Father's Day 2009

We had a nice time celebrating Father's Day!

Here are the Parker and Claire giving Brian his cards and gift.

We had lunch with Brian's parents. Here is Brian's dad reading his card. Notice Claire's new habit of chewing on her hair (it drives me crazy)! Parker is obviously thrilled!
Father's Day was also Ron and Freddie's 40th anniversary so we surprised them with a little celebration. Here they are posing with their cake.

My dad is still in the hospital, so we visited him later in the day. He really enjoyed his cards, gift, and new picture of the kids.

We are so thankful for all the wonderful men in our lives!

Monterey

For all three of you that read my blog, I promise this is the last post about California! Since it is essentially the only "scrapbook" I am keeping up with these days, I want to make sure I cover all the highlights of our trip.

We visited Monterey one day, and Parker happened upon some pirates.

We went to Monterey Bay Aquarium which is a very well-known aquarium in the United States. Brian has always loved aquariums, so believe me, I've been to my share! This was by far the very best one we've ever been too. There were SO MANY interactive exhibits. So many things to touch, look at, play on, and read. We were there for several hours, and I'm sure we could have stayed for several more if we hadn't been so hungry!

Here's Parker comparing his size to a baby whale.

There were several stations to draw and even make books.

Parker and Claire with the seahorse

Now Parker IS a seahorse!

Touching a starfish

After the aquarium and lunch, we drove along the 17 mile drive. We have several great pictures, but I think I'll hold off on posting them. They will probably end up on our Christmas card. Here a few to share now though.

That's my crazy husband up there!

Our last stop was at the famous Pebble Beach golf course. Here we are standing on the first tee.

Of all the places I've visited in California, Monterey is at the top of my list! Brian and I first went to Monterey ten years ago and loved it then too!

San Francisco

Our day in San Francisco was fun but very cold and windy.

We started at Pier 39. We saw lots of these little friends.
Even ran into good ole' Spongebob.

Fun riding the carousel

Lunch at Bubba Gump's

We saw lots of cute bread creations like this alligator.

We rode a cable car.

Here are Brian and Parker on the cable car. Don't you just love Parker's expression?

We also drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was so foggy that I could never get a great picture. Last time we were in San Francisco it was windy and cool, but it was definitely not this foggy.

So I present to you...the Golden Gate Bridge (or the lack thereof)

Driving across the bridge

Santa Cruz

While in California, we spent an afternoon in Santa Cruz. It was beautiful and so much fun. There was a boardwalk with tons of rides. The beach was really nice!
I just had to take this picture of this huge slush puppie stand. Yum!

Lots of rides!

We hadn't originally planned to drive out to Santa Cruz, but I'm so glad we did!