Nik's Birthday / Socal Road trip / Los Angeles / Disneylands

Oh man, there's two weeks to catch up on because we were on vacation last week and I couldn't write a post.  I might have to split this into two posts..

Let's see, two weeks ago was my birthday.  Turning the big 44!  I think that's a very lucky year in the Chinese calendar ;p  But I continue to feel like I am very lucky.  This past couple of years has been difficult in many ways but overall, I (and our family) am doing relatively well so gotta be thankful for that.  One more year and hopefully many more to go :)

A little cake and celebration one day pre-birthday

Picnic birthday dinner with the neighbors

I'm also happy to report that the climbing wall is getting good use.  The kids usually climb a few times as they go upstairs to bed.  I know they are just trying to delay bedtime but it still feels good to see it being fun for them.

Jad is getting into it too

Amy was also super busy with PPP stuff this week.  Hopefully, now at that there's a director, she can step back a bit.  She's doing a lot of work and it's all for the success of our kids' classes so she is greatly appreciated.  No exciting PPP photos though :) 

The other thing that kept Amy busy was preparing for our SoCal roadtrip last week.  Of course, we didn't get to packing until the very last minute and I was grumpy from work (sorry!) so we literally did not start packing until 10pm on Friday night.  Still, we're used to this and managed to get a bit of sleep before setting out on Saturday morning.

The drive was pretty smooth, I think our kids are getting used to longer drives though we did have to give them a bit of screen time with the laptop.  Our first stop was to have lunch with Dana and Yop.

  

It was great to catch up with these guys over lunch

The kids got along super quickly :)  Probably helped that 
Eli and Noe are both very sociable

Next, we drove across LA (took an hour, of course :) and went to Brian's house, where we met Sue and Ophelia for dinner.  Those guys are all so nice and, since we had seen them recently at our house, were like a familiar uncle and aunts to the kids.

Uncle Brian feeding Jad at Daikokuya on Sawtelle

A quick Sushi Go game before turning in at Brian's

Brian even got us Frosted Flakes for the morning before we departed for Redondo Beach to meet up with Siavosh and Karen.  We hadn't seen them in a while because of SF and pandemic but they moved to LA this past summer.  Again, it was nice to chat and see their new place as they are settling in to a house and neighborhood.

Kai took this picture.. pretty good!

We then dropped by Mauri and Lauren's house but he had just gotten called into the hospital so I think Lauren took the girls out.  We left them a small gift for their #3 and wondered what to do next..  We decided to take a quick trip to UCI to see what the campus looked like now.  I mean, I did graduate 22 years ago..   

As with every time we visit, it's a lot more built up
then it used to be

1002, my old house that I was an RA for.. 
is now the Culinary House?!

Next we dropped by to visit Josephine and her twins, Brandon and Allison.  They were big but you can tell Brandon's got a stubborn streak :)  Tom was sick so we didn't get to see him but it was fun to watch the kids play and catch up with Jo.  We were sad that we haven't had a chance to see Sabrina but hopefully we can see them next time.

Post playground pic

After that visit we went onto the 2nd phase of our trip.  Disney!  We followed the advice of Stephen and Cynthia (Disney pros from our church) and stayed at the Fairfield Inn right next to Disneyland. 

We were able to see the weekend fireworks from our hotel
at a perfect distance for the kids

We had three days (California resident tickets.. which were still expensive!) so we planned to take it easy.  We aren't Disney superfans but I did want to check out the new Star Wars Land and rides and the kids wanted to see the Cars ride at Disney's California Adventure (DCA, for those in the know :)  We got tickets for 4 of us and snuck Jad in as under 3, which honestly did make sense because even though he's almost 4, he wasn't tall enough for a lot of the rides (40" minimum)

First day excitement!

Overall, the crowds during our visit was quite mild.  We aren't big fans of lines so we didn't wait more than 30  mins for any ride.  A mediocre ride with no line is better than a good ride with a long line is what I say.. 

The Jungle Cruise, the string of jokes is almost too
much but the kids enjoyed it quite a bit

We wandered around a bit on Tom Sawyer's Island then went to Splash Mountain.  Sora was excited about this ride but I didn't remember that halfway through it gets a bit scary.  Sora started saying that she wanted to get off but I could only tell her that it was too late.  Kai was in the front and quite brave actually and Sora was second right in front of me so I was able to hold on to her as we went down the big drop.  

Everyone got pretty wet and the kids said they are not
going on that ride again!

Buzz Lightyear's Blasters was a big hit.  The kids all liked that one and Jad could go too.

I think I got the highest score with Jad

After a lunch of fried chicken at the Plaza Inn, we finally made it to Star Wars Land to get ready for Rise of the Resistance (which we had to virtually queue for at 7am).  The land itself was very well done, though there are only two rides and the rest seemed like merchandising (souvenirs, droids, lightsabers) and food/drinks.

