Malibu...

We had an amazing girls-weekend/mini-vacation in California. We stayed at Christine and Andy's new home in Malibu. This is the view of the canyon and ocean from Christine's balcony (Wow huh?):

Here Lili is using her foot to point to Christine's house in the morning light:

Evidence of the fire that swept through her canyon in the past year:

We spent spent some of the time working on plans for Christine's upcoming wedding:

We went to the farmers' market on Sunday:

And made yummy Indian food later that night with the vegetables:

We went shopping and Lili tried on a $150 hat...

We got to spend a lot of time lovin' on Christine and Andy's dog "Chunk":

Overall, there was a lot of giggles, tea, and catching up...

Lili did fantastic on the 4 1/2 hour plane ride. I was nervous about that bit, but, she was great. On the ride there we got seated next to a sleepy businessman, he was less than excited to see us sit down next to him. On the ride home we got seated next to a wonderful grandmother named Deloris. Deloris entertained Lili and I with sparkly jewelry,pictures of doggies, and stories of her world travels. Having a young child on a long plane ride is a LOT of work. I think the key is to pray to be seated next to the right person though... that and lots of treats.
After Malibu, our home seems a bit campy in comparison, and the mountains here seem jungly, and there is little hope of running into any stars where we are, but I am happy to be home. Both Lili and I were overjoyed to see Alex's bearded face beaming at us when we got off the plane in Asheville. Here is the view from our road as we drove in: