Summer half over // Harry Potter at USH // OC visits with UCLA girls and Matt + Nicole

 It's hard to believe summer is already half over!  Just three more weeks before the kids begin school again.  It's been difficult with all of them at home but at least we'll get a short break in the morning when the kids are back in school (Jad will get out at 1130a and come home for lunch from TK).  Let's see what exciting things happened over the last couple weeks..

Kai finally got to make parmesan meatballs..
they were ok, not salty enough and a bit dense :)

We've been missing out neighbors because, of the five main families, at least one or two have been missing or out of town for summer vacations.  But we still try to get together and play in the street whenever we can.  The new neighbors are a welcome addition as well!

Dinner outside and running in the streets

We went back for a visit to the creek.  It's amazing how quickly the kids can catch the little fry that are in the pond. 

I don't think I caught any :p

Our big event the last couple weeks was our road trip down to LA/OC.  It was a short trip but now that the kids are older, driving wasn't too hard with them.  We listened to audiobooks and Sing2 music and the kids did very well.  We only had one emergency pee break where I had to pull over :)  We drove down early on Thursday morning and got down to LA by about 4pm.  Brian was very gracious and let us stay with him again and we got to see Sue and Ophelia for dinner that night (ordered way too much Versailles :)  

The big draw for going down was Universal Studios Hollywood and Harry Potter land over there.  Kai and Sora have gotten into reading the books so they were excited about going.  Janet, our neighbor, even lent us her "magic" wand which can do various tricks around the Wizarding World area.  

Citywalk.. I haven't been for at least 20 years

Make it early to the Harry Potter Area!

I'm not quite sure what this split stone is
but it must be important because it took up a big area

The big rides in the area were the Forbidden Journey and Ride of the Hippogriff.  Kai didn't want to go on Forbidden Journey because Sora wasn't tall enough to go yet and they don't like roller coasters yet so Hippogriff was off as well.  We did walk through the line for Forbidden Journey, which took us through the castle and saw a lot of cool themes from the books and movies.  Amy and I actually went on the ride (separately as one had to stay with the kids) and it was actually scarier than I thought it would be.  Not sure if Kai and Sora will be ready for it by next year.  

Amy on the ride

After we went over to Ollivander's to check out their wands.
I got to be part of the wand demonstrations!

Also ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks

Turkey leg.. nary a vegetable in sight

We also hit the other rides in the area but the kids were almost more excited about the Nintendo Land that's opening in early 2023 than anything else in the park.  We did end up getting a season pass and will be back next year!

Jurrasic World ride.. pretty fun with
a steep drop a the end

Kids didn't want to be in the picture with their silly parents

Waiting in line for the Despicable Me ride, which turned
out to be the kids' favorite

Brian braved the crosstown LA traffic and came to join
us for the afternoon.  

Earthquake!!! The Studio tour was a lot of fun
and much improved from what I remember from years ago

The water effects were pretty impressive

.

After 11 hours at the park, the kids were exhausted.. 
Sora sleeping with her new owl, Honeydew

On Saturday, Amy and Brian went out for a run with Anne and then we all had pastry brunch afterwards (along with leftovers from Versailles).  Then we drove down to OC to visit with Sabrina and Theresas' families.  Josephine was out because of COVID.  It was really nice to see everyone and fun to catch up.  Kari is so big now.  Hard to believe we held her as a baby and she's almost taller than me now.

Brooks sponsored event.. got some free swag!

Quick stop for a hike at El Dorado Nature Park

Saw some turtles!

UCLA girls reunion.. one of these days, we'll
actually get a full house

After dinner, we went to stay with Matt and Nicole.  They are doing well and we were glad we could visit.  We slept in the living room on their floor.  I'm glad we can still do that as a family :)

Matt and Nicole's apartment

Matt and Amy went running on Sunday morning
again.. runners, sheesh!

On Sunday, we went to Matt and Nicole's church, Net-works in Laguna Beach.  A small church, mostly adults, very friendly, seems like they found a good place to be.  After church, we had a quick lunch and then drove back home.  After 7 hours, we made it home at about 830p, safe and sound.  All in all a good trip, if short.  We didn't get to see as many friends as we would have liked but we'll be back in a few months!

