Jen is fortunate enough to have a friend who has allowed us to stay in their Pacific Grove cottage from time to time, and we decided to head out there this weekend to celebrate our ninth wedding anniversary. It's a special place for Jen with special memories - this friend first gifted Jen with a weekend retreat to the cottage while we were recuperating from our first miscarriage, which was an enormous blessing to Jen - so it's a place to cherish. Pacific Grove is a town just a few miles outside of Monterey adjacent to the famous Pebble Beach golf course, and the modest cottage is just four blocks from the Pacific Ocean, or a 10-minute walk.
(Our actual anniversary was last Thursday, and I surprised Jen by taking her to hear the pianist who we had hired to play for our wedding, who was serendipitously performing the evening of our anniversary as part of Santana Row's outdoor "Summer Songwriter Series." He remembered us, and played "My Soul Watered" for Jen, which is the song he played for our processional, which in turn is one of the original songs from his first album - which we highly recommend, by the way. We spent the whole evening at Santana Row, having a lovely French dinner at Left Bank and watching "Indiana Jones" in the Santana Row Cinemark theaters to end the evening. I know, Indy ain't that lovey-dovey, but I can only handle so much romance in one outing!)
So we're home from our Pacific Grove getaway, and the highlight was probably watching Camille discover the ocean for the first time, as she tentatively waded in, and finally let herself go, squatting aside the pools, attempting to sneak hopefully-unoccupied shells into her mouth (she only succeeded once - to our knowledge), and running after the kelp strands floating in the tide. Traveling with a 16-month old isn't exactly restful, but it's very rewarding.
Mommy and Cami watching the harbor seals some 25 yards offshore.
The seals, up close.
I always look for something new. Can't say I've ever seen one of these before. Looks like a 3-foot-long worm of some kind. If anyone knows what it is, let me know.
His pretty face.
We took a side trip into Monterey on Saturday, and visited the aquarium. While we were there, the temperature dropped at least 15 degrees and an electrical storm started. The sky did some strange things - it was odd enough to have people stopping in the street on Cannery Row and staring into the sky. "Looks like 'War of the Worlds,'" a lady next to me commented.
Mommy shows Cami a shark...
...a kelp forest...
... and some jellyfish.
2 comments:
Looks like you guys had lots of fun. Cami is getting so big and she's so cute! We're headed to Monterey next week, I'm hoping for some warm weather so Ethan can actually go in the ocean this time! You're right, traveling w/ a little one is anything but relaxing, but so fun to see things through their eyes:)
Congratulations on your anniversary!
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