Weekend Escape to Monterey

Have I told you all how much I love California?

How much I love the ocean and the close proximity to the gorgeous sailboats, crashing waves, and sand?

A couple weekends ago Dallas and I were invited to got to our cousin's beach house down in Monterey. It turned out to be a little reunion of sorts. My older brother, Erik and his whole family came, along with my cousins Kendra and Mark, and Greg and Heidi. Heidi's grandparents own a house in Pacific Grove a few yards from the beach. It was absolutely gorgeous and so much fun to see everyone. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is literally a couple miles up the coast and there is a beautiful jogging path along the beach that leads you into Monterey.

We spent most of our time playing at the beach with the kids.

(You can click on the picture to enlarge the image.)

Since Heidi was raised coming to Asilomar Beach she knew all the fun tide pools to show the kids.  It was pretty incredible to see the hundreds of sea anemone covering the rocks.  The kids had fun touching the outsides and watching them curl in on themselves.  We also found lots of star fish and hermit crabs.

Will was such a cutie to watch and I couldn't help myself while taking pictures.

Saturday we all went into Monterey.  Dallas and I had an enjoyable walk along the beach and then met up with everyone for lunch and a trip to the candy shop for the kids.  They almost had a sensory overload when the saw the endless rows of colored salt water taffy.

The rest of the time was spent playing pool, Wii, and more beach time.

Greg and Heidi found a couple skim boards in the garage, so Dallas joined them in trying them out in the surf.  Needless to say he had a couple very COLD spills in the process.

I'm so glad we are surrounded by family out here.  We always have so much fun together.  We can't thank Heidi and Greg enough for putting together such a great weekend.  We love you guys!