MIA

So I meant to post before we went on vacation to say that we were going on vacation... but now we're back after a fabulous ten days in the golden state, our soon-to-be home! We first flew to San Francisco to spend a few days getting our bearings in the city and looking for a place to live. We failed on the second account, but not without seeing a few condos and apartments. We decided the general neighborhood we'd like to be in and also decided not to buy, so we did succeed at some big decisions! We just still don't have a place to live and will be relying on our wonderful friends and fam out there as apartments become available.

Grace was a champ on the flight and we headed directly to In 'n Out from SFO. She wasn't so into the shake, but our girl likes her french fries! We then went into the city to meet up with my mom, see an apartment, and then headed to the east bay to my aunt and uncle's home in Pleasanton for the weekend. And for the first of Steve's multiple birthday celebrations! On Saturday, Steve and I went back to the city for the housing-marathon while Grace stayed for some spoiling by the Greats and GoGo. Saturday evening the awesome Hilary and Kristie hosted a bbq for family and a bunch of our college friends. What a reunion! And another birthday for Steve (more on this tradition later). Sunday we hung out in Pleasanton, went for a walk through a gorgeous oak grove, saw some cows being castrated, gorged on mexican food and watched the Oscars (Grace isn't so sure about Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin either). It was the loveliest weekend and absolutely affirmed our decision to move to San Francisco. Plus, with all the rain, the hills were green, flowers were just beginning to bud, and the air was gentle - our forced air/freezing temps/Boston-in-winter dry skin was gone in just 24 hours. Ah.

Then, Monday, we hit the road to LA. Although making that drive down the five through central California was a rite of passage for Grace, Steve and I dreaded it. Our stroller or public transportation girl isn't used to so much carseat (aka bucket), so we were worried there would be a ton of screaming. There wasn't - she slept and played, had only one meltdown, we made extremely good time, and the recent rains made the drive the prettiest we'd ever seen it. Popped up and over the grapevine in time for Grace to meet her Nana (Steve's mom) that afternoon!

We spent the rest of the week hanging out in greater Pasadena. We had the rare treat to stay at the Athenaeum at CalTech, a beautiful, historic building. The CalTech campus is lovely so we had fun taking early morning walks and checking out the surrounding neighborhoods of old-style California architecture. We saw other friends of Steve's mother as well her 94 year old aunt. Grace's great, great aunt Florence is an amazing woman - not only is she very sharp, she's hilarious. She gave Grace a Raggedy Ann doll and Grace was instantly attached. Poor R.A. - she's a little worse for the wear, having been thrown from a moving stroller and dragged for a while. We headed down to Newport Beach one day to see Grandpa (Steve's dad) and introduce Grace to the beach, SoCal style (and ice cream - now we know how Grace communicates 'give me more now'). And, Nana took us all to Disneyland, which turned into a two day adventure I'll write about separately.

Our trip had all the makings of an idyllic vacation - sun everyday, good food, plenty of rest, and lots of time with friends and family. Grace had a blast meeting so many people and exploring different places. It was a little hard to return to Boston's horrible rain storm, more flooding in our apartment, and also find that my jacket was stolen out of our luggage. Now we'll see how the time change plus daylight saving goes for Grace... could be a tough few nights. Photos and more on Steve's birthday tour, Disney-madness, and Grace's 10 month (GASP) update coming soon!