Memorial Day

We decided to head to the beach with some friends for Memorial Day.  We packed a lunch and some toys and headed out.  We thought it was going to start raining on us.  It did sprinkle for a bit, but it let up quickly and the sun came out for a while.  We had a lot of fun.  Dru ended up going in the water with his friend to search for and collect beach glass.  Some dolphins swam by and we also saw some sea otters playing out in the water.  The girls had a lot of fun burying themselves and building castles.  Our friend found some little crabs that scared Mina and Eliana, but Dalia just held it while she ate some strawberries.  She isn't afraid of little creatures yet.  It was a lovely day.

Budge Visit

I was lucky enough to have Meagan and her kiddos help us drive our new van back to California with me.  We knew it would be a bit crazy having four little kids in a car for 2 days driving half way across the country, but we did it.  It wasn't too bad.  There were times we just had to stop and let them get out and run around, but overall, they were good.
We tried to do as much as we could while they were here.  It was just our luck that it was overcast like everyday they were here, but we did make it to the beach several times.  We took them to Marina Beach, Carmel Beach and Glass beach, as well as a ride along 17-mile drive.  We made it to the farmer's market in downtown Monterey, walked along Fisherman's Wharf where Meagan and Dru were able to take Meagan and William on a glass bottom boat tour of the bay (they were supposed to have gone on a whale watching tour, but the weather wasn't great and that trip was cancelled).  We got some delicious caramel corn on the wharf and we were also able to see a lot of sea lions.  We also took them to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the kids all had a great time there.  We took the kids to a cute little farm for a story time and were able to pet a few animals and buy some delicious strawberries.  We got donuts a couple of times from Monterey Donuts and Meagan agreed that they are the best donuts ever.  Meagan and I also were able to go to Rosine's one night by ourselves.  It's a great little Italian place with the best desserts ever.  I made her try their Snickers pie.  It's my favorite and it didn't disappoint.  Meagan was also able to have a friend of her's from Dubai come down for lunch from San Francisco.  We had the best sandwiches from Compango's that day.
Then, when it was time for the Budge's to fly home, we took her half way to San Francisco where her friends picked them up and showed them around San Francisco for the day and then dropped them off at the airport.  It was so fun to have Meagan and the kids here for a couple of weeks.  The kids got along... mostly.  Haha.  We missed having Stephane with us, but having the kids together is so important and we want them to be close throughout their lives.  Any chance we can get them together, we will take.

Carmel Beach:

Marina Beach:

The Farm:

The Aquarium:

Glass Beach:

17 Mile Drive:

A few random moments at the house: