Mini Vacation

More family adventure pics- I took the boys to Hakone Gardens, an old Japanese garden and koi pond. It was a rainy day which was actually kind of nice because we were the only ones there. (Californians are truly wimps- a few raindrops and everything shuts down!) It was really beautiful and peaceful. Jason had fun looking at the fish and frogs and running around the park.

He loved looking at the big Koi fish.

"Is this the path to Zen?"

I have been very crafty lately. I made a purse for church. It probably cost more than one that I could have just bought, but it was kind of fun to make.

Ta-da!

Brett's favorite thing to do is roll around on the floor looking for edibles. Everything he finds goes straight into the mouth. He is so cute.

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

It's kind of hit or miss whether the object actually makes it to his mouth.

How stinkin' cute is this face!?

Derek finally had a week off, so we took a mini vacation. We stayed at the Seascape Resort in Altus for two nights. It was so nice because we had a living room, kitchen and bedroom all to ourselves. It was right on the beach. During the days, we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium, played on the beach, and stopped at the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz.

The Aquarium

Such a cutie! He had fun.

Love those guys.

Stopping at Ghirardelli's for ice cream is mandatory.

At the Beach

Derek at the gun show. Ooooohhhhh, yeaaaahhh.

Brett wasn't crazy about all the sand. He kept trying to eat it, of course.

J-dog was soooo excited to build sand castles.

I just like this pic of my handsome hubby and my cute baby.

Cute baby face!

Final stop- the Mystery Spot at Santa Cruz! A tourist trap for sure, but totally worth five bucks! It was actually really fun.

So, they tell you this big story about buried alien spacecraft changing the gravitational pull of the earth in this spot and an abandoned house that just happened to slide down the hill and now has supernatural properties- but it is really just a clever optical illusion. Your brain just can't handle the weird tilt of the house and the hill, and it appears that people can magically walk up the walls and lean at impossible angles. You would swear water and billiard balls are rolling up inclines rather than down them. People appear several inches shorter or taller than they actually are depending on where they stand. It really is pretty amazing.

The spooky house.

It was a great little vacation. It is so great to live here in beautiful California and have so many fun things to do close at hand. It sure was nice to have Derek all to ourselves for a whole week, too!