Monterey Bay Aquarium

For our last big excursion prior to our departure from California we made the trip down to Monterey Bay to visit their spectacular aquarium.

Eli touched every single thing in every single touch tank.  Such a little explorer, that one.

It was penguin feeding time which was super neat.  Except for the penguin keepers were talking to the crowd and taking questions so there was a need for quite that some of us were not willing to give it.

This was moments before we lost Colin.  Momma panicked like never before.  He was fine and enjoyed is personal tour with the aquarium employee, but I'm still recovering.

The jellies are always most impressive with their back lighting and glow.  Of course this was shortly after the losing the child incident, and this exhibit is in almost complete darkness, so it was a bit stressful trying to keep hands on everyone. But we all made it out so - win.

Walker was fascinated by the fact that they just bump into each other.

A lovely way to finish up our California Adventures for the summer of 2012, minus the losing of the child.

Also, the new jellyfish exhibit is in a crazy retro 70's theme, music included.  I present to you our boys as jellyfish tentacles.

Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad

You know there is no one loves trains more than these McCay boys.  I am totally kicking myself for not discovering this little railway earlier.  It is close to where we were and only $2 a ticket!  It is the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad in Los Gatos, CA.  Completely worth checking out in you have young kids in the area.

What's even better is with each ride they move the engine from the back of the train to the front and they use a turntable to turn the engine around.  Then the engine gets to couple up to the passenger cars. All new things for us to see. It was very exciting.









Videos that will be less than thrilling unless you are a train loving boy or an adoring grandparent.

Watching the engine on the turntable.


Train riding.

Currently

I sleep through the night.

Everyone around here can feed himself all his meals, snacks and stolen treats.

Park visits are a mostly relaxing adventure where everyone can go off and play safely on his own.

Grocery trips and errand running with all the boys is a manageable situation.

Our floors are covered in millions of tiny Lego pieces.

In about 5 months that will change, and we couldn't be more excited about the changes coming.

Expected sometime around March 7th, the littlest McCay.

From West to East

We said good-bye to August and California and we greeted September and Alabama with open arms. It just took 5 days and 2,692 miles to reach that giant exhale of home.


View Larger Map

We decided to take the Northern route for our return.  We were excited about seeing different parts of the country while avoiding the desert at the same time.  The country was beautiful, but this trip was far more utilitarian than the trip in July.



Jason was in the midst of many business activities that were not helped by the spotty cell and data reception. And the kids and I well, we were just ready to be home.  We enjoyed the journey, but mostly just by looking out the window as Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi whizzed by.



Jason had to leave us for a day of driving travel.  Not my favorite day, but we did survive.  It was super hot traveling across Kansas, but at one point it was clear WE HAD TO GET OUT OF THE CAR.  So We went to a random natural history museum at a college I hadn't ever heard of before.  It wasn't great and wasn't free, but it solved our problem.


I didn't pose them, but I love the way this one turned out.

We made it to our hotel late and in the rain and I did consider just living in Kansas City at the hotel, forever.  But the next morning Jason was reunited with us and we were ready to hit the road again.



Our last stop of the trip at Leonards in Memphis.  The people were amazing and our super waitress, Robin, mailed Eli the toy he left behind.  Good Southern people, what a welcome sign.

Then we fell into our own comfy beds.

I slept for what felt like a few minutes and then was up before dawn to go run the Color Run with my dear friends who I had missed intensely. It rained hard and continuously, but being with these ladies was a perfect welcome home gift.