Pasadena and the Desert

We've been having an amazing time here in California. I mean, of course we are. I'll start at the beginning, and we'll see how far I'm able to get. The flight out here was just about as good as it could have been... with one little glitch. We had just two seats for the whole Green crew, and the flight was pretty packed, so we had a man in the aisle next to us. I'll refer to him from now on as Super Nice Agent Man... actually, maybe I'll just refer to him as Nice Guy. He was an FBI agent, though, just returning from Iraq to a position in the LA office. He had two kids of his own, and he was great with Riley. But anyway, the glitch... Apparently, there are only four oxygen masks for every three seats, but we had-- count 'em-- five people in our row. So FAA regulations are that Mike and I had to split up. Either that, or we had to have an open seat next to us. As I said earlier, the flight was pretty full but there was an open middle seat right across the aisle. However, there was also a horribly mean man in the aisle seat, a total anti-Super Nice Agent Man. Ideally, Mean Man would have shifted over to the middle seat, and Nice Guy could take the other aisle seat (since, sadly, Nice Guy was claustrophobic and had to stay on the aisle). Mean Man, instead, threw a hissy fit befitting a mean guy. To make a long story short, Mike ended up sitting in the middle seat, and Nice Guy volunteered to move to the aisle next to him. So I was on the window with an open seat next to me and Mean Man in the aisle. Nice Guy was so great; he had his iPod there, and he let Riley watch Wall-E. Side note: Riley LOVES Wall-E. We have purchased it, and it's on the TV as I type.

Riley was amazing, though, and Noelle wasn't all that bad. She was a little fussy for a while, but I walked her up and down the aisle a few times (after Mean Man snuffed and snorted about me getting out of my seat), and we were good for the rest of the flight.

Enough of that, though... CA is GREAT. We had a fun day and a half in Pasadena before heading to the Desert for the BNP Paribas Open.

Oh, poor Baxter. Look at that excited look on Riley's face.

Success! Got him!

And can I just take a moment to point out this crazy adorable outfit from Nana!? Too cute!

We went for coffee at Tazza Bianca, where Riley got to partake in a cup of cream cheese. We definitely win Best Parents Award for this move.

Noelle snuggled up to Bianca. And Bianca, if you're reading this, you're welcome for posting THIS picture. :)


A cream cheese-covered Riley hangs with Nana.


And Mike spent some QT with Josh and Katherine.

Later, at the Farmers' Market, Riley met Sienna, a new friend. :)


How cute are these two strawberry-covered ladies?!


And Granddad and Riley got to make some good music together.

I'll have to fill in the rest later. I've spent quite a bit of time on this post. It's a rare treat. Stay tuned for more!