Browse Category: friends

Baby Maya

IMG_5916This afternoon, we went to Jimmy and Eleen’s house in Alameda.  We finally got to meet Maya, who was born in April, and has such an impressive head of hair!

IMG_5914She’s about 7 weeks old now and has such a sweet smile.  I couldn’t help notice how grown up KK looks next to this little baby.

IMG_5921It was also fun to watch Zoe and KK interacting so much more together this evening.  They’re only 4 months apart.

IMG_5908Congratulations, Agustins!!  It was so nice catching up with you guys and meeting your little one today.  Maya and Peanut will be about 4 months apart too!!

Memorial Day Weekend – Part 2

IMG_7233On Sunday morning, I took the parents out for breakfast.  We almost lost KK’s sweatshirt there but someone ended up finding it and we were able to get it back by the afternoon.

IMG_5702We later went to church but it was cut short when Jes’ mom came in to retrieve us so that we could meet up with his dad between meetings.

IMG_5710In the afternoon, Jes and I went to Dayantha’s house to visit them and to meet Oliver.  He’s almost 7 months old and so adorable.

IMG_5712I realized we hadn’t seen them since last year’s Hawaii trip for Yoon’s wedding.  Krissy was in the very early part of her pregnancy then and hadn’t told anyone yet.IMG_5726It was nice being able to catch up with them finally.

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For dinner, we met up with Pish and his family for our usual Thai feast at the usual place.  Marie and her family were in San Diego this weekend so it was a smaller group this time around.

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Unfortunately KK slept right though dinner and missed out on the good food.IMG_5737

Before heading back to the Magical House, we went to Creamistry for some ice cream made with liquid nitrogen.  Alice loves playing in the steam.IMG_5743We all shared a little scoop of Cinnamon Crunch ice cream.  It was yummy in its own right but made me miss Secret Breakfast.

IMG_5798On Monday morning, it was time to pack up and drive back to SF.  The drive was long and challenging because of all the congestion on the interstate.  There were times where the traffic would go from 70 mph to 0 in just a couple seconds.  Scary.  It’s nice to be home after such a long drive but I already miss my family.

Butano State Park

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We went on our sort-of annual camping trip this weekend at Butano State Park.  It was conveniently located only an hour from our house and in a redwood forest near Half Moon Bay.  It was cold so I was all covered up and there were no mosquitoes to bother me.  That was a nice change.

DSC_6347The campground was nice and they had running water in the bathrooms closeby.  Thank goodness!  We actually had flushing toilets and running water in the sinks.  I came prepared with a step stool and toilet seat for KK to use so she could go to the bathroom without my help.

IMG_5234We also borrowed MaryAnn’s tent, which was really easy to set-up and we were able to fit Jason and Jia’s full-sized air mattress and all three of us slept comfortably inside.

DSC_6401On Saturday morning, we took the kids to a nearby goat far.  They had some cute billy goats in the front.

IMG_5315There was plenty of space for the kids to run around and KK played with Rowan quite a bit.

DSC_6362They chased each other around and looked for banana slugs together.

DSC_6364I had seen a banana slug at the aquarium but never in nature.  They look a little gross at first but are actually pretty cool.

IMG_5284A lot of our time was spent around the fire burning stuff – including marshmallows.  IMG_9874This picture of KK and her flaming marshmallow makes me chuckle.

IMG_5313All the kids had a great time and camping with KK was much easier this time around compared to her first trip when she was 3 months old.

IMG_9888Here is this year’s group photo on our last day.  It was nice having just the 6 of us again (plus the kids of course).  As chaotic as it seems sometimes, it’s still fun to go camping with these animals.  Hopefully we’ll be able to pull it off again next year with Peanut in tow.

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Here we are on our last trip without kids or anyone with a bun in the oven.  We drove all the way to Yellowstone in a minivan in 2006 with barely enough room for our feet.  I’d say this was still my favorite trip so far.  I can’t wait to take KK and Peanut there to see the bison and stinky springs.

JoshuaTree2003I also found a photo of our first camping trip.  It was the four of us at Joshua Tree NP and it was SOOOOO HOT.  It’s hard to believe this was 12 years ago!  Good times…

Nemo Party for KK

IMG_4655My Baby Girl turned 3 on Monday and we celebrated on Sunday morning with all her buddies.

IMG_4610IMG_4608We held the party at the Children’s Creativity Museum where the kids got to run free and play all they wanted before the food arrived.

IMG_4667We rented the birthday room upstairs and her cupcakes and balloons had a Nemo theme.  DSC_1196It’s funny that her first birthday cake at a Nemo theme as well but this time around it actually meant something to her.

DSC_6216I think most of the grown-ups had almost as much fun at the museum and I actually got to sit and just watch KK play with her friends without having to do much.

DSC00041KK blew out her candles with no problems this year.  When she turned one, she was clueless and I had to blow out her candle.  When she turned two, she got gun shy and just straight up refused.  This year, she totally gets it and blew them out like a champ.  What was funny was how she had such a confused look on her face when she saw the smoke go up after she blew them out.

IMG_1524Watching all the kids eat the cake and bright blue frosting was pretty entertaining.  I got photos of as many of them as I could.

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TheoDSC_6244HenryDSC_6242VivianDSC_6236SophieDSC_6240Isla

IMG_4623After we cleared out of the birthday room (we only had it for 2 hours), everyone rode the carousel twice.  KK wanted to ride the dragon chair on the first round.

