The weekend before Thanksgiving the Bannings came up to visit Monterey and we got to join them for a day and a half. Not knowing about their upcoming visit (which had been in some limbo so I hadn’t mentioned it) about a week earlier, Ezra had asked me when we were going to get to see our old friends. “Like who?” I asked. “You know, Ruby, Chapin, Jack …” Well, two out of three ain’t bad!
We arrived in the afternoon and after quickly ditching our stuff at the hotel, we took off in search of Dennis the Menace Park. The kids had a grand old time running around while we got to catch up a bit with Cari and Rob. Later, while walking to find a restaurant for dinner, the kids found another park so we stopped for some more play.
Once we found a restaurant that looked good, they informed us that they could only accommodate a group of our size with two adjacent tables. Kids table!
The next morning Cari and I got out for a fairly early walk. It was beautiful. And fun to talk in person instead of on the phone!
A couple of hours later we walked over to the Aquarium, the day’s main activity. I snapped this shot while Cari was valiantly trying to get a shot of all the kids in the bright sunlight.
Up to that point, this had been our main photographic view.
After some minor delays for exploration …
… we made it to the Aquarium.
This room with its wall of glass that a wave tumbles over was a huge hit.
After a nice long visit at the Aquarium, we headed out on our walk back. More shots of the kids’ backs.
And one of Ezra walking. I just thought he looked super cute.
We had another nice dinner before we hit the road since Bruce had to work the next day and the kids had school. I never thought I’d miss Aveson’s full week off for Thanksgiving week, but I do!