Something Fishy's Going On

We decided not to completely waste the three day weekend by sitting around the house, so I gave my sister a call to see if she wanted to get together with the kids. She and her husband Chris have a family pass to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which comes with comp passes. She was able to borrow a couple of additional passes from some friends, and treated us to a day at the aquarium.

I hadn't been there in a few years, so it was cool to go back and see what they've done with the place. I was surprised at how few actual fish exhibits there were. They do have the Outer Bay tank, which has two massive sun fish, a couple of Hammerhead sharks, and a juvenile Great White shark. There was a lot of construction going on in the main pavilion where many of the primary exhibits are, so a lot was unavailable for most visitors. It wasn't bad, I guess I was expecting more.

The kids had a blast. They got to hang out with their cousins and be kids. They all loved the otters and bat rays. An exhibit that allows the kids to touch starfish, seaweed and crabs was also a big hit.

After a few hours at the acquarium, we all joined my dad and Mrs. Kim for dinner at the Chart House right on Cannery Row. This is a nice restaurant with a great view overlooking the Monterey Bay. We didn't realize it, but it was their 20th anniversary, so dinner turned into a celebration of sorts. It's hard to believe that they've been together that long. Time seems to be zipping by.

Dinner was great, but the day came to a close, because the kids had school the next day and we had a long trip back home. We took Hwy 1 north to Hwy 17, where a slushy sleet was falling. They would get up to a foot of snow that night. We got lucky, missing it before it got heavy up there.

Happy New Year!

The new year is here, which means the holidays are over. Bummer. Well, at least we ended 2007 on a high note. We did the usual Christmas Eve festivities at our house, followed by a trip to San Ramon to spend Christmas Day with Sonya's broader family. We capped it all with a trip up to Tahoe to spend the a few days with our friends Roger & Joanne at their cabin. Our friends Robert and Sherri also made the trek up to Tahoe. In all, there were 6 adults and 7 kids.

Sonya and I love the trip up there. It's relaxing as anything and we love hanging out with those guys. Lot's of entertaining conversation, games, food, drink, lounging, eating, drinking, did I mention lounging...and more drinking. We have what's now become our annual trumps game. I am the amatuer, teamed up with my wife, versus Robert and Roger...I'm not good, but I go on the offensive...blaming my wife for our poor team play :)

Roger has prepared this great prime rib for us the last couple of years, and this year was no exception. The kids get to play in the snow all day, so they have a blast. There's a sledding hill a short walk from their cabin, so the kids get plenty of sledding action in. We spent 4 days and 3 nights this year, which is just perfect. We high tailed it out of dodge right before this mammoth storm rolled into town. They're predicting 10 feet of snow in Thoe this weekend, so we timed this year's trip perfectly. I can't wait until next year.

Here are some [photos from the trip]