We planned a family trip to Monterey while Westley’s grandparents were in town, and were relieved to have secured aquarium tickets despite being 6789th in line when the reservation website opened. We headed out early Saturday for classy dim sum at the Mayflower in Dublin and pineapple buns and cakes at Kee Wah in Cupertino. Our 5-year old burned off some energy at the Dennis the Menace playground, which was packed with half-masked weekenders and their children, followed by a paddleboat ride in El Estero Park. We took a breezy stroll through crowded Fisherman’s Wharf and waited in vain for a table at Sandbar & Grill before giving it up for fried seafood, sandwiches, and disappointing chowder at Carmel’s Sea Harvest. Our last-minute AirBnb cabin was pricey but spacious, and worth the panoramic view overlooking Monterey Bay. On Sunday, we enjoyed a harbor-side lunch at the Fish Hopper and frozen hot chocolate from Ghirardelli before exploring the rest of Cannery Row on the way to the aquarium. My parents enjoyed watching Westley more than the aquatic life, as he pet bat rays, ignored active octopodes, and recruited other kids for a scream-and-hide game he created. We dined at Vivolo’s Chowder House over seafood pasta and more disappointing chowder, then stopped by a sea lion lookout on the way to our free parking spot in Pacific Grove (Ocean View Blvd near 3rd St). Back at the cabin, I stayed up late talking with my parents, which made for a lazy start on Monday morning watching deer graze in our backyard and playing Sorry! on the patio. After check-out, we headed out to wood-fired pizzas at La Bicyclette, hot chocolate from Carmel Belle, a kite from Thinker Toys, and the public bathroom line at Picadilly Park. The Bird Island Trail hike at Point Lobos was short and windy, but at least gave my superzoom lens a chance to capture pelicans in flight and cormorants nesting. The return trip traffic made the drive back painfully slow, but was at least broken up with a stop at Milpitas Square for sesame bread and pulled noodles at Darda Seafood and creamy boba milk tea at Ume Tea. With just a week left before my parents head to Vegas, we’ll need to take advantage of the extra childcare. 

After a long hiatus, my vaccinated parents finally braved the cross-country flight to visit us and help watch Westley for several weeks. Out of an abundance of caution, we had them mask up during their first weekend here until they tested negative for COVID. Even Westley got to try out the free COVID test thanks to a possible exposure at school, and was much better at spitting into the test vial than I was. We laid low and ordered in from Well Season, Burma Eat, and Stand Up Kabob, while I was busy partaking in ARVO festivities. This year’s virtual format made it much easier to browse posters and talks, but the availability of so much content at once was also overwhelming. Being co-chair of the programming committee also meant more obligations and face time. Fortunately, my parents quickly adapted to childcare duties again, giving Melody and me the chance to focus on work and alone time, including a last-minute dinner reservation at Allora followed by slices from Ettore’s for our anniversary. It had been a while since our last fine dining experience, and we left stuffed and a bit bedazzled. We celebrated Mother’s Day with soup dumplings and taiyaki, after returning a DOA Vitamix blender to Costco and building an instant ramen shelf for my pantry. Last weekend, we took Westley and my parents back to Sac Zoo to check out the new cheetah exhibit, then made the rest of the week Korean-themed with YD sul lung tang, AYCE Blue House BBQ, and home-made jajangmyeon. We also renacted our backyard camping experience, and planted a new ukigumo maple from Medocino and silver magic pittosporum from Green Acres. Despite our allergies intensifying to levels that even my Zyrtec–Zaditor–Flonase cocktail could hardly contain, they have not stopped us from enjoying the outdoors.