less heat, more balmy

My sister, Helena, came to visit last week with three of her boys and delicious baby Clara. Well, actually, I drove back to San Diego with her after my trip to Arizona. I just spent a few days with her and her family in Laguna and Newport but she had never been to San Diego to visit me. She tries to get out of Arizona in the summer as much as possible because she's like me with the heat - it makes us angry.

She spent her birthday here so I made these coconut cupcakes and we ate dinner on the patio in perfect weather. It was especially nice because Helena (our family gardener and landscaper) really appreciates the balmy temperatures here!

Highlights included when Andrew (my sweet 7-year-old redhead nephew) came into the kitchen one night as I was doing the dishes and he was heading to bed. He shyly stood there a second and then slowly said, "Good night" and had the sweetest look on his face that was just begging for a hug and kiss. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight and he was so pleased. His face beamed as he skipped off to bed and it made my heart grow two sizes to think about William at that sweet age.

William is obsessed with Clara and thinks she is a little doll. We often had to keep a close eye on him because he was "loving her to death" with his Godzilla-like hugs. She is so pleasant though that she rarely cried.

We went to Coronado Island and had a picnic on the beach, went to Mission Bay and let the kids play basketball and at the park, walked around Balboa Park, went to the mall (a big deal for them since the mall at home is an hour away) and then Helena and I went shopping and got dessert after the kids were in bed. It was fun and I'm glad to have had so many visitors already this summer! It makes life so much more enjoyable and it's fun for me to show off what a great place we get to live in! :)