California, Here We Come!

Our last night on the beach, we had the
good fortune of randomly asking a
professional wedding photographer to
take our photo!

After at least half a decade of, "We should really go to California!" "Yeah, that'd be great!" we finally made it to California!

This happened because:
1. We had a new niece, and a still pretty new nephew, to visit.
2. A few other people wanted to see us as well.
3. Matt had enough time off and we could swing the tickets.
4. The girls are all old enough to a.) remember such a massive trip and b.) most likely not ruin it in any of the ways a very small child can destroy a day.

And it was great! Here's the rundown, in words and pictures.

The Prep

Our new cousin!

Gearing up for the trip was an interesting exercise. Despite the fact that it'd be the biggest and most complicated trip we'd ever taken as a family, neither of us found much time to actually plan it, which is super rare for us. In fact, I believe two planning sessions sealed the deal: the first to look at an actual map of California and determine which areas would be reasonable to visit, and the second to book everything bookable in one fell swoop--which we nearly did too late because nice/reasonable places to stay were filling up. Most of the rest of the planning was done a week, or even hours or minutes, before the event. Which worked out. Even packing was relatively simple--although we found out later we didn't do a very good job packing for the last portion of the trip.

As his portion of prep, Matt put together a California CD, seeing as we knew we'd be doing a lot of driving. "California, Here We Come" became our theme song.

The Disney Question
To do Disney or not to do Disney? On the one hand, every child wants to go to Disney, or at least to have gone to Disney. Plus Naomi has, in the past, been super into princesses. On the other hand, no one likes rides, too much sun, sunscreen, hats, lines, crowds, and forking over the cash required to experience all of these at once. Seeing as no one jumped when we mentioned we'd be in the same city as Disney, and no one could stop talking about the ocean, we opted for an extra day at the beach instead.

Most of us made it into this picture in
Huntington Gardens

The Beginning
Despite a bit of anxiety about flying (Kalina), travel went great. The only hiccup: I'd been super excited to fly over the west, and for the girls to see deserts and canyons from above. And then I unthinkingly sat us over a wing. Elise insisted it was fine, Kalina was too nervous to care and Naomi will have more opportunities, so we ended up alright, but I couldn't help but feel like we should receive a small portion of our money back.

Kid table! Whoohoo!

I would've forgotten our luggage, and even after that, Naomi's carseat, if Matt hadn't been along, but fortunately we claimed everything--all 13 pieces. Picking up our rental car went tremendously quickly, but we were disappointed when we saw the Dodge minivan we'd reserved was actually more of an SUV. We barely got our luggage to fit and were in the process of squeezing the kids in when the employee noticed that he was wrong: the white "van" we'd chosen wasn't exactly like the dark gray one next to it--on the contrary, the dark gray one actually was a van, while we were currently loading up an SUV. We all breathed a sigh of relief, and easily piled into the vehicle that would actually fit our family for a 10-day vacation.

Matt, who knew there'd be traffic, managed the LA roads with relative ease. We pointed out the Hollywood sign and exclaimed over the Sierra Nevadas all the way to Matt's sister's house.

The Family

Naomi is delighted to a.) have
a cousin to play with and b.)
be bigger than someone.

And immediately we saw that our travels would be worth it: our new niece was adorable! She let us all hold her, and smiled at us, too! We greatly enjoyed getting to hang out with her, her older brother, parents and uncle for a few days. Naomi and cousin Dean (3) are near enough the same level that they were able to play a few things together, and the older girls frequently jumped in, too. Cousin time was fabulous!

We needed to do a quick grocery and sun hat run and seeing as Matt was the only one registered to drive the rental, but I'm the only one who can rattle off which kinds of crackers, peanut butter, jam, cheese, cereal, etc. the kids can be reasonably counted on to eat, the other adults volunteered to watch the kids while we headed out to the nearest Target. We couldn't help but comment on the fact that we could have a pretty sweet vacation ourselves while loving and responsible family members tended our children (and lots more cousin time!), but duty won out and we returned within an hour-ish.

