Catching up with Cousins in the City

It all started with a chance to go to the Society of Children's Book Writers "Agent's Day" conference. I've been looking for a book agent for a few years so I thought I'd jump on this one. We ended up using this as an excuse to hang out with our cousins in San Francisco and San Jose.
My niece, Sophia (pictured above), and nephew, Giovanni, flew down from Seattle and met up with us. Our first stop: Ethiopian food to fill the craving of my prego belly. We found a fabulous place called Gojo, which was off the beaten track in San Jose.
Meilani loved the low tables and little chairs with silky cushions. She also had great fun eating with the injera bread instead of utensils. "I use my fingers?"

My nephew Gio is 12 years old now - practically a teenager. Yikes! Outside of teasing his sister, he loves playing ultimate frisbee, creating computer programs and building with Legos. (The kids just got back from Legoland in San Diego with their Grandma Joan.)
After our savory dinner, we headed back to my cousin
Kimberly's place in San Jose for a big cousin sleepover. We rounded up some snacks from the grocery store. Kim blew up a big air mattress and we all sat in front of their Olympic-sized television to watch the Games.


We had to get in a girly picture: Kim with her baby Kalina, Meilani and me, and Sophia. (We missed you, Caron!)

Kalina is so huggable. All the "older" girl cousins were fighting over who would hold her. Meilani entertained her by trying out all her toys and doing little singing and dancing shows. Kalina was so amused she stayed up late with the rest of us.


Sunday morning we slept in and then went for brunch at a cool local place where we met Uncle Frank (my dad's bro) and Auntie Doris. Meilani felt special sitting between her cousins, sipping her smoothie and eating her giant bagel with cream cheese.

Sunday afternoon we met up with Nana Maria at a park. She was staying with her friend, Mae, and daughter, Andrea, and her daughter, Bella (front left), for the weekend. We went to a park to hang out, ride this train and a carousel and play at the playground.

We ended our time with Sophia and Gio at IKEA. Sophia and I had our hearts set on shopping. Gio had his heart set on Swedish meatballs at the IKEA cafe.


Before we left town, we had a visit with my Grandpa Frank. He just had a birthday in August. He's something like 97 years old now. (That's always debateable with Grandpa.) He's still got enough juice to smile for the camera.