Never in life before had Mabel Watson Payne had the chance to eat an entire cupcake. That was a privilege reserved for her first birthday party on Saturday. Above, coated with crumbs, she contemplates her good fortune.
She and her parents drove off this morning for a brief summer vacation visiting beaches and Missions and small towns on the central California coast: Pescadero, Santa Cruz, Big Sur, San Simeon, Morro Bay, San Juan Bautista. They plan to drive only an hour or so each day so this baby can be out and about most of the time in pursuit of her neverending investigations.