Bronwell Craziness!!: Our Resident Shark Expert.....

So we finally did something as a family on Saturday!! I am pretty excited because we have been pretty lazy in the family time department so it was nice to spend the day together and have an AWESOME time! Hockey is starting on Thursday so Rick's days off are few and far between. I am really going to miss him being here and spending time together. Anyway we decided to go to the aquarium in Monterey. The girls wanted to go to Gilroy Gardens but we vetoed them! Ha Ha (The benefits of being the boss!) lol We started the day out a little later than we had wanted...but nonetheless we got there safe and sound and even found parking without a hassle at all! There were TONS of people there...as can be expected for a Saturday afternoon. There was an old time car show going on in the afternoon. We had a great lunch before we got to the aquarium. Addison was a little "tude" as we like to call her. She wanted to go the aquarium NOW and with a 2 year old....nothing is rational! We finally make it to the aquarium after a little detour to walk on a boardwalk type area where we saw a harbour seal sunning and sticking his tongue out for our enjoyment. The aquarium, as usual, was great fun. We have a membership there so the girls and I have been several times. It is also a stop for whoever visits....so if you come visit....be prepared for a Bronwell adventure to the aquarium! They have all kinds of things for you to see....jelly fish, otters, penguins, birds, an outer bay tank that has all kinds of native fish, (tuna, pacific mackerel, ocean sunfish...) so anyway about 6 months ago they had a juvenile male great white shark in the outer bay tank. He stayed for about 3 months I think and then was released into the wild. They track them for 180 or so days to study where they will end up traveling to. We enjoyed seeing this one a few times. They just caught another one, a female that is in the tank now. Apparently fisherman catch these and then they give them to the aquarium to study. Well our resident shark expert, who will remain nameless, decides that he can't see the shark. They have a few species of other sharks in the tank as well. We probably sat for and hour looking for the white shark. I kept seeing her and telling Jacque Cousteau Bronwell that that was her. He, of course, didn't think it was her...being the expert that he is! lol I tried to get a picture, but you can't flash so it didn't come out very well. I still think it was her. They had to release her today because she wasn't eating and they didn't want to take a chance of her dieing in the tank. So I guess we'll never know if we saw her or not! lol The girls enjoy playing so much there. It really is a great place for them to learn. After the aquarium, I demanded, lol that we go to Pebble Beach and drive around. You have to pay to drive on the road through it. Rick wanted to eat....I won! lol Pebble Beach is beautiful!! It will definitely be a place we go back to. The girls loved the beach and this was Rick's first time being in the Pacific Ocean!! Addison, of course, in classic Addison style.... fell in about 3 times! My camera ran out of batteries and I was only able to take a few pictures on the beach. The houses along there are amazing! I wish I could just even look inside one!! After our adventurous day, I gave in and we stopped in Castroville, CA, Artichoke Capitol Of The World, for a bite to eat. After trying to find 3 places that were closed (it was a small town that shuts down at 8!) we settled for a Texas BBQ place. It was FANTASTIC! It really made us feel like we were back home in Houston. Man, we both miss Houston like crazy! We finally made it home about 10pm and were pooped! It was such a good day and we had so much fun!!