We thought the cacti were
so cool! At this point, Naomi
was off on a separate
adventure with Uncle Chris
and Dean.

That night, we stayed in a cute little house just a mile away. We learned that you do need air conditioning in CA, but only for a little while, or you freeze. After all, Matt pointed out, we're in the desert!

The next morning, after a midwestern-time-zone awakening, a neighborhood walk (Matt and the girls saw a parrot!) and second breakfast, we headed to Huntington Gardens to explore with the whole family. We were grateful for the van, because then Uncle Brian could ride with us. This amazing place is not only home to a huge variety of plants (including an incredible cactus garden!), but also to some super rare books, at which I couldn't stop gawking. Fortunately, that part was air conditioned. ("Kalina, look! A real Gutenberg Bible! Shakespeare! Twain! Gold leaf!" She was my victim because she was the only one old enough to really care who wasn't deep in a conversation with his brother. And she would've actually cared if she hadn't been so tired from walking the gardens.)

We loved the children's garden (a steam volcano! Water! Magnetic sand!), and the Chinese garden, but then found we needed to grab some lunch. Afterward, we headed for the cactus garden, which was stunning with all the varieties and the impressive sizes of cacti. Don't trip! Naomi spent this portion of the walk naming different cacti on her own adventure with Uncle Chris and Dean, which we could tell was not only fun, but made her feel pretty important. We all held up pretty well in the hot weather, but still decided to stop for ice cream after. Because, vacation.

We were a little sad that this mommy
mastadon is in the process of getting
buried in tar--but apparently she's been
there for decades and is still hanging on!

On day 3, after our usual morning routine (this time they saw a coyote just hanging out on the street!), we ventured further in to the city to see tar pits. That are still bubbling. I'm still amazed. The whole place smelled like tar (the only downside) but we greatly enjoyed seeing the spots where hundreds of thousands of animals met an uncomfortable, stinky demise thousands of years ago. More than a million bones have been recovered, and we were able to see the excavation process. Matt and I fielded questions about dire wolves, mastadons, giant sloths, and whether any bunnies were harmed (they were--lots of them, but of course only the mean ones). We began by wandering the grounds, where tar pits big and small are prevalent. In fact, in a spot they'd tried to fence off, fresh tar had seeped through, looking like a bad repair job. The girls pretended to pull each other from pits, and we're pretty sure all those mastadons would've survived if they'd only had sisters nearby.

Girl, 7, manages to pull a
grown mastadon's let out of
a tar pit in museum simulation.
Or so the newspapers should
have said, according to Elise.

At the museum, Kalina nearly correctly estimated the number of dire wolf skulls found (over 400!), and we had fun observing the giant mastadon model. We also saw extinct tar pit birds compared to birds of today, and foliage that would have been prevalent in the area. Also cool: a super rare fossilized dragonfly. Go tar! Elise wowed herself (and by default, the rest of us) by pulling first a juvenile and then adult-sized "mastadon foot" out of a "tar pit" in a simulation using sheer strength and will. She managed to work that little nugget into the tour guide's call for questions: "Do you think it's surprising that a child could pull a grown mastadon's leg out of tar?" He graciously admitted that even some adults can't do that, at which point Elise's smile nearly jumped off her face. Kalina and Naomi also managed the simulation and would have likewise freed their youthful selves.

We took a quick pit stop in the middle to stand under a giant rock at the art museum next door, and afterward, we trekked a ways to find a (slightly) hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant for yummy street tacos. Matt and I thought it was worth the walk; not sure if the kids (or Brian) did.

The kids continued to enjoy playing together in the afternoon and early evening. I should say more about this part, but I understand virtually none of their games. The older girls did some reading, but otherwise, there were lots of happy ideas plenty of laughter, too much running, and some stories being read aloud.

We're almost all in this photo!

