My parents rented a house in Aptos (just a few miles south of Santa Cruz) for the week after Christmas this year. We had a great time driving down Highway 1 from our house. It was a beautiful day and just perfect for a road trip. We stopped at the Half Moon Bay Brewery for lunch, and it was awesome! We hoped Skyla would sleep through dinner like she did the ride there, but our little Chowdahead just sat attentively watching us eat our yummy food and drink the locally brewed beer.
We were really excited when we arrived at the house. It was a great place: one block away from the beach, cute neighborhood, and two separate units, so Tory, Skyla and I had our own little spot! We had two bedrooms (good for when one of us needed sleep while the baby was up), a kitchen and living room, a little deck, and a hot tub! It turned out that we really needed our own space because Skyla didn't adjust to the new environment very well and didn't sleep much the first few nights. Eventually she settled in and we had a wonderful time. The best part was getting to spend so much time with our family (and having babysitters so close by!) While Skyla hung out with her grandparents, Tory and I got to do lots of things we don't normally get to. We ran on the beach a couple of times, once at sunset, which was breathtaking, and once in the mid-morning while a family of dolphins swam right next to us! We went to two late-night movies as well. The first one was The Descendants, and ironically after going through a whole routine with my parents about what to do with Skyla if she woke up, and making sure everything was perfect before we left her there, the theater was empty! (We thought about bringing her with us but didn't want to disturb anyone. Incidentally, I recently went to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- the definition of a not-for-children movie, and this couple actually brought a baby with them! Unbelievable!) Anyway, we also got to see the new Mission Impossible movie, which was great except for this ridiculous lady behind us who kept talking the whole time, pointing out things like, "He's climbing the building!" Yeah no shit lady, shut up!
One of the most fun days/nighs was when Melissa and Stella came to visit for some girl time. Melissa met the baby and me on the beach then we hung out at our place for a while. They had lots of fun getting to know each other, especially since last time they met Skyla just slept in her carseat.
We went out that night for my first girls' night out since having the baby! We had dinner in Capitola then went to the bar I had gone to a few years before with Erin & Paul and Simon & Melissa for karaoke. The place was dead so we went to another local joint and had a good time. I only got one picture of the night but it's a keeper:
Our one big adventure was going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was quite a production getting the entire gang there (and we had some typical Smith family drama, which I won't describe here out of respect for the victims...) We snapped a few pics right after we got there of the awesome view from the cool outdoor hangout spot:
It was ridiculously crowded, even though we were there on a Thursday. (We realized after we got there that everyone else was still on vacation too!) We had lots of fun looking at the exhibits, but I will definitely not go there again with a baby unless I know ahead of time that it won't be so crazy. I had to feed her twice (twice!) in the bathroom, although I do have to say that they had nice comfy rocking chairs and semi-private areas for feedings within the bathrooms, which I really appreciated! We only took a few pictures because a camera can't really capture how amazing everything was. Here a couple of the ones we did get, including me in front of a display showing the "tide" coming in, and some cool shots of the beautiful jellyfish:
One of our other big family fun times was going to one of our favorite restaurants, Shadowbrook in Capitola. That is where we had our rehearsal dinner and we just love it -- awesome food, cool ambience, and great service. We took the cool "hillavator" down, which brought us right back to our rehearsal dinner when we waited for it with our family and friends. We sat at a big corner table and enjoyed a fun-filled game of "Pass the Baby." This game was necessary because she did not like the spot we'd staked out for her in the corner of the restaurant and fussed if we put her down for even a second! I'm afraid the days of taking her with us everywhere and knowing she will sleep through anything are over :( Still, a good time was had by all.
All in all, it was a great week and we hope to do it again next year!
We were really excited when we arrived at the house. It was a great place: one block away from the beach, cute neighborhood, and two separate units, so Tory, Skyla and I had our own little spot! We had two bedrooms (good for when one of us needed sleep while the baby was up), a kitchen and living room, a little deck, and a hot tub! It turned out that we really needed our own space because Skyla didn't adjust to the new environment very well and didn't sleep much the first few nights. Eventually she settled in and we had a wonderful time. The best part was getting to spend so much time with our family (and having babysitters so close by!) While Skyla hung out with her grandparents, Tory and I got to do lots of things we don't normally get to. We ran on the beach a couple of times, once at sunset, which was breathtaking, and once in the mid-morning while a family of dolphins swam right next to us! We went to two late-night movies as well. The first one was The Descendants, and ironically after going through a whole routine with my parents about what to do with Skyla if she woke up, and making sure everything was perfect before we left her there, the theater was empty! (We thought about bringing her with us but didn't want to disturb anyone. Incidentally, I recently went to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- the definition of a not-for-children movie, and this couple actually brought a baby with them! Unbelievable!) Anyway, we also got to see the new Mission Impossible movie, which was great except for this ridiculous lady behind us who kept talking the whole time, pointing out things like, "He's climbing the building!" Yeah no shit lady, shut up!
One of the most fun days/nighs was when Melissa and Stella came to visit for some girl time. Melissa met the baby and me on the beach then we hung out at our place for a while. They had lots of fun getting to know each other, especially since last time they met Skyla just slept in her carseat.
All in all, it was a great week and we hope to do it again next year!
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