The ides of March // Napa with the VMC crew

 Don’t worry, nothing so ominous :)  Just the misc happenings in the month of March and a weekend trip to Napa.  

First, the little things..

Sora (and Amy, as cookie chairperson) finished the Girls Scouts cookie season!  Her original goal was 160 boxes but she ended up selling over 360!  Mostly by herself too (as we refused to do the work for her).  Their troop ended up selling about 2500 boxes total and, as much as I complain about it being an MLM scam, that does mean about $2500 for their troop so that’s a big plus.  Amy is going to see what the girls want to do as their reward :) 

The troop doing a cookie booth in front of Safeway

I made loco moco a couple of times.  Turned out pretty well and was approved by Kegan and Lester :) The kids liked it too!

Mrs. Wilbanks is Jad’s kinder teacher.  She’s really good but is near retirement so PPP will probably lose her next year.  I had a chance to volunteer with Jad’s class again a couple weeks ago and that was fun too. 

Jad’s teacher made them all Thing shirts for Dr. Seuss day!

Sora is such a performer.  She often will stage these dance shows or signing productions, sometimes involving Jad or the neighborhood kids.  Hopefully, she continues to enjoy this as she gets older, even though I am cautious about the idea of having a “drama kid” later.

A dance show, complete with spotlight 8)

Amy had a chance to go out with the other moms from LSCC.  I hope that I can help her do more of these things as she always puts family first and sometimes, isn’t good at taking care of herself.

She’s as pretty as ever!

Jad has been practicing/playing with his soccer team.  He’s really enjoying it as he has several kindergarten classmates there (Colton, Nicholas and Orion).  He’s our most sporty kid.  Unfortunately, his first game was canceled because of a team mismatch.  We played a team from a visiting league and from the get go, we thought that they were much larger than our kids.  This has happened in the past with Kai and we took it in stride as we know our kids are on the smaller end but this did seem a bit extreme.  The other team quickly scored 2 goals, blowing right through our team, and then one of their players collided with ours, knocking him down. The referee started asking more questions and it seemed like some of their players were 8 years old (possibly older as they were a bit coy about answering) which is not supposed to be for the U8 league.  The ref called the game off after a bit of confusion but then our team (oh, they decided to call themselves Team Rocket) just played a bit of a scrimmage.   Hopefully, the next game will be better.

Running lines at practice

Jad being silly on the field, as usual

Kai has also been playing with his new team.  This season we had about half the team return with Kai, Anthony, Adrian, Hakeem and Eden.  Eden’s dad had actually intended to be the coach but he got too busy so Coach Michael is doing it instead.  The other boys on his team are Aiden, Eli, Ben and a few more I can’t recall right now.  I still have to memorize all their names :P  They did great on their first game, winning 7-2 or 8-2 maybe.  Kai did a great job as a defender and kept the ball on the offensive side.  One goal was scored by a one of their defenders who accidentally knocked it into their own goal!

Kai is definitely getting better at soccer

A double rainbow over the soccer field

Amy had a chance to go with Jad on his field trip to the Palo Alto Junior Museum.  I like these pictures of Jad and his classmates.  He has been telling us about his “crush” Olivia who he hangs out with all the time.  I think it’s silly and cute and wanted to write it down so we didn’t forget about it. 

Jad and friends

Very close to Olivia :D

I went with Sora and her class to the San Jose History Museum.  It’s basically a collection of old or recreated historical buildings that they moved to this area in downtown SJ.  I was never really impressed with it but I guess there are some neat old buildings there, like a recreation of an old Banco D’Italia which eventually became Bank of America.  On this particular trip, the kids learned about fruit packing/migrant labor, the hows and whys of canning and how the bank worked.  They learned how to write checks too :)

Sora and her friends “picking fruit”

In front of a recreated Chinatown Meeting hall

Not to miss out on Kai, Amy also took him to the CA Academy of Sciences.  He’s been there a bunch of times before but it’s always more fun to go with your classmates on a bus!

Micah and Kai, who is giving mom the side eye..

The aquarium there is really nice

Sora had her piano recital this past weekend.  She played “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid and another song as well.  She did great and I’m glad she is enjoying it.  She also enjoyed dressing up too :)

Very cute, this one

After recital pic with everyone

Now for the Napa trip!  Usually, we get together with my intern friends from Valley Medical Center (The VMC Crew) at least once a year.  Normally, it’s for a ski/snow trip to Tahoe but with two of the families having young babies currently, we thought we’d take it easier this year so we went to Napa instead.  We always try to look for a house rental but with our numbers being 25 we couldn’t find anything so we stayed at the Meritage Resort.  It’s not the same as cooking together and playing poker in the living room but the best we can do for the moment. 