Day 4 started a little later, but not late enough such that Naomi wasn't a bit of a ticking time bomb meltdown-wise. We headed to a park to enjoy some laid-back fun on our last day with the cousins. The girls each greatly enjoyed playing with Dean and observing/helping with his new skills, plus making the Sierra Nevadas, Rockies and other mountain ranges out of wood chips (Kalina), showing off climbing skills (Elise) and playing in sand (Naomi and Dean). The cutest part was watching Naomi follow Dean around everywhere, because she's just so excited about her cousin (after the trip: "Mommy, can we move to California, and live in Dean's house with Dean?). Dean tolerated her either gracefully or slightly obliviously.

After a quick lunch, we began our trek into/around the mountains, sad to say goodbye but grateful that Christmas is just around the corner. We'd already gotten a taste of the barren place California would be without proper irrigation, but we couldn't help but marvel, and try to force the kids to do the same, at the foothill chaparral landscape we passed through for much of the rest of the trip. "Look, kids, dirt and brush! You won't see this at home!" The land was certainly beautiful, but slightly terrifying to those of us who ever enjoy the comforts trees provide--among them shade, cover and the color green.

Matt and his old bestie, Chris and
Naomi and her new bestie-of-the-day,
Eva.

Although Matt had visited and talked about the desert before, I wasn't quite prepared, when an hour after leaving our cousins, we pulled down a very bumpy dirt road and into a desert neighborhood, and parked at the house of a good old friend of Matt's, where we would be staying the night. In the middle of the desert. And now I'm being melodramatic, because there's nothing wrong with living in the desert, and the house was great, the family was wonderful and the yard was nice, too, and you really can do a lot of neat landscaping when you get all the sun in the world.

We enjoyed our stay, and Naomi made fast friends with the 4-year-old girl (nearly 5) of the house. We really do meet girls her age everywhere, and she can get along with every one. This girl has two younger siblings, and so my older girls were alternately entertained and slightly bored by the company they kept. Fortunately, everyone had books, there was a pool, and we only stayed a night.

On Day 5, as we'd expressed interest in exploring the nature around us, our hosts walked with us through their neighborhood and down to a ranch. The girls all picked up interesting rocks, and we were able to pet lots of horses, and name every single one. Elise has developed the habit of naming every animal she sees, including a squirrel Flufftail, and another Skinny Tail. Here are some others she's used recently:
Hanger-On
Littley
Biggles
Spots
Midnight
Brownie
Cookie
Smores
Oreo (you get the idea)
Crabby
Each horse got a name, and we're fairly sure she didn't use the same name twice.

 Back at the house, the girls discovered that the backyard had snails! Big, beautiful ones! Of course, we collected and named a bunch of those, too, and never quite understood why we couldn't keep them. Fortunately, we had nice, new friends to leave them with when we again piled into the van and headed toward Sequoia National Park

Elise bargained to trade in
her Happy Meal toy for ice
cream! So then the rest of us
wanted some, too...

We had a couple hours to drive, and not much of a plan for the day. We listened to our CD, handed out a few sticker books to Naomi, gazed in wonder at real orange trees ("Look, kids, green oranges!!!"), snacked and tried not to melt down/argue too much along the way. By popular request, we found a McDonald's for lunch and enjoyed a respite from travel. In my desperate search for something to make this day more than just a driving day, followed by TV in the hotel, I found a fruit shop 5 minutes away that got amazing reviews.

We'd already discovered that California food really is better. Even the Target strawberries were better. And with the exception of McDonald's, everything we'd eaten to this point was, just, better. Not that we're not good cooks, but food, like a 5-year-old, does better when it doesn't have to sit in a car all day.  

So we couldn't resist the opportunity to buy oranges straight from an orchard, and who knows what else? Plus, this one offered free samples (not that we weren't already full from ice-cream--see the caption). 

