Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Our Summer Vacation


Last week I was soaking up the sun in Santa Cruz and Monterey with my little family. We live only a couple hours from the beautiful California coast, but sadly, we rarely have the chance to go! Hubby hasn't taken a week off work for vacation since before Buddy was born, so it was definitely time to plan a trip. After 5 days breath-taking coastal views and lots of fun, we definitely want to go back soon! Even on a budget, we were still able to enjoy ourselves and have a blast. Some money-saving tips while on vacation are coming soon! Until then, check out some photos of our vacation!

{Most photos removed for privacy reasons}

We found a beautiful secluded beach just north of Santa Cruz. Buddy LOVED it! You can see his shorts were already soaked from the incoming waves and he kept "hiding" his feet in the sand. It was too cute!

Buddy was fascinated with the Santa Cruz Beach Train that passes by the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. We'll have to ride it next time!

We also traveled down south about an hour to Monterey. We loved the area and really enjoyed the scenery and historic Cannery Row. We took a whole day to check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium too. We experienced tons of amazing sea life and spent over 5 hours looking at every...single...exhibit! 

This is a seahorse. Yes, really! Did you know the males seahorses are the ones that get pregnant?

The Kelp Forest Exhibit is amazing! It's the first living kelp forest exhibits of it's kind in the world. At 28 feet tall and with a surge machine to maintain constant motion like that of the ocean, this exhibit is a must-see. Not only that, but twice a day you can watch a live presentation as a diver hand feeds the sharks and fish. 

The touch-pools at the aquarium were pretty cool too. I touched a starfish! There was so much sea life you could touch if you wanted. Buddy just liked the cold water. He wouldn't touch anything else!


We certainly had a relaxing, MUCH-needed vacation. Buddy was such a trooper, and Hubby and I really had a great time. I hope you enjoyed seeing a few photos of our adventures! 

19 comments:

Trish - Mom On Timeout said...

Those pictures are beautiful! We haven't take our kids to Monterey Bay Aquarium yet but I think we are going to have to do it soon. Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

Aw! You guys are adorable. I'm glad you had a great trip!

Unknown said...

Looks like you had a ton of fun..
oh and I wanna be a seahorse..

Sarah Hull said...

What a fun trip and great pictures! Looks like you guys had a great time and that the weather was nice too! I grew up on the Monterey Bay and still love taking my son to see and do all the fun things I did growing up. The Aquarium is definitely an awesome place :)

Cristine said...

Love this area. I went to law school near there. Would love to bring my boys there some day. Thanks for sharing

Tractor Mom said...

What is it with little boys and trains? I have two (three if you count Hubby) that are train NUTS!! We would have HAD to ride that train!! Love that you caught that awesome facial expression...

Sadie said...

So jealous!! Love the seahorse pic.

Domestic Diva said...

So cute! Love the hat.

eclairre said...

Wow, it looks like you had a great time! I'd love to go some time.

Rachel said...

beautiful! We look forward to getting our kids out to "the other coast" when they're a little bigger

steffie said...

looks like you had a wonderful time!! i love visiting california, and i love the beach!

Christine said...

Looks like you had an amazing time. Great pictures too.

Brittney Minor said...

Sounds like you had an amazing time! I visited the Monterey aquarium once...I loved their penguin exhibit! My husband and I vacationed in that area a couple of years ago (we live in so cal), I loved it up there!
Thanks for sharing your pictures... :)

Karen K said...

Your son is so cute, it looks like he had so much fun! I love California, we are hoping to go back for vacation next summer.

Kelly's Lucky You said...

What great pictures. I almost felt like I was there... or maybe I was just wishing so hard....

Thanks for sharing your vacation!

celebrie2 said...

Ah, it was like coming home, I grew up on the Cali coast! Love the pics, and Buddy is super cute. it's good to have a vacation, but I'm glad your back to do more blogging,lol!

bloggymommy said...

Looks like a wonderful and relaxing time! Glad you were able to rejuvenate with your family!

Marina@EBMR said...

What fun pictures to reflect a beautiful vacation...and wow, the male seahorses?

rachel said...

what an interesting looking seahorse!