Cousins

At the end of July, part of our Canadian cousin clan (Cathy, Rick, Zach, & Jarred) visited us for an overnight during their California trip and we spent the following day with them in the city. Lombard Street and Fisherman's Wharf were the two stops we managed to include a nice lunch and of course Ghirardelli Ice Cream. All the kids, even though at vastly different ages - 1, 4, 9, and 13, had a good time together as did we! Thanks for visiting, it was fun!

Reagan and Jarred at the ice cream shop:

Monterey with Grandma Connie

Grandma Connie was visiting July 11-19 and we took a 3-day trip to Monterey. We had a great visit and the kids loved having her here, especially Reagan of course.

We stayed at the Deer Haven Inn and had a 2-BR suite, nice and spacious, not super updated, but spacious. It was basically an apartment and now that I think about it, I wonder if it use to be apartments. The evening we arrived, we got some food and ice cream on the wharf, talked a lot with Ryan about the "sleepy" seals on the beach. Ryan: "mommy, daddy, arc! arc! (seal sound)"

The next day, we finally made it to the Aquarium in the afternoon. Here's everyone checking out the life size killer whale on the ceiling ...

Some favorite parts were a playful penguin who repeatedly came right up to Reagan at the glass. Also the Jellies (now called that as opposed to Jellyfish). Funniest was the Seahorses and Shrimp. Hear for yourself :-)

Before the aquarium while the kids were napping, Connie and I took a walk along the coast and saw tons of deer grazing:

The next day, we biked the coastal trail and stopped at a beach for a bit followed by lunch and dessert on Cannery Row. The most perfect weather and scenery, it was soooo nice. I pulled Ryan in the trailer and Reagan rode her Trail-A-Bike attached to Cam's bike again. Connie rented a bike there.We ended our ride at Dennis The Menace Park, always a favorite stop in Monterey. A couple years ago, she was afraid to drink from this fountain.