The store was everything you hoped it would be--free samples galore on every single wall. The girls and I dove into fresh orange juice, chocolate covered cherries, dried mango, fresh orange, candy, papaya chips, dried lime. Everything you could cover in chocolate, dry or turn into chips was available, plus some fresh produce and candy. Except chocolate-covered ants or cricket chips, both of which Naomi has been begging to try thanks to her "What's Buggin' You?" science class teacher. [Update: She has now tried a chocolate covered insect larva! Only a couple nibbles, but more than her sisters! (But not more than her daddy...)]

The nice Californian woman who apparently owned the store pushed samples upon us, and allowed us to go into the fruit sorting area (close due to Labor Day) to use the bathroom. When we came out, Matt had selected a giant bag of oranges ($9!!!), to which we added a few peaches and a big thing of mixed dried fruit. We learned that although the oranges on the trees were green, they were actually ripe--the extreme sun/heat of the summer makes them overshoot orange and turn back to green. But by exposing them to the right gas, you can turn them back to orange if you want. Ours were orange.

As we paid, the woman threw in a half gallon of fresh (amazing!!!) orange juice and some chocolate-covered dried fruits for free. Matt pointed out that she could easily be a millionaire if she owns that farm. But still, we were super grateful.

Kalina digs for gold!

An hour and a half or so later, we approached our hotel, located in the last town before Sequoia National Park. We still didn't know what to do with the rest of our day, but considered driving a little way into the park, potentially fighting Labor Day crowds. And then we saw it: a beautiful, idyllic, rocky mountain river lined by boulders and with a giant parking lot. We were in! Matt swung into the lot, paid the $5, and soon we were trekking down the hill to join the scads of people who'd found this place before us. Beyond excited, Elise scaled rocks to get into the water as fast as she could. We were not prepared at all: we had hats, but no sunscreen, a bucket but nothing to sit on, clothes and shoes rather than swimsuits. Except I think Elise, who is usually prepared with water shoes of some sort.

Elise in her element.

The river was everything you'd want it to be--refreshing, clear, gently flowing and beautiful. Elise sloshed around and explored, high as a kite on pure excitement. Kalina cautiously waded and found tiny shiny rocks (Could they be gold? she wondered) mixed into the sand. Naomi found a shallow pool to wade in. Matt and I, who really weren't prepped for swimming, switched back and forth between standing in the sun to keep a close eye on everyone, and cooling down in the shade. We wanted to stay longer (one of us, blindsided, astonished and rendered downright pouty by the cruelty of her parents, really, really, really wanted to stay longer), but it really was crowded with a bit of a rougher crowd than we're used to, we would need to apply sunscreen if we stayed longer, and we wanted to have enough time to check into our hotel and procure food before bedtime. 

Upon arrival at the hotel, the girls bounced around on the beds a bit and negotiated for spots. Which turned complicated, sending Matt to the hide-a-bed and a day or two of back pain (the minivan's uncomfy seats didn't help). We happened to catch the last little bit of Frozen on TV (which we still apparently owe Naomi) before Ratatouille, which we spent the rest of the evening enjoying.

Our first up-close sequoia!

On Day 6 we rose as quickly as possible to head into Sequoia National Park before, we presumed, the rush. To complicate matters, we knew there would be road construction at a certain part of the single road through that part of the park, and cars were only able to pass through on the hour. We enjoyed seeing the scenery change from chaparral foothills to short bushes, trees and forest, but of course the biggest transformation happened at the surprisingly sudden, majestic presence of gigantic sequoia trees interspersed among lodgepole pines. The girls were awed, especially when I told them, "That's actually only a medium-sized tree--they get a lot bigger." In fact, I don't think any of us would have been entirely surprised to see a unicorn step into view.

The park was a lot to figure out. Trails, shuttles, landmarks, distances and windy roads, not to mention the fact that every restroom we tried they were cleaning (probably after the Labor Day crowds). And don't get me started on Naomi and pit toilets....

Us with General Sherman!

With a little help from a park ranger, we decided to hop a shuttle to the General Sherman Tree, then hike for a bit, potentially back to the museum we started at or else to another shuttle stop. We also picked up junior ranger booklets for the kids.