Lastly, I'll leave you with Kai and the rubik's cube.  He's gotten quite good at it and was practicing on the drive down and up.  He can solve a cube in 5 minutes now and is working on getting faster.  I can do the first two steps :p  Amy can solve it as well but she needs to practice to compete with Kai :)

Finishing up Sports Camp // Bowling // Mom // RCC 4th of July // Sing 2 // More Swimming

The fun times continue..

The kids finished up sports camp last week and they are hoping they can do it again next year.

Kai and Sora's teams played against each other and the coaches

Jad got a little time on stage.. he looks stunned here
but he was dancing it up in the video :)

We were surprised to find water in the creek.. they must have let some out from the reservoir as it hasn't rained lately.  The kids had fun splashing around.

Everyone got all wet, of course, and Jad
stripped down

Big Al's has a summer promotion where kids can bowl for free so we brought them.  The kids didn't love it but it was a new experience and they also got to play some arcade games too.

Little Bowlers!

Using the ramp :)

My mom was in the hospital for a bit but has recovered back to her baseline and is not at home.  Dad is feeding her puree'ed food.  Not the best but it keeps her from choking.  I'm glad Joe is going to visit in a couple weeks.

Got a good smile from her here :D

We had our annual 4th of July Rock Canyon block party.  Vic and Kegan had just gotten over COVID so they were able to join us but Amy and Kristy helped a lot with set up and planning.  Jack built a new water balloon catapult and targets as well.  We rented a bounce house which was the highlight for the kids. The new neighbors came out too and it was a lot of fun.  David (and Janet) donated the best prize of the raffle, a new box of pokemon cards, that every kid wanted!  Actually, someone just took the 1st box that he gave (super lame!) so he got a second box to give way.. what a cool dude!

The kids were in the bounce house til 830p

Kai launching a water balloon

We pulled out all of our old fireworks.. Kai 
is writing his name in the street with fire ;)

Sora won the pokemon cards and shared with her 
brothers as well as Dylan across the street 

Amy found discount tickets for the theater at Oakridge ($1.50 per person!!) so she took the kids to watch Sing 2.  I think it was Jad's first time in the theater and he enjoyed it quite a bit.

Now they are singing Sing 2 songs all the time ..
"I can't see your tippy toes.."

I'll leave you this time with more water fun at Villa with the Rongs.. Til next time!

It's getting hot in here (summer continues!)

Let's see what's happened since last week...

My older brother, Joe, and his family came to visit.  It's always nice to see the cousins together.  They might take a bit to get used to each other but they get along really well.  Ryan is 11 years old now and he's gotten really big.  I wonder if our kids will be that big some day :)

The cousins.. just gotta 
add Tad and Elli

Amy also got Vienna to come over and teach the kids some Chinese.  I think they enjoyed the lesson and, hopefully, this will kick start a new language for them.  I've also got to use this Rosetta Stone subscription I got last year..

Attentive students

Water Woes.. Earlier last week, I had realized our water bill was $800 for the last 3 months (normally, ~$200).  They sent an inspector out and he found a leak under our bushes in the main water line from the meter to the house.  We had our water shut off for a day until we found someone to repair it.  $4k.. sigh.  The kids did get a taste of not having running water when we had to flush the toilets with buckets for a bit.  I made them watch a documentary about people in Africa carrying water to their villages :)

It was our turn to host the monthly RCC Garage party last week and it went great.  Lots of new neighbors showed up.  Both David and Janet as well as David and Alyssa came to meet everyone.  Susie and Pius had to pass because they got COVID.  Speaking of which, the Connicks got COVID this week.. we're missing our frequent dinners and drinks with them.  So far, we've been lucky though I'm probably the most high risk in our neighborhood.

Being neighborly in our driveaway

The swimming at Villa continues.  Luckily, the Rongs have joined as well as Ethan and Eliza will sometimes comes to play.  

