Monterey Trip- June 12-14, 2009

This past weekend the boys and I took a little road trip to Monterey! My dad was in a golf tournement with The Divots at Poppy Hills, and we haven't been to the beach in so long, so I though, "What the heck, why not?" It was a long drive, but the boys were prefect in the car both ways and the trip was so worth it! We really fit a whole vacation into the two days we were there. This is a very picture-heavy post, but the pictures really do tell the story of our trip.

At the hotel we stayed at, Cypress Gardens, there was a large hot tub that the boys really enjoyed swimming in. Diane, Dan, Aaron, Johnna and Alexis were all staying at the same hotel and we had a blast hanging out by the pool with them too.

On our first night there, we went to Fisherman's Wharf

for dinner and my dad treated the boys to an

ice cream cone afterwards- what a nice grandpa!!

First thing in the morning we headed out to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We beat the crowds and spent about three hours enjoying the awesome aquarium exhibits. They have a large seahorse exhibit right now, which was really neat to see.

The big tanks were so amazing for the boys-
they loved watching all of the fish and sharks swim by so closely!

The hammerhead shark was, of course, one of the boys' favorites.

This river otter was laying right by the window and posed so perfectly for my picture!

It looked so soft, I wanted to pet it!!

Our little scientist...

Right now James tells us he wants to be a

science teacher when he grows up. These pictures are my favorites from the trip.

This scuba diver was cleaning the glass and stopped

for a minute to communicate with the boys through the window.

It was so neat!

The touching pools

A decorator crab

The jellies are always my favorite to see-

So beautiful and peaceful to watch!

This huge fish can grow to be over 150 years old!

After the aquarium, lunch and a rest, we headed out to Dennis the Menace park in Monterey. This is, by far, the best park we've ever been to. Of course, the boys were "best friends" all day long too, it was the cutest thing ever.

Of course, we spent some time at the beach as well. On the first day we drove out to Seaside to the big sandy beach there, but I forgot my camera in the car and it was too windy. On the second day, we decided to try one of the beaches right in Monterey near Fisherman's Wharf. This beach was really nice- much smaller waves and hardly any wind. We hung out and played for a long time and the boys loved every minute of it!

Kung Fu!

James & Renton are taking a Kung Fu class through CARD this summer in Chico. The boys love seeing each other every Monday & Wednesday night for the classes and have learned a lot already. The instructor really focuses on concentration, listening skills, balance, good decision making skills, and more. We've been very happy with what James has learned so far and both boys love the class!

"Full Horse" stance

Kung Fu stance

Running during warm-up time

"Stop" position
Little brothers waiting patiently while big brothers
take their King Fu class.

Swimming Lessons

Nothing better than a summer of

swimming lessons with your best bud! Renton, James, Owen and Keegan are all enrolled in swimming lessons through North Valley Swim School at In Motion Fitness this summer. We've got Renton & James together with one instructor and Owen & Keegan with another. It's working out great, because they really do seem to be at the same level as each other, which makes it easy for their swim instructors.
We were impressed at how the instructors were able to work with both boys at the same time. There were times Owen & Keegan's instructor worked with the little guys individually, but she always gave the one she wasn't working one-on-one with something to work with on their own while she was busy. They all listened to their instructors so well and love their swim lessons!

This was Renton & James' least favorite exercise, as you can tell from the tortured looks on their faces. They didn't complain (too much) though and worked with their instructor on it.

James' First 9 Holes of Golf

Jason took James out for his first 9 holes of golf on a real golf course the other day! He'd taken James to the driving range lots of times before, but never to a real golf course. It was a cool day out, so not a lot of other golfers were there, which is a good thing, because James tend to chatter non-stop. Just James and his daddy, out for a day of golf together!

James is left-handed, and he has lefty clubs, but it's hard for Jason to show him how to properly hold the club, since it seems backwards to him. He needs to go out with his big cousin Aaron, who also golfs left-handed, so he can show him how to hold the clubs the right way.

Hatching butterflies

My mom got James a butterfly habitat from www.insectlore.com for his birthday a few weeks ago. We had mailed away for the caterpillars before his party, so they arrived soon after he opened the gift. The caterpillars were very small, but they were sent in a container of their own food, so within about seven days, they had grown quite big. A few days later when we peeked into the container there were no more caterpillars! All five had turned into little chrysalises hanging from the top of the container! I carefully opened the lid to the container and transferred it to the top of the netted butterfly habitat, attaching it with a safety pin.
We watched every day for changes in the chrysalises. Finally after about a week, they started hatching! Within just a few days, all five hatched into little Painted Lady Butterflies! We put a bowl of sugar water in the habitat and enjoyed watching the little orange and black butterflies fly around in the habitat.

After a few days of observation, we decided it was time to let our newly hatched butterflies go in our yard. We opened the lid at watched and waited...

The kids were lucky and got to hold a few of the butterflies on their fingers and arms before they flew away!

Watching these caterpillars turn into butterflies and then releasing them in our backyard took about two weeks total. It was a lot of fun for my curious boys, who rushed to peek at the insects every day to see how they were doing. What a fun summertime activity!

A quiet day at home- FINALLY!

Today was so wonderful! We have all been so sick, and with this being the crazy-end-of-school-insanity time of year, I have not been able to rest.... at all.... for weeks! This day, the day after the big birthday party, is JUST what I've been needing! Our house is all clean, the boys have tons of new toys to play with from James' party yesterday, and I have nothing on my agenda. We built Spongebob's Krusty Krab as well as a Jedi Starfighter out of Legos, James completed his first Bionicles, we made stickers, colored with new Blendy Pens, molded with Fusion Clay, and more! I have been able to rest, relax, and enjoy some time at home with my family today, and I couldn't ask for a better day!

Owen doin' some water play in the backyard.

James rockin' his new superhero get-up, handmade for him by my talented friend, Kristin.
Playing Bionicles on the back porch.

Up, up... and away!!!

Don't mess with this superhero!