A shuttle ride and a very short hike later, we made it to the tree! A good three hours after we set out this morning! Although we weren't allowed to get close enough to the tree to do the obligatory, "Look, we can't reach around the tree even if we hold hands!" picture, we'd at least tried that with another one. A guy who had clearly done this before snapped some great shots for us.

The tree was actually huge--a branch near the top had a diameter of 8 feet, and another massive one had fallen. We were duly impressed, but eventually had to say goodbye and hike on. After all, there would be more giant trees in store.

This is about when, probably due to many factors, Naomi melted down in an epic way over a small thing, corrupting the peaceful atmosphere for a good many Asian and European tourists. This one took a while to wind its way out, but it had also been a long trip. Plus, the incident only confirmed what Matt and I were both thinking: This is why we waited so long to take this trip. 

Ta-da! Elise wanted a picture of herself
amid all this splendor.

Eventually, the forest was peaceful again. Kalina and Elise were in their element, Kalina snapping photos every few steps, and Elise exclaiming over each new discovery. To be honest, I was right there with them. We saw a new type of squirrel (I think the park ranger called them chickarees), chipmunks, yellow-bellied marmots and several mule deer in addition to the massive trees. 

The hike started to get long, although we had chosen the shorter route back to another shuttle bus. Nevertheless, all three kids were major troopers, and still enjoyed the interesting shapes and even burn patterns found in the sequoias around us. We filled in a few pages in our junior ranger books, snacked, stressed out about whether to get an otter at the aquarium in a few days or a mouse at the gift shop now (guess who) and put one foot in front of another for close to 3 miles before we were finished. 

Back at the museum (and gift shop), we decided Naomi, being only 5 and such a trooper through something she was clearly less excited about than her sisters, had earned the right to purchase the mouse--or perhaps the hike had worn us down that much. Kalina found a strap for her camera (she'd needed one anyway) and Elise chose a keychain.

Then, since the girls had finished the requirements for the Junior Ranger badge, a kind and perfectly intense ranger carefully reviewed their books, asked them about their experiences and swore them in as junior rangers. He handed out their badges and got the attention of everyone in the vicinity so the crowd could give them a round of applause. Cool!

Even better, he told us that a bear had been seen occasionally roaming the Big Trees Trail lately. We convinced the tired kiddos that it wouldn't be a long hike and that it would be totally worth it if we saw a bear. And off we went, despite thunder rumbling in the distance. 

We could walk/crawl
through this tree!

This mile-long trail circled a meadow and included a fallen sequoia you could walk/crouch/crawl through, interpretive signs, a bold marmot and plenty of giant trees, but no bears for us. We returned to the parking lot just as it started to rain.

We decided it was time to start heading down the mountain--we had one last place we wanted to check out that promised petroglyphs from a Native American tribe. We checked these out, saw a "kitchen" of long ago (holes in the ground to grind acorns) and hiked a short distance to a beautiful view of the stream.

On Day 7, it was time to make our way to the coast. After hearing, "Can we go to the beach?" most days of the trip so far, we were all ready. The drive would have been hot and dusty if we'd been outside of the car, but by the time we pulled into Point Lobos State Park, the weather was quite chilly. Too chilly. It soon became clear I should have substituted some of our tank tops and shorts for long sleeves, pants, socks and possibly and extra jacket. Maybe a scarf, even. 

Tide pool!

Tide pools!

Fortunately, I was the one who cared the most. Because ahead of us was the glorious ocean, and between us and the ocean lay a fascinating world of tide pools. Astonishingly, Matt would've passed these by if it hadn't been for my constant nagging his sister's urging. To my vindication her credit, they garnered the following response from Elise: "This is the best day of my life!"

Tide pool!

