Monterey - Our first trip as a family of four!

Last week, the San Diego Howes took a car trip to Monterey. We left on Saturday morning super early (which meant packing and prepping after work everyday the week before) and drove up to Pismo Beach. The girls did well for the first leg of our drive. Ella slept for a couple of hours, Madi decided that she was too excited to sleep and just watched out the window, read books, then watched shows with Ella on the iPad. We stopped in Santa Barbara for breakfast and some park time. The hotel in Pismo was all about families. We were right on the beach cliff, had a pool, and stayed in an awesome suite! After some time in the pool, digging on the beach, and watching a princess movie from the blow-up toddler bed (the boat) . . . the girls were exhausted and slept so well all night. We had the hotel breakfast and another swim in the morning. Matt met Jerry West's son at the pool and got to have a good sports conversation for a while (something he really needed 1 day into a trip with three girls). After lunch, we piled the girls and our stuff back into the car and headed to Pacific Grove. The girls did well in the car again and we made it to the timeshare about 3 in the afternoon. We took a walk until it was time to check in where we got to see deer up close! After we unpacked, we headed out to dinner with Erin one of my very best friends from childhood! It was so nice to see her and catch up. Matt ended up walking the girls since they were too antsy to sit the whole time after such a long car day.

On Monday, Matt golfed at Poppy Hills in the morning. After dropping him off, the girls and I had breakfast at an adorable little cafe and went to a park to play. We also went to the grocery store and the beach. I was loving the time with my girlies! We met Matt for lunch at the golf club, so yummy. We loafed around while Eleanor took a nap and then walked over to the lighthouse. The views were beautiful and the girls had fun running around the outside yard.

Tuesday we went to the aquarium in the morning. It was amazing! The girls loved the touch pools and the giant wave that goes over your head in a glass tube. We also got to see the penguins get fed (where Matt noted that only our kids need a snack at all times). Ella began to get cranky so we put her in the backpack, shockingly she fell asleep that way at 11 in the morning! It was surprisingly comfy to carry her that way and I go to have a little snuggle. We spent the evening at the park, walking down to the beach, and getting ice cream. The ice cream shop was ridiculous! It was run by an older hippie gentleman who made the waffle cones from scratch and played tons of loud rock. Madeline devoured her first bubblegum ice cream and Ella ate her chocolate chip until it had turned to soup.

Matt golfed again on Wednesday morning. The girls and I went to breakfast again and then headed to Target. Matt ended up being done golfing very early since he wasn't paired with anyone. We all got to go to the beach together for some digging. It was cold, but the girls had fun anyways. After Ella's nap we did some laundry and the girls played in the jacuzzi. This involved mostly kickin gin the water and squirting Matt and I with water from their water toys. We went out for a sushi dinner and then headed to the Dennis the Menace park. This park was crazy! The slides were huge and there were crazy kids everywhere. The girls had fun and Matt was worn out from trying to keep Ella from disaster.

On Thursday, we did the 17 mile drive into Carmel. The drive was gorgeous, but Carmel was a little too busy for me. We wandered through the farmer's market, looked at the fish in the park, and walked around the main street. After some cranky kid time, and a yummy lunch, we piled the girls back in the car for the ride home. We ate dinner outside in the grassy picnic area of the timeshare and the girls had the joy of digging in the dirt and chasing balls.

Friday morning we packed it all back up and stopped for a snack on the way out of Monterey. The Happy Girl Baking Co was so yummy! We picked up some jam to bring home (Madi picked out the flavors) and the girls ate two chocolate chip macadamia muffins. The drive to Goleta was smooth with the girls watching shows on the ipad for the majority of the time in the car. Out hotel in Goleta had a pool, so naturally that was the first place we went after checking in! The girls spent an hour jumping in, splashing around, and enjoying the water. It was a perfect afternoon for the pool, hot with a breeze and very relaxing. We went to the hotel next door for dinner. The restaurant seemed super hip and the food tasted great. Sadly, I woke up in the middle of the night with food poisoning. I spent 4 1/2 hours thinking that I needed to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake up the kids while I was dying on the floor of the bathroom. After an hour or so of good sleep, I woke with the girls feeling much better. Matt, on the other hand, started his round of dying on the bathroom floor. Luckily, my mom and Karl were in Santa Barbara for a wedding, so I took the girls to meet them for breakfast. We had a yummy meal and Madi ran with Bella on the dog beach while Ella spent an hour digging in the sand. We collected Matt and headed back home. This was the only bad leg of our drive. We made good time until LA, but then it started pouring. By the time we reached San Clemente, none of us wanted to be in the car a minute longer! We stopped at Grandma T's for a break. The girls ran around, watched the giant tv, and ate dinner. We even got them to take a bath! After the rained slowed and it seemed that traffic had gotten better, we piled back into the car. The last bit of our drive was not bad at all. It was great to see home and unpack. The girls were not interested in sleeping at all after spending the day sitting in the car. So it felt like a normal night at home, haha!

All in all, the trip was a wonderful beginning to family vacations. I loved the time with my girls without worrying about work or schedules. We had lots of time to sing, dance, and play together. Even better, Matt was looking forward to going back to work just to have some quiet time away from all of us!