Summer Moments July 2025 // House Guests // San Diego // Camping // Double Dipsea

We recovered quickly after Costa Rica and went straight to the summer activities :)  Here are a few highlights!

We had our chuch 4th of July picnic..  It has been really nice to see Kai getting tight with the BYF pre-teen boys like Niko, Brandon, Caleb, Lucas, Zachary, Joshua, etc.  It's one of LSCC's main strengths, I think.  I think Sora will have no problem with BYF next year as her group already consists of Noe, Capri, Rebecca, Emma, etc.  Jad will have his own crew too as he gets older.

Jad has become good friends with Tim(my)
and they are often found together on church days 

Kai and Niko back to being good buds as well

Sora is also establishing good friendships
with the girls in her grade

After LSCC's event, we came back to RCC for the neighborhood 4th of July block party.  This year, we got a permit to close off the street and rented a big bounce inflatable with water slide. Good time as always!

There was some hula hooping!

Kids were in the bounce house for hours

Action launch :) Lucky, he missed me

There was a lot of MTG this summer.  So these kids all went in
for a game when it got too hot outside.

Finished it off with some genuine firecrackers and can launching..
Lester is running away after lighting the fuse here..

Though we had only about 4 weeks between our trips, we decided to foster a kitten again this summer.  Sora really wanted to and the boys as well, though to a lesser degree.  Amy has been on the shelter's site and every year there is such a need for it with so many stray cats being brought in.  So she took the kids to the shelter and came home with a little 5 week old kitty that we named Pebble.  Honestly, he was super cute and very friendly, curious kitten.  At first, it was hard as we had to feed him every 4 hours so it made for some exhausted nights for a couple of weeks but then he got bigger fairly quick (after being treated for worms) and didn't need quite as frequent attention.  Sora became really attached and was always playing/looking after him.  We looked after him for those weeks, got him neutered when he was big enough and eventually adopted him out to our friend, Lin.  She had just come over to visit and decided that she needed a cat in her life so it worked out amazingly well.  Good luck, Pebbs!  We'll come to visit at Lin's house.

Look at that little guy

Very playful

Sora would let him sleep on her leg.. she looks a bit
annoyed here but she loved it 

Last pic before Lin took him home

Other little events..

Ansel got the guys together for his birthday.. it was nice to see Alan and Gary who who aren't going
to LSCC anymore and hear that they are doing well

Some swimming with the Tals

We also took a weekend to go visit the Casanovas in Roseville.  4 families together, 7 adults and 10 kids, lots of fun.  It was 105 in Roseville so we couldn't even go swimming during the middle of the day but it made for some fun morning and night swims.  Jad has actually gotten much more comfortable with swimming since Costa Rica so that was a big plus though I still worry about him a bit.  

RCC family pic

Lots of food, of course, thanks to Chef Alex

Their house is made for entertaining.. some day there are going to be some wild
parties here.. especially if Paige or Casey take after their parents

Kids all basically slept in one room.. someday, the girls may sleep
separate but not yet

The moms playing too

So many toys in their house!

The younger boys together, minus AT

During this trip, Sora also got her ears pierced.  She has been thinking about it for a while and decided to do it over the summer so there were no big changes during the school year.  Amy also went as one of her earring holes closed up years ago.  Apparently the thing to do now is to go to a professional piercing  or tattoo place rather than a random shop in the mall.  More expensive but also more professionally done.  The guy doing the piercing was inked up and had giant expanders but was very nice to Sora and it went without a hitch.

Mommy daughter experience

Breath in, blow out.. poke!

We also went to a week of sports camp at Christ Community Church in Milpitas.  The kids had a lot of fun though Kai feels like he's out grown it so he probably won't go anymore.  Cheap child care in exchange for allowing them to indoctrinate your kids :p

Kai signing at the end of the week

We had a lot of visitors in July, starting with my brother Joe and his family coming from Oregon.  Michelle recently lost her Dept of Interior due to forced early retirement so they have more time these days.  It's hard because she really liked her job and had not planned to retire for w while yet but Trump.. sigh.  Anyway.. Ryan is very tall now, lanky and into ultimate frisbee.  He and Kai got along very well though also with Sora and Jad.   It's nice to see the cousins bonding.

Backyard hang with Joe and family

Went to the USS Hornet which was pretty cool.. I have not
been on an aircraft carrier before

Small bunks

Fire the torpedoes!

I'm anti-emergencies anytime policy :p

We also went to the Rosicrucian Egyptian museum.  We learned a bit about the Rosicrucians, basically a spiritual movement that started in the 17th century.  The museum has the most Egyptian artifacts in the Western US.  Fun half day trip with some interesting educational opportunities.

The mummies scared Sora and Jad a bit

Nice fountain outside with required
Egyptian symbols on the facades :)

Joe visited for about 5 days before they headed down to central California to see some friends and family.  Viet came in immediately afterwards with his family and stayed with us for 5 days as well.  As usual, it was fun to have their family with us as they are very low key and the kids get along great.  

Pals

The dinner table stayed expanded for weeks

Roasting Marshmallows on the fire

There was plenty of game time.. just like the dads

Visit to the Intel mini museum

Cute pic of everyone including Pebble

Immediately, after Viet and co. left, my younger brother, Chris, arrived with his family.  They are coming from N. Carolina so it was a long trip for them and it was great to see them.  Tad is 5 now and Ellie 3 so their kids are growing up fast too.

