Do you know the way to Monterey?

Okay, cheesy title, I couldn't think of anything else. But we FINALLY found our way to Monterey! We've been wanting to take Matteo to the Aquarium since he enjoys the zoo so much. We finally decided that Steve would take Monday off and we'd go and spend the night.

We left on Monday morning and headed for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We really enjoyed the touch pools with kelp and the starfish as well as the Splash Zone kid's section, which included some friendly penguins.





That afternoon we walked around Cannery Row and out on the Coast Guard pier where there were TONS of sea lions barking away. We also hit the beach for a little while.



We stayed in a very nice hotel- here is the view from our little balcony.



And despite having both kids in the same room at bedtime, got everyone to bed by 8:45. Whew!

On Tuesday morning we walked down to the Wharf and then got packed up, checked out of the hotel, and headed to the Dennis the Menace park before heading home.



The playground was very cool but Dario was getting tired and I wanted him to get in the car to sleep instead of napping on my back and then being wide awake and pissed off about the ride home. The best laid plans and all...



Poor baby. I was trying to comfort him but there's only so much you can do in a moving car. He cried around the pacifier for an hour, giggled when I played peek-a-boo with him as we drove through Gilroy, and then cried the rest of the way home.

Matteo, however, was unbothered by the noise.



All in all, we had a fabulous mini-vacation and are looking forward to our annual Fort Bragg trip in just a week.