Sandy hosts a bunco night. Joe takes kids and flees town.

When Sandy's turn came to host her bunco group, Joe said lets go. So to get the kids out of the way, Joe, Dan and Elizabeth headed for a weekend at Monterey Bay.
We stayed at the Chaminade Hotel in the Santa Cruz woods. A quiet getaway for couples mostly, many who didn't want to share the hotel with kids running down the halls and waking up crying at 3 a.m. (We did get some complaints, but we only stayed one night, and probably weren't thinking of going back ever, anyway.)

We spent day one at the Santa Cruz boardwalk and pier and day two at the Monterey Aquarium. Lots of fun, mostly because Daniel and Elizabeth knew dad was way more feeble at taking care of them than mom, and so they both helped out a lot.