A Trip to Monterey!

Being that Emma and I have spring break together and Jeff didn't have to work, we decided to take a quick one-night trip to Monterey. The weather was absolutely beautiful!! When we first arrived we walked from the Marriott over to the Wharf for some lunch. The girls loved being so close to the water. They even saw a few sea lions swimming. While eating lunch at the end of the wharf Allison looked out the window and wanted to know why the sea lions were green and red though! We had to explain that they were just the buoys directing the boats!!! Oh, yes, and during lunch they absolutely loved the fried calamari!!! Allison liked hers with extra lemon juice. No longer does Jeff get that appetizer to himself!

After lunch we headed back to the hotel to decide what to do for the afternoon. We passed by this anchor on our way. They thought it was pretty crazy that they were standing on a real anchor used by boats!

We decided to head to a local park. We walked down to the famous Dennis the Menace park. I had never heard of it, but several friends highly recommended we visit the park. Judy even said she remembered going there as a kid! Everyone was right...that is some park!!! I think one of the best parts about the park is that is has so many unique play structures for the kids. Most you don't see at typical parks around town.

The girls absolutely loved the roller slide! Each of the red rollers spun together to propel the kids down the slide. It was a bumpy but fun ride. They went down at least 20 times! They even got brave and started going down backwards!

Emma gave the rock climbing wall a shot. That's about as far as she got, so that fun didn't last long!

Another fun and crazy slide was the bumpy, curvy, green slide. The girls enjoyed going down at the same time. When they reached the end they would race back up to the top to do it all over again.

Looks like Emma is climbing through Red Vines! Now wouldn't that be a fun park attraction?!

Allison loved running across the suspension bridge. It made me nervous though because other big kids would run too and shake the whole thing. I was afraid they would knock my baby down!

Taking a breather in the underground tunnel.

The Southern Pacific train was a big hit! Emma was so proud of climbing to the top by herself. Jeff and I helped Allison up so she could take part in the photo opportunity.

From the top of the train you could see El Estero Park with it's pond right in front of the Dennis the Menace Park. Beyond that is Monterey Bay! What better can a view be than that!?

After a good 2-3 hours at the park the girls were still bursting with energy. They ran through the grass on the way back to our hotel. They were troopers walking about 6-8 blocks back to the hotel! It was time to get ready for dinner!

April 5, 2010