April!?! // Socal Trip // Soccer season starts // Misc

Why is it April already?!? Happy April Fool's day :) I've been falling behind on the blog a bit, I think because for a while there wasn't too much going on but then, the last few weeks, there was too much going on! Anyway, I'll try to catch up..

Girls Scout Cookie season ended (finally!) Amy is so good / OCD about the bookkeeping that it takes her forever, which takes a lot of time. Now that it's over, she has more time for other things. Their troop sold about 3000 boxes of cookies so that means prizes and about $3000 for the troop to spend during the year!

I think they are selling out of the back of the van at
our local library here :)

One of the booths in front of Safeway

For our February /Ski week break, we decided to drive down to SoCal as it has been a while. We started off the visit with Brian, Sue and Ophelia in LA. It was a short visit but was nice to catch up with everyone. Anne came by for dinner as well so it was nice to see her too.

Versailles.. so good!

The next morning, we dropped by the Getty Center. We haven't been in several years and I forgot how spectacular the place is. The tram ride up and the view of Los Angeles, the marble covered buildings, the art galleries, the garden, the sheer number of workers from guards to landscapers and more. I mean, this place must have cost a billion dollars to build ($1.3b actually when I looked it up) .. and it's all free (aside from parking)! It really made me feel like, this is what billionaires should be doing with their money (instead of trying to make more money for themselves or take over the government so they can make more money for themselves).. sigh, so sad about the state of our country.

Jad standing in a rainbow
in the main foyer

Exhibit on a cool Victorian era microscope

The gardens are such a nice complement to the galleries

Frolicking in the grass

Sora standing next to a $50 million Van Gogh

After the morning, we drove down towards Temecula to visit the Halls. It turns out that their house flooded (leaky toilet flapper with plugged toilet upstairs) so they had to rent an Airbnb but they were so generous that they still offered to host us. It was so good to see them and the kids had a lot of fun together. We still miss them as our neighbors but are very happy that they have found a good place in Temecula.

A quick lunch with Siavosh on the way

Jad and Evie doing a science/craft project

The rental had a pool table and 7 TV's .. overkill probably
but the kids didn't think so :)

Some soccer/outdoor time as well.

After two nights in Temecula, we headed off back to OC to visit Matt, Nicole and Lucas. They bought a small condo and are doing well, though at a busy stage in their life with career, school, baby and home. Amy and I remember that time in our lives as well. They do have a lot of help from Nicole's family which is great but it does seem very exhausting for the moment.

We went to dinner at The Mercado Northgate Market. I was expecting a
version of the markets in Spain or Portugal but this was a much nicer
combo of shops and eating area. Very tasty :)

Very clean and modernized.. fresh torillas!

Also fresh churros .. yum!

Went out to Laguna beach near the Rivian Theater (an old theater they converted to a showroom,
which was ok, fun when they have a free movie showing, I think). The beach was great though
so warm even in Feb.. I miss SoCal beaches..

After staying with Matt for a night, we went to visit with Viet and Dina in Brea. They too have settled quite well since moving back from Boston a few years ago. Their kids are also just a bit younger than ours, so they all got along great. It was really nice to see them and talk with Viet in person, rather than our usual gaming time chats.

Ninja rope in the backyard

Plants vs. Zombies GW2 fest :) Videogames for everyone!

Taco time! We did have a lot of Mexican
food while down there :D

Jad and Gracie got along very well

Kids playing hide and seek.. Everyone missed
Marko for a while

On our last full day there, we went to meet up with Mauri and go to Downtown Disney to meet up with Amy's college friends. We saw a lot of friends this trip, didn't do any theme parks or anything but it was really nice to see everyone.

Sushi lunch with Mauri and sons

Randomly stopped by a festival

Sharing a giant Oreo CrazyShake at Downtown Disney

A quick picture of the crew .. and blurry jad, I think.. was really good to see everyone there

Disney is very good at designing spaces for kids.. they ran around
for hours in this little area

Viet, ever the scientist, designed a taste experiment
for the kids on their last morning together

Back home, we carried on.. There was an incident with Kai in Mid March. He was in a gmail chain with a bunch of kids from both middle and his old elementary school. One of the kids got mad at something and then sent a middle finger emoji, which Kai thought was directed at him so he sent back a really over the top string of curses and vulgar emojis. He was reported for it, of course, and then got pulled to the Principal's office. He feels pretty sorry for it and we had a some long talks with him. We still think he's a good kid, very smart, but trying to fit in at middle school can be really hard (he says kids curse at each other all the time). He got no video games for a month, which he's been good with, and we will try to continue to support him and model good behavior. Anyway, it has made us less complacent and we'll have to more carefully monitor device use in the future too.

I've been trying to be good about exercise (so I
won't die :) .. 20-30mins on the garage elliptical
everyday and more exercises while at work

Sora has some mild near sightedness so
she tried on some glasses. She is not a fan
so we're doing atropine drops now.. we'll see

Sesame resting on Kai

Soccer season started .. Kai is doing U12 rec and Jad is doing
U8 comp.. makes for a very busy week

Sora had a piano recital which went quite well

I hosted the Girl Scouts at work and
helped them get their First Aid Badge

Kids are back to doing Friday Art with Peggy

Amy is still running. She's planning to run a marathon in Korea
in Oct so has signed up for a couple of halfs in the
next few months. Pretty amazing.. Go Amy!