I wanna see the sunshine after the rain

So, second year in, and I've decided we must start doing the blog differently if we are to keep it up. Instead of waiting for months and having the ordeal of writing some tremendous essay, we should do what other people do and do it little and often.

Obviously its now May 10^th and we haven't written anything since the the first weekend in April so this is not quite working out according to plan. However its all in my head so am now going to write it down...quickly!

So Easter weekend came and went and so did the summer sun. It appears that the whole of the winters rain was waiting for the arrival of Mum and Rich. For 4 days and 4 nights (thank god not 40!) it pissed it down. The weather had never been so bad in all the time we'd spent in CA so far. Not the best time to have visitors but there you go.

The first few days were spent doing indoor activities. Going to the cinema with Lorraine, Natalie and Hannah to watch 'Mirror Mirror'. 'I love this show' T screamed at one of the random trailers....'when is the show going to end' he asked as soon as the film started. At least the girls and the adults enjoyed it! The Monterey Bay aquarium was next on the hit list. Always fun. The night was spent at a hotel with a lovely little indoor swimming pool. To rewind a couple of weeks, I had just put both the children into swimming lessons. Phia is already like a little fish, head bobbing and floating away. T, on the other hand, screamed like a bashee. And even away from the formal swimming lesson, would he get in? Would he heck as like. So he stayed on the side whilst everyone else had fun. Boded well for Hawaii!

Then, finally, the sun reappeared. Big sur was next on the list. Beautiful as usual. And then Santa Cruz and the beach and the boardwalk where we signed up for a season full of fun. We all came away happy and a bit pink cheeked. Fabulous.

We returned to Mountain View to celebrate my birthday and Mum and I spent a beautifully sunny day together in San Francisco. We went on the trams and to Giradelli Square where we deliberated for a while on what type of chocolate to buy the boys (being Ste and Pops). We had lunch at the sourdough factory and finished it all of eating ice cream outside the Ferry building. Bliss.

By this point the rain has turned into searing hot sunshine and the paddling pool was promptly brought out. Sophia loved it, T gingerly poked his toes in. We sadly said our goodbyes to Granny and Pops. But our next adventure was only days away.......Hawaii!