Happy B’day Wilder

Also while we were away it was Wilder's second birthday - or H'py B'dy Wilder, as he called it. He'd first heard the happy birthday song a few days before and wanted to hear it again and again so of course he was thrilled when he heard it for his birthday. He also really liked the cake.

Surf Girl

The last day in Kauai, Bluet (and her cousins Thane, Lila and Nate) got to try some surfing. They all took to it pretty fast, surfing into shore like pros by the end of the lesson. It looked really fun. 

California

Hawaii is a long way away from St Louis, so we broke our journey from Missouri to Hawaii for 2 days in California, my first visit in 39 years (it's changed). We flew to San Francisco then drove a couple of hours south (stopping at a sushi restaurant on the way) to meet up with some of our friends from New York who now have 2 children of their own. We stayed in Pebble Beach, virtually on the beach and right next to Carmel and Monterrey. We had time to enjoy the beach, eat brunch and visit the nearby Point Lobos Nature reserve, where we saw star fish in the rock pools.

The garden was dry and dirty, and within minutes it was all over Wilder's face

This is how we entertained Wilder on the way from California to Hawaii - on the way to San Francisco he threw up all over me. Twice.

On this trip we learned that Wilder hates the beach

This was Wilder's bed for 2 days

Then we drove south to LA, a very interesting trip through endless fields of almonds, past the place where James Dean died, and over the Tejon pass and down into LA, where we didn't get to see any celebrities or even the Hollywood sign.