First Week of School / Last Swim with Andre / New Clothes / Friends and Neighbors

 Yes, this is it!  The first week of school for a year and a half.  We were a bit nervous but Amy and I got up at 630a to prep everything.  The kids were up by 7a and even ate some breakfast before rushing out the door.  We were even ambitious enough to walk to school with the Connick and Ngo kids.  Jad also came along, riding in the wagon and finishing his breakfast.  

Excited for the 1st day

At the dropoff.. Mask on, Kai :)

Parents were happy too after all the kids were in.  No tears!

Jad also moved over to the Butterfly site of Agape Monday but he did cry a little bit.  Kai and Sora really enjoyed being in school and meeting their friends in person.  Even with masks and the likelihood of worsening COVID, I think they needed it.  The parents enjoyed a bit of time off from the kids as well.  

Look Ma, no kids!

The kids also had their last swimming lesson with Andre.  Sora has done better overall with technique and can do a pretty good side breath now.  Kai flails more but he's improved as well and is a bit faster overall.  Our Villa membership is also wrapping up this week so no more fancy gym weights or pool but it makes sense as the kids don't get as much opportunity to go after school anyway and I can just rejoin 24hr Fitness. 

Kick, kick, kick

 Good luck at UCLA, Andre!

We've also been getting ready for Matt's wedding this coming week.  We all got new formal clothes (a suit for me, dress and shoes for Amy and formal wear for the kids.  It's a bit pricey (especially the suit!) but it's a rare occasion and we don't usually spend much on cloths so it was worth it.

Still looking great!  Mismatched shoes and all :)

First new suit in 15 years!

Kids all dressed up
ps. (I think that's a cow udder on the TV :p

Almost forgot, we also had Pearl, Simon, Mason, Brian, Sue and Ophelia over for lunch/dinner the day before school started.  It was so nice to see everyone, especially the SoCal folks who came all the way up to visit.  Best of luck to the Lai's in their move to SF and hopefully we'll go visit them soon.

A smorgasbord of good noshing

I put the zip line back up..

.. steeper and faster than before but also with more padding!

Kids eat on the inflatable mattress

In between work this week, I also managed to go to the Thai Temple in Fremont for the mobile Thai Consulate to renew my Thai passport.  It's unclear whether I'll actually be able to go visit but maybe in early November if they lift the quarantine and the COVID situation is a bit better.  It is very hard to have my parents so far away.

Still got some artist in me

Lastly, we also celebrated our neighbor Jack's 80th birthday this week.  The kids (including Kegan) had fun dressing up as a construction crew and surprising him. I do love our neighbors/neighborhood.

The crew

Amy also got to go out to dinner for Anny's birthday by herself while I took care of the kids.  Being home with three is hard for me but these moments of self care are precious.

Fancy drink!

Summer's last hurrah / Legoland SoCal / Visiting the Halls

We ended our summer vacation with a couple days of work for me and a visit to Amy's parents before road tripping to SoCal for a few days.

Jad racing with Gong-Gong.. that kid thinks he's so fast :)

We had planned to leave on Tuesday evening and night driving most of the night to get to Carlsbad for Legoland but Kegan and Alex also happened to be having their birthday dinner that night. 

The birthday boys

We got the kids to bed by 10p and tried valiantly to clean up and leave but gave in and decided to postpose til morning.  We woke up at 5am and packed, got the kids up by 6am and were on the road.  

Early morning drive with McD breakfast

The drive went well and we ran into minimal (for LA) traffic.  The kids did better than on previous drives.. they were up for a bit, then napped and eventually we did give them some screen time.  

A quick stop midway for soft serve

We had planned to meet Matt and Nicole for dinner so we had to kill a few hours so we stopped at the LA Natural History Museum.

We had a lot of energy after sitting in the car all morning

Bear and fighting poses

Sora loved the gem exhibits.. the boys not so much

We met up with Matt at the playground before dinner

We stayed at the Hyatt place next to Legoland.  I think hotel amenities used to be much nicer before COVID.. the room itself was large and comfortable but the breakfast was just cold pre-packaged items, or the shuttle to Legoland wasn't operational.  Unfortunately, amenities seem fated to go the way of airline perks.

Finally made it to use our annual pass for the 3rd time .. 
We Asian and gotta get our money's worth!

Amy and Kai in their own fire engine.. 

