Salty Sea Air

While we were in California for my brother's reception, Clay and I took a day off from the planning and preparation and headed to Monterey for a day of fun with the kiddos. Monterey has always been my most favorite place. I really love it. It was fun to take all of our little ones to go to things I used to do as a kid. It was a fun walk down memory lane and we had a blast creating new memories together as a family. I sure love these people.

We stopped by the beach before heading all the way into Monterey. Zane was beside himself with excitement. He started digging in right away. Cute boy is a beach bum (literally! Look at that cute bum)...a boy after my own heart. 

Leila took a while to warm up to the sand. She mostly wanted to be held by Clay and loved watching the water. 

 She also loved playing in the water. Clay held her over the water so she could touch it. She would have done this all day if Clay had let her.

If he sees Leila having fun, Zane has to get in on the action too! He's a little harder to hold like that for too long though.

Zane really thought that his day couldn't get any better after going to the beach. I love this kid. 

After the beach, we headed to the wharf. We stopped in for a quick lunch overlooking the water. It wasn't our usual place but they were offering free calamari. If you know anything about me, you probably know I'm a sucker for calamari. The food was pretty good, but we will probably go back to Rappa's (The usual) next time we are there. The kids loved watching and listening to the sea lions while we ate though. Awesome view!

After lunch, we walked a little further down the wharf to the sea lions who were causing all the commotion during lunch. Zane and Leila were mesmerized.

After the wharf, Zane was once again positive that his day couldn't get any better after seeing the boats and sea lions. Then, we headed over to Dennis the Menace Park. Talk about memories! The kids had a blast and it was fun taking a picture on the sun bridge. I have a picture of me somewhere standing on this same bridge when I wasn't too much older than Zane. 

Living here in the desert surrounded by succulents and cactus, my kids are experiencing a totally different childhood than I experienced! I love that I get to take them back to the places I loved growing up and get to give them a taste of the fun that I had. I love that I get to share this with them!