Summer Continued- August

August was a good month. We kicked the month off with a trip to Monterey with Chad's family. This our favorite vacation spot so we visit as often as we can. Chad, Emily, Bobby and I left later than everyone else because of work. So we headed out of Modesto about 6 o'clock. To our major disappointment after about 20 minutes of driving on the I-5 we ran into this:

Cars were at a complete stop with no hope of moving. After about 20 minutes of waiting we drove along the shoulder and were lucky enough to find somewhere to get onto the other side of the freeway. Then we googled and map-quested on the three i-phones we had in the car until we found what we thought was a reasonable alternative route. Instead of heading all the way up the 99 and around to San Jose we found a road that by-passed that and headed straight west. "This will just be great" we thought. It will take us hardly any time at all. After two hours on a road that was so windy it would put switchbacks to shame we had to finally stop on the side of the road. Let's just say there may have been some throwing up and there was definitely a lot of peeing on the side of the road. And no, not all of that was done by the pregnant woman. I do have photos of after the detour but they are too embarrassing to post, so use your imagination. We hopped back in the car and continued on our winding road of hell. When we saw the bright lights of San Jose we all almost started crying. We ended up getting to Monterey after Midnight. So, not a fun car ride there, but definitely a fun trip to make up for it.
The boys rented wetsuits and boogie boards and even a longboard and braved the waves. Meanwhile the girls sat on camping chairs on the beach and took naps. Much better past time in my opinion...what's better than napping on the beach?

We also visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium:

Those are tiny minnows swimming behind Chad's head if you are interested to know.

Group Picture outside the aquarium. Yes, I am pregnant. No, I have not just gained a ton of weight. I'll just clear that up now.

Also in August is my wonderful mother's birthday. Can you believe this lady is 49? I can't!

We went to Chevy's to celebrate the occasion.

And finishing up August Chad and I headed to Monterey yet again to celebrate our third wedding anniversary. Chad's dad gets quite a bit of hotel points racked up from working away from home so often so he kindly offered to get us a hotel room for two nights. We decided it was probably now or never to get a romantic trip for our anniversary since our little one will be due before our next anniversary. We also decided to take Oliver with us even though we were a little hesitant because we couldn't leave him in the hotel room because they "technically" didn't allow pets.
But we opted to bring him and were so glad we did. It forced us to do more activities outside and more walking on the beach. It also helped us to save money as well, which never hurts. Not to mention Oliver had the time of his life with an unlimited supply of sand to dig in and many seagulls to chase.

We did leave Oliver for about an hour to go on a Catamaran ride in Santa Cruz. It was a blast and very eventful. It was so windy the boat owners opted to use the sails instead of the engines, but about half way through the ride, the sail ripped! We also sighted Dolphins as well.

And this was our last morning on the beach trying to soak up as much as we could before we headed back to Modesto. It was a wonderfully relaxing trip and gave Chad and I some time to just be together. Even though we live together it seems like we don't get enough time just to take walks and talk. So this trip was well worth the wait!

All in all August was a fantastic month and a great way to end the hottest of the summer months.