They did a great job with the Batuu landscape

Rise of the Resistance was a really cool ride though.  There was a good mix of theater and movement and riding and I think they vary it too so it changes a bit each time.  

This was the best part, when you step into the hangar of
the Star Destroyer and see "space" behind the force field and troppers

After that, we went back to the hotel for a quick nap (advantage of being close) and then returned for the evening.  It was nice to see Disneyland lit up after dark with a different atmosphere.

Caught Halloween Mickey and Minnie..
though Kai has a funny blank stare

After rides on the Teacups and Carousel, we headed over to It's a Small World.  Still a cute ride though Disney has incorporated a lot of its own stories into the scenes (not sure how I feel about that).

Just us!

Since it's near Halloween, there was a projection light show at Disneyland (no fireworks on weekdays) but Kai and Jad were not fans of the scary images and music.

Eyeballs and ghosts, I can see why it could be scary

We slept pretty well that night in the hotel, probably because everyone was tired.  Jad is still in a crib for this trip but I think soon he'll out grow the pack and play (we've had that thing through all three kids :)  

On day two, I woke up early and got into the virtual queue for Spider-Man's Web Slinger ride pretty early at 9am so we got everyone up, had a quick breakfast at Macca's (Australian for McDonald's :) and then headed to DCA and Avengers Land.

Jad was garbed up in his Spidey gear for the ride

The web slingers ride was a bit disappointing.  The intro was cool with Tom Holland hologram and the spider bots but the ride itself was super short and just crazy chaotic.  It's very similar to the Ninjago ride at Legoland but that one was probably a bit better/longer.

We couldn't all sit in one pod.. I guess everything
 is made for families for 4

Outside the building, we did see a little show of Spider-Man testing his new suit and webline.  There was a cool part where Spider-Man jumps like 5 stories into the air and lands on a different roof (it's a robot/mannequin) but they make it pretty theatrical.

Mild acrobatics happen every 45 mins or so

I was wearing my Spider-Man shirt too!

The rest of Avengers Land was again cool but there were really only two rides and the rest was shops and dining.  We're not fans of this new model of money grabbing..  There were characters walking around and that was cool.  Apparently, there's another stage show of Loki and Black Widow but we didn't see that one.   We did see Dr. Strange from a distance.

Captain America and Mrs Marvel would appear
periodically above the Avengers HQ

I'll leave it here for now but will add more next time :)  Still got the rest of Disney and our beach stay with the neighbors in Oceano.  

Golfland with Small Group / Lester's and Paige's birthdays / Wei's bachelor party

 A mostly quiet week with just some small celebrations :) 

Amy and I snuck out to a lunch date at a new Ethiopian place..
pretty tasty though the injera was too bubbly and a bit sour

We went to Golfland with our small group..
Sora quite liked the golfing actually while Kai ran amok with Niko

And we got a bit of game time in the arcade

It was Lester's birthday and the usual neighbors celebrated with a homemade guava cake by Kristy.

Guava cake goes well with whiskey.. who knew?!

Wei's bachelor party didn't happen because of COVID so we made it up a bit by taking him out to SF on Friday night.  Ray, Minh, John and I took him to Alexander's steak house.  Great steaks.. very expensive :)

I ended up crashed out on the couch in their hotel room.. 
A while since I slept away from Amy and the kids

I walked out the next morning to BART while
the boys went to a windsurfing class

Haven't ridden BART in a while either.. nice that it
reaches all the way to Berryessa now

The kids have been having art class on Friday afternoons with Peggy.  They are enjoying it and this week they worked on 3D creations.  

Just a cute picture of Amy and Jad

The biggest event of the week may have been Paige's birthday party.  Alex and Kendra got a big bounce house with slide and apparently the kids went crazy for hours (I was at work, unfortunately).  

Bunny cake!

Sweaty Kai on the slide

It's like a mini rave in there with the jumping and glow sticks

Sora bumped her 4th loose tooth out while jumping!

Overall, a nice week.  I'll leave you with this.. got some photos from Matt and Nicole from their wedding..

Looking good, dude! 
(at least that's what Amy says :)

Have a good week, everyone!

Kai's First Soccer Game / Sora's First Gymnastics Class / Phase 2 Climbing Wall / Evelyn and Liam Sleepover / Amy's Dad's birthday

Activities are back in full swing this week!  Kai is back in soccer and enjoying it, especially as he is with Niko and Dylan on his team.  He started off slacking and joking a bit as usual but our coach, Allen, seems pretty good this year and has been working hard to motivate all the kids.  Kai has been picking up the pace and getting into it.  The Vipers had their first game this past Saturday against the Hammerheads and lost 1-0 but seemed like everyone had a lot of fun. 

