Carmel-by-the-Sea trip 2013

We are so lucky to have gone to California for the sixth time and included both boys for the first time. We knew every other trip we think we want to go solo and realize how much fun they'd be having there with us instead. We couldn't go without them. It was definitely exhausting with them, but we did a lot of napping while driving around and had fun exploring. I have SOOOOO freaking many photos that this isn't even the extent of them, but as far as I could narrow it down so I could just get something posted. I'm so far behind on posting bigger events this year! (preschool graduation, t-ball, Carson's 5th birthday...and 4th birthday for that matter.) This post is a big mix of actual camera photos, iPhone photos and instagrams.

Carson was so excited to go on a plane since he hadn't been since a baby. Only a few minutes into the flight Max crashed on my lap, totally unexpectedly.

We always have to fly into San Jose and drive down to Carmel. We had really been wanting to go back to the redwood forest again and knew the boys would love it. Carson was fascinated with finding banana slugs after we saw our first one. 

 

That night we went to a pizza place in Monterey for dinner. While we were waiting for a table Max went ahead and caught himself on the concrete with his face. This was one of the biggest knots yet.

Our rental house...

We all went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on day two. What a great place. We went here the first year when I was pregnant, but it was a must with the boys. As we walked in Carson asked me if there would be a hammerhead shark, to which I said probably not. Much to his dismay.....there was. When he saw the shark in an enormous clear tank he parked his butt in front and didn't move. I absolutely love watching the boys in situations like this.

 Max fell asleep, again. Shocker. We were at the aquarium for a very long time.

That night we headed back to the beach in our neighborhood called Ribera Beach. This area is much more rocky than Carmel Beach that has actual sand. Some of the houses along this area are just not fair.

 See, lots of driving and sleeping.

 

 I think this was actually in the morning right before going into the aquarium in downtown Monterey.

 The famous cake is ALWAYS a destination. Just look at those beauties. Yellow cake with bananas, whipped cream and walnuts. I die.

 The next day we went for a drive down Highway 1. We ended up pulling into this state park that they said was just a short flat hike to the ocean. It seemed really far, especially with the boys, and it wasn't just coming up to the ocean at the end. 

It was a big water crossing. The water was freezing, it was insanely windy and we all had warm clothes on so we had to roll up our pants and go. It turned out to be really fun since you end up on this area out in the middle of the water. That group to the right was people doing yoga. haha  We then hiked back out the other way around and found another water crossing in the trees.

Next we stopped at another area we went to our first year, but much of it was closed for construction then. We still went around, but it was blocked off and we probably shouldn't have.  This year the trail was finished so you walk around a trail in the cliffs and end up over these two coves, one with a waterfall and the other a gorgeous private beach. So worth the trek in.

That last night we spent playing at Carmel Beach. This one is essentially a big sand box next to the water. The boys were in absolute heaven. We grabbed a small bucket and shovel kit at the store and let them go to town.

California dreamin'.......

Summer play // Nature Museum, Donuts, BMWs and Personality

We've officially hit the one-month-out-of-school (mom is waking up with a headache) mark. Keeping these guys entertained has been interesting, but fun most of the time. It is so nice when Carson and Max play together (nicely) and give me a minute to step away. I started taking them back to the drop-in daycare one morning per week now that Max is old enough. The first morning I dropped them off Max saw the play room, Carson grabbed Max's hand and off they went, not even looking back to check if I was still there. This is best case scenario I guess. Other than that we've been going out to play somewhere bigger once a week and then the park and other free stuff a time or two in between.

I got a great deal from Living Social for passes for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. I always thought it wouldn't have anything for the little kids, but I was told differently so we tried it. The boys absolutely loved it. At the 4 hour mark I told Carson it was time to go and he melted down. "I wanted to be here for 5 hours!" Yeah, not a great day in our house after that. He has a mouth on him... But nonetheless, they had so much fun so I'm glad I got two sets of tickets for the summer.

