Wednesday, May 20 was the last day of our vacation within a vacation, and we packed up at the beach house in the morning and spent the earlier part of the day at nearby Moss Landing before starting the drive back to the East Bay.
Mirei eating grapes at the beach house while everyone packed and cleaned.
Phil’s Fish Market & Eatery at Moss Landing
Pretty cool place!
We had lunch there and the food was pretty good!
Mirei was imitating the sea lions she saw earlier in the morning by barking like them:
Mirei is loving the attention from Ted & Jackie
Getting lifted in the air by Jackie & Ted
One last family photo in front of Phil’s Fish Market on the last day of our getaway!
We’re so glad that we could spend this time with Dan’s side of the family, seeing the beauty of the Monterey Bay and Big Sur and enjoying each other’s company. They will be memories we’ll cherish for years to come!
Tuesday, May 19th was the highlight of our family getaway with Dan’s family, as we explored our main destination of the trip — Big Sur! We got to go to Point Lobos, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, and Pfeiffer Beach. Dan and I had gone to Big Sur three years ago and we fell in love with the gorgeous sights there, especially the waterfall at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. We have been talking about coming back to see Big Sur for a while now, so we were thrilled to be able to return, and to get to show our girls the sights there, too.
Our first stop in the morning was Whaler’s Cove at Point Lobos. It was pretty cloudy and overcast in the morning (typical of Northern California), which only intensified the unsettling aura of the cove.
Whaler’s Cove at Point Lobos… where fishermen used to bring in whales they hunted at the turn of the century.
The place looked a bit of ominous… maybe it reminded me too much of a show we watched recently, The Killing
Sea lions beaching at the foot of the cliffs.
A small cabin built by Chinese fishermen from that era still remains and is now a cultural history museum.
With the whale bones by Whaler’s Cabin
Huge whale bones
I liked the inscription on this bench: “Tell them how special they are.”
We then took a walk around the cliffs of Point Lobos, and took in some of the prettier sights there. It was my first time at Point Lobos, but I observed that it has a very rugged beauty to it.
Point Lobos
The Allens at Point Lobos
With the grandparents Point Lobos
Look at the color of that water!
Enjoying a picnic lunch at Point Lobos
After eating lunch, we drove over to my favorite part of Big Sur — Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park! It was a bit of a drive from Point Lobos, but it gave the weather time to clear up, and by the time we arrived, the sun was completely out, making for a gorgeous day to see one of California’s most scenic locations.
Auntie Hyo holding Mirei as we make our way to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
The Allens at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
Our family at Big Sur’s Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
Happy we could come back here after three years!
Gorgeous view of the waterfall… this is my favorite view in California.
The girls taking a break on the bench
Beautiful Pacific waters crashing onto the shore…
With our little Mirei, almost 16 months old at the time.
Our last stop in Big Sur was Pfeiffer Beach, which looks like a beautiful beach set straight from a movie, with light shining through the Keyhole Arch rock formations and almost purple-looking sand.
Stunning Pfeiffer Beach
Mio walking with Auntie Jackie at Pfeiffer Beach
Mirei with Uncle Ted
The girls got to play in the sand with the beach toys that Grandma thoughtfully brought along for them.
Big Sur is so gorgeous! It was wonderful to be able to come back here with the whole Allen family, including our sweet girls.
During the week we were in the Bay Area, we went on a mini-getaway (a vacation within a vacation for us) with Dan’s family for three days, and we chose to explore the Monterey Bay area, including Santa Cruz, Point Lobos, Big Sur, and Moss Landing, renting a beach house for two nights at Pajaro Dunes Resort in Watsonville. It was a fun few days in which we could really spend some quality time with Dan’s side of the family, and the girls had a blast!
Here are some photos from Day One, which was mostly spent in Santa Cruz.
Mirei enjoying the breeze!
There were clouds overhead and it was a little chilly, but still beautiful!