Jad and I went to Happy Hollow with them

It was a weekday so not too many people.. the kids
rode the carousel about 8 times

Dinner party with the neighbors and brothers

Just the kids (and April)

Whoa, the entire (USA) Udom fam!

Immediately, after that we drove to San Diego. Seriously, there was a lot of stuff going on in July!  Chris and Joe stayed an extra few days at home but our family drove down for a med school reunion.  Six of my friends from HMS got together in San Diego as a couple of them were turning 50 this year or last year.  It's difficult to get so many people together across the country but we managed and even three of the families were able to come.  We stayed at Luis and Lizette's house and it was quite nice.  San Diego has such good weather and the beaches were awesome.

Greg's family stayed at a nearby hotel where
we snuck in for a swim

We also took all the kids to Legoland

I'm not a huge fan of theme parks .. this ride was a 30min
wait for going up and down :p

This Lego Movie ride was pretty cool though

Lunch with everyone

Uncle Harsha came along .. the kids all love him

Luis and Lizette's house is great.  You can see the
Sea World fireworks every night!

Chang, Castellanos and Udom kids

After 3 days in San Diego, Amy drove the kids back up so they could join our church camping trip while I stayed behind for the weekend.  See, I told you there was a lot!  This year, Church camping was moved so it fell on my med school gathering weekend but Amy still wanted to make it.  They drove 8 hours then managed to pitch the tent and get dinner before it got dark.  Amy is pretty amazing (and crazy! :)

Sunset at the beach .. really, the site is at Sunset Beach in Watsonville

Nothing like burning stuff while camping.. the Jr High boys really got along well together
and all slept in their own tent

Amy took the kids to Martinellis

They went to the beach both days

The boys (though mostly Kai, Zachary and Joshua) dug a giant hole.. Jad said he could stand
in it and his chin was ground level

The lifeguard came by and told them to fill it in as 
it would be dangerous if it collapsed

Lots of good food during camping
as usual

Kids helping with French toast for breakfast

Jad was apparently the S'more king every night

While they were away, I went up to Encinitas where we had rented a house.  Jeff flew into LAX and drove down to meet us.  Greg and Mauri joined us on Saturday.  Honestly, we didn't do too much, mostly just catching up and talking.  Walked around the beach and had some nice meals.  It was really nice to catch up and see everyone in person.  We're all getting grayer and older but still good friends and hope it remains that way for years to come!

Friday night dinner downtown

Encinitas pier on Saturday morning

The water was really clear and aqua

Jeff and the Castellanos brothers braved the surf and cold

A sensitive sunset pic

Oh yeah, the house had a hot tub.  Good times!

On Sunday afternoon, I flew back to San Jose and then our neighbors picked me up (thanks, Connicks!)  I then immediately drove down to join for the last night at camping.  Why? Because Amy had to leave that night so Sora could make it to a climbing camp on Monday.  So basically, I came down and stayed with the boys while Amy took Sora home on Sunday night. A lot of families also left that evening because they had school or work the next day. 

The remaining Jr High boys on Monday morning.. we just cleaned up
and decided to go to the Buttery (famous Santa Cruz bakery) instead of cooking :p

Wow, now that I write it down, I'm amazed we managed to do all this stuff. Whew!  With a just a few more days left until school starts..

Grabbed lunch with the Shaws.. we were going to go on a hike in Portola Valley
but it was 90+ degrees that day so..

We took the kids to Ikea instead.. got a desk for Sora!

..then we went back to their house and had dinner.  All
day hangout.. they are great and we miss them

Sora had her last Jr Giants game (though there
was some conflict with the other team)

Amy and Vic took Sora and Elysia out for a girl's day right before school started.  They got
manicures, walked around Los Gatos and had fancy brunch

And then school started!  Sesame had a cameo here :)  Kai
is already in the 7th grade!

Jad had a nice reunion with bestie Colton

Amy and I had a celebratory lunch of Pho without kids :)

Ha!  I bet you thought that was it but, wait, there's more..  After a week and a half of school, we went to our church retreat.  Usually, camping and retreat are farther apart but camping got delayed this year so it was only two weeks before summer retreat.  It was a good weekend of getting away as usual.  The major difference this year was that Amy had signed up for a half marathon on that same weekend so I took the kids by myself.  As soon as I got there, Kai took his backpack and bugged out to join the Jr High kids. I only saw him passing the whole weekend but was glad that he was having fun with the peers.  Sora and Jad had their own friend groups too though still had to sleep with me so I still had some responsibility :p  They went to sleep pretty late, like 11pm, but still made it up for breakfast at 8am every day.  Amy went up to SF to hangout with Pearl, Brian, Sue and Ophelia (latter three up for their annual visit from LA) and then slept on Pearl's couch Friday night because the run was up in Marin early Saturday morning.  The Double Dipsea is a crazy run from Stinson Beach to Mill Valley and back, totalling 14 miles and 4500 feet of elevation change.  Amy took it easy and finished without injuring herself.. she's crazy..

The boys spent much of their time getting frisbees
and balls out of trees

Silly snatch the cup game .. Kai vs Brian

Rachel vs Michelle

I guess I didn't take too many pictures of retreat but it was good as usual.  Time to unplug a bit and reflect on our religious/spiritual life.  There was a lot of talk about childhood experiences/traumas, how that effects us as adults and what we can do to change.  Body Life was good as usual though only medium intense.

Great job, Amy!

That's all for now on this mega post.  Til next time!