Just returned home from our whirlwind Memorial Wknd camping trip in Monterey, with Jake, Deana, Caleb & Lilly. What a great time we had! Arrived on Friday afternoon in time to make some sandwiches before the kids arrived. Just a slight delay from a tire blowout shortly after setting off. Our hero, AAA, arrived swiftly, and had us on our way. After a round of hugs, we checked out the RV park...nicely situated across from the beautiful Marin beach, but kinda pricey and definitely not green & woodsy as we hoped. But clean, and had all the hookups....then off to our family dinner at Passion Fish restaurant in Monterey...a short 15 min. drive away. Dinner was a~maz~ing! We shared a nibbler of squid marinated in a spicy cilantro-citrus/mango sauce, smoked trout civeche with a cashew pesto, and a butternut squash soup with a dollop of green onion-lime cream, and sprinkled with smoked bacon. Have I got the taste buds salivating yet???...there's more! My entree was the Sea Scallops with tomato truffle butter, and risotto. We indulged with 3 different deserts, all incredibly yummy, but my favorite was the bread pudding with pecan-caramel sauce. The kids were so good, and ate like champs. Saturday we woke up to a pretty day, and enjoyed an outdoor meal of breakfast burritos, and then walked to the beach...just a short hike across the dunes. The walk itself was beautiful, so many textures & colors dotting the "dunescape". At the top of the hill we got the expansive view of miles of beach and crashing surf. Just a few people, and several fisherman with long poles stuck in the sand. We spent a couple of hours out there enjoying the beauty of pristine beach & dunes, with no development out there. Similar to our own Morro Strand from Montana de Oro to Morro Bay, but much longer. So beautiful. Watching Jacob play with his babies pulled on this Grandma's heartstrings....he's such a wonderful Father. He chased them, they squealed and ran as fast as their little legs would fly. He let them bury him to his neck in sand, ugh...but they loved it. Caleb made us all laugh when he said "I'm making you into a mermaid, Dad, and applied sand boobies to Jake about waist level. hee hee Then he gave them a short lesson on dune board surfing, and they slid, and hiked up over and over...such energy! As lunch time and naps were looming, we made our way back to the campsites. After lunch, Bruce read stories to Caleb and Lilly, and one by one, they all had a nice snooze in the tent. Then Bruce snuck out to play some games with Jacob, while Deana and I snuck off for a truly awesome pedicure. Wow, we found a gr8 place, best massages ever, and cheap! Woot! That evening we had a BBQ planned with Jake & Deana's friends, Jeff & Melody and their precious little girls. We had a de-lish tri-tip dinner with Jacob's special green sauce...no I don't remember what's in it, but it's soooo yum! Corn on the cob, baked potatoes, bread...and of course, s'mores! A true camping experience. It would have been perfect, except it started sprinkling...then raining! Yikes! Unfortunately it ended our evening with their good friends earlier than planned, but we consoled ourselves with a couple of games of Catan, our current favorite game. Sunday morning we made use of the left-over tri-tip, and made some yummy eggs, and toast that took waaay to long to "toast". Then we set off to a wonderful park in Monterey, Dennis the Menice park. Watching our grandbabies run, play, hide, slide and climb to their hearts content, made ours feel the same. Then we drove into Monterey along the Cannery area, and rented a 6 seater surry, no fringe, and stuck the kids in the front, each with their own bells. "Lord have Mercy on our ears!" hehe We biked along the path to Pacific Grove and back, then to Fisherman's Wharf and back. It was a spectacular day, sunny, slight breeze, ahhh...perfect! I had several moments of sheer joy, and a couple of good whacks to the ankle from not being able to keep up with my son's peddling. After our ride, we wandered into a candy store just to ensure the sugar level remained at an all time high for us all, and then off to lunch at Gianni's pizza, sooo good! Back to the camp in time for naps, and another round of Catan for the big kids. Jake and Deana had a wedding to attend in Monterey that evening so they readied themselves for the event, and I drove them to and from so that a glass or two of wine wouldn't be a problem. While I was gone, Bruce tried to wrangle the kiddos, along with Willie, who decided his "issues" with abondonment were @ peak neurosis levels, and scooted off in search of the beloved master...aka, Jake. I returned to find them all safely tucked inside, playing nicely, so I wonder if it was all a ruse to make me feel guilty for my 20 min. stopover shopping extravaganza at wal-mart. Hmmmm??? Anywho...we had a nice evening indulging our grandbabies in much sticker craft, fake cupcake decorating, a game of hide and seek (not too difficult to find them in a short 2 room trailer, but their 3 & 4 and easy to convince.) and then waterlogged them in the teeny tub long enough for them to prune-up sufficiently. When their energy peaked, and ours had long since waned, we fired up the DVD player, and snuggled in for the Disney movie "Tangled" (very cute), which they had seen, but we hadn't. They didn't make it 1/2 way through before they opted out, choosing bed and blankies over two old toots. Monday morning breakfast of poppish (oatmeal) satisfied our tummies, then it was time to break camp, and say goodbye. Long hugs and many kisses later, we waved our parting, and I still feel their little arms around my neck. We're home, we're pooped out, but happy and content with our new memories. And don't tell Bruce, but there's a chocolate bar left over from the s'mores, and it has my name on it! Woot! :)