Big Sur Adventure

I was so excited to spend the day driving down the coast to Big Sur. Uncle Will lives in Big Sur now and works at an awesome restaurant called Nepenthe. I am so glad all our schedules aligned to make this day happen. We drove down the coast early, the views were amazing as usual. We didn't stop to take any photos, we've done that before. Plus there are so many beautiful places to stop, there's just too many to choose from.We got down to Nepenthe just in time for brunch. We dined with the most beautiful view and wrangled the kids, which were kind of crazy, but that to be expected. We toured Uncle Will's place and par-oozed the gift shop...which has the cutest stuff. We loaded in two cars and headed down the coast a little further to Lime Kiln to hike. We have heard horror stories about the massive amount of tourists in Big Sur but had never seen it in real life. Well it was real and it was pretty bad. People parking on the side of the highway, walking on the highway, stopping in the middle of the road. It was insane. For those of you thinking of planning a trip here....you've been warned. We made it down and hiked up Lime kiln canyon. It was a beautiful hike through the redwoods along a rushing stream. We made it to a waterfall after getting our feet wet crossing the usually dry stream. I can't imagine what it's like now after all the rain California had been getting. I'm glad we went when we did because now you can' even get to Lime Kiln or Nepenthe because of landslides. We ate, hiked and relaxed on the beach. It was a perfect day with my brothers and their loved ones. 

We headed back up the coast and caught the sunset which was beautiful. We also caught traffic. I'm sure glad I packed a cooler full of food and the ipad and phones were charged. The kids remained happy and fed and we got home tired but happy after a fun filled day. 

Will is now a manager at Nepenthe. Brunch was great, it taste even better when it's free ;)

Lucy awake one minute, asleep the next. Her head was bobbing around, she just couldn't quite get comfortable. 

We were trying our best to keep from getting our feet wet. I finally just jumped in with Ellie on my back. 

Clearly we need a selfie stick!

Christmas Continued

 Although the crowd was small there was no food lacking. We woke up, prepared some food and then just snacked on food all day. We had a few friends stop in for visits and spent the rest of the day with family. Ellie helped my mom prepare crab, the girls had homemade Christmas dresses made by my mom, we exchanged gifts early on in the evening and overall it was a great day. 

In the past few years we have gone completely overboard on Christmas. This year I really planned out exactly what I would get for the girls and stuck to it. Everything went over perfectly. The last minute whoopie cushion stocking stuffer was definitely a crowd favorite. They were both broken by the end of the day. 

We headed out the Uncle Ross's the next day, we went for a short hike and enjoyed the beautiful green scenery.  

Jared got to Salinas 5 days after I did and hadn't seen the ocean yet so we made our obligatory trip to the coast and the wharf for some calamari. It was a beautiful but cold day at Asilomar beach. The girls played in the sand, got their feet wet and we tried out our new binoculars. We caught a few crazy surfers out in the cold water. We strolled the wharf, ate calamari, the girls ate french fries and we spotted a few sea lions. It was a beautiful day on the bay.