Aunt E is Home!Aunt E is back in the States after two years in the mission field, and we got to see her first! We had a great time hanging out, catching up on stories, and satisfying some of her American food cravings. One day the girls got to have a playdate with some church friends, so E and I could get some sister-bonding time and go shopping without little helpers (so much fun!). For the last half of her visit we were joined by T, one of her students who'll be traveling with her for the next couple of weeks for an English immersion experience. Both E and T brought the girls presents including lots of origami/kirigami paper. The entourage was thrilled! (and my house in now covered in tiny scraps of really pretty paper) E taught them how to make lots of different things, and T and the girls particularly bonded over folding paper airplanes.

Library DayE was around for library day, so she joined us for a wild animal themed storytime. As usual they picked out lots of books to bring home:
Max & Milo Go to SleepA Regular Rolling NoahListen to My Trumpet!Doctor Meow's Big EmergencyNini Here and ThereExcuse Me!WhistlingWho BopMuch Bigger Than Martin
Classic Cali Experiences
On the days T and E were both here, we decided to treat them to some of our favorite local activities. First we hit the beach. It was our typical July weather (65 degrees and cloudy), but we still had lots of fun playing in the sand. I even arranged for it to be a beach playdate and invited a couple of other families we're friends with who also have kids T's age. The highlight of this visit: spotting a seal and a couple of dolphins not too far from shore.

The girls and their friends found LOTS of mole crabs this visit.
They have several dozen held captive in those buckets.

Monkey and her friend L made sand cakes.

Goose had so much fun!

 Coincidentally our church was hosting another of our favorite activities that evening: a fire pit and s'mores. The latter were a much missed dessert for E and a new experience for T (he approves). There was also a movie going for the kids, but ours chose to play on the playground and focus on the s'mores instead.

The evening before we had to say goodbye, we visited the wharf--our favorite local tourist attraction. The tide was in, so the girls didn't get to look for seashells, but they had fun climbing on the rocks and peering into tidal pools where they got to see the critters that actually live in those shells. Next, we helped T do some souvenir shopping, watched taffy being made (and bought some, yum!), got to see otters and sea lions from the observation decks, and enjoyed some really tasty seafood dishes in one of the wharf restaurants.

We found creatures in shells!

 Scottish Festival & Celtic GamesThe Saturday E and T were here happened to be the local Scottish Festival and Celtic Games, so they came along with us to experience our family's heritage. We had a great time, and it turned out to be a pretty big event! Our day involved watching bits of a highland dancing competition, marveling and laughing at the juggler/stilt walker/comedian, watching the parade of clans (complete with a pipe and drum corps, of course) while eating meat pies (yum!), admiring "The Queen" and her retinue of Elizabethan re-enactors, witnessing the feats at the Celtic games and participating in the kids' versions, and perusing the vendors booths full of Celtic everything. Perhaps the girls favorite activity though was collecting stamps for their Clan Passports: About twenty clans had representatives manning booths with maps, tartans, snacks, clan histories, etc. Each clan also had a stamp of their crest, which the girls could request for the booklets they were given when we arrived. (Sadly our clan didn't have it's own booth at this event.)