Rooms at the Mertitage were very nice and newly renovated.  Unfortunately, the pool was closed for the renovation :(

Our room did look out over the small hill and vineyard behind the hotel

Amy went out for runs in the morning while I got the kids breakfast and watched them (watching TV, mostly).  Amy is up to 85 days on her running streak (at least 1 mile a day) so far this year! 

A nice bystander took a picture of me and the kids

Kai was happy to participate in some photo comedy

Sora has her own little camera and loves taking pictures

People asked what the kids did in Napa but while it’s true that much of the industry is catered for adults and wine centric, the kids did find spaces they could hang out in.  The kids from all the families spent time together and, considering they have seen each other over the years, were somewhat familiar with each other.  We went to V. Sattui for their nice picnic grounds and market and while the adults did a tasting, the kids hung out and had lunch.  We then splurged on the tastings/tour of the Castello de Amorosa. Amy and I had always seen it before but never ventured all the way in because of the high cost of admission.  Napa has gotten ridiculously expensive and tastings are often $40-60 at the normal places and even more at the higher end places. I remember (just showing my age here) when these tastings were free or $5-10 tops.. Sigh.

We had our first nice dinner at LASO for Nepali food.  It was ok but honestly, our Nepali friend Anu cooked better food for us just a week prior so we were not impressed.  His food was less fancy but much more flavorful. 

Most of the Valley Crew

Picnicking at V. Sattui.. Lots of cheese, cured meats, bread and wine European style!

Kai at the Castello.  The structure itself was cool

but the tasting was not memorable

We also had Sunday brunch at Bear @Stanley Ranch.  The food was good / pricey but the best part was the games and chicken feeding around the hotel grounds.  This place costs $800-1000 a night!

Hula hoopin'

A photo of all the families together.  We miss you Minh/Denise and Viet/Dina.  Maybe next year!

That’s all folks!  I’ll leave you with this picture of Jad lying down on the top of the couch.  Sesame likes to sleep in this position so I guess it’s pretty comfortable.  Speaking of that cat, he has been bringing lots of fleas to our house.  We’ve tried various treatments and collars but it’s an ongoing issue, but I guess that’s the downside of the indoor/outdoor cat.  Oh well, we’ll do the best we can and at least we aren’t getting bitten too much.  Til next time!

February Days // Cruisin' time!

Whoa, it's been a month already.  The time is already flying by this year!  February was mostly quiet (until our cruise) as the weather has been rainy and cold.  I know we need the rain but I wish it was a bit warmer at times.  That's from a wimpy Californian :p  On to the pictures!

We had a few gatherings with the neighbors.  Tien and Tam got into card games so the kids
started to learn about poker :)

Kai had a belt promotion and moved up to a gray belt.  Lute is a very detailed and meticulous about advancing their students so Kai has been slowly gaining ground.  I'm proud of him for sticking it out.  I don't think he loves it or anything but he's got a lot of grit for doing it these many years.  

Here he is getting thrown by 
Coach Aaron

Girls Scouts Cookie season also started and Amy is, once again, leading her troop in the effort.  This year, she happy that there are some new parents who are more enthusiastic and that's a big boost in both getting help and morale for the troop.  They are planning to sell more than double the amount they did last year and are well on their way to the goal already!  Sora is doing a great job and has been walking around the neighborhood and talking to people at church and school about.  Funny, we try really hard to have her do all of the selling herself as we wanted her to earn and learn from the work but eventually she got a bit upset with us and we did post her link to Facebook :D  https://digitalcookie.girlscouts.org/scout/sora920302

She set up a table on the creek trail
next to our house

The boys came out to help her sell too!

Valentine's day was nice.  The kids went to school and Amy and I had a nice lunch date.  We went to a new cafe close to our house (Taste of Heaven Bistro) which was nicely decorated with roses and a photo wall even :)  Valentines day 2007 was when we first started our official dating.  I still remember that conversation with Amy on the phone while sitting on the couch in the front room at our apartment on Crescent Heights in LA.  

17 years later and this girl is cuter than ever!

Still taking silly pictures together :)

The kids (led by Sora) made Amy a nice card and a diorama for me
because they know that I love elephants.. so creative!

