A Granniversary Celebration

This past week we packed up the family and headed North to Pajaro Dunes, near Watsonville. This is where Jon used to vacation every Summer with his Mom's side of the family. They haven't been in years but to celebrate Gran and Papa's 60th wedding anniversary the family decided to recreate some of their favorite memories. As is typical, the boys didn't sleep as much or as well as I would have liked, but we fit in quite a bit of fun, and made some memories I'm sure we will all treasure.

We arrived on Wednesday, got settled in, and enjoyed a wonderful dinner prepared by our personal chef, Pepe. That night was a little rough. Kieran woke up three different times and even though Reed did great through the night he woke at 5:15 am and never went back to sleep.

TJ entertaining Kieran

Tio and Lyla Jane

Playing with cousins is fun!

Lyla convincing TJ kids are easy

We spent Thursday morning hanging out and playing on the beach with Nonna and Pepe. The boys were in their pajamas practically all day and we just relaxed. Reed loved looking for shells but would throw them back as soon as he found them. He also enjoyed building sand castles and then stomping on them. Jon brought Kieran down in the carrier when he woke from his nap but as soon as he saw the sand and toys he wanted down so we let him play in the sand too. He thought it was okay and a couple of times managed to stick full fistfuls of dirt into his mouth, which he thought tasted fabulous!!!

I don't think Reed was okay with being left out of Nonna and Pepe's romantic stroll

Kieran perfecting his balancing in the sand

Kieran loved eating the sand!!!

Family shot

Me and The Bug

I love my sweet guys!!!

The Ketelsens attempting to fly a kite

Thursday night we went to a fancy dinner at the Sardine Factory to celebrate the big anniversary. I was super nervous about the boys, especially Kieran, but both did great and looked extra cute in their spiffy outfits. Reed questioned the waiter about his food selection and if it had anything he was allergic to in it (proud Mom moment). He also nicknamed the waiter Food Guy and the sommelier Drink Guy. Kieran ate almost the entire ball of mozzarella cheese that came with my burrata salad and somehow developed this open-mouthed, panting, beg when I wasn't feeding him fast enough - it had everyone in stitches laughing. I grilled Gran and Papa on their wedding and early years of their marriage and I think everyone found out something new. C hadn't known that they had married in Las Vegas and even Nonna and Aunt Di Di were unaware that their first home had been the same as Gran's sister and her husband. TJ made a great sign and coined the phrase "Granniversary" unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it.

Our little doggy begging for food

Pepe and Lyla

Pepe and the grandkids

Family shot

Knowing how into matching pajamas Reed is, C and I each bought a set of matching/coordinating pajamas for the cousins. The second morning they were in their green and white star pajamas and we attempted a photo shoot. While none of the pictures turned out perfectly I do have to say they capture these three kiddos pretty well!

Dance party with C and Tio

With the big dinner behind us I was a lot less worried about the boys' naps and messing with their schedules so on Friday morning we went to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. We were at the aquarium for 2.5 hours and probably could have stayed longer if the boys weren't so tired. Reed was mesmerized by everything and said his favorite parts were the octopus, jelly fish, penguins, and the wave simulator. Kieran was a Superstar, foregoing his usual 2 hour morning nap and chilling in the stroller and carrier without a single fuss or cry the entire time. He was pretty awe struck as well and his favorite was definitely the penguins. A few of the birds even came up to the glass and just hung out right in front of us flapping their wings and bobbing on the water. He thought they were pretty entertaining and attempted signing bird and fish which I thought was pretty darn accurate for a 1 year old!

On Friday night the boys and Lyla went to the other condo and had a seafood dinner with Nonna and Pepe, Gran and Papa, and Aunt Di Di while we went out to sushi with C, Tio, and TJ. There was a beautiful sunset when we were dropping the kids off and so we of course had to get a few "romantic sunset" pictures in.

Hard to believe this handsome couple has been married for 60 years



Saturday morning we packed up and made the trek home, but I managed to get a couple of shots of the cousins in their coordinating PJs before we said goodbye.