We finally visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium! High fives all around! I've wanted to go ever since we moved here (almost three years ago!). We made it our big special outing with my Mom during her visit. It was so worth every penny (we bought a membership and a couple buddy passes). We spent nearly 5 hours there. I think my favorite part was seeing how enthralled Greta was. She was so into it and so excited to be there! I just loved that. Age three has really been her blossoming year. We all really enjoyed it - the ocean is an amazingly magical place. Holly loved the Hammerhead sharks! The kids' area in the aquarium was a great play place for Holly and Greta - they could've spent all day there!
I'm so grateful we get to live in this area and be so close to the wonders of the ocean. My family has been so blessed to live here.
I picked up a Dizzy swing (or disc swing) for my daughters. My siblings and I had one and we spent hours playing on it and laughing. I have good memories connected to our dizzy swing. My mom hung it in the tree in the front yard and the girls have loved playing on it. Holly wants to be out there swinging almost all the time. The neighbor kids have really enjoyed it too - we'll come home and someone will be swinging on it. So fun! It's getting lots of use and was definitely a good investment. I love when I get to share something from my childhood with my dear sweet children. Something about things coming full circle is so satisfying.
It was a good Mother's Day. I wasn't anticipating a little sleep-in, but it happened. And as I was waking up, a freshly-bathed and still naked Greta popped her head into my room and said, "Happy Mother's Day! Chachacha!" I received handcrafted cards from my littles and all throughout the day, Holly and Greta frequently wished me a happy mother's day. As we put Holly to bed, she wished me a happy mother's day evening. They really were so sincerely excited to celebrate me - it was perfect. Although, Holly is ready to march on Washington to establish a "Kid's Day." Love that girl - she's the best!
One huge highlight is having my own Mother here! So far, we've had such a good time and I'll be savoring my last few days with her before she heads back north. She's been so helpful and has greatly reduced my anxiety and stress while Conor was in Chicago. She thoroughly scrubbed my kitchen table, helped me pick out house plants and tomato plants and plant them. She's read a countless number of books to Holly and Greta... the list goes on. A lot of service and love!
And a continuation of a tradition... Mother's Day photos!
We timed our drive home so that we could stop at a beach for our picnic lunch. Again, it was really pretty. The whole drive on highway one was breathtaking.
Holly and Greta hitched up their skirts to play in the ocean, and got their underwear soaked in the process. Made me laugh. Their happy faces make me happy.
As you can see in all the photos I posted, Greta is crazy about Conor. She is morphing into the biggest Daddy's girl. It's a little weird because she's always been a Momma's girl. Sometimes I'm like, "great, go see your Dad," and sometimes I feel a little discarded. No matter what, it's adorable to see how much she loves Conor. And I can't blame her, because I'm pretty crazy about the guy myself.
After our river rock throwing, we went for a short (and I mean short) walk in the Redwoods. We need to figure out how to get Greta to walk. Any mention of going on a walk and her legs stop working. Lucky her, she has a Papa who will give her shoulder rides for the sake of the peace. For the small amount of time we spent in this part of the woods, it was really beautiful.
