Mabel Watson Payne of course took plenty of sand toys along when she went on vacation with her parents last week. In the two pictures above she can be observed exploring Santa Cruz. Below are snapshots from Big Sur and Morro Bay (these all derive from postings my daughter has already made here and here).
Today in the U.S. Mail I received a postcard sent when they were on the road and listing all the wildlife they had come across so far: a deer, a coyote, a jellyfish, a sea lion, chipmunks, baby chickens and a sea otter.
At home in San Francisco poor Mabel Watson Payne makes do with the occasional pigeon or the occasional dog, but a fascination with animals seems to be a settled feature of her character, so I was sure that seeing so many different ones up close must have been a keen form of excitement and fun.