The month was otherwise fairly quiet with the usual school and activities.  The highlight of the month was our cruise with Amy's family.  Her parents used to cruise quite a bit but since Amy's dad's Parkinson's has worsened, he doesn't have as much mobility.  Amy worked hard to encourage her parents to go on this cruise as something to enjoy and look forward to, especially as both her brothers would be along for the trip to help assist as well.  It also left out of San Francisco so there was no need to fly anywhere which helped.  In the end, they did enjoy it and were glad they went.  The kids enjoyed the novelty of being on a cruise and the unlimited food that was available though the weather was not ideal as we were accompanying a storm all the way down to Mexico.  The weather was generally cool and there was so much rocking and rolling that the pools were closed much of the time.  Still, we all had a good time and had lots of family time.  It was nice to hang out with Matt and David as well.

The obligatory boarding picture .. we didn't want to
buy any pics but Amy's mom couldn't resist this one

Sailing out of SF Bay and under the Golden Gate Bridge.. it
was cold and rainy but the kids toughed it out!

Our small interior room was nicely set up with our steward, Jiwa,
taking good care of us. I had to rotate sleeping with the kids because the
beds were too small for two adults (even though Amy and I are small!)

Unlimited food buffet :)  Simple stuff for most meals and the ethnic foods were usually the
tastiest.  The boys really liked unlmited bacon!

We all had medallions (basically bluetooth airtags) that could be used to
unlock our doors and track each other down on the boat which was cool. 
They also allowed mini games on the various screens.

Much time was spent in the hot tub
because the pools were too cold or closed

There was a kids club where we could drop the kids off
but we never really did.  We did sneak in there and play
some skee ball and air hockey when they were open

There were a couple of nights when the kids were in bed and we
went to hang out with Amy's mom and brothers.  Mahjong!

We even brought slightly nicer clothes
for the "formal" night :)

It was a short 5 day cruise from SF to Ensenada and back.  Our first real stop was in San Diego where Nicole met up with us.  She wasn't able to come along because their school did not have the President's day week off and also because she's in her third trimester.  It was fun to go get brunch and catch up with her.  We spent the afternoon wandering around Balboa Park. 

One of the gardens in Balboa Park

Brunch at the Fig Tree Cafe

One of the highlights (and Amy's dad's favorite activity for the entire trip) was the Model Train Museum.  It's very cool how detailed these miniatures were and the work that this group puts into their trains.  They even showed us how they add liquid smoke to simulate steam on the old locomotives.

Kai was into trains for years as a kid.. he still enjoys them

Working here must be a railroad hobbyist's dream!

There was a tiny miniature golf course even

There were some kids activities on the boat but not quite enough.  I think if the weather was super nice then the kids would be swimming everyday and that would take up a good chunk of time/energy.  I know there are some ships with more slides and zip lines so maybe next time we'll go for something like that.  Disney probably has more kid centric activities too.  Apparently, cruises are terrible for the environment though so maybe we'll avoid unless it's the only option for Amy's parents.

Amy's dad lounging on the rear deck

Hot dogs, fries and soft serve to order anytime!

Our second stop was Ensenada, Mexico.  I had never really been over the border except for a brief stop in the Mexico City airport years ago.  I still don't think this really counted though as the excursions were so tailored and not truly an expression of the true culture of Mexico.  We just took it easy and went for a walk into the downtown area.  We probably got ripped off and the food wasn't great but it was still interesting to be off the boat and wander around.

Breakfast off on the aft deck with Ensenada in the background.

We went with Tim and his family and stopped at
a small place for tacos and quesadillas.. Unfortunately,
they were not that good and we probably got ripped off (as tourist :)

This picture (by Kai) turned out really nice though
and the ceviche was the best thing there

The water fountains were on in the port square and the kids had a
blast running through it.  Kai, Jad and Matthew all got soaked!

There were a couple shows that we went to watch
in the ship amphitheater (though they did delay one
due to rough seas the first night)

There was time to chill and watch TV

They also had some ping pong tables out and the kids enjoyed 
playing.  Tim and I even entered a tournament, though we both
lost on the first round (but I lost to the eventual champ! :)

Dinner was basically sit down every night (you reserved a time in
one of the dining rooms).. ordered as much as you wanted off the
menu and the food was generally pretty good!

Dessert was also unlimited.. Sora and Jad
opted for the sundaes this day

Overall, a great time.  Maybe Amy's parents will consider an Alaska cruise and that might be worth tagging along for though we may go crazy being on a boat more than a week :)  We finished off and disembarked back at the Embarcardero in SF.  We took the opportunity to walk to the Ferry Building and pick up some small gifts for Nicole.  This area of SF is still very nice even if the downtown areas have gone down hill.  It was nice to hang out with Matt before we dropped him off and headed back home.  

Getting some samples of the fancy fine foods :)

Til next time, everyone!