got tired at the end and had to be carried, but the other two boys did great. We spent about 2 hours on the island before heading back to the mainland. Even the ferry ride was fun!
Getting out of San Francisco, however, was not fun. We got stuck in a huge traffic jam trying to get across the Bay Bridge. We spent about an hour getting out of the city. It put us a little behind schedule, so we arrived at our hotel in Reno pretty late that night. All the kids were asleep because we had worn them out. We still wanted them to have a chance to go swimming, so we left a little later the next morning and spent an hour in the pool before heading home.
We were so exhausted when we finally made it home because we had packed so much into four days. Despite how fast it was, I think we all had a great time. We still got to do all of our favorite traditions, and we added in a few new, exciting things as well. The older I get, the more I realize how important it is to make memories with our family. This trip will hold many fond memories for years to come.
1 comment:
That sounds like such a wonderful trip! How neat that you have such a strong relationship with your grandparents. I still want to go the Monterey Aquarium!
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