The Joys of FaceTime

Tonight Alexa had a long-awaited conversation with her BFF Gabriella via FaceTime (video conference on the iPhone).  Gabriella is attending a different school this year, so the girls aren't getting the daily interaction they're used to, but that has not dissipated their friendship one bit.  It is hilarious to watch and listen to these two girls; they have their own language full of inside jokes.  After we ended tonight's FaceTime session, Alexa looked at me and said, "I really miss Gabriella; I'm glad I could FaceTime with her.  It's too bad that I cannot FaceTime with Granty because I really miss him too."

I can only imagine the conversations Granty and Alexa would have....I'm sure there would be lots of cooing and giggling.  Alexa always had a knack for making her baby brother smile - I think those interactions are one of the things I miss most.  Whenever I see Alexa doing the same "gaa gaa" noises with other babies, it always evokes a sense of wistfulness.  I am looking forward to seeing Alexa interact with her new sibling; she loves being a big sister, so her new brother or sister will be very lucky.

Always happy to help bathe Granty...two smiley kiddos.

Back to School

Back to normal....I think Alexa had the toughest transition of all of us, as she had been out of her normal Montessori routine for nearly two and a half weeks.  She was in a surprisingly good mood this morning, especially after I agreed that she could wear her sparkly Monterey shirt to school.  For this first day of school, today was relatively uneventful; Alexa continues to be in the Primary class with her same teacher, so that's a huge benefit.  It definitely made the quick turnaround from vacation to school much easier.

When I picked up Alexa from Aftercare tonight, I was floored at the reception I received from the staff at the school, as this was the first time seeing me since announcing the pregnancy.  It was touching to see how many people are excited for our family and praying for a healthy new arrival.  We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful support system throughout so many aspects of our lives.

Even though we had a good vacation, it is nice to be home.  Damon did purchase a few Powerball tickets for tonight's drawing, so hopefully this will be a short-lived return to normalcy  :)

Ready to conquer another school year!

Goodbye Monterey!

Despite an early afternoon flight out of San Jose, we made the most of our last day of vacation and the limited time we had in California.  Bright and early this morning, we met up with friends at one of our favorite Monterey breakfast spots (although I did take a bit of ribbing for ordering wheat germ pancakes).  En route to San Jose, we made a quick stop at a few outlet stores in Gilroy, although it was a rather unsuccessful shopping trip....the Lululemon outlet was a total bust!  All in all, I could not have asked for a better vacation.  Our trips to St. Louis, San Francisco and Monterey were the perfect break from the hectic lives we've had over the past year.

The aura of vacation came to a screeching halt tonight at 7pm.  That's when the electric rates change to off-peak, meaning it was time for me to start to do laundry.  Ugh!  I was very spoiled with my mom doing all of our laundry in St. Louis and having to do no laundry while in Monterey.  I did manage to skirt the issue of the empty refrigerator (and my need to grocery shop), as Damon picked up some Chinese food for dinner tonight.  Thankfully there were plenty of leftovers to pack for Alexa's lunch tomorrow too.

Looks like a trip to the grocery store is on the docket for tomorrow....Alexa's already started to build the list for me. :)

It was definitely not easy to leave this!
Searching for seashells was high on the Monterey activity list.

Living the Life in Santa Cruz

Today we made a day trip to Santa Cruz to meet up with some great friends for lunch.  What a difference 40 miles makes!  Monterey has been overcast and pretty chilly, but Santa Cruz was beautiful - sunny and warm.  We enjoyed lunch at Aldo's on the Santa Cruz Harbor; it was quite the picturesque setting, basking in the sun and watching the boats launch into the water.  Great food...great friends...great weather.  :)

After lunch, we had the opportunity to take a private tour of Aldo's Bakery, and Alexa (and Damon) was in heaven.  It was pretty amazing to see the industrial equipment and the manual labor that goes into the process of making the varieties of bread.  Alexa's favorites were definitely the hot dog and hamburger buns awaiting to go in the oven.  My personal favorite was the pastry tasting we had in the bakery's retail space - it was like we were back at the Italian delis in New Jersey.

This has been such a wonderful vacation; I don't think any of us are looking forward to our flight home tomorrow.  It will be a harsh reintroduction to reality when we land in Phoenix and return back to 100-degree temperatures.  We will be happy to see Alstott though!

Damon and I have already decided that we need to make trips to Monterey more often; both of us love this city.  It will be tough to leave tomorrow afternoon!

Enjoying a close-up view of the bread "proofing."
Who needs Disneyland when you can get a personal bakery tour?

A Seahorse....finally!

Damon's immediate family came to Monterey for the weekend, so it was a great opportunity to spend time with the whole family.  With everyone's busy lives, it seems that holidays have become some of the rare times we all get together, so this was a very welcome weekend for all of us.  The rest of the family left this afternoon, so Damon, Alexa and I were a solo group again tonight.