Mirei with her aunties
Santa Cruz strolling with Grandpa
Picnic lunch at Santa Cruz
Mio with Grandma on the boardwalk
Mirei with Auntie Jackie
The sun came out to make it the perfectly sunny day!
Mirei and I at the Santa Cruz Wharf
Sunbathing sea lions at Santa Cruz Wharf
Mio and Grandpa looking down at sea lions
Mirei with Grandma
After thoroughly enjoying Santa Cruz, we headed over to Pajaro Dunes in Watsonville to settle into our beach house where we’d be staying for the rest of the trip — we’ll share photos from there in our next post!
Last week, we went on a joint family vacation with our friends the Jubbs and the Gotos. The Jubb family lives in London, but had been visiting the States for the last couple months and they suggested we go on a little trip together with our families before they left to go back to England. Nancy’s family friend had a ton of points that needed to be used up with his timeshare in Williamsburg, and was gracious enough to book us three separate units for each of our families — as a result, we didn’t have to pay for lodging during our stay there!
Arriving at the Wyndham resort in Williamsburg.
Dan took Wednesday to Friday off from work for the trip, and Mio thoroughly enjoyed spending so much time with him!
Loving the slide.
Playing air hockey with Uncle Matt.
Hanging out with Yewon and Aubriana in the activity center. There were lots of games and arcades you could play for free.
Enjoying a round of mini golf.
Mio’s first time playing mini golf.
On our second day there (Thursday), we decided to take the kids to the Bounce House in Williamsburg. I had looked up kid-friendly activities in the area ahead of time, and it looks like there’s not a whole lot of fun things to do with kids there… unless they’re old enough to enjoy the theme park at Busch Gardens. The Bounce House was one of the few things I could find, but it was a huge hit with all of the kids! The Bounce House features over ten huge inflatable houses and slides, and for $8/child they can play on them to their heart’s content!
Mio climbing up the giant inflatable slide.
Some of the bouncing action in one of the smaller bounces for the younger kids:
Matt wanted to try the hurricane simulator and Mio insisted on going in with him.
Nancy and Ellie in the hurricane simulator.
Dan and Mio playing the doll claw game.
Mio and I going down one of the giant slides together. I think I was more scared than Mio!
Mio even went on the bungee swing! She was unfazed and didn’t really get scared until towards the end… so proud of my little high flyer!
There also was a Go Kart area attached to the Bounce House. The kids loved riding in them!
The next day, we had a more grownup-friendly activity and visited the New Kent Winery for a wine tour and tasting. The tour guide said she’d never seen so many kids in a group before!
New Kent Winery tour
Barrels of wine.
Mio is all smiles with Daddy!
The tasting portion.
Meanwhile, Joanna (who is under 21) and I watched the kids on the sidelines, as we couldn’t drink the wine.
Dan enjoying the tasting.
Our family in front of the New Kent Winery.
Everyone together at the winery.
We spent a lot of the rest of the time in the afternoons taking the kids to the pool at the resort, playing with them at the activity center, and at night we played board games amongst the grownups once the kids were asleep. Nancy even organized a girls’ night one night where all of the ladies got together to just veg out on cheese and chocolate while we talked, gave each other manicures and face masks. The kids had a lot of fun together throughout the stay and overall, it was a really relaxing, laid-back mini-getaway for all of us! The Jubbs have since returned to London, but we hope that we’ll have a chance to see them again sooner rather than later.
Dan’s cousin Hideaki (on his mother’s side)Â lives in Thailand, and was visiting San Francisco for a couple days, so we had dinner at Dan’s parents’ house the other night. Dan hadn’t seen his cousin since 1999, so it had been 13 years!
Mio eating at the table with everybody.
Hideaki (Dan's cousin) videotaping Mio.
She looks so grown up!
Mio, at almost 11 months old.
Fruit tart for dessert.
Granddaughter with grandmother.
Mio loves Grandma!
Mio showed off more of her walking skills… she’s getting faster and better at it every day!