An older couple also visiting the tide pools clued us in on the fact that we were there at low tide, and smiled at Elise's exuberant enthusiasm (and volume). We saw a starfish, sea anemonies, sea urchins, tons of hermit crabs and plenty of other amazing sites, and we stayed as long as we could. We'd brought a bucket and Elise knew just what to do, filling it with crabs and then naming and assigning personalities to them all (Stripes, Shelly, Littley, Biggley, etc.). Kalina explored and helped Elise also enjoyed just watching and listening to the music of the waves (as she put it), while Naomi managed to be very patient, seeing as this place wasn't her favorite and we followed her like a shadow near the steeper areas. The binoculars helped us spot otters in the water and we hiked to an overlook where we saw seals and sea lions. Perfect!

After our arrival at our cute little hotel, pizza for dinner, we managed a quick visit to the beach nearby, where we watched surfers, gathered long strands of kelp which Elise played a fishing game with, and nearly froze (or maybe that was just me).

Schooling fish.

Day 8 was another big one: the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We arrived early, but still stood in line. Naomi had otters on the mind (Can I buy an otter now? How about now?), and as it became clear she'd enjoy the museum much more with a stuffed otter by her side, plus she had birthday money to burn and we were both pretty sure her stamina would hold out longer with an otter companion, I walked with her to the gift shop. Elise soon followed, thinking along similar lines--but fortunately, the shop was prepared with two similar but not identical baby sea otters for reasonable prices.

Real otters!

Over the next couple hours, we caught three different feedings, and enjoyed an incredibly not reasonably priced lunch (although the view we had made it all worth it). The schooling fish among predators were incredible ("Look, one has lost its school! Go little fish, go!"), the otters were adorable and presumably the kelp fish were stunning, but Naomi and I wandered over to a little kelp play area to play baby sea otter instead. 

Elise is delighted by the
touch tank!

In the afternoon, we took our time through the exhibits. Elise found her way to two touch tanks and grilled two knowledgeable and friendly volunteers about the animals, of course sharing some stories of her own. She learned that you can hold sea urchins in the wild. An equally fascinated, but less vocal Kalina took it all in. Naomi and I partnered up to see what other fun we could have whenever the older girls' attention spans outlasted hers--and of course there was plenty of fun around.

In the end, we saw nearly everything and were on our way out 15 minutes before closing. Way cooler than Disney. We finished the day with another visit to the beach within walking distance from our house. Fortunately, it didn't seem to bother the girls that there was no talk of swimsuits or long afternoons spent chilling in the sand. (Chilling the good way, not turning into popsicles, as was reality.) 

After we'd calmed down a bit.

Day 9 was earmarked for whale watching, and Matt, who'd booked the trip just a couple days before, was nervous. What if it was choppy, freezing, boring, terrifying and/or nausea-inducing? And what if we also didn't see any whales? 

Humpback!

We awoke to heavy fog, but trusted we'd still be able to see whales, if there even were any. I'd spent a portion of the previous evening reading reviews to see if I could glean any nuggets of wisdom. The most important thing I found was that we should all probably take Dramamine. Which, fortunately, I had as Kalina can get carsick at times. It was child Dramamine, and chewable, but I was able to find the adult-sized equivalent dose and as Matt declined, I was covered, too.

Humpback lunge feeding.

We found seats in the boat that we figured would be likely to have decent views, and settled in, with Naomi in her required life jacket. We listened while the captain informed everyone that the seas were relatively calm, and the boat began to pull away from the dock. And as it began moving through the waves in the harbor, panic set in among our crew.

Kalina, stoic but freaked, hung on to her seat with a death grip, while ocean-loving Elise, less stoic and more freaked, yelled all kinds of things like, "I hate this," and "I want to go back." Naomi, thank goodness, was too drowsy from the Dramamine to be concerned. Elise cowered on Matt's lap and we tried to reassure and calm everyone the best we could. None of the girls had the least interest in going out to the deck. "NO!" shrieked Elise at the suggestion, as though she thought we were tying to murder her. Which really may have crossed her mind. When I inquired about a future career as a marine biologist, she reasoned she'd let other people go out on the boat, and she would study the specimens in the lab.

Action shot of seals!

