Monterey Bay Trip Day 3 - Carmel

It's probably not a typical Carmel Valley attraction that usually comes to mind, but the Farm Stand on Earthbound's R&D farm turned out to be a fun morning excursion.

We were then going to check out some of the art galleries at the village but came across the Concours on the Avenue event and decided to check out hot rods instead. The Bavarian Swiss stone cottages and window flower boxes made a perfect backdrop for these classic post-war machines. There were lots of interesting muscle cars but my arm muscles couldn't hold a 33 lb kid and take pictures at the same time for too long, so hope you like the few I did capture with one hand.

The beach was just a few blocks down the street and was a great place for a picnic and some fun with clean sand. We also encountered a nice surprise along the shore - check the album to see what it was:
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Monterey Bay Trip Day 2 - Monterey and Pacific Grove

Although it was a Monday, there were long lines waiting outside the Monterey Bay Aquarium - so we were glad to have purchased advanced tickets and proceeded to a special entrance with virtually no wait.

Even though the kids spent a lot of time at the touch tanks at Seymour the previous day, the touch pools were still our first stop here. Our enthusiasm was a bit dampened, however, after an employee yelled at Katrina for picking up a starfish, threw the starfish back in, and proceeded to ignore her when she asked to see a crab she couldn't reach from her side. Did she think Katrina wasn't old enough to understand instructions or was she discriminating against us ? We decided not to bother and moved on to other activities.

The MBA was so vast and impressive on so many levels that it's definitely worth visiting. The downside was so many visitors come from all over the world that often scheduled events like feeding times were stacked up with multiple layers of viewers. The Outer Bay's 54' x 17' x 13" window, though huge, can't even seem to accomodate everyone in a single layer at all times. At other popular exhibits like the Jellies and Seahorses, we had to inch along very slowly while viewers in front admire and photograph. Maybe going in the summer wasn't such a great idea but it was nice to stroll its outdoor area in this weather.

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Monterey Bay Trip Day 1 - Santa Cruz

Even though we were going to visit the MBA on the following day, we decided to also visit the Seymour Marine Discovery Center on the first day of our 3-day trip. I'm so glad we came as it was much less crowded than the MBA, had very friendly staff, and dare I say more educational and fun. It's also a bargain with free parking and the admission for all 4 of us was less than one AAA-discounted child MBA admission. In fact, you don't even need to pay for access to the outdoors area (largest displayed Blue Whale skeleton on earth, life-size elephant seal sculptures, native coastal plants, and a spectacular view on the bluff). The MBA of course is grand and awesome in its own way too but it's another post.

The kids spent a lot of time at the touch tanks (they went twice, before and after the tour) and the staff members were so helpful and chatted excitedly with us about new discoveries they made. You can tell they genuinely love their work as afterall, this is a research facility.

I'm also glad we canceled our stop at the Cirque Magnifique show that was scheduled after our brunch at the Farmers' Market and opted to spend more time at Seymour and got to the hotel earlier to swim before it got cold and dark.

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2009 LEGO Show

We didn't know what to expect but had a lot of fun at the show watching trains go around a very impressive 875 sq foot city/farmland/grand prix race scene/caynon/oceanscape built entirely out of LEGOs. The kids had fun building from the bricks in the play area too. 目不遐給 is how I would describe it.

The Dinosaur Fair

We found out about the Sonoma County Fair and its dinosaur theme quite late and decided at the last minute to take the kids there. The largest themed flower show in the U.S. was indeed quite impressive and it was a fun day. Our normally decent diet took a back seat and we all partook in greasy curly fries and chicken strips (although the fries were fresh-cut...) The adults tried something for the first time - funnel cake - also very greasy, but so good !

I showed Katrina the album below and she decided to blog about some of her favorite experiences. Now that she's graduated from one-liner blogs, check out what else she has to say about our day at the fair :)


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The Berkeley Kite Festival

We went to the Berkeley Kite Festival a few weeks ago and I did Rokkaku battling for the first time (totally on a whim). 4th street was nearby so we headed over for lunch and chanced upon The Pasta Shop’s annual Hog Heaven event where we got to sample all kinds of salami, nduja, prosciutto, chicharrones, mortadella, ham, housemade sausages etc.
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Comic moments

Like Katrina, Nathan cracks us up often with his random comments, but unlike his sister who actually does have a sense of humor, his are often unintentional...

Like most moms, I always scout out restrooms upon arriving at a new location. All of a sudden, Nathan yells "NO pee !", turns out he saw this sign:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That same night, we were warmly greeted after sitting down:
"Hi, my name is Bob and I'll be your server for the evening"
While busy coloring, Nathan mutters to himself without looking up, "佢話佢個名係SpongeBob 呀" [He said his name is SpongeBob]....

Bird sightings

Besides frequent visits from squirrels, bunnies, deer, and other critters, we recently had some interesting bird sightings that entertained the kids during breakfast time.

One morning, a whole bunch of these showed up in our yard:They then lined up neatly one by one on the ledge:
Lately, we also have lots of hummingbirds drinking from our tree:

I guess although we don't get to see stray peacocks and such like we did when we lived by the Zoo, we're still somewhat "in the wild" here...

My other son

While still dealing with the impending closure of a chapter in my life in another area (will end my relationship with my current company in a few weeks - but that's another post), I just got word that my 16-year relationship with my 'son' is coming to an end.

It's not bad news really - "The World Vision office in Ethiopia notified us that a relative of Mesfin Matewos is now able to assume responsibility for him. This family member will be taking care of Mesfin and providing for his everyday needs. Mesfin will no longer be a participant in the sponsorship program." In fact, it's quite good news for Mesfin - but indeed it's been a very long relatonship and it'll take a while to get used to.

I guess every sponsorship has to come to an end eventually, and even our own children will move away one day.... The bright side is we'll get to help another child. My first child before Mesfin was Monicah in Kenya - I'm leaning towards a girl in the Southern region this time - maybe we'll even let the kids choose their 'sister' this time !

When I met Mesfin for the first time, he seemed a bit sad and scared. He wasn't able to attend school because they were struggling to make ends meet.
After a couple of years, he's grown a very cute head of hair and was getting his basic needs met and had started school and other activities.Many many years later, he had grown into a confident and strong young man !