I've been at odds with my decision to make our lives more public. Blogging, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and other social media sites are very public, but my life is private. So is yours. Where's the balance? How does Way Up North In Cali blog fit into that? How does my desire to promote the good of our community affect my family and our privacy? So I took a break from blogging to reflect. It took some time to ask the right questions and get the right answers. I've always loved sharing our adventures, but feel like it's now for the right reasons.
In the time I was silent, I decided to give blog a mini makeover. Did you notice? Don't worry if you didn't, like I said...it's "mini". I also have some other new ideas in the works!
I have been wanting to share with you our very quick trip down to Monterey. We were in Monterey for less than 24 hours. Q was working in Monterey (as he often does) and he already had a hotel room and the kids and I had a Friday off school (which is really rare), so we hopped in the car after school on Thursday. I don't know how many times I've told someone Quinn was working in Monterey and they have replied with, "Why don't you go with him?" But he always goes during the week and the rest of us have school and other obligations so it just never works out. When I realized we didn't have school and he was still going to be there (with a free hotel room!) we jumped in the car.
Of course immediately upon telling the kids where we were going when I picked them up from school, they all chorused, "Let's go the the Monterey Bay Aquarium?!" But I knew we didn't have a lot of time and also because it was a last minute decision, I hadn't planned for a vacation in our budget. I promised the kids a great time but the aquarium was not in the cards for this trip.
Without the aquarium, and with limited time and no travel budget, what exactly was going to make this trip "so great"? This was not my first time to Monterey, so...
We started the day by stopping at Dennis The Menace Park. This park is HUGE! I love it. Plenty of room for my big kids to run and play. And the best part is that it fits perfect into my budget. FREE.
After an hour or so of play, we headed towards Cannery Row. We drove around a bit and found a parking space on the street a couple blocks up from Cannery Row.
The shops and restaurants on Cannery Row are so fun! We of course had to stop and get milkshakes from Ghiradelli. YUM!
The kids wanted some beach time, so we walked down to the beach, just below the Ghiradelli store. (I learned long ago to bring the kids swim suits if we are going to the beach. It doesn't matter if it's 60 degrees outside, cloudy and the water is freezing, my kids will get wet and love it. There's nothing worse than having them complain about being wet and cold in their clothes the rest of the day.) It wasn't a cold day, but it wasn't particularly warm either (it was November after all), but they wanted to get in the water. Brrr!
The sun was shining and Monterey Bay was so beautiful. We found little critters in the tide pools and fun shells in the sand. Even I got wet (but not on purpose!). It was definitely the highlight of the day!
We left the beach to go pick up my husband from his job site and spend the rest of the day with him. A little Chipolte for lunch and then we went back to Cannery Row to browse the stores. (Why didn't I take a picture of the amazing candy store?!)
We had a long drive ahead of us (5 hours), so piled back into the car and headed home.
I can't wait to go back!
What do you love to do when you're in Monterey?
I have been wanting to share with you our very quick trip down to Monterey. We were in Monterey for less than 24 hours. Q was working in Monterey (as he often does) and he already had a hotel room and the kids and I had a Friday off school (which is really rare), so we hopped in the car after school on Thursday. I don't know how many times I've told someone Quinn was working in Monterey and they have replied with, "Why don't you go with him?" But he always goes during the week and the rest of us have school and other obligations so it just never works out. When I realized we didn't have school and he was still going to be there (with a free hotel room!) we jumped in the car.
Of course immediately upon telling the kids where we were going when I picked them up from school, they all chorused, "Let's go the the Monterey Bay Aquarium?!" But I knew we didn't have a lot of time and also because it was a last minute decision, I hadn't planned for a vacation in our budget. I promised the kids a great time but the aquarium was not in the cards for this trip.
Without the aquarium, and with limited time and no travel budget, what exactly was going to make this trip "so great"? This was not my first time to Monterey, so...
We started the day by stopping at Dennis The Menace Park. This park is HUGE! I love it. Plenty of room for my big kids to run and play. And the best part is that it fits perfect into my budget. FREE.
After an hour or so of play, we headed towards Cannery Row. We drove around a bit and found a parking space on the street a couple blocks up from Cannery Row.
The shops and restaurants on Cannery Row are so fun! We of course had to stop and get milkshakes from Ghiradelli. YUM!
The kids wanted some beach time, so we walked down to the beach, just below the Ghiradelli store. (I learned long ago to bring the kids swim suits if we are going to the beach. It doesn't matter if it's 60 degrees outside, cloudy and the water is freezing, my kids will get wet and love it. There's nothing worse than having them complain about being wet and cold in their clothes the rest of the day.) It wasn't a cold day, but it wasn't particularly warm either (it was November after all), but they wanted to get in the water. Brrr!
The sun was shining and Monterey Bay was so beautiful. We found little critters in the tide pools and fun shells in the sand. Even I got wet (but not on purpose!). It was definitely the highlight of the day!
We left the beach to go pick up my husband from his job site and spend the rest of the day with him. A little Chipolte for lunch and then we went back to Cannery Row to browse the stores. (Why didn't I take a picture of the amazing candy store?!)
We had a long drive ahead of us (5 hours), so piled back into the car and headed home.
I can't wait to go back!
What do you love to do when you're in Monterey?
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