Congratulations Christi!

Our daughter-in-law, Christi, recently graduated from BYU-Idaho with a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Science. 

Whoo Hoo!  We are so proud of her for hanging in there & working hard to meet this goal...she even made  the school newspaper!

In honor of reaching such an accomplishment, we decided to take them on a celebratory weekend away.  They chose to go to Monterey & Santa Cruz...so we made sure to check out all our favorites along the way.  1st stop, the Monterey Bay Aquarium...

We are pretty sure this is the best aquarium in the USA!  Their exhibits are incredible!  There are sharks, a giant octopus, rays, & a variety of sea anemones that look like something out of a Dr Seuss story & much, much, more!

They have an incredible hands on "touch pool" where you can feel the different underwater critters.  The velvety rays are always popular...

We even saw Nemo & Dory...

The "wave cave" is pretty cool, too...

The jellies are my favorite.  They are so delicate & graceful as they pulse through the water.

Christi & Ty hadn't been to the Aquarium in a long time...it was a good day.

We walked around Cannery Row for a little bit (the candy store is always fun, but I couldn't decide what to get...I ended up with a caramel apple).

Then we headed to Fisherman's Wharf to eat at Isabella's yummy Italian & seafood.

Afterwards we drove down to stay in Carmel.  We found a cute little hotel near downtown, so the next day we decided to check out the shops.  It was a beautiful day, no overcast which is not typical for Carmel/Monterey!

There are some pretty crazy shops in Carmel...we had great fun looking...the hats & boots were a little out of control!

We stopped by the beach before leaving Carmel & took the famous 17 Mile Drive on our way to Santa Cruz.

Of course we couldn't pass by Capitola without stopping at Pizza My Heart for lunch...Ty found a friend...

The Boardwalk was open so the kids rode some rides & walked along the beach...

We walked along the wharf & listened to all the barking sea lions below & found some seafood for dinner...

Of course we stopped at Marini's for a sweet after dinner treat & walked back to our hotel which was right near the wharf.  The next morning we decided to explore the tide pools at Natural Bridges before heading home...

It was fun to see all the crazy critters & anemones.  We were happy to be able to celebrate with Christi & Ty.  We think education is very important & we recognize how much effort & discipline it takes to see it through...we are proud of you Christi!  Congratulations!!!