We took a LOT of pictures while we were on vacation in California, so I'll upload a handful (not in order). It was a great trip, and Zaria did surprisingly well on the airplane, getting to know all sorts of new relatives including 4 second cousins (all boys), and dealing with some serious heat in the desert-- 107 degrees in Indio. We kept her in AC areas most of the time while in the desert since the heat was pretty unbearable. She was extremely observant of new faces, and only seemed to get scared when she met men with beards.
Zaria playing with 1-year-old second cousins in San Diego (Amber's twins), Lucas and Nicolas. Their older brother Jaden had a lot of fun poking at Zaria's cheeks.
Zaria and Joe (son of Jamin's cousin Anne) meet for the first time.
A group shot in Oceanside, at Marc & Mimi's place. L-R: Liz, Jamin, Sara (holding Zaria), Jennie, Mimi, Marla and David
Cousin Anne, Aunt Mimi holding Zaria, and Mimi's sister-in-law Marilyn over for a celebration of Grandma's 84th birthday.
With all of Jamin's family that we visited, I also got to see my mom's cousin, Joey, who gave us a great lunch on our way out to the desert and enjoyed visiting with Zaria.
The three of us in the shade-- a hot day at The Living Desert Zoo. They actually are only open from 8 am to 1:30 pm in the summertime. We got there in time to see the giraffes finishing their morning meal. They have a baby giraffe there-- not sure how old since one guide said 7 months (same age as Zaria) and another said 11 months. Here he is if you want to guess his real age:
We took a break from the desert heat by going up a few thousand feet on the aerial tramway. Here's a group shot before Jamin, Jennie and I headed down for some hiking. We went from 107 degrees down below in the desert to 71 degrees up in the mountains. It was beautiful, and a welcome relief.
Zaria with Great Grandpa Jim
Playing with Great Grandma Mary on the floor in Long Beach.
Taking a leisurely cruise on the Duffy. There was a sailboat race going on as we went out that evening.
We rode the Aqua Link over to the Queen Mary (a permanently docked ocean liner) and The Scorpion (a Russian submarine from the 70's--both have tours) with Jamin's folks. Zaria slept on the way there in the sling. We toured The Scorpion, but had to keep someone behind with Zaria since they only had 2' holes to climb through. See me climbing through below.
Zaria absolutely loved the water, whether it was ocean, pool or sprinkler. This picture is at Mother's Beach, which is at a salt water bay on Naples Island.
We went to the Art Shanties gallery on Medicine Lake last weekend. Though most of them didn't actually have any fishing involved, the one below did. There was a platform above, so you couldn't actually see the fisherman above in this space where kids were looking down the hole. It was comforting to see 2 feet of ice below us, though.
I sang Linda Ronstadt's version of "Heat Wave" since it was a balmy 31 degrees outside. One of the karaoke requirements was that you had to draw a picture of yourself singing. Jamin took care of that for me and added my red scarf as a nice touch.
