Fun Days in Monterey Bay!

Grandma and Grandpa Lloyd (my parents) came to visit for a few days last week, and we had a blast! It was so much fun to have them here, because we got to do and see things that we hadn't seen yet. It was fun to be tourists! And the weather was beautiful, about 70 degrees each day. We went to the "Wild Things" Vision Quest Ranch where we saw lots of cool animals. (Lions, tigers, a black bear, a large kangaroo, elephants, a hyena, ostriches, zebras, baboons, and more.) They rescue animals and then train them to be used in movies and tv. We met Rafiki from The Lion King and some other famous animals. We also went to Old Fisherman's Warf, Cannery Row, Seaside and Carmel beaches, the Aquarium in Monterey, and Mom even babysat Friday night while Dad, JayC and I went to see the second Batman in the Imax theater. Fun! We also ate out at our mutually favorite restaurant La Tortuga (twice), a 50's diner and a nice Italian restaurant on Cannery Row.
I think we wore out Connell pretty good everyday! He was a good kid considering how much time he spent in his stroller and carseat. At Fisherman's Warf, 4 Japanese women "oohed" and "ahhed" over Connell while they took pictures of him and touched his blond curls! It was so funny! My son is a tourist attraction! He just hammed it up by jabbering and smiling at them. He's so social! We used his little monkey leash a lot too, so he could walk around without escaping from me!
Sunday we went to church and saw 17 mile drive, which was pretty but not worth the $10 entrance fee! We did see a bunch of seals, though. Mom and Dad left on Monday morning, and I think Connell is suffering from lack of so much attention! He had a hard time going to sleep last night and is pretty needy today. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa for a wonderful week!! And here are some pictures of our adventures that Grandpa took on his nice digital camera. This female lion is 400 lbs, as big as the males get, so she's huge! This ranch has bed and breakfast "tents" you can stay in. They say the lion roars all night long, so you feel like you're in Africa! We hope we get a chance to do this sometime while we're here. The hyena can bite through a rhinoceros' horn in one bite! I had no idea they were so terrifying! This one got really hyper and was throwing his ball around the cage. Kinda scary when you think how easily he could bite through the cage... Some sea lions at Fisherman's Warf. They're so loud, JayC says he can hear them in his classroom! We found a friend while we were walking on Cannery Row! A beautiful view of the bay from Cannery Row. Seals off of Cannery Row. (I learned the difference between seals and sea lions!) It's so hard to get a good family picture! Someone's always blinking or looking away from the camera. It took a good 10 tries to get this one!

This is a good view of Seaside (where we live) from Monterey (where JayC is in training). Hard to believe we actually live here! It's so gorgeous. (It's always a little bit foggy, but otherwise a good view.)