Sunny San Fran.

By Liv

With only one more day to spend with my family, we decided to pack up and take the short ferry ride in to San Francisco. We arrived at the Pier along Embarcadero Street and forged our way forward on the street car to the popular Pier 39. There, we did what all the other tourists were doing - walked along the boardwalk in awe of San Fran's beautiful landscapes and amazing shopping and eating choices.

Stella and I had a wonderful time staying with my Uncle, Aunt, and two cousins. We already miss them and look forward to seeing them in November for my Sister's wedding!

Representing Oxford.

 The marina.

 Cousin Kailey.

Stella loved the ride!

 We had so much fun with our cousins.

 Kailey (KK), Kimberly (Kippy) and us.

 The seals were the most exciting part of the trip for the bambina.

 She sure does love her Uncle!

 Beautiful San Fran.

 My beautiful cousin, Kailey. She's growing up too fast.

La Familia.

La Familia Hernandez.

By Liv

We made it to California! The weather here is lovely: sunny and warm. The people are lovely: my family are more than happy to have us here. The food is fantastic: we've had mexican food at least once a day since we arrived. We are so very thankful for our beautiful family.

Today, we met some of my family that we've never met before. They came to my Uncle's house and we enjoyed some delicious carne asada BBQ, tamales, homemade guacamole, beans, rice... I'd continue but I'm afraid I'm making you hungry and we all know that whatever you have in your fridge isn't half as delicious as what I just mentioned.

We sat outside, stuffed our faces, talked about family: both here and past. I wish Grandma Hernandez were here. She would've loved to sit and eat with us. She would've told us so many great stories.

 Cousin Kailey loves her little Beebo.

 We met Dinah today for the first time. I can't believe we waited this long!

 Chef Boyar-Sam. 

 Baby girl Chiquita.

Stella's personal hair dresser.

 Mama's girl.

 Pretty Kimmi.

Uncle pulls out the big guns.

Stella loves her cousins, and they love her!

 Que delicioso!

 Silly Daddy!

Favorite Uncle Sam.

 Point at your favorite person, Stella!

 Uncle Sam and Dinah's husband Darnell.

My two loves.

Deep thoughts.

 She wasn't exactly sure about the pool.

After a winter in England, this is heaven.

 Kailey the water baby!

 

Mama y her little mama.

Mum's Day 2011.

By Liv

The modern Mother's Day is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in March, April, or May as a day to honor mothers and motherhood. In the UK and Ireland, it follows the old traditions of Mothering Sunday, celebrated in March/April.

This was the second Mother's Day that I have celebrated as a Mum myself. Although Stella isn't quite up to the challenge of cooking me breakfast (she could, you see, she just isn't TALL enough to reach the counter tops so as to chop all the ingredients...) so instead she bossed Nick around and supervised while he put together a delicious omelet feast which was perfectly paired with a glass (or three) of organic/fair trade Mimosas. Mm... organic Mimosas!

The rest of the day was all about me and whatever I wanted to do: we went to the Grand Cafe for high tea, toured the Oxford Botanical Gardens (the oldest Botanic garden in Britain!) and ended the evening at our friend Vasu and his wife Neelima's house for a delicious home-cooked Indian dinner.

I had a wonderful day, but now that I've had a taste of the good life, I'm wondering why EVERY day can't be Mum's Day?

 The Grand Cafe. 

 "The site of the first coffee house in England."

 Contemplating another scone.

 Oxford Botanical Gardens.

Indian feast with friends. You-know-who was the life of the party, as usual :)

Seattle-bound!

By Liv

It's official. Nick accepted a job in Seattle, Washington. We will be heading back to the States this summer. I'm so proud of him! He's not even 2/3rds finished with his degree and has already been offered a wonderful job at an internationally-known company. I'm so thankful for him and all his dedication to his studies and mostly to our family.

I will divulge more details later, but until then I wanted to let all of our friends and family know what our next move is. We look forward to seeing everyone again soon and hugging and kissing your beautiful selves!

Radcliffe Camera and Magdalen College.

By Liv

Now that Nick has more free time, we jumped on the opportunity to get out of the house together – as a family. We headed out to Magdalen College, which is a short 15-minute walk from our house, but stopped first for some cream tea and scones at a lovely garden cafe just across from the beautiful Radcliffe camera. After enjoying our spot of tea, we stumbled in to the church next door to see what was going on. It turned out that there was a choir/play practicing and we were able to sit in the pews and watch – what a treat!

Once at Magdalen College, it became immediately obvious that Stella was much more interested in walking on the grass (which had a noteably large "please stay off grass sign") and plucking the flowers than watching the deer in the deer park on Magdalen's grounds.

Here's a bit of history about Magdalen College, which is pronounced "Maud-lin":
Magdalen College was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester.^[4] Regarded by some as one of the most beautiful of the Oxford and Cambridge colleges,^[6] Magdalen is also one of the most visited.

 Admiring the Radcliffe Camera.

The Radcliffe Camera.

 We stumbled upon a choir/play rehearsal and sat down to watch for free!

 Magdalen College grounds.

 Who cares about the beautiful deer? There are flowers!