Day trip to Point Lobos

 With summer break wrapping up next week, Tom was inspired to take a day trip with the kids.  He took Friday off and we headed south to Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.  We've been there a couple times before but it's been a while.

We started out by exploring some tide pools.

 I loved the color of the rocks.

 Then we headed out on the shoreline path.

 It was pretty gorgeous.

 We found some harbor seals and sea lions.

 As we continued to walk, the kids started to object.  Tom was happy though.

 And setting a bad example.

 But then it all fell apart and we had two crying, miserable kids.  Tom continued on the trail while I stayed with the pouters.  It would be easy to post all the happy pictures and pretend everything is rainbows and unicorns, but this is the reality.

Here's a Tom selfie from further down the trail.  

 And then the pendulum swung the other way and they were ready to walk again.

 And take in the scenery.

 Then we found these creepy trees and I told them to look creeped out.

 Tom looking thoughtful and introspective while staring at the ocean.

 On our way back, we came across this guy on the trail with a giant lens on his camera.  It was trained on an otter that was doing a whole lotta nothing but floating around in the kelp.  The lens was pretty impressive though.

 Back to explore the tide pools.

 We drove to the southern most tip of the reserve to see bird rock.

 After lots of exploring and plenty of bad attitude in Point Lobos, we went to the beach in Carmel.

 It was freezing.  Even the sand under our feet was cold.

 Did my kids care?  Nope, they changed into bathing suits, ran around and splashed in the waves.

 They didn't get much more than their feet wet, but I was huddled under a towel because it was so chilly.

 They had a ton of fun and didn't even feel the cold.

 We made our way further north for dinner to Capitola.  The location was great; the meal was not.  We won't talk about the meal and instead look at my crew having a post dinner stroll in the sand.

 You know what makes up for a sub-par meal?  Ice cream from Marianne's for dessert.  Yes, our second visit in one week.

 It's truly fabulous ice cream.

 Ice cream toast.

 We came home tired from our long day full of ups and downs.  But that's life for you - full of ups and downs and generally pretty exhausting.

Santa Cruz with balloons, buddies and the beach

We are trying to squeeze the last bits of fun out of summer before the kids go back to school next week.  Even thought there were times during this summer break that we drove each other crazy, the kids and I like spending our days together and adjusting to being apart all day will be tough.   Today we took a little trip down to Santa Cruz with my friend Mary and her three girls.  Our first stop was the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History.  Apparently this museum was around when I lived in Santa Cruz but I had no idea.  

The main draw for our visit today was the balloon exhibit and it didn't disappoint.


Here's Franny standing next to a big flower with Millie and Serafina underneath.

 The giant balloon dog was super awesome.

 I'm not sure why Leo is making that goofy face.

The theme was "garden" and it will change next month and again in October.  The ceiling was covered in blue and white balloons like a sky.  It was enchanting. 

There was also a exhibit about the history of Santa Cruz, which, of course, includes surfing.

 We had lunch outside and it was sunny and beautiful outside.  Here's the kids lined up - Millie, Serafina, Leo, Sophia and Franny.

 And then it was off to the beach.

 Sunny and perfect.

 Can't go to Santa Cruz without a trip to Marianne's.  We were happy to introduce our friends to our favorite ice cream place.

Making slime

 Yesterday we made slime.  Well first we made "goop" which is just cornstarch and water.

 Then it was on to the slime.  We used glitter glue to make it more colorful.

 Getting stickier.

 At a certain point, the mixing needed to be done by hand.

 Messy fun.

 And after adding enough ingredients and mixing, we had slime success.

And here's a bonus picture from Sunday of Tom in a floatie pile thanks to his kids. 

Robot helmet

When Serafina tied up her shirt today, I got a little worried she was trying to grow up too fast.  Then she turned a box into a robot helmet and all was right with the world.