Nomad Lifestyle- Monterey, CA

As we continued our waiting game for our visa, we were lucky enough to spend a week at my sister's house in Monterey, CA.  It's so fun to have them close enough as an option again!

On our way up to their house, we stopped at the unbelievable Hurst Castle.  It was pretty extravagant for a "ranch."  I can't even imagine maintaining such a huge house! However, the location cannot be beat- gorgeous, green hillsides and beautiful ocean. 

We love being with the Castros. We joined them for church on Sunday, then Michael needed to fly out for a work trip to Romania.  We missed him, but it was nice to be with my sister and her family while he was gone.

Laila said, "Oh! I think he loves me!"  I love them both!

We went to Point Lobos one morning and it did not disappoint! The color of the water was gorgeous and we saw that these seals felt the same as we did.  Nice, private cove for them and their babies! Not too shabby for a seal.

Proof that the two of us handled all four children on the steep trails.  We were pretty proud! 

Another morning, we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  A friend of Annie's let us borrow their pass and it was so great to go.  Their jellyfish exhibits were incredible and I loved seeing the adorable otters playing.

Annie also took us to Carmel by the Sea- SO picturesque!  We also took a short drive down the coast to the beach.  I'm glad the speed limit was slow because between the gorgeous houses on one side and the breathtaking ocean on the other, I could not decide where to look...and I still needed to watch the road, of course.

A charming little candy shoppe.

My beautiful sister and little Dominic.

Laila and J were very busy on the beach- digging holes and finding sticks has to be done just so. ;)

^Loved watching them play together.

Getting J to leave the beach is not an easy task. Haha!

To finish the trip off, the Castros came in to San Francisco with me and we enjoyed an evening of fun.  We went to Boudin's for dinner- YUM! We also enjoyed the penny arcade that Princess Diaries had a scene from.

Harrison might be small, but he's mighty!

In case you didn't know, this girl is passionate! And I love her for that.

For the cherry on top of a great week, we treated ourselves to Ghirardelli.

Someone was not happy about having to wait a second longer before eating ice cream.... haha!

The idea of being a homeless wanderer with two kids and a husband out of the country seemed pretty stressful but being with Annie, Victor and their boys made it seem more like a vacation.  I'm grateful they let us stay in their cottage.  I'm grateful they let us cook some meals and use up their valuable garbage room.  I'm grateful we got to have some nice evenings after the kids were in bed to have treats and watch "Fuller House" and other new movies.  It was a wonderful week.  It's crazy to think how much more grown up our kids are going to be when we get back.

Love those cute matching cousins!