Ethan and Kai

Jad is getting more used to the water but 
still needs floaties for now

Our small group also came over to the house to watch a movie in the backyard last Saturday.  It's getting dark so late now that we couldn't even see anything til about 8pm.  We watched the Goonies but then the younger kids thought it was boring/scary so they went inside to watch Sing 2.  Silly 80's comedy with racist jokes and all :p

Notice our lawn is brown as we've been 
conserving water 

On Sunday, we joined the Valley Crew at Cedar Mountain Winery in Livermore for a nice lunch hangout after church.  Ray knows the owners so they gave us a special tour of the winery.  Very small actually but they still bottle 120k bottles each year.  Super nice to see everyone!

Silly pic

Lastly, the kids had sports camp this week, again through Christ Community of Milpitas.  They are enjoying it and Amy gets a few hours off in the morning to herself. Kai and Sora are doing soccer and Jad is doing general outdoor games.

Outdoor sports time!

I'll leave you with this pic ..  We're still looking pretty good after three kids and many years together.  Here's to many more! :p 

Summertime shenanigans / Cal Academy of Sciences // Ellina rose

Man, it's week 2 of summer and we're already tired :p  The kids are all home and it's actually pretty nice though there is a lot of infighting and screens.  There are lots of things going on and, as they say, a picture says a thousand words so here goes..

Amy and I both volunteered for Field Day at Noble.  It's basically just an outdoor playday with various activities.  It was nice to see all the kids at school with their friends

Hard to tell in this picture but Sora
was walking around with her gang of friends

Since then it's been lazy summer days..

There is a lot of sitting around reading.. 
even when friends are over!

All three kids with Teacher Wendy at Agape

Stephen's Birthday Party at his mom place.  Sora brought all of
us, lots of fun, adult drinks and tacos too!

Barack's mom also plans lots of outings.. This was the
first down near Saratoga

.. and at Vasona Creek the next day

The first week, Kai was in this day camp at Christ Community of Milpitas (Aoalins' church) and he went with Dylan to Golfland/waterpark, the Oakland Zoo and Great America!  He had lots of fun and it was nice for him to do something on his own.  At the zoo, he got $15 and he bought ice cream for himself and a coke (for $5.50) for a random kid.  At Great America, he bought two big bags of Skittlles for himself and Dylan.  We praised him for his generosity but told him to be wise about his spending :p

Big boys off on their own :)

Meanwhile, Amy had to keep Sora and Jad occupied.
They are making banana bread here.

We rejoined Villa for the summer (probably we'll only do it for a couple of months as usual, though there will be a $110 cost for joining and dropping in two months).  It is nice to go here, the gym itself is much less crowded than 24Hr and the sauna is nice for me.  The kids love the pool and, boy, do we need it because it hit 102 degrees this week.  

Swimming with the Rongs

We also got some swim lessons for Kai and Sora.  Jad is
learning with us for now til he's more comfortable in the water

We've also been instituting our own exercise regimen of running laps around our block.  We're hoping it'll increase Kai's endurance and speed during soccer and generally get all the kids (and me) moving a bit.  Kai does two to three laps, Sora two laps and Jad one lap.  

Strong to the finish!

Of course, free time also means lots of time spent with the neighbors.  The kids have spent lots of time together playing and there are lots of communal dinners.  This one is at our house after we rotated through the Aoalins, Connicks and Casanovas .. all in one week!

Mac and cheese is always a favorite.. no vegetables
in sight

Lastly, we finagled a Wednesday with everyone off and we and the Connicks (Vic and the kids anyway) went to the California Academy of Sciences yesterday.  We haven't been there for many many years and it's terribly expensive (we joined as members so we could go again.. that's how they get you!) but it was really nice.  Not too many people there so we could just wander and take our time.  

The macaws in the rainforest biodome

In the fish tunnel.. there were some giant fish there!

Jad at the giant coral reef tank

There was a giant Bugs! special exhibit. A bit over flashy but
still very cool.  Japanese bees swarm attacking hornets and
heat them to death!

The girls on the Living Roof

I started biking to work again, now that it's not so cold in the mornings.  Because there is always something I have to get back for or maybe I have to pick up a kid from an activity, I usually get only one ride a week but it's better than nothing. 

Look, no glasses 8)

Lastly, for real this time, Chris and April has their 2nd baby.  Ellina Rose on June 10th and now there are 6 Udompanyanans in their generation.  Hope we can see them all together soon!

Picture speaks for itself.. so little..

Til next time!