Weekend in Monterey/Carmel

We had a bunch of Hyatt points that were going to expire at the end of 2010, so Hansel booked us a 3-night stay at the Highlands Inn in Carmel for the second weekend in December. We drove down Thursday after school.

Friday we went to Monterey Bay Aquarium. We figured it would be less busy than during the weekend. We went right after lunch and Mathis fell asleep on the way there. So, I stayed in the car with him while Hansel went in Maile and Beck. Mathis had an okay nap of 45 minutes. Considering we came in about an hour after the others, I felt like I saw pretty much the whole aquarium. I'm not sure what H, M, B saw without me.

The Outer Bay area was being worked on, but the exhibits on the floor below the Outer Bay were new to us, like the sea horses, flamingoes, and second penguin exhibit.

 Below is a photo of a sea horse. I think it's called the leafy sea dragon..

We have a similar photo like the below but at the Waikiki Aquarium. Waikiki Aquarium Photo

 In the below, Mathis would not look at the camera.

 Below, Beck isn't quite tall enough but that didn't stop him from touching the sting rays.

 Mathis also doesn't let his height stop him.

The next day we went into Monterey to see the 3rd Annual Pet Parade, where the pets would be dressed for the holidays. We read about it in a one-sheeter the resort concierge sent us. On our way we were trying to figure out where to go. We first parked too far. But since we were early, we walked around where we parked.

We then got back in the car and drove to where it was supposed to start. We waited at a corner and didn't see anyone. After a few minutes I saw one family with a dog dressed in Santa wear. They looked a little confused and then walked into the shopping center. We went in a little later. We saw a group of about five owners and their dogs. They, too, seemed confused. I heard one of them say there were a lot of pets last year and they even had to register. After a little while, they dispersed. Oh well. We walked around the center and then had lunch.

After lunch, we went back to our place, so I could put Mathis down for a nap. Hansel took Maile and Beck to Point Lobos to go to the tide pools.

Below is a photo we took that evening around the inn.

The next day we stopped at a nearby beach before going to MY Museum in Monterey, a small discovery museum. When we got to MY Museum, we found out it opened later. So we left to have an early lunch. On our way back to the museum, Mathis fell asleep. So I went in with Maile and Beck and later swapped out with Hansel. After the museum, we went to the Dennis the Menace park, which had an old life-size steam engine and a bunch of different play structures.

Below Maile is making a big bubble at MY Museum.

That weekend we watched two kids movies -- Shrek 4ever After and How to Train a Dragon. Shrek was okay but too dark in content and setting for young kids.How to Train a Dragon was good. We all liked it. It's a movie we might actually buy.