The dinosaurs were a HUGE hit.

I'm telling you, the personality that has been coming out of this kid is awesome. I shot these one right after the other and this is what he gave me without any prompting. The cheese face and the silly face.

Carson has been on a space kick. He loved the space and astronaut section so much. The tickets we had came with the planetarium and IMAX show so I thought we'd give it a try. I wasn't confident Max would sit for the 30 minute planetarium show, but as soon as it started I saw their eyes get as big as ever and we were golden. Nothing makes me happier than seeing them experience new and exciting things. Carson has been asking to go back every day since and Max has been pointing out the moon and stars anywhere he can find them. We might have to do our yearly pass there next.

Carson and his best preschool friends got to go to Boondocks for a birthday party. I took him alone since there's nothing there for Max yet so we got to have a Mommy+Carson day, which is much needed sometimes.

Max is still the eater around here. I let him go to town on a donut and it was too funny not to take a photo of him. I'm still kind of obsessed with this little kid. 

He has one 2-year molar that is broken through and we are all of a sudden in the throws of turning TWO. I think I've blocked it all out of my memory. I sat down to talk to a coworker really quick while we were in my room two mornings ago and before I even realized he was there he had climbed up on my lap and fell asleep. Poor kid had a rough day that day.

And this was last night at t-ball practice.... See?

Carl is having a ridiculously fun time with his new BMW. He entered it into the Concours d'Elegance and I already have visions of what he'll look like in twenty years. Lets just say he was one of the younger ones in the crowd. 

And here are all the other recent instagrams and phone shots to share :)

Father's Day 2013

I know I'm insanely behind on posting stuff here. I went through this weekend's photos already so I know I'm going to be posting backlogged photos ridiculously out of order.

Our lovely neighbors were running in the Tough Mudder race up in Beaver Creek on Father's Day. They have two little boys too and realized they'd need help watching them while they did the 4-hour race. They were also nice enough to get us a hotel room on Saturday night in Breckenridge so we went from no plans to having a full and fun Father's Day weekend!

We headed up to Frisco Saturday morning to meet our other friends for the BBQ festival. Our first stop before getting there was the boys' favorite treehouse park in Georgetown.

I made the horrible decision of thinking I didn't want to wash my hair Sunday because I knew we'd have to get up and leave so early. Lets just say my hair smelled like a hunk of pork inside a campfire for quite a while. Blech. Sunday night's shower was heavenly. The food was awesome though, including my favorite frozen cheesecake on a stick. I got the same thing the last time we were there in 2010. (after we had just won $1000 in Blackhawk! what what!)

Carson was his crazy self and Max fell asleep. Go figure.

After the BBQ fest we headed to the hotel. We haven't been swimming yet this year because I haven't had it in me to take the boys alone and all our weekends have been booked. The boys loved swimming and it made me want to go a lot more. The outdoor hot tubs were awesome in the mountain air until the jets broke right in the middle and they kicked us out. Oh well. And that is Max's new go-to silly face.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early for the hour drive further into the mountains. We quickly scooped up all the little monsters and found food and playtime. We were getting some pretty funny looks walking around with a 1yo, 2yo, 3yo and 5yo. Haha

The boys loved the gondola ride.

And then there is this. We watched everyone finish the race and it was time to head home. Sundays on I-70 are an absolute nightmare so we took the longer, more scenic way home down 285. This led us right into THE South Park. This is the actual town the cartoon South Park is based in and was so tiny, old and funny. However, we found the one restaurant in town and shockingly all loved our dinner!

While we were waiting for our food I wanted to get a quick pic of the boys with Carl for Father's Day. I don't remember snapping this sequence, but I did. Carson smiling as Max winds up, Carson getting b*tch slapped, Max crying in response as if he had been hit and then Max being devastated when Carson runs for consolation. This set of photos made me laugh so hard!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and love-filled Father's Day like we did! <3 p="">