The land of citrus, beach, and SUVs

It's been over a week since my last post and I think that is the longest I have gone without blogging in ages. We've been in California since the 15th and don't return to Chicago until the 30th. Wow...it's already been such a blast seeing family and friends. Maggie also had her first plane ride which turned out to be awesome. The first 20 minutes she cried hysterically, so I was sure the trip was going to be a nightmare, but she settled into a nap and slept for 3 hours straight. Then, we woke her up to feed her as we were landing. She is a champion traveler! Mema and Pops, Aron's parents, have enjoyed the time with Mags, as have several of our close friends who have gotten to meet her for the first time. It's been great to reconnect with them (Jason, Cayla, Lindsey, Angel, Thad, Dawnielle, the Mayers) in person and this week I have several more play dates/coffee dates lined up. I don't feel like I'm doing too much, for which I am grateful. This past Thursday through Sunday we were up in NorCal and Maggie actually got her first taste of the Pacific on Friday, at a beach between Monterrey and Santa Cruz. Aron's parents own a home in Hollister and we were able to stay there. Aron's sister lives there with her family, so we spent Saturday afternoon with them. Maggie met her first set of cousins and it was a blast to watch them interact with her. Ayla is now 6 1/2 and Donovan is 4--Aron and I were amazed at how big they are (it's been 1 1/2 years since we've seen them--man, time flies!). When Mags woke up from her afternoon nap, Donovan went into the room to get her with Aron and he asked, "Why does the girl baby have boy hair?" How hilarious is that?! :) But, he was lavishing kisses and pats on her and Ayla enjoyed feeding her the bottle. Uncle Jim enjoyed playing with her and Aunt Cari gave her lots of kisses.

Shannon and Steve drove in from Reno, and my good friend, Laurie, drove down from Stanford with her husband, Jonathan, and their daughter, Elise, for the weekend, too. Shannon and I were able to grab a couple of hours at Starbucks alone on Saturday morning to connect--yeah! The weekend was low-key as we spent our time talking, eating, drinking coffee and good beer, eating some good Mexican food, playing with the kiddos, and sitting outside by the fire. What more can one want? Maggie had another fantastic traveling experience in the car, there and back. We just both realize more and more what a content and easy-going baby she is--we are so blessed, seriously. I'm sure some of it is personality, but I must say I think that she is how she is because she is a well-slept baby. Even uncle Steve, who is self-admittedly not a huge baby person, was smitten with Mags. It was actually a highlight of the weekend for me, watching him interact with her. Aron and I pulled into MV around 7pm tonight and are gearing up for our last week here. I have taken a bunch of pictures, but my FIL doesn't have Sony sofware, so we'll have to wait until next weekend to post them. Stay tuned!