Summer's last stop, L.A.

Since our family trip was to Hawaii this summer, it was more economical to fly straight there and then continue flying on our summer travels to NorCal, then SoCal before returning to HK.

The last couple weeks of our vacation were spent with members Paul's family - staying at three different homes.

Paul's youngest sister Helen recently moved into her townhouse walkable to her main street downtown and the train to her office in downtown L.A. We stayed there a few days and enjoyed the park right out her front door that on Friday afternoons turns into a Farmer's Market with live music. We pulled out her new patio furniture and while listening to the band enjoyed farm-fresh fruit, kettle corn and homemade tamales as the sun set…

Next stop was Paul's brother's home in a fairly new planned development with parks and rec facilities, many playgrounds, a school and town center with all the necessities. We BBQ'd and enjoyed the community swimming pool and spent time getting to know Maggie and Alex's  youngest cousin who joined the family at the end of Feb, but who we had to wait until summer to meet. It was so fun to make him laugh - love those baby belly laughs!

Finally, we made it to the family home where we would normally base ourselves for the summer but because of our itinerary didn't arrive until the end of our trip. There we celebrated birthdays - Maggie's past and Alex's upcoming, enjoyed the company of grandpa and grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins, lounging around and swimming in the backyard pool.

To round out our summer, we did a little shopping at the mall and at Target, of course. We also went to the beach at Santa Monica to play at the park there, walk on the pier, and eat hot dog on a stick and drink fresh lemonade, mmm! Summer always seems to go quickly, but at the end of our time in CA, we were ready to come back to our normal routine. I allowed myself one day before starting work and the kids had another week to re-acclimate, whew!