07 Jul July 4th Weekend Fun!

Happy 4th of July to you! The day I love celebrating as the most Americanized foreigner. We had a weekend filled with baby cuddles, relaxing by the beach, and all the 4th of July fun! Quick overview of the weekend is as follows: we got to the beach house on Friday and just relaxed there. On Saturday, we spent the whole day in Monterey, exploring Cannery Row, and Katerina had her first visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. On Sunday, we went to Carmel to enjoy some white sand beach time and strolled around in our matching 4th of July gear. We spent most of the day in Carmel and later got oysters close to beach house. Gotta love the long daylight hours—we chilled at the beach house, listened to the waves, and watched the sunset. On the actual 4th of July (Monday), we hung out at the beach house in our festive outfits and left around 3 p.m.

It was Katerina’s first-time celebrating the 4th of July, and of course, I went a little overboard with her outfits (including swimsuits!). As you can probably tell, I take dressing up for holidays very seriously. And if I get to dress up my cute, chunky daughter—trust me, I’ll do it, matching outfits and all! In Carmel, I wore the same Kate Spade red gingham one-shoulder dress I wore to Pismo Beach, Solvang, and Santa Barbara during our mini road trip when I was pregnant with Katya. Such a full-circle moment! I’ll leave last year’s post here if you’re interested: (blog post).

The highlight of this trip was definitely our visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Erik and I went there before—just the two of us—so taking her there for the first time felt extra special. I was a little surprised at how expensive the tickets were (did price change? I don’t remember it to be this much!), but hey, we’re here for the priceless experience! She’s only 8 months old, so she didn’t quite understand where she was or what she was looking at, but watching her reactions was so fun. When we walked under the fish tunnel, her eyes went wide, and she shook her head in excitement. She looked totally mesmerized by the light coming through the tunnel—it was the cutest thing! We can’t wait to take her back when she’s older and can really enjoy it. It was such a beautiful day in Monterey, and the ocean views from the aquarium were perfect. It’s such an iconic spot, so I hope you guys can visit if you get the chance.

Hope you all had a fun and relaxing weekend! Happy Birthday, America!

To America,

Fatima