a mini family reunion in Monterey - June 2014

Oh, man, I've only written two blog posts this year! However, I've made a list of blog posts that I need to write to catch up, so here we go. Now that we're all caught up on kids' birthday parties (with Daphne's 4th fast approaching in just 3 months!), let's backtrack again to June 2014 (I know, I know!), when we met Uncle Ryan, Aunt Kelly, and cousins Maddie and Zach in Monterey for a mini Grigsby family reunion, along with Grandma Joanne.

Short road trips are the best road trips.

NOT napping in the car, as we kind of counted on.

Highlights, other than hanging with family, included the Monterey Bay Aquarium:

Elias and cousin Maddie!

 

Fighting the nap on the go.

As you can see in one of the above images, Daphne really struggled with napping on the go. I believe we tried to sneak in a nap or two back at the hotel when this didn't work, but eventually she conked out in the stroller. At 5 pm!

...on our way to fetch the Peterson's Donuts our SoCal relatives had so generously hand-delivered to us!

We also checked out the very fun Peter Pan playground:

The hotel pool:

Other hotel shenanigans, including eating BiRite circus animal cookie ice cream during one of Daphne's hotel naps:

And the beach!

Rinsing off with cousin Zach.

Our family also previewed the general area where the Monarch butterflies pop in during their annual migration, typically in late November/early December (so we were there at the wrong time, of course, but made a mental note for a future trip - read on!).

Another on-the-go nap, conveniently timed during lunch.

We're headed back to this area at the right time this year, in just a few weeks, to see the butterflies, meeting Uncle Ryan and family and Grandma Joanne again for Thanksgiving weekend and a likely return visit to the aquarium.