The Journey: Our trip to Cali....

Playing at the airport before we take off

First, we went to Uncle Doug and Aunt Shaye's house in Berkeley. Johari had fun exploring in their yard. We took walks around the neighborhood. Johari fell in love with Aunt Shaye!!! She couldn't get enough of Aunt Shaye. She didn't want Aunt Shaye to go to bed and stop reading to her. She wanted to sit next to Aunt Shaye while having our delicious Thai birthday dinner in their yard. Uncle Doug took us to a really nice farmer's market where we sampled away!!! Strawberry tastings and peach samples! It was yummy and fun. We enjoyed our visit with them. She continues to ask where Aunt Shaye's mommy is.... I think because one time Shaye was talking to her mom on the phone.

Reading with Aunt Shaye in bed

Then, we went to hang with Sasha and Chrissy for a few days in a suburb of San Francisco called Brisbain. We tried to go to the beach but the wind whipped us away. We picked plums from the neighbors' tree. Johari probably ate 10 in a row. She loved playing with Sasha and Chrissy and their cats, too!! She resisted baths most of our trip but she finally got in and didn't want to get out at the end of our stay at Sasha and Chrissy's house.

She colored in her armpits...deodorant, I guess!

Hangin with mama at a cafe in Brisbain, CA

Playing with Sasha and Chrissy at a park in San Francisco

Then we headed off to L.A. to spend a few days with Soraya. I remembered the awesome rollerskaters of Venice beach from when I had spent a summer in L.A. when I was in high school and so we went there one evening. It was fun!!! We watched the rollerskating and played on a playground, saw the end of a slam dunk contest. We met Soraya's crew of friends. And learned more about her Tao culture group and we were involved in a ceremony at their center. We hung in her neighborhood and went to a couple of different parks.