Monterey with the Rudds

Right after Christmas, we headed to Monterey for a little family getaway. We met up with Bobby and Amy and later the Jenkins came up to join us. 

The boys did a little surfing...Jeremy got to break in his new board!

Us girls watching

 

The boys checking out the waves

Jeremy cheering as Bobby paddles for a wave 

Bobby up and riding!

Jeremy on his new board 

Coming in exhausted!

We saw Les Miserables 

And of course we did a lot of relaxing!

It was a little chilly while we were there but absolutely beautiful. We really enjoyed the beaches and even went to the tide pools. 

Asilomar Tide Pools: Day One

Mom and Me

Studying the shells we found. Dad told us to try and look natural for the picture.

Jer and me

Some of the cool things we found 

Asilomar Tide Pools: Day 2 

It was so nice because the timeshare we stayed at was right on the beach. We enjoyed watching the sunsets and walking on the beach right outside our place.

Once the Jenkins got there we did a trip to the aquarium. I love the aquarium but it is even more fun with kids. I love to see their awe. I know I was just as excited as they were if not more so. 

This time they had a couple new things to see and do. One thing was they had two sea turtles in the big tank. They were amazing! They came right over to where we were sitting by the glass and swam upside down, back to back. It was so cool!

This is actually two turtles, not a reflection.

Cal and Madi were mesmerized!

I always love the Jellyfish exhibit but this time they had this new interactive activity for you to do. You can design your own jellyfish on this touchscreen and then let it free into the open water.

I was obviously very excited about it!

Mom and I sitting on a jellyfish!

Madi, Elle, Amy and I also made this sweet gingerbread house together! 

Another exciting thing happened on this trip. Since I have never been pregnant before I wasn't sure what it felt like to feel the baby move. I kept thinking the maybe I felt something but I just wasn't sure. Until January 1st! We has stayed up playing BANG! and eating lots of treats until midnight when we celebrated the New Year. After Bobby, Amy, Jeremy and I headed back to our hotel and after getting ready for bed and laying down I felt a very distinguishable kick in the stomach. I quickly called Jeremy over and had him feel and we got another one! Bobby was in the bathroom but Amy was right there so I called her over to feel and we got another one! I was so excited I asked Amy to take a picture to document. Bobby finally got out of the bathroom and I had him come over but I think by that point we had scared her off. I felt bad that Bobby didn't get to feel a kick but was happy that both he and Amy were there to celebrate with us. Such a fun moment to feel our baby for the first time!

This made me even more excited for what this new year has to bring!