This past weekend we made the drive through California's great flat, cow-scented San Joaquin Valley from Berkeley to Orange County to meet the girls' first cousin (and our first nephew) Aiden. Fiona was set to go with her new Hello Kitty backpack:
The girls were great on the long drive, but the highlight was definitely the hotel. Due to a serious design flaw at Embassy Suites, wherein the bathroom is connected to the living room portion, Erick and I ended up on the pullout couch, while Fiona and Campbell shared the spacious master bedroom. At the bottom of this post is a video of the rejoicing (plus a little sisterly body-slamming) that happened immediately after Fiona entered the room and turned the radio to a hip hop station.
Fiona and Campbell were both delighted with their little cousin, who, being 2 weeks old, is still in the eat-sleep cycle. He's adorable, a very good baby, and Uncle Wesley and Auntie Kristin seem like pros already!
There was plenty of time during the day for pursuits other than staring at the baby, of course. We hung out at Laguna Beach, where we realized that our girls have vastly different beach preferences. We have surf:
And turf:
We also visited the Children's Discovery Zone in Santa Ana, where Fiona strapped on a shark against a green screen to appear in her own undersea movie:
There were wonderful pastries to be had at the Corner Bakery in Irvine:
But undoubtedly the highlight of the visit (apart from Aiden) was the shopping cart at Ralph's grocery store. They don't have these in Berkeley!
It was a fun visit for the whole family, and we can't wait to see Aiden again soon!
You may have noticed that Fiona, who was almost completely bald until she was 2, has been looking a little scruffy lately. Scruffy and dated; this is a photo of her taken just yesterday:
It may not seem at first like much of an improvement, largely because I can't get Fiona to NOT look deranged in posed photos, but I can assure you she looks pretty stylish in person!
