Spring Break -- Day 2

Through Jenna's Eyes

What happens when you give control of the camera to a 6 year old? Let's find out, shall we?

Disclaimer: Jenna moves the camera with her subjects. About 75% of her photos just had to be deleted due to severe nausea while viewing. These are her better shots. I think they are 'Artsy' and belong in an art museum. Not really.

"Waiting for dad to buy tickets to the Monterey Bay Aquarium"

"a hammerhead shark"
"the best otter picture I got....those otters are super-fast"

"a dragonfish. It is the craziest seahorse ever."

"more blurry fish...sardines or anchovies?"

"A domed ceiling with circling sardines...or is it anchovies?"

"A group of ...well I don't even care now...I'll call them 'Finding Nemo' fish cuz they bundled together to make fun shapes. This group would go on to make a heart-shape in 3 more seconds."

"Dinner in Chinatown. The food just kept coming!"

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On Day 2 of our trip we woke up in Monterey Bay. We promptly ate breakfast, checked out of the hotel and parked near the Aquarium. Good thing we were early-birds for once, because when we left 2 hours later there was a line around the block to get into the already crowded aquarium. Spring Breakers.....sheesh.

Brielle is in 4th grade and any California parent knows this means learning about California Missions. Back in Monica's 4th grade days, the school district was crazy for "Projects that Involved Parents Way Too Much" (PTIPWTM). I'm a little fuzzy about the curriculum at that time since I was sleep-deprived with a newborn and we had just moved into the new house. What I DO remember is the California Missions. Students were discouraged from purchasing the pre-fab styrofoam mission kits....but when you and your parents don't understand English adequately then it is not enforced. (wink) OUR outstanding family also shunned the kits, stupidly, and spent way too many hours constructing Monica's mission out of gingerbread. I love gingerbread houses. Monica just likes to decorate stuff. It brought our the worst of our ADD. Our finished product didn't resemble the actual structure much, but that isn't important; it had four sides and a roof. And it was edible with lots of candy---even the cemetery was delicious.
By the time Amanda got to her mission experience, all parents had had enough and severely reduced PTIPWTM. We dipped California-grown strawberries in chocolate and called it a day.

Back to our trip! Brielle was thrilled to know we'd be on a road trip and assumed we'd go to her assigned Mission. Lucky enough, it truly was smack-dab in the middle of our map. She and her dad made a video journal for her mission report. After some editing, we also called it a day and the DVD is being turned in early.

So the Santa Clara Mission was in the middle of Silicone Valley. Poor James. All those buildings we passed with logos of the front-runners of technology! He couldn't even get us to turn our unimpressed heads. If it wasn't the promise of the bay or the Golden Gate Bridge then we weren't interested. I apologized for sitting next to him when any one of his brothers would have been more welcome.

We arrived in San Fran and went to a hotel that was waiting for us in the heart of the city. Again, unimpressed with the possibility of a shoebox of a room, we ventured North of the city to Mill Valley and found a room for the night. We mosied back to Chinatown for dinner, but didn't linger much- due to a very unfamiliar nightlife. James and I realized that families of 6 were not conducive to the Big City. Large SUVs are as ridiculous as they are rare.


We needed to get a good night's sleep 'cuz tomorrow would be one of the busiest days of the trip...