Mvsevm

August has developed a love for the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, aka, "Whale!"

 I've talked about this museum before.

It's weird.

But it's free and down the street. And has a big whale out front.

In an effort to make it more hands-on, they've added some new exhibits.

Like the above "match the correct eyeballs to the skull" installation.

Or the below, "try the fur on the taxidermy form to see which one fits."

This whale eyeball gets me every time.

Also, the (not pictured) preserved giant squid. Ew.

The maximum occupancy for the upstairs is 30 people. I don't know why that makes me laugh.

 Another new thing is the taxidermy scavenger hunt. AKA, "Homework."

Two not weird things:

The Spirit Nest

And Sandy the whale.

(pictures from 2/24 and 2/27)

I'm So Glad We Did Meat

The usual for Valentine's Day:

 - Giant Hershey Kisses.

- A scavenger hunt to find a small gift (I was extra proud of my clues this year, one of which included how smart they were to be figuring them out. Um, they needed help decoding more than one).

- A date (we went with Sarah & Jeff to Salinas City BBQ - not the fanciest, but SO good).

The Life

I posted this picture on Instagram the other day and a friend commented that I live the life.

That day I most definitely did.

We met friends at Stillwater Cove and kayaked our little hearts out.

Owen and Drew, who were pretty scared last time we went (in a 2-man kayak, me in charge), had a change of heart. They did awesome on their own and just took off.

I went out with Auggie for awhile and it was my own personal heaven. He was so content and I'm gonna assume he loved it as much as me. He didn't want to go back to shore. When we finally did, his hands were purple from the cold water dripping on them as I paddled. Never complained once.

2/17

The day before we had a great time, too (the kids had the week off from school).

Justin loaded up the bikes and an extra kid (Owen's friend Kevin) for a ride to the old bunkers and watchtower at Fort Ord.

(first kid was Kevin, followed by Drew)

2/16

So fun. So pretty. Love where I live a lot.



But then Wednesday came and my work week started.

And oh my gosh it was one of the worst work weeks of my life. Beyond busy and stressful. I worked literally nonstop. Neglected the kids and missed out on the rest of their school-free week. Justin was here so they weren't fending for themselves, but he was sick. It was horrible.

(thank goodness for awesome friends and neighbors that gave the kids some breaks)



In summary, some days I do live THE life. And I'm grateful for it, trying to take full advantage of this amazing place.

And other days, I just live A life. A crazy, busy, and stressful life.

And sometimes we even eat Life.

2/20

The end.



PS Work fried my brain. Then we took the kids to see SpongeBob on Saturday, and my brains got fried even more.

2/21

The River + The Beach

  

1/26

I love how every trip to the beach is different in a good way.

(same goes for every Disneyland trip)

This trip to Carmel River State Beach was great because there were huge king tides.

There was a river with no tides.

We saw dolphins.

And there was a trail just above the beach with amazing views.

The only not good part was that FREEZING river water gave Benjamin a little shock when he fell in.

Garrapata

My mom called Wednesday afternoon, after Derek and Loren had left, to ask if I'd seen the picture on the inside cover of the new February Ensign. My dad had recognized the spot from our pictures and wanted to see if it was the same place. Most definitely WAS the same place! So awesome.

Took Sally back yesterday because it's the best, the weather was perfect, and the boys just wanted to hang out with friends at home. 

The waves were amazing.

 Don't worry, she didn't pick those flowers.

Was just happy to find them left behind by someone else who did the dirty work.