Cioppino: Best Ever!

We got a sweet tip off from one of the girls that I work with about a fish market in Marina that won the Cioppino battle on Bobby Flay's "Throwd@wn..." So, one our way down to Pacific Grove we stopped off at Phil's Fish Market for a little grub before checking into our hotel. The Cioppino was AMAZING, to say the least. They serve it family style, one giant bowl and two serving bowls for each of us.




We sat out on the deck, watching the fog roll in and allowing my crazy munchkins ample room to run around like crazy people. The clam chowder was, wait, I have to whisper it, it tasted like something my mom would make (in her less healthy cooking days), but better. I tasted clams, potato, carrots and celery, and a TON of butter and cream. It was beautiful.

I can't even begin to describe the Cioppino. It was tomatoey, and fishy and crabby and all so amazing. There was a TON of seafood in each bowl and I only wish we had had time to savor it. I can tell you that I think it was the best I'd ever had, even if I was trying to catch run away kids the entire time :) I think we did pretty good with our meal :)

In Transit

We made it up to Vacaville yesterday in time to cook a yummy meal and settle in to watch a movie with Grandpa on travel day 1. I was kinda worried about the multiple stops before we actually touch down in Pacific Grove, but so far, it's been more than good.

We are on the road in our greatly appreciated extra cab, long bed F150 (borrowed from Grandpa John), the kiddos are comfortable and not crammed in with all of our crap like in the Camry, snacking on Pirates Booty and watching all of the cars pass by. While I am feeling very spoiled as I ride shotgun and blog at the same time! Rare is the trip that I don't do much of the driving, but who knew how much you could get done while sitting in the passenger seat? I've already updated my facebook, pulled directions to the place we are headed to for lunch (PHIL'S FISH MARKET in Moss Landing, CA), balanced my checkbook, finalized reservations for the hotel tonight and am know halfway through a blog post.... Crazyness and we are only in San Jose!

More to come from lunch.... Stay tuned for the best cioppino on the West Coast!

The Prep

*Clean out car and car seats (no week old Cheerios or pirates' booty from April allowed!)
*Pack mondo bag for all 4 of us, try to make it all fit in one bag
*clean house so when we return exhausted, we can crash, not clean (re-visit idea of cleaning lady... Oh how I need you!!!!)
*Empty garbages, an 80 degree house that smells like week old diapers is NO BUENO
*Kiss big, spoiled pup: sad she can't come with us, set thermostat to keep DIVA comfy
*Write out, scratch out, re-write packing lists: panic over forgetting something
* Sit, chill, and enjoy a beer... Anything forgotten (other than baby bear or Lukey's B) can be replaced, the only thing that matters is time with my babies.



*** See you there! ***

Trip highlights and photos to follow as soon as we can figure out how to fit all of our crap into our car :)

Vacation Next Week!

So we are headed out for our yearly 1 week vacation as of this Sat and we are so excited! Matt & I have both been totally checked out at work for the past few days and are starting the daunting task of packing... We're still trying to figure out how we are going to get 2 kids, 2 car seats, a tandem stroller, a cooler full of a weeks worth of food, toys, clothing, beach toys and ourselves into our Toyota Camry!!

Our itinerary:

** Sat night into Sun morning: Head to Vacaville and spend the night at Grandpa's new house :)
** Sun morning: climb back into the car and drive from Vacaville to Marina (right outside of Monterrey)
** Sun night: Spend the night at hotel on the beach in Marina, play in the sand and enjoy some seafood
** Monday morning: pack everything back into the car and head up to Pacific Grove to our beach house on Lover's Point

** Monday night: Dinner at our favorite restaurant in Pacific Grove, Fishwife

** Tuesday morning: Spend the morning / afternoon @ the Monterrey Bay Aquarium

** Tuesday afternoon: Lunch at the Fish Hopper and then back to the beach house for a nap!

** Weds: Play on the beach and enjoy some relaxing kiddo time :)
** Thurs Morning: Going to attempt a hike at spectacular Point Lobos; we'll see how far we can get with 2 kids!


** Thurs afternoon: Pack everything up and head back home... Boo!

Photos from Stinson Beach Trip

As promised, here is a photo collage of our trip last weekend to Stinson Beach....

Enjoy!

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