I discovered earlier today that the Monterey Bay Aquarium was open until 8pm tonight, so the three of us headed down Cannery Row to the aquarium around 5pm.  Talk about an enjoyable visit!  We completely avoided the lines that had snaked around the building all weekend and had a first-hand glimpse at all of the exhibits.  We must have stayed at the otter tank for at least 15 minutes, watching the four otters swim and play directly in front of us.  The stingrays were staying out of reach, but the disappointment of not being able to touch a ray was more than compensated by the jellyfish and seahorse displays.  Alexa has been begging to see seahorses for months (no luck at the St. Louis, Denver nor Phoenix zoos), so an entire wing of seahorses was a complete thrill for her.  We spent nearly three hours at the aquarium, and Damon and I both remarked that it was our best visit by-far...largely due to Alexa's age but also the perfect time for our visit.

Alexa and I also got to see a little more of Monterey than we planned tonight.  We hopped on the trolley, planning to take a scenic loop around Monterey and concluding at our start-point in front of the hotel.  Apparently we grabbed the last trolley of the night, so unbeknownst to Alexa and myself (along with a family visiting from Europe), we were on a one-way tip to downtown Monterey.  It's a good thing I know my way around this city extremely well - thanks to the three years Damon lived here - and we were able to make the walk back to the hotel (~1.5 mi) in the shortest route possible.  It also fulfilled my workout for the day, as Alexa was pretty tired and I gave her a piggy-back ride nearly the entire way.  It was an enjoyable walk and a nice change from my normal workout routine!

Posing with a larger than life seahorse.

All smiles on the trolley....before we realized it was a one-way trip!

Happy 14-month Birthday, Granty!

As much fun as we have been having on our family vacation, Granty's absence has been very noticeable.  It was exactly one year ago that we took our first vacation as a family of four to San Diego; we're definitely missing our fourth member this trip.  It's hard to believe today is his fourteen-month birthday.

Although he's not with us physically, he has undoubtedly been on the minds of all three of us during this trip.  Within the first hour of our visit to San Francisco, we turned the corner in Fisherman's Wharf, and sure enough, a reminder of Granty was right there - - two huge giraffes adorned the entrance to a (somewhat tacky) fine china and art gallery.  Those giraffes, albeit a bit ornate, served as great reminder of our Granty, as we passed them each time we made our way back to the hotel.

The thoughts of Granty did not stop in San Francisco.  Yesterday, we met up with the parents of Damon's good childhood friend and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon in Carmel.  Nic owns an art studio in Carmel and is an extremely talented artist, so we stopped by the studio after lunch to see some of his masterpieces.  As soon as we entered his studio, Alexa said, "Look...it's Granty!"  Nic kept a program from Granty's funeral on his desk, and Alexa spotted her baby brother's photo immediately.  It was yet another sweet reminder of our little boy.

Happy 14-months, Granty!  You are constant in our hearts and on our minds.

The giraffe statues - a nice reminder of our little boy in SF.

Alexa finishes her watercolor masterpiece with a little coaching
from Nic.  He was kind enough to also matte and frame the her
work....it is actually a really pretty and colorful piece!

Promoting Education

Aside from the "freezing" cold weather here in the Bay Area (yes, we have definitely become acclimated to Arizona weather), it was another phenomenal vacation day.  We wrapped up our brief San Francisco leg of the trip with a harbor cruise this morning, enjoying some great views of the city, Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.  The cruise was a hit with Alexa, especially after we spotted some sea lions swimming in the choppy waters.  She was also very intrigued with the concept of jail/prison, as I did my best to explain the significance of Alcatraz.  She asked quite a few questions that even had me stumped; it really is fascinating to see how her mind works.  Thankfully, after Alcatraz, we quickly approached Pier 39 so I was able to distract her by pointing out the sea lions laying on the pier.

Before we left San Francisco, we had to make one special stop for Alexa - she desperately wanted a Sea Turtle sourdough roll from Boudin Bakery.  Alexa and Damon love watching the show 'Cake Boss' together, so the Boudin Bakery and its visible demonstration bakery was a huge attraction for Alexa.  I will admit, it is pretty impressive to watch them bake the various varieties and shapes of sourdough.  Damon was more than happy to swing into the bakery to grab the bread for Alexa (and successfully sneak a cookie for himself...finally!), and she munched on her sourdough turtle roll as we made the drive south to Monterey.

As we drove to Monterey from San Francisco, I stopped in Palo Alto to grab something to drink.  When I came out of the store, Damon and I realized I had parked in front of a Stanford gift shop...so of course we had to pick up a sweatshirt for our future Stanford graduate.  Haha.  For the record, she does have Purdue apparel as well, so Damon and I are not neglecting our alma mater, but a 35% off sale was too good of deal to pass up.  Alexa fell asleep for the rest of the drive to Monterey, clutching her sweatshirt in her lap.  I'll take that as a good sign of her educational endeavors!

Tomorrow should be another fun day - the beach in Carmel is on the agenda, as Alexa is very interested in searching for seashells.  I'm just looking forward to a relaxing day in one of my favorite places...Monterey!

Showing off her coveted sourdough sea turtle;
the best kind of souvenir...an edible one!

Our future Stanford grad (she'll grow into the sweatshirt)!