Monterrey Bay Aquarium
While in Monterrey we went to the aquarium and had a great time. Abigail loved seeing the fish and other sea animals. They had a kid area with a water table which she loved and got soaked while playing despite the aprons they provide. They also had a tide pool simulator with a cut out so you could view it from underneath which was really neat.
Sean and Abigail looking at the fish.
Tide pool simulator.
Wow!
Under the tide pool.
Pretty fish.
Fish Abigail can actually touch 
That is a giant clam!
Playing at the water table.
One tired girl.
The nice thing about being little is that you can sleep anywhere:) Abigail did really well sleeping in her “lounge chair” in the car, slept great in her backpack and slept even better in the different hotel beds. Sometimes it took a little while to get her to sleep because of all the new places to investigate but when she did get to sleep she slept hard. She even slept through the entire tour at Hearst Castle. That helped a lot as she was not fighting to get down and explore. I think the docent at Hearst would have had a fit if she was on the ground
We stayed two nights in Morro Bay.
Almost asleep at the beginning of the Hearst Castle tour.
Sound alseep at the end of the tour.
San Luis Obispo Childrens Museum
One of our stops on the way to Monterrey Bay was San Luis Obispo. While driving around looking for parking near the Mission we spotted a childrens museum. Sean and I don’t get the chance very often to take Abigail to these types of places very often so we headed there first.
It was three levals and the third one was for kids under the age of 4. There were only 3 or 4 kids there so Abigail was really able to run around. They had a wall that had a big square of velcro on it and tubes and ramps that you could position anywhere. You could make a maze of sorts and see if the ball could go through the maze you made. We were not that succesful at it but Abigail loved playing with the ball. They had all sorts of puzzles and books. A large keyboard type thing and a large train where you could blow the horn and make lots of noise. Abigail like the train the best as she kept going back to it.
Eating the ball rather than playing with it
Playing music with daddy.
Cool train noises.
Glad to be home
It was a nice trip but we are glad to be home. Abigail did really well with the driving part of the trip, the dvd player helped The hardest part was the weekend at Monterey Bay. I know that the camp did their best with cooking me special food and I am grateful but it really caused Abigail, myself and Sean some real problems. I am sorry that I did not get to spend more time with the family but Abigail was sick and I needed to be with her. We were able to get to the aquarium and she had a lot of fun looking at the animals. I think it will be a while before we travel anywhere again for such a long period of time. The inability to stop moving is one of her reactions to food allergens. She just can’t stop moving even when she is exhausted. Most of the allergens have gone out of our systems and she has settled down dramatically. She was able to sit at the table yesterday while out to eat with Sean’s parents without fidgeting or needing to be let down. It takes about a week for her to get back to baseline, which is having no reactions, and she is 90% there.
I am still having a tough time going from vacation mode back to real life mode Here are a few pictures of our trip. I will keep posting pictures over the next few days, I will try at least
Making friends in Santa Barbara
Lunch at the pier in Santa Barbara
Do not feed this child! A reunion reminder.
We will be heading out for our road trip ending in Monterey for the big reunion on June 30th. I just want to remind all of those who will be attending that Abigail has multiple food allergies and intolerances so I ask you not to feed her. I know it is tempting and that “what could one little piece or bite do?” It could do a lot. She breaks out in hives from artichoke juice touching her skin! So please don’t feed her or give her an orange slice to chew on or anything like that. If you feel the need to give her something edible or drinkable please come see me first and ask. This is going to be a challenge for me anyways traveling without the use of my own kitchen and ingredients without having to worry if someone is giving her somthing I don’t know about.
I am going to be packing as much of our own food as possible and bringing a hot plate with a small skillet for on the road and at Asilomar but I can’t be in control of everything. Asilomar has stated that they will cook special meals for myself and Abigail so that will help but I know that it won’t be the same as my cooking and precautions. I can use all the help I can get over the weekend:)
Thank you for understanding!
Please don't feed me:)
What could possibly go wrong?
I have no words for this.
She does not know that I am watching her.
Oh.... Hi Mom!
Look what I discovered!
What do you mean that's not safe?
The perfect thinking spot.
If you are a fan of Winnie-The-Pooh then you know what the means:) Abigail has a new favorite spot and it is of course in the kitchen.
Thinking, thinking, thinking.
Hmm... I think I am done now.
I need more storage in my thinking spot.
The ultimate Hide and Seek.
Abigail has found the best way to play hide and seek. It is way better than using a towel or even your hands. Use a brown paper bag!
Where's Abigail?
Is that her under there?
Off to the next thing!
Playing in drawers.
A picture of Abigail in our now old stove. Our new stove does not have a drawer for her to play in:( What is it with her and climbing in things?
What are these pans doing in my drawer?
What? Is this a problem?
Fathers Day
Seans second Fathers Day! For Seans big day I cooked him an old fashioned country breakfast, from scratch! It included buttermilk biscuits, sausage, country gravy, potatoes and eggs! He did not eat anything until dinner he was so full:) I also found the beer his friend Fred gave him for his birthday but would not tell him where he could buy it. I took on the challenge of finding it and after 3 hours and a very helpful employee at the Los Angeles distributing company found the 1 store in San Diego that carries it. I am not going to divulge my secret so don’t even try and ask!
We then had to go buy a new stove. Ours finally died and it needed to be replaced so we headed to Sears and bought a new stove that will be going with us whenever we move!
Sean then went surfing with his friend Ernest and they had a good time. That was our Fathers Day
New Daddy.
Seasoned pro. Can you believe how big she is?
