It was a hot and mostly fun trip of 9 days. My daughter got to see all of the relatives and family friends, thousands of strangers, dolphins, and whales. I am being literal. I wasn’t calling anyone a whale. One of the days was spent at Sea World. She was sporting a bright hat and some groovy sunglasses.

She’s got a major pout going on, partially because of the tilt of her stroller and partially because her diaper was beyond full after the long drive which we would find out the hard way.

You might notice that though the style is the same the outfit is a different color (I mentioned the overflowing diaper right?). And of course her adorable smile is quite big after a fresh diaper.

It was a very nice trip. I’m very glad we went. I could go on and on but time is precious and right now sleep is also precious.

I’ve been reading a ton of submissions since I’ve been back from the California trip. I’ve taken on a volunteer position at my friend’s (also a former colleague’s) literary magazine. I’m enjoying the experience much more than I did at the college’s lit mag because I’m reading everything and not just the slush pile and because, this may be even more important, my opinion actually is heard and considered. We are a small group of three (sometimes four when it is a tough call) instead of a large group that runs by committee. It can be hard to constantly defer to others and compromise when judging artistic talent, harder still in a large group. So, I’m really enjoying the dialogue and decisions we are making. I also didn’t realize just how known the magazine is in the region and across the US considering that she doesn’t advertise it in any of the big monthly/bi-monthly periodicals or yearly guides. Pretty cool stuff.