I was finally back home after four months of traveling. It was nice to be able to relax, run errands, and spend time with my family. I decided to change my schedule for Oaxaca, leaving later and coming home earlier. I planned to leave San Diego three days later than planned so that I could spend time with my sister and her family. They were staying with my parents for a couple of weeks and I was dying to see my niece and nephew!!! I decided to come back earlier since I made plans to go back to Cancun to spend more time with Juan. :)
Here are some of the highlights from my time in San Diego:
My mom and I spent a whole day together before my sister came home. We started off at Mitsuwa and had our first taste of the ramen soup at Santouka, the noodle restaurant inside the asian market. With our bellies happily full, we went off to Fashion Valley to do some shopping. After some hours there, we were ready to eat again (there must have been more time in between...haha). I had been raving about a pho place that my friend Ray Ray had taken me before. It was a day for firsts since my mom had never tried pho. We ordered egg rolls and each had a small bowl of pho. She was in absolute heaven. She loved the pho but couldn't stop talking about the egg rolls. :) A yummy day to say the least!!!
My mom made me an appointment downtown to get my passport renewed quickly. This is something new and you wouldn't believe the steady stream of people coming in for various passports or travel cards. I highly recommend it if you are pressed for time and need your passport ASAP. Since I was in San Diego, they said I could just come back to pick it up, which would guarantee me getting my passport in 2 days. Crazy fast!!! :) Check it out: http://travel.state.gov/passport/npic/agencies/agencies_5393.html
My nephew Jackson is much more grown-up now. I can't believe he's almost 5. He's got a crazy mane of beautiful curly hair. He won't let anyone cut it!!! He's totally got the surfer look down. :) He's still the biggest monster truck fan there is and was playing with his trucks in the dirt outside every chance he could. He loved my mom's strawberry-scented soap and would tell everyone to smell his hands after he washed them.
My niece Charlie and I are like kindred spirits. She loved spending time with me, although it may have been because of my food. I bought Dudley's molasses cookies and when I had them, she kept holding out her hand for more. She sure is a good eater!!! :) One day my mom, dad, and I walked with the neighbors and their kids to the park. My dad and I had to carry Charlie the entire way up and down hills. She gave us a good work out. I kept track of her while we were at the park and right before we left, she was staring at some older girls who were playing in a little house in the sandbox. They told her she could come sit with them, and she was in heaven as they made a pretend cake with the sand and sang happy birthday to her. She loved her new friends!!! :) She sat with me while I talked to Juan on Skype a few times and my mom told me that the neighbors came down one day and Charlie said, "Hola!" Apparently Juan and I taught her that!!! haha
My sister and I went to Target and a health food store together, so we got to spend some quality time, just the two of us. It was nice to talk to her without having Jackson or Charlie interrupt. :)
The time passed by quickly and soon it was time for me to get on another airplane...
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