El Primero de Muchos

Denise, Liam and I had our first family vacation a few weeks back...well the first solo expedition at least. Mary's son was in town for a few days so we took the opportunity to get out of dodge quick and spend some time just the three of us. After much debate and hesitation, we decided on a stay in Monterey/Big Sur.

Yes I know the very large picture is overkill, but the coastline was quite amazing and the drive was easily (and surprisingly) the best part of the trip. However, first things first - the hotel. We finally scored a good deal on Priceline and so ended up at a Hyatt resort just off the highway in Monterrey. Our room had a microwave, a mini fridge, two queen size beds, a balcony, cable, and most importantly, a bathroom large enough to fit Liam's pac-n-play. Denise and I were a little selfish (abusive maybe?) and decided that just because Liam was going to go to bed at 8pm every night, we shouldn't have to. So our ingenious solution to the problem of having a sleeping baby in a single hotel room was of course to put him in the shower. We meant to take a picture but it slipped our minds upon leaving - probably all for the better. Liam does fine in tight spaces though, so we don't feel all that bad.

We spent our first day walking around the Point Lobos National Reserve. Again we found our borrowed baby pack to be a lifesaver. Liam happily sat in the back pack while we walked around and appreciated nature. We saw birds, harbor seals, and ridiculous amounts of poison oak. I was of course wearing shorts, but luckily I was able to avoid any contact with plant, it just meant I had to walk more gingerly than I typically do. 

Day two found us making the 3 mile walk from our hotel to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We wanted to rent bikes, but an incompetent employee at the hotels equipment shack kept us from fulfilling our dreams. But the walk was along the coast and so wasn't all that bad (until Liam freaked out on the way home). The walk was mostly uneventful, but at one point we got massive ice cream cookies on Cannery Row that made us both sick and negated any health benefits of walking so far. The aquarium was really great, and Liam was completely enthralled the entire time. Each display was like a television set we would actually let him watch, his favorite being the penguins/other water fowl. 

The third (and final) day is when we drove up and down highway 1. Like I said earlier, it was easily the best part of the trip. We got out occasionally to eat and walk out directly onto the coast, but mostly it was just a nice drive in which Liam actually behaved for the most part. We ended the day at Sand Dollar beach, following Liam around with a camera. He enjoyed himself, but mostly because there were birds to look at, otherwise I doubt he even would have realized he was somewhere different. 

As you can see from that last photo, Liam wasn't a huge fan of the sand at first, but he came around. We leave you with a short clip of him walking around on the beach. WARNING: the clip is very boring, but it does showcase his walking quite nicely. Notice how although he insists on joining the rest of us bipeds by refusing to crawl...he hasn't quite gotten his technique down quite yet. In fact just about 15 minutes ago Liam was playing with his new toy (an oven mit) covered his eyes with it, and walked head first into a table.  I think Tina Fey's description of babies is apt in this occasion - and I'm paraphrasing here - babies are more than just adorable little creatures on whom you can blame your farts, they are also drunk midgets who stagger around your house.