IMG_4629Then she sat on a horse next to her friends on the second go-around.IMG_4665We also managed to get a group photo of the kids.  I love how Vivian held Henry’s hand for the picture to keep them both from wandering off.

IMG_4652Unfortunately, this was the only family photo we got at the party.  I never seem to get enough photos taken when I’m hosting my own party.

Here are a couple thoughts I had on planning this party:

  1. Amazon.com is great for finding party favors.  Nemo stuff is not sold at party stores anymore but there were plenty of things to choose from online.  Everything came to my door and I was ready for the party.
  2. Safeway really saved me money and time with the cupcakes and balloons.  The logistics of having a party on a Sunday morning are pretty tough.  Most cupcake places are not open on Sundays and Party City doesn’t open until 10.  SO, I ordered the cupcakes from Safeway, picked them up at 9:30 am,  and they were only 50 cents each compared to $3.50 each at a fancy store.  They were also able to blow up the balloons I had bought online in just minutes.
  3. Our food was ordered from a place that didn’t open until 11 but Jes managed to get there at 10:30 and knocked on the window to get the food as early as possible from the cooks in the back.  It helps to have a persistent husband who just doesn’t give a flying fish who he pisses off – all for the sake of his little girl, of course!
  4. Kid parties don’t need to last very long.  The party started at 10:30 and two hours in the birthday room was plenty of time to eat and have cake.  Also, most kids were overdue for their naps after the carousel ride so the timing was just about right.  KK also passed out as soon as I put her in the stroller and started walking home from the museum.
  5. I’m glad I waited until she turned 3 to throw a party.  We celebrated Year 1 mostly for sentimental reasons and we did something really small for Year 2 (dinner with family).  This year, she was genuinely excited for the party and had enough friends who could enjoy the activities.  She also loves the “Happy Birthday” song and opening presents was fun for her this year.

Baby Sabrina

IMG_4200Last night after work, I drove up to Walnut Creek to visit Mai and her 2-week-old baby girl Sabrina.

DSC_6203DSC_6179I tried to get some portraits taken but she was either sleeping or fussing.

DSC_6185Mai looks great and has been adjusting to motherhood so gracefully.

IMG_4192It was also fun to have Ranee and her girls there.  Avia is 9 months now and just started crawling.

IMG_4206Our little group of babies from work is certainly growing and so much fun to watch through their milestones.

Congratulations to Mai and Dennis!!

Oahu: Day 3

Day Three: 3/7/14

IMG_3076On Saturday morning, we headed out to the Farmer’s Market at KCC.  It was already packed at 8:30 in the morning but we got through the crowd and ate some pretty good stuff.  We first wandered around and bought some fresh fruit to eat.

IMG_3082IMG_3073We also stopped at The Pig & The Lady stall for some Vietnamese food.  Brother had noodles and soup while I just had a bowl of their tasty broth. IMG_4108IMG_3087

Jes and I got fresh-squeezed lemonade from two competing stands.  Mine was cheaper and tasted better but he would argue for his.

IMG_3099Our last treat was a little something from Ono Pops.  I got Waialua Estate Mocha that basically tasted like a mud pie on a stick.  Brother got Kona Latte that tasted like Jamoca ice cream from Baskin-Robbins as well as the Lilikoi 50/50 that was like a creamscicle.  All were very good.

IMG_3104After the Farmer’s Market, we hung out at the hotel for a bit before heading out to Yoon’s condo.  She had prepared quite a feast for our little group and served it all in her clubroom by the pool.  They had chapchae, 3 kinds of poke, Chinese chicken salad, Portuguese sausage, and Kahlua pork.

IMG_2275We brought dessert from the Farmer’s Market –  pineapple lime pie and banana cream pie.

IMG_3103We all met little Trevor, who slept pretty much through lunch.  He’s a chunky little guy that Yoon says eats almost every hour.IMG_2277These two little rugrats hung out too and it was funny seeing KK mean-muggin’ Alice when she was peeling her mandarins.

IMG_3113It was so fun hanging out with Yoon – can’t believe she’s a Mommy now!  Some things may have changed but some things remain the same – like the classic headlock hug.

IMG_3120Thanks for having us over, Yoon!

IMG_4181In the evening, KK hung out with the family while Jes and I went out for dinner on our own.  The last time we were out by ourselves was probably last September for a wedding.

IMG_2289It looked like they all had a good time while we were away.

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For dinner, we went to Alan Wong’s.  The last time Jes and I had gone was back in 2000.  Crazy.  This was my appetizer: crab cake (substitute for the tuna tartar that was on the tasting menu) and a grilled cheese made with foie and kahlua pork.  It was on top of a parmesan cracker and cold tomato soup.IMG_3131

This was the butter-poached lobster.  It was so yummy – Jes’ favorite.IMG_3132

Next was the crusted fish.  My memory is so bad that I can’t remember what the actual fish was.  Regardless, it was delicious – especially the sauce underneath.  We also had a meat dish – short rib with gochuchang and a bowl of rice.  It was so tasty that I forgot to take a picture. 🙂

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Dessert was a haupia ice cream with a chocolate and coconut shell served with fresh fruit and lilikoi sauce.  So good but I couldn’t finish it.IMG_3137We also took a photo at the restaurant, which we never do anymore.  Cheers to a fun date night!  Thanks for watching KK, Family!