California- Monterey Bay Aquarium

I grew up going to this aquarium. It's really just an amazing place!

California- Happy Hollow

The kids had a week off school for Thanksgiving so we decided to head home to Northern California for a week.


Growing up I went to Happy Hollow a small amusement park for kids. It has recently been redone and is almost completely different.

The good old puppet theatre was still there... Here the girls were waiting to see the show.

The girls seriously rode this like 10 times.  SO fun!

The jungle gym was amazing. Unfortunately it was rainy so it wasn't fully explored.

The classic bug cars were still there. 

and the petting zoo was there in much nicer digs.

Maybe this replaced the stepping stones with water all around it?  I have seen so many kids fall in the water.  The risk is gone now.

We had so much fun, even in the rain!

Best for last...

We finally found a place that served breakfast (a lot of stuff was closed during our stay).

 As a side note my sister is amazing trip planner and I benefited so much from all her research. One thing she did that helped me a lot was she researched menu's and we had a eating out budget. We went to the grocery store first and then only at out once a day.  We actually came out of our trip under budget on food too.  It helped me to plan and just take the cash out for my meals before hand. I didn't feel as guilty.
 After breakfast we walked the beach. 

We took tons of photo's because it was seriously beautiful. Empty too (which is why we were alone in all of them).


Because it was our last day in paradise we paid for a snorkeling tour by boat. Apparently the usually glass like water was stirred up from Hurricane Igor the week before. They only got 45 minutes of rain from the actual Hurricane but it affected the water a bit. So headed out  by boat was a better option.

We took a boat tour out with a company called Big Blue (just in case your taking notes for your vacation).  This included two snorkeling excursions (which were absolutely awesome yet  not pictured opps), a trip to private and stunning island

I really can't tell you how beautiful it was. The white sand, the color of the water. The sea shells everywhere.  I got one for each kid, and a intact sand dollar (don't worry there are so many we were encouraged to take them). I even came across from a huge live star fish. Don't worry he wasn't out of the water long.

You have no idea how hard it is to post my bathing suit shots but its just so pretty I have to prove it was real!

It also stopped at an island which is an Iguana sanctuary.  Not the best for me and my reptile fear but I got pics for Jacob.

After our day trip we hurried back to the beach and floated till Sunset. Just to get as much time in the water as possible...
The sunset was so pretty on the clouds..

And just like that the sunset on our vacation and it was over.  I arrived home last night.  I feel a little out of sorts and bit jet lagged but the hugs and kisses more than make up for that!  Dream Vacation for sure!

Where we are staying on Turks and Caico's...

Here is the Villa we are staying at... Atlantic Ocean Beach Villa's.

 We have our own wrap around balcony...

The pool though we just swim in the ocean.

You can see the ocean from the balcony. The walk to the ocean is less than 5 minutes.
Our room is the studio. It has a small kitchenette, walk in closet, and huge bathroom. No one is anywhere near us at all! The caretakers live on site. I have never seen people work so hard. They wake up early and work from morning till night keeping the yard and cleaning.  Makes me think us Americans are very lazy.

We spent today reading and floating in the ocean. The snorkeling conditions were not good today but it was great anyway.

Thanks to Holly who found the Villa's we are staying at. We took a risk not staying at a resort which really paid off. The room, the kitchen, the privacy and the price make it the best place I have seen. I feel lucky!

Turks and Caico's Day 3

Today we woke up and were determined to go snorkeling.

 This is the beach right by our hotel.  The wind was really bad and the water was choppy so we swam all the way out and failed. 
We then decided nothing was a nice as Taylor Bay (we visited this the first day).  So we drove over there and floated and relaxed all day.

There are lizards everywhere here...

Grace Bay Day 2

Today we woke up to thunder in the distance and overcast skies. So we took a walk around the area. Interstingly enough this is the off season and they truly mean off many restaurants are closed for this month and almost no one else is around. In walking around we aquired a conch shell. They are everywhere here. Most people remove the animal and eat it. I declined that idea

We hardly went anywhere yet I was exhausted.  96% humidity is really a big deal!

Eventually we mustered the energy to float in the ocean. We brought along some tubes (my sisters wise planning).  It is the best idea ever, so relaxing.  Even with the wind and some rain it was wonderful. The water is so warm!  The snorkeling right off the shore is amazing. Hoping to see that tomorrow it was a little scary to swim out there in this weather, although I think we were just being wimpy.

The sand here is white like nothing I have seen. It is so much softer too. Love it.


After reading and resting some more (see a trend)... we were ready to walk the beach and look for a restaurant. Walking the beach proved true exercise!  We did find a great place to eat and worked a little getting there it was about an hour walk each way.  Win win.

Sunset