Is he smiling under that mask? :)

Sora also started going to gymnastics with Noe.  Again, it's nice that she has a good friend that she can go with to try a new activity.  She really enjoyed it and is looking forward to going back.  Too bad gymnastics is so pricey (more expensive than other sports) but who knows, maybe we'll have a Suni Lee in our family :p

Looking very cute in her outfit

Can't post about Kai and Sora without mentioning Jad.  He hasn't been up to much except school but is learning his letters and numbers and manages to put on his shoes correctly about half the time..  

This one is still getting by on his cuteness

Amy has started training more intensely for her half marathon in November.  This morning she ran 5 miles and then sprints for speed.  Amazing!  I finally finished the climbing wall phase 2 at our house.  It took months of planning and work (probably a more handy person could have done it in a couple weeks) but I'm pretty proud of it.  The kids are enjoying it quite a bit.  

Yes, it's over the stairs.. don't worry, perfectly safe.. mostly :p

Even Evelyn got climbing when they visited

Which is a nice segue way into our sleepover.  It was Yukari's birthday this weekend so the Shaws dropped off their kids for a sleepover and had time to themselves.  The kids really enjoyed having their friends over and I think this was the first time, we had friends sleepover.  They didn't even bring a Switch!

In addition to climbing, the kids also took
a ride on the zipline

Dinner time!

We even took a walk to Tim and Dali's and invaded their yard

Of course, they all wanted to sleep in the same room

Lots of fun :) I'm glad we can do this for them and let them enjoy childhood with their friends. 

Just to finish off, we also celebrated Amy's dad's bday this Sunday!  The kids made a nice piece of art for him and we celebrated with David .. and cake!

The big 74 :)

Til next time..

Topgolf with the Dudes / Phase 1 Climbing Wall / Wally's Bday / RCC Labor Day Weekend

Lots of fun activities this past week..

The dads in our small group managed to get together and we went to Topgolf.  It's huge and basically like fancy bowling except with golf.  We had a lot of fun, found out several of us (not me) are quite good at golf.  

Got almost everyone but Ben had to work :(

That silly Derek..

My mom and dad finally got their second AZ shot.. Yay!  While it doesn't completely protect them from COVID, it'll help if they it.  Hopefully, the case numbers in Thailand go down and I can visit them soon.

Not too much reaction from the 2nd shot
for mom or dad :)

I finally finished phase 1 of the climbing wall and the kids were very excited about it.  Sure, it's probably not super safe, being situated at the mid point of our stairs, but there's a small risk in everything :p

Screwing the plywood on the 2x4's

Kai flying up the wall

Sora going to the top!

Jad getting in on the action too

We also had a neighborhood street party for Wally's birthday.  This was the last big event before he moved and all the friends came to help celebrate, including Lupita!

Big smiles all around

Originally, the neighbors had all planned to go to the Aoalins' cabin in Pinecrest for the weekend but with the Caldor and Dixie fires still going, the air quality was just poor and we didn't want to be stuck inside a cabin all weekend.  Instead, we opted for a beach day on Sunday and water balloon / dinner party on Monday.  It was a lot of fun.  I'm glad we have such awesome neighbors.

Start of our beach day.. it's hard to get 13 kids
to look at the same camera

Our own little tent city near Seacliff beach

Jad helping to bury Kai

Wally and Rachel joined us as well

After a full day of playing in the sand, most of the neighbors headed back to RCC but we went to visit Wally's new house. Rachel had said that he was having a bit of trouble adjusting so we figured a visit from his bestie might be helpful.  David's (Rachel's bf) house is situated right in the woods, near the end of a one lane road into the hills.  A very peaceful and neat place, if a bit isolated.

Wally and Rachel's new place has a cool back deck

Labor day Monday was hot!  By noon, it was already 90 and we were all pooped out on the Connicks' driveway.

I wasn't kidding..

The kids got into bottle flipping, which was
easier than I thought

and there were water balloons

and popsicles

and swimming at the Aoalin pool

and a potluck dinner to cap it all off

As I have said before, we're very thankful to have such awesome neighbors.  I mean, occasionally, there's a dead guy found on the street but that's a rare (mostly) event.  Seriously, unfortunately, someone pulled over and parked and never got out of his car. He didn't even get noticed by someone until the next morning :(  

Kids were like, "why are all the polices here?" 

I don't want to leave on such a sad note though so I'll leave you with this picture that my family sent to me a few days ago.  This is from when we visited Disneyland many many years ago.  Times were simpler (at least from our point of view) back then and it cost $25 for a ticket.  

Three brothers