Wonderful Weekend (Part 1)

With a couple days off of school, we had the treat of hosting (Auntie) Karen and her youngest son, Theoren, over this long weekend.  Karen is great about taking her boys out to CA, one at a time and every other year.  This is such a special time where we get to know the nephew she brings so much better.  We were so happy to hear that, in order to prepare Theoren for his first trip to Uncle Dave and Auntie Jen's house, his older brothers told him ALL about their experiences from 2009 and 2010.  Though we always try to plan fun outings, Karen said the thing the boys were most excited to share was details about the little house Theoren would stay in!

This weekend's outings were big ones.  After picking up Karen and Theoren from the airport, we drove down the coast and had a sleepover together in a hotel.  This was a blast!  The next morning, we were not far from Monterey, which we couldn't wait to share with Auntie and Cousin!

Along the coast are some fantastic fields of produce-- some, like lettuces and artichokes, grow best with the help of that salty fog.  We pulled over to fill a box with fresh produce and Karen was pretty thrilled at the bounty we scored for just $9.  I love this picture and the excitement it depicts.  :)

Since we were less than an hour away from the aquarium (which, of course, was our Monterey destination) and since we were all up before 6:00 am raring to go, we had some time to explore the wharf before the aquarium opened.  We saw all the normal sea life in the wild--  starfish, pelicans, cranes, jellyfish and these super-up-close sea lions.  The kids fell in love with this little one and named her Lucille.  Then she opened her mouth all the way and let out a very loud and long bark about 2 feet away from us and we all screamed.

This was the last time we'll use the aquarium membership.  We have loved all the mileage we got out of this splurge.  We went, on average, every other month and lent it out to over a dozen friends.  We have had a great year getting to know the amazing creatures in the ocean better and couldn't have ended our year of aquarium visits on a better note than to share it one last time with Karen and Theoren.

A really special treat was randomly being asked by an aquarium worker if we'd like to go behind the scenes and see where their jellyfish are born.  He showed us the "nursery" tank full of baby jellies then explained in  a very cute and funny way to the kids how jellyfish reproduce.  This "Delia" polyp is sprouting and spawning tons of other "Delia" jellyfish.  The idea of a million Delia's swimming in the ocean gave everyone the giggles.

Things we've seen before, but always love experiencing with someone new: the life-sized giant clam shell (above) and the friendly penguins (below).

I think my favorite part of the day was Theoren's hesitation to pet the sea cucumber in the touch pools.  After working up enough bravery to give the squishy and slimy creatures a pat, he LOVED it!  His prayer at the end of the day thanked God for the "sea pickles"!

 The drama of the wave room.  Are these the faces of real terror or just good actors? I'll let you decide!

Auntie Karen totally spoiled the kids by treating them to a special stuffed animal from the gift shop.  Chompie the great white shark and Amanda and Jewels the penguins joined our group as we bid farewell to the aquarium for the last time and made our way home.

We couldn't leave Monterey without a stop at the beach, though.  Since Theoren has never seen the Pacific, he had to put his toes in the icy water and join the girls in their mission to disrupt the lives of every single hermit crab they could find by relocating them to a community "swimming pool".  

Karen and Theoren were only here for 4 days, so this outing took half our time with them.  It was wonderful and I'm excited to tell you about the other half of the visit...maybe tomorrow...or maybe after I've crossed the 11 things off my to-do list that I didn't get done in my 4 days of fun with the family! :)