Sora and Kai enjoyed driving around in the little go carts

This was the tamest ride ever but Jad enjoyed it :)

The favorite ride was the submarine and we went on it twice in a row

Jad posing in the line to the Ninjago ride

Overall, Legoland was a lot of fun but we might be ready to move on to the next level (Disney?!?)  I think they did try a bit and it was mostly outdoors but most were not masked there.  We're glad we didn't get into the submarine with the unmasked family of 7 that was behind us in line..

Jad had a bit of a runny nose actually on the first couple days of our trip so we were hesitant about going to visit the Halls but he did improve on the 3rd day so we decided to go for it.  We made a quick stop at the beach in Carlsbad before heading inland.  Kids were so anti but when they got there, they really enjoyed it

This ain't no cold Oregon or NorCal beach!

Pretty nice family selfie!

A drink to celebrate the Hall Udom reunion

Sunset walk

Anyone watch "Aliens"..

Jad: Dad, can we get some these blue and red guns?

Pool time!

Followed by Slip and Slide .. yes, Jad is drinking 
directly from the slide .. sigh

The visit was short and sweet.  On our way back, we had planned to visit with Sabrina and family but Kari's basketball teammate tested COVID+ so they had to cancel.  We still met with Theresa, Ray and their kids.  

Ramen picnic in Monterey Park

We finished dinner and then piled in the car.  The kids watched a bit of TV as it got dark and then we let them sleep as Amy and I both drove the rest of the way home, getting in around midnight.  

Evening drive on the 5

All in all, it was a great trip despite the shadow that COVID casts on everything.  I feel a little sad, longing for easier times, but I know that we'll get through and things will return to normal with time.  I wish that things were easier but am grateful for all that we have.

Next week: back to school!

Last week of summer vacation / Church camping / Amy's PR mile!

This week is the last week of summer vacation for the kids.  Honestly, we have been looking forward to this for over a year since the pandemic started and Kai and Sora were at home all of last year and some but with the Delta Variant rising, it does make me worry a bit.  Perhaps not personally so much as I know the chances of our kids getting seriously ill is rather small.  There is a tiny bit of worry that with my mitochondrial condition, I'm not sure how COVID will effect me if I get it.  I am worried that a bunch of kids going back to school will spread coronavirus like crazy and cases will generally increase around our area.  I am still reassured that the bay area is generally very highly vaccinated.  Sigh, damn COVID..

The weekdays were pretty quiet.  I worked most of the days and Amy took the kids to the Great Mall to look for some nicer clothes for Matt's upcoming wedding.  

Had to stop for pretzels midway through the shopping ordeal

The kids went swimming as per usual though they are losing their enthusiasm for it a bit. We are canceling our Villa membership soon and will go back to 24 Hr Fitness for now :)

Sometimes they aren't fighting 

The big event of the week was our camping trip with church.  The last time we went was 3 years ago as we missed 2019 (because of Thailand) and 2020 (COVID) so we were really looking forward to it.  The trip overall was great!  The kids had fun playing together and running off into the woods.  We had fun catching up with friends that we hadn't seen in a while.  No one was burned despite many small children with sticks and the roaring fire.  What more can you ask for? 

Kids with burning sticks!

Jad working to pump up the inflatable beds

It's not camping without s'mores

Late night screen time sneaking while the adults are talking

We were at Sunset Beach so we spent much of Saturday in the sand.  It was a bit cool and overcast but Amy and I managed to get mild sunburns on our faces.

Tent city on the beach

As usual Stephen, with his infinite patience, helped the kids
make a giant volcano and moat

Ethan and family came down for the day too

Sora and Elisa had fun digging their own hole fortification

The shaws also daytripped down and the kids got
a ride in the trunk of the minivan

A bunch of clams were dug up (mostly by Sophie and Victor)..
Questionably legal but definitely delicious!

Jad is negotiating with Uncle Drew for bacon
before everyone else starts eating.. he got one :)

There was a lot of mist which condensed in the trees and fell on our tent.  Nonetheless, we slept better than any previous camping trip.  Maybe these kids are growing up after all..

Stuffing the tent back into the bag after drying it at home..
Til the next camping trip!

Lastly, today Amy finished up her speed training and she went to test herself.  I'm happy to report that she handily beat her previous mile time (7 mins 20 secs) and did it in 6 mins 56 secs.  Woo hoo!  She says in high school, she was able to run it in 6 mins 53 secs but I think that's still pretty amazing :)