California 2012: Part Three

Our last two days on the Monterey Peninsula were spent doing some of my favorite things.  We began Wednesday with a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  It was built when I was a kid and I have so many fond memories of the place.  It will forever be my favorite aquarium and I was so excited to show it to my boys!

Touch tanks!  We saw and touched abalone, sea stars, sea slugs, kelp, bat rays and more.

The boys were fascinated by the huge waves crashing over them.

There is a whole kids' area now, and we had trouble getting the little boys to leave!  Tunnels, water play, and more are perfect for the little ones.

Overlooking Monterey Bay

Such a pretty view

Lots of sardines -- what made Cannery Row such a success in the first half of the twentieth century.  

The aquarium was as wonderful as always and I'm glad I got to share it with my boys.

On Wednesday afternoon, we took the boys to the children's museum in Monterey, which is new since I left.  It's really small but they loved it!  Will made me an authentic Castroville artichoke.

But the theater area was by far a favorite spot.  

I have two hams!

Wednesday night ended in the best way possible, watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean.

We bundled up (it was about 56 degrees!) and drove down to Asilomar to find the perfect spot to watch the sun set.

Rock tower made by others.  

This must be one of the most beautiful sights in the world.  

Made even better by getting to share it with these boys.  

We had a lazy start to our last morning because Henry had been sick in the night.  We spent Thursday morning playing UNO and making sure Henry felt okay.  Fortunately, he was feeling 100% after getting food in his belly, so we headed out for a picnic lunch and hike at Point Lobos.

This bird thought for sure we'd drop some food!

After lunch, we started our hike on the Granite Point Trail.  It was a typical foggy August day on the coast.

Point Lobos is a state reserve just south of Carmel.  It is thought that it was the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, which Gene has been reading to Will this summer.  Can't you just imagine pirates out there in the fog?

Such a pretty place!

My three favorite guys.  

Such troopers!  We hiked for well over an hour, covering probably 1 1/2 miles and these guys loved every single minute of it.

 Whaling museum at Point Lobos.  

Checking out whale bones and baleen at the Whaler's Cabin.  

One last pic of my rock-climbing, nature-loving boy!

And lest we forget our wonderful adventures on the coast of California, we found a painting by artist F.A. Cady of a freighter on Monterey Bay at Steve Hauk's art gallery.  It's just another addition to our growing California art collection!

We truly had a wonderful vacation this year.  I loved getting to share the place where I grew up with my boys and I'm so glad they fell in love with the rugged beauty of the Monterey Peninsula.  It's a remarkable place and one we'll visit again and again.