Monterey

So we visited Monterey Bay this weekend since it was our anniversary this past week. The weather was nice and we had a good, relaxing time.

Monterey is like a mini San Francisco with all kinds of shops and seafood restaurants. They even had a Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant, a Ghirardeli shop, and a wax museum just like at Fisherman's Wharf.

 And we found some interesting things to take picture with--like this giant otter. Who knew a giant otter would be here to greet us. Very nice hospitality.

So the main reason we came was to go to the aquarium since it seems to be the most talked about thing to do south of the peninsula.

It was pretty crazy how many animals and sea life that the aquarium had. It seemed that everywhere we went there was some new and exciting thing to look at.

They even had this area where you could pretend like you were underneath a wave--pretty exciting for everyone.

I think the highlight of the day was the otter feeding. We got out of a show and decided to go look at the otters and found out that feeding time was soon so we stuck around. I can't remember the last time I was so cramped in a little area because everyone wanted a good view of the otters.

One of our favorites was definitely the jelly fish. They had so many different kinds!

For some reason I got really thirsty around this anti-plastic art.

Monterey was well known for its sardines during the 30s and 40s so we took a fun video of them--and towards the end we get a little guy that really likes the camera.

There were also really fun sea horses

And the plants were also very nice as well--or is this a plant...

Or is it a crazy looking sea horse in camouflage? What!?

We liked these jelly fish because it looked like they were decorated. And it was so compact like a little ball. While the one below was really long and is one of the few actually dangerous jelly fish in the world.

And of course we ran into the Biebs and had to take a photo with him. No matter where we go we always run into him.

San Mateo County Fair

So we made it to the San Mateo Fair this year (we just missed it last year when we moved into our new place). We have been looking forward to going for awhile. We both miss going to the fair so it was a good excuse to go out on a nice, sunny day.

This fair was no ordinary fair--it also had a rainforest exhibit! With exotic birds, snakes, and a sloth!

Of course they had lots of pigs, sheep, and chickens. This chicken was one of our favorites because it had this big poof of feathers covering its face.

They also had some fun shows where all the food was at. Some were better than others. The one we liked the most were the Chinese acrobats.

Then there was the pig racing. I don't think our pig one in all 4 of the races. Oh well--next time.

We sampled some of the food at the fair. We got a jumbo corn dog and a funnel cake. Overall a very nice trip and a good way to spend the afternoon.

Memorial Day Weekend

Let's hit off Memorial Day weekend with a little Alcatraz!

So Michael and Mandy came up late Friday night (early Saturday morning) and decided to hang with us at Alcatraz. Jeff and Alia decided to come too after coming back from their vacation in South America.

We wandered around Fisherman's Wharf for awhile when we got back and decided we would like some ice cream and chocolate at Ghirardelli Square.

Alan (Luke's twin brother) and Allison joined us a little later on in the day so we could enjoy some seafood right off the bay.

We hung out a little on Pier 39 and enjoyed the night life a little bit and found a great new place to eat thanks to Jeff and Alia. (Trish's Mini Donuts)

Also the full moon rising behind the Bay Bridge was pretty cool on our drive home.

The next day we all had fun at church and we happened to have a choir performance that day so a lot of our visitors stepped in to help. Rachel's debut of her arrangement of Joseph Smiths First Prayer turned out very good and the help we got was very appreciated. 

We had some homemade pizza and then went for a walk at the reservoir near our apartment. It got pretty windy but it was a nice walk.

The next day we got up early to make it to Muir Woods as early as we could to try to beat the crowd. Our friend Kevin happened to be up here visiting his brother so we got to meet up with them on the hike.

Nope. Climbing up hollow logs for a photo op is not just for little kids.

We went to an Indian place for lunch and got some tikka masala. We went to Golden Gate Park and looked at the bison (and some gophers who were a little more entertaining) and then got the best ice cream from the food truck there.

It was a very fun weekend!