California (The Return)

We just got back from a week in California. We flew out on Thursday, the day after my newest nephew, Elias (Eli) Jack Wiedlocher was born. Eden did very well on the plane (for which some credit must definitely be given to the creators of Wall-E and Smarties). Since we had seen that the weather was about to get a little chilly and rainy (for almost the exact duration of our stay) we took advantage of the sunshine on Friday morning and headed to the beach. As you already know, Eden has been talking about the beach since before Christmas. I'm happy to report that reality seemed to live up to her expectations - to say that she had a good time would be an incredible understatement. She loved every second of it. We dug holes in the sand and buried ourselves, we built castles, we found sea shells, and Eden and Pete even took on the freezing cold Pacific Ocean and spent time playing in the waves. She cried when we left. She asked to go back almost every day after that. Unfortunately, the weather forecast turned out to be pretty accurate so we weren't able to return. But I'm glad she had so much fun. It was definitely a great morning and probably my favorite memory of the whole trip.

It was also great to see many of our friends. We spent almost every moment of the rest of our week hanging out with friends and eating. Seriously. Luz and Patrick's wedding was awesome - Pete did a great job officiating his first wedding ceremony, and Eden did a great job looking cute and getting covered in dirt. The wedding reception was catered by some delicious taco place, and we got to pig out on carne asada and rice and beans and guacamole and horchata and holy moly do I love Mexican food. Luz was beautiful, the newlyweds were adorable, and we were so glad to get to celebrate with them. We hung out with many more friends over the next several days, and continued to eat our way through Southern California, making stops for In-N-Out, sushi, Starbucks (multiple times), Intelligentsia, Jamba Juice, Baja Fresh, and afternoon tea at The Chado Tea Room. Sadly, I never made it to Rubios for my favorite fish taco, but I guess that just means we'll have to plan a return trip soon.

Thank you so much to all of our friends who hosted us and took us out for dinner and cooked us meals and made time in your schedules to come see us and let us borrow your vehicles, etc. We were so glad to see all of you and spend a little time in the city where Eden was born and where we spent eight years of our lives. At one point, as we were driving home from a restaurant after a great dinner with friends, we pulled up to an intersection just a few blocks from our old apartment - and intersection I've probably sat at a hundred times - and for a fleeting second I had the feeling of, "oh good, we're almost home." But we weren't of course - home is in a new place now: in a house instead of an apartment, in a small town instead of a major city, in a region of green grass and spring thunderstorms instead of desert and mountains and ocean. I love our new home, and I was so very glad to come back to it yesterday, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Pasadena and Southern California. I wish I could somehow live in both places at once, and I most definitely wish that we could always live surrounded by all of our friends. But I'm so thankful for the memories we made on this trip.

And I'm so, so thankful that I get to be with these two, wherever they are: