12.19.22- MONTEREY & SALINAS
My sister, Jenna, currently lives in Monterey with her husband Jon who is in the Defense Language Institute (DLI). He is learning Russian. отлично!!
We were due to check out of our Stockton Airbnb on Monday morning; and we were to check into the Salinas Airbnb on Monday afternoon. And Jonathan had to work that day.
And so, we opted to drive into Monterey on Sunday and stay at Jenna’s (even though she was out of town) so that he could work as normal on Monday. And we would have a much shorter distance to travel to our new digs after he finished work for the day.
It was a gorgeous day. So, while Jonathan worked, the kids and I went to one of our favorite (free) things in Monterey: Dennis the Menace Park. It is a really cool (and huge) park. The kids had a great time. And I appreciated the opportunity to relieve them of some of their excess energy. Though I literally took only ONE picture. #failsnail
And then, after Jonathan finished work, we drove to Salinas and met up with the rest of the Urie clan. And then we had Costco pizza for dinner.
12.20.22- SANTA CRUZ HOLIDAY TRAIN
The next day, we spent the morning getting ourselves all situated for the week with a Costco run and unpacking.
And then in the evening, we drove into Santa Cruz. Jonathan’s sister, Christina, had booked us seats on the Santa Cruz Holiday train. It begins at the Boardwalk and takes you through the streets of Santa Cruz. in vintage excursion cars that are covered in Christmas lights, and you sing Christmas carols the whole time, and it’s all very festive.
At one point, some elves brought everyone apple cider and Santa made his way through the train. Isaac firmly declined the invitation to sit on Santa’s lap, which was just as well, seeing as the last attempt ended in tears. the other kids were definitely down for it though.
After our train ride ended, we made our way over to the Crow’s Nest for dinner, where we had reservations. It was a very nice place. My butternut squash ravioli was amazing. Though, I still think Giacomo’s version will forever have my heart… er… stomach…
12.21.22- SANTA CRUZ BEACH BOARDWALK
The kids felt some serious FOMO yesterday as we went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk for the train ride but we didn’t ride ANY rides. So, today was the day. (It turned out to be a good day to go because Peggy, Phil, and Nathaniel had to drive back to Stockton to pick up some forgotten insulin.)
We got everyone ready and made our way down to the boardwalk. On the way there, Christina (Jonathan’s sister) and Paul went to pick up this year’s family reunion sweatshirts which were designed by Clara!
This was a very different trip to the Boardwalk than we have ever had before for a couple of reasons:
1. The majority of the rides were closed for the season. Only the central area had the rides running.
2. Because everything was on a much smaller scale, we allowed the kids to hang out with their cousins and do their own thing without us. (Weird!). After our arrival, we barely saw Jonas; and Clara basically disappeared for the entire day with her cousin Emmaline.
So, with only the little kids in tow, we stuck pretty close to the little kid rides. The Carousel was a favorite for sure.
But let’s be honest, they LOVED the Speedway Cars. The twins rode that ride approximately 5,934 times. The sheer delight on their faces was basically my favorite thing ever.
Though it must be said that they found the bouncy cars and bouncy helicopters to be pretty interesting as well.
For a while, Clara and Emmaline ended up down at the beach, they managed to find a bunch of WHOLE sand dollars. And they got wet. The crazy polar bears.
Today was also a momentous day for Logan: his first ride on a roller coaster.
When we had come yesterday to ride the train, we tested Logan’s height to see if he was tall enough to ride the more intense rides. He was right there. We didn’t want to take any chances at all. So… Jonathan may have put a little bit of gauze in his shoes when we arrived. And coached him a bit on how to stand on his toes ever so slightly. And had him wear a hat…. As I mentioned before, he was able to get on.
He loved it. He loved ALL of the more intense rides. So, he is now officially an adrenaline junkie, like the rest of his family.
And of course, you can’t go wrong with bumper cars.
One other notable event of the day, Christina won a prize from a supposedly ‘unwinnable’ (at least according to YouTuber Mark Rober) carnival game. She got a stuffed snowman. We were all so proud.
And of course, we enjoyed sampling some of the food. My favorite was the fried zucchini. But the garlic fries were also delightful. After eating them, I had dragon breath for the next few days and it was totally worth it.
We stayed and rode rides and hung out until the boardwalk closed. It was an awesome day for everyone.
After everything closed down, we headed back to Salinas, made dinner, and went to bed. It was an awesome day.
