california on my mind...

I can't get this song out of my head... since I was on my way to California:
Astrid and I took a solo trip without Dad to California to see one of my best friends in the whole world...Ann. It was a trip a long time in the making, since she has been there for 2 1/2 years, and this was my first trip to see her in her new digs north of L.A.

Astrid was a dream to travel with (thankfully, since I was on my own this time) on the flights. The most difficult part of the whole trip was installing Astrid's car seat into my rental car at the airport before driving to Topanga Canyon to Ann and Lance's home.

While I was in California I got to catch up with Ann (and Lance, too!), meet her 1st grade class and see where she works, spend some time at the Getty Museum, go on a hike, eat out and grab coffee at some of their favorite joints, walk on the beach, soak in some sun, but my favorite part was spending some time with Ann (after cutie pie went to bed at night - and it was somewhat early due to the timezone change)...

There are some friends that you can see after long times apart and seems like no time has passed at all. Ann is one of these friends...

Speaking of "friends"! I also was so lucky to see some of my friends from High School! Joe, Mike, and Ryan... It was a blast from the past!

Here are some pics from our trip. Click to see them larger.

Lance also took these awesome photographs of Astrid while we were there! I love these, Lance! Thank you for capturing her personality with your photographer's eye!:
We also got two nights with Auntie Kelli and Uncle Rick. It was short - but we got some shopping in while we were there! Astrid had fun laughing at Hannah when we first arrived.