YAY for relaxing weekends. YAY for the beach. YAY for the humongous piece of chocolate cake we got to go and ate, like royalty, sitting on the bed in our underwear groaning in pleasure from the cake's chocolatey goodness (seven layers of it).

It was our first little mini-vacation, Non and I, just the two of us. We drove about an hour and a half down the coast and ended up in Monterey. Saturday we chose to be very touristy -- we ate at Bubba Gump's (yes, the spawn of "Forrest Gump" the movie) and went to the aquarium where we saw penguins, otters, sharks, and the beautiful jelly fish. Now, I know I haven't frequented many aquariums, but as far as aquariums go, I'd have to say this one was top-notch. There were little kids everywhere, and there is something about being in their presence that makes everything more exciting. The cute little squealy "oohs" and "ahs" they emmitt just made this underwater experience all the better. I cared not about how I looked or sounded -- if I was wowed by something, I said, "WOW!" If something was really cool, I said, "COOL!" And if I couldn't think of words to describe the greatness of a particular exhibit, I let my eye go wide and my jaw slack for as long as I wanted. And you what I realized? Fish are pretty damn cool.

So are mini-vacations.