Thanksgiving Week {Monterey, Los Banos, Fresno}

Really attempting to make the most of our Thanksgiving week, Jake took the week off and we spent a 6 days hoping around Central California. Our 1st stop was Monterey, CA. This is a quaint coastal town we had both visited as children. Two of Jake's brothers and their families came as well making a large Freeman crew exploring the town. Kate could have cared less where we were and what we saw, because when asked what her favorite part was she would always respond it was her cousins. It is hard to beat 4 little girl cousins to play with. The weather was cold but we dressed the kids in their snow gear and took them to the beach so they could see the ocean. Kate went straight to work collection shells and building things, until her cousins showed up and she could skip the shores with them.

Looking at Sea Otters.
We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was a popular destination the day before Thanksgiving.

"CHAARRK!" is what Sam yelled through most the aquarium.
Kate show cases the fish tank for me.


Kate and Cami look at the Jelly Fish



Sam started screaming and crying out of exhaustion so he ended up outside with Jake chasing seagulls for the better half of the aquarium. I don't know that how much of the aquarium I really saw for trying to keep track of Kate running around and Sam's tantrums. I really love the atmosphere of the town and would love to return sans children some day.
For actual Thanksgiving we headed to Los Banos, CA, where my grandmother and aunts live. My parents and little sister were there too. In my hurry to re pack our stuff to spend the day in Los Banos, I forgot my camera. Imagine there is a picture of tons of food, cousins, and a spirited game of BINGO with very worthy prizes.
We ended our trip with a few days rest in Fresno with Jake's parents and siblings who live in Fresno and who were in town for Thanksgiving. We saw five of the seven siblings and their families.
The kids enjoyed playing with cousins, a grandma and grandpa who would read them book after book, and warm enough weather to play outside in the orchard.


We made a last minute decision to leave Saturday evening because we saw Winter Storm Warnings for Sunday and Monday. We packed our stuff and the car in about 25 minutes and were on our way. When it started snowing before we hit Las Vegas I thought we would be in a lot of trouble, but we had little snow until the last hour of our drive. Jake and I both pulled an all night-er to get home safely and finally went to bed this morning around 6:30 am. Of course the kids slept well in the car and we have been trading off sleeping most of today to make up for it.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving with perhaps less traveling and packing.