Cali 2013, Day 2 of 15

Here's an indication of how much of a morning person I have become: I am incapable of sleeping in past 7:00am.  Even after a tiring work week followed by a long cross-country flight that got us in past 3:00am our time, there I was popping up at around 6:30am local time.  The kids were up not long after.  It was time to start our first full day in California.

After breakfast, I decided to take the kids to a favorite hiking spot to stretch their legs.  We bounded up the mountain, snapped some photos, breathed in the fresh air, and then headed out.  We hit the grocery store on the way back and marveled at clean floors and alcohol in the aisles.

My sister, her husband, and their baby boy arrived later that morning.  We spent the whole day with them, reveling in my nephew's cuteness and enjoying each other's company.  We celebrated my dad's 70th birthday with take-out Chinese at a nearby place and with a slide show my sister and I put together on all the things we learned from our dad that we now do ourselves now that we are parents too.  We went for a walk to see my aunt and then returned home for leftovers.

After being out late the night before, I was itching to get caught up on sleep and get the kids to bed early as well.  Mission accomplished on both fronts.  Even though Cali vacations are fun for seeing dear people in my life who I hardly get to see, they're also good for catching up on sleep.