And then we started seeing humpback whales. By now, Elise wasn't actively flailing and shrieking, Kalina was still stoic and Naomi was staring drowsily off into space. Matt and I informed the children that we were whale watching for us, not them, and that we'd be going out to the deck and we really thought they should join us.

Brave Naomi!

In the end, we managed to force them out, at least for a bit, and everyone saw whales. Shortly thereafter, Elise grappled her way back inside and Matt returned Naomi, too. Kalina was somewhat paralyzed holding onto the railing, but thought the whales were cool, so I suggested she stay. I think she only did because the thought of making her way back was worse, but either way, she got some fantastic looks at whales. She and I both struggled with just an edge of seasickness, so I convinced her we should make our way to the back of the boat and stay outside. This helped keep her watching and helped keep the nausea at bay. At one point, we spotted what looked like a shark fin, and she correctly identified it as an ocean sunfish, handing down a few additional facts she'd read about. 

Look, we survived the whale boat!

And by the time dolphins came into view, jumping alongside our boat, Kalina was hooked, completely delighted by everything she saw, Elise was more relaxed and Naomi was still really chill. Kalina even let out a scream of excitement when a whale lunged its head out of the water right near the boat. Elise consented to join us on the deck once or twice more, but still preferred watching from the safety of her indoor seat. Matt also occasionally brought Naomi out, but she was still very content to just sit and rock with the waves and watch. It actually worked out well that she was drowsy, because I think she enjoyed the ride more that way.

We could've watched the seals breaching, whale rolling and flapping its fin in the water, dolphins jumping and whales surfacing for a long time, but apparently they, too, could do this all day. We had to head back.

And, you guessed it, by the end, each girl was riding happily and giving the trip two thumbs up. Each said they would do it again.

Elise got to hold a sea urchin!

After lunch on the pier, we decided, at Elise's express pleading, to go back to the tide pools. We found a slightly different spot, and soon Elise was picking up sea urchins (she said one of them possibly tried to eat her) and finding all kinds of other cool critters. Kalina did the same, minus the loud exclamations every few seconds, and Naomi found a bunch of little rocks to play in. She and I played a lovely imaginative game in which we lived in a place called Rock Angeles (her idea, not mine), and each had houses. I had kids (rocks) and wanted to by them pets (other rocks) with money (more rocks) that I had to earn by doing jobs. This was fun for her and cute for me.

Finally, we headed back to the hotel to try to get through the rest of our groceries (which we managed surprisingly well), pack up a bit, and spend a final hour on the beach. This last part became especially important after we figured out that through a misunderstanding, Elise's favorite shells from the tide pools had been returned to them. 

Naomi in Rock Angeles. 

Kalina enjoying the waves.

Fortunately, Matt found a previously overlooked area of the beach where you could cross some rocks to get to a shell beach and, potentially, more tide pools. As Naomi was so. over. tide pools and just wanted to run on the sand, she and I stuck around the sandy part of the beach. She ran from place to place, giggling writing NO in large letters (Naomi Odegaard? NO more tide pools?) while I mildly followed and watched. Not being able to draw perfect circles, however, melted her down. But soon she turned it into a harmless game, in which she simply ran away from me. 

Naomi's self-portrait on the
beach.

After Matt returned with the girls, loaded down with shells, we spent a little while longer, watching a lone sea otter just off shore among the rocks work at breaking his dinner with a rock as the tide came in. It couldn't have been a more magical ending to the fun part of our trip.

On Day 10, we flew out of the San Jose airport, changing plans in LA. This time, we got better seats, and we may have actually crossed the Grand Canyon. Travel was super easy, thanks in part to our ability to deplete trip snacks and to new otters.

And the next morning, Matt flew out first thing on a business trip. :)

Naomi adores sand.

They're digging out a saber-toothed cat
and a giant sloth. Actually, they were
fiddling with the scaffolding most of
the time we were there...

Whoah! We get a picture, just us?!? Thanks, Kalina!

Yup, you can hold sea urchins!