A Trip to the Coast

(Nearly) a once in a lifetime opportunity...a super clear and warm afternoon and evening in Half Moon Bay! We joined my parents for a delicious dinner and drinks on the patio at La Costenara on the beach in Montera.

Pumpkin Patch

Looks like a good "read"

Monterey Bay Aquarium

This weekend was beatiful so we decided to capitalize upon the warm, sunny weather and head down to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium.  We love this place and hoped Annabel would be able to appreciate at least parts of it.  She's still a too short for the exhibits but she seemed to have a blast - so much so we couldn't convince her to take two seconds to look at the camera without trying to squirm away, hense the collection of "action shots" that follow.

Checking out the kelp bed exhibit.

Some of her favorites were all the whales and dolphins hanging from the celing... (that's her trying to touch one below)...

...the jellyfish

...and the kiddie area where she could get hands on.

 

Enjoying the park on a beautiful day

Hmmm...can't quite get them right side up.

Preparing Halloween!

I'm ready for the Cape, let's go!

Oktoberfest

Big Red

Happy Birthday Great-Grandma!

Houston, we have a Toddler.

Annabel has progressed quickly from taking a few steps at a time to walking...or toddling.  Coincidentally, she reached this milestone at the same time as she was "out-babied" at daycare and swim class.  Last Monday a new infant started at daycare and this weekend a younger baby was in the pool - she is no longer the youngest!  There will be many fun adventures that come with toddler-hood, so perhaps it's time we stop calling her a baby...even though in spirit, I'm sure we'll always think of her as "our baby".

Barn Dance

The Woodside Town Barn Dance was this weekend where Annabel took her first pony ride!

Moo.

In the petting "zoo" with all the little animals.

There were all kinds of critters - from rabbits to ducks and chickens, and more!

 

 Yes, that's a tiny pig nibbling on Annabel's shoe!  And a goat eyeing her chubby ankles like they could be a tasty snack.

 Annabel and her new friend Sierra, with whom she had fun following around and boogying down with on the dance floor (to a killer Johnny Cash-style band).