Abigail and Christy hit Aptos Beach, California

With a desperate need to escape China for at least a short while, I arranged for Abigail and I to spend the 4th of July in San Francisco with Dave and his family. My parents were arriving from Florida on their annual cross-country RV tour so I figured it would kill a number of birds with one trip.

I don't think I really thought the whole thing through very well, and I can only recommend to anyone reading this that you carefully consider taking any unecessary trans-Pacific flights by yourself with an 18 month old girl (or boy for that matter!) in your lap. We couldn't have had worse seats and Abi slept one hour of the twelve nightmarishly-long hours that it took for us to reach SFO.

However, once Abi was safely deposited in the arms of Grammy and Uncle Dave, things were MUCH better. Abi was in shock by this time, so she was up for anything. Soon enough Grammy, Grampy and her cousin Michael were fully in charge of her entertainment and our vacation began.
We started with kiddo haircuts...Abi's first! She looks so grown up with her new hair-do. I can't stand it! But at least her hair isn't in her eyes all the time now. And she just looks so cute.

Abi getting her first haircut at Snippety Crickets in San Fran

Our extended family visit to Dave and Lori's expansive apartment (with only two bedrooms) ended quickly as we were whisked away to the coast and an 8 day stay in Aptos, between Santa Cruz and Monterrey. What a beautiful place! We rented a house up on a bluff just on the beach. A short climb down to a quiet beach and another short walk down into the small beachtown. The kids took over the beachfront deck and began their week of terrorizing each other.

Abi on the beachfront deck. There were huge trees that grew up in front and the view of the coast was amazing.

Michael and Abi enjoying some beach games

Our friends from Shanghai (recently re-located to San Jose) came to join us for 4th of July. Arin is 8 months older than Abi and her name was Abi's first word. It was very sweet to see the girls together again. They had a blast!

The three kids playing in the wagon


Abi and Arin playing 'dragon' with the tunnel


Abi and Arin hit the beach with their volleyball loaned to them by a nearby family who took pity on them as they stared at it covetously. Who can say no to a pair of baby blues and a set of big brown eyes?

A trip to the Santa Cruz boardwalk and Mikey was able to show Abi what amusement park rides were all about. We started on the carousel and once we pried her off the horse (screaming of course) she proceeded to try out each and every ride at least once. She and Michael had a blast!

Then it was off to Monterrey where we visited the world famous aquarium. it really is as impressive as its reputation and we all really enjoyed the visit.

We took the kids to a nearby farm to pick strawberries (which Abi insists are called apples). The kids ate their way through the patch and managed to get themselves covered with mud and berry juice. You can imagine the mess...but we all had a blast. I'm pretty sure we could never eat the 10lb of strawberries that we all picked. But it was sure fun and the berries were delicious!

The rest of our trip was spent lounging around the house with an occasional trip out to the nearby Redwood forest for a walk/run/cycle (depending on which family member you ask). The forest holds the epicenter of one of the great quakes from 1980's and although we never actually got that far into the park, I can only imagine it's impressive. We just need the little ones to grow some longer legs before we try dragging them that far!