Happy New Year!
We’re still in Tahoe at Dot’s cabin and had a great New Year’s Eve hike yesterday. The weather was a little chilly but comfortable enough for the walk up to the peak. At the top, it overlooked Crystal Bay and the dogs got to run free. It was so much fun to watch Koa run, sniff, and explore off-leash. The view was gorgeous at 7017 feet and it was a good way to end 2011.
The rest of the afternoon and night was spent in the cabin drinking and eating. I even had a tiny sip of champagne at midnight. Happy New Year, Everyone!!! Hope your 2012 will be awesome. I know ours will be pretty exciting!
On Wednesday afternoon, I ran some errands with my mom. I made some returns at the mall and then we went to several places to find some salty chicken for dinner. My mom made Kao Mun Gai (Chicken Rice) for dinner and Brother and Joy came over to join us. It was the perfect last meal before heading back up to SF.
Today we got up at a reasonable time, had Mommy-made waffles and bacon for breakfast, and then headed out. It was a smooth drive up with a stop at In-N-Out in Kettleman City. We got home by 4:30 pm with lots of time to order pizza for dinner and to do the laundry.
Koa enjoyed the car ride and we found ourselves in 75-degree weather once we got to The Magical House.
Brother and Joy were already there and they were in charge of dinner that evening. We exchanged gifts that afternoon before dinner and Koa got a new friend. It’s a pretty funny-looking monkey that squeaks and we got a good laugh while he chewed on Crazy Eyes’ head. We got some stuff from Thailand and the highlight gift was Jes’ new beerlao t-shirt.
Dinner consisted of pot roast with gravy and mashed potato, kimchee fried rice, kalbi, and a bunch of pan-chan. It was a bizarre combination but that’s what my parents had requested and it was all tasty.
On Christmas morning, we went to church with Jason and Jia. Pops was giving the message that day so that was cool. We were greeted by old friends of the family and they were all congratulating us on our expected Kumquat. They all said to us, “Your father is very excited to have a granddaughter.”
After church, we stopped at The Magical House to pick up my favorite treat, Sakoo Sai Moo. I ate them up so fast that I didn’t even have the chance to take a photo this time so I’m posting an old photo. It was THAT good. The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent hanging out in Buena Park while the 27-lb standing rib roast cooked in the oven.
The family came over and we stuffed ourselves with prime rib, yorkshire pudding, salad, creamed corn, and Jes’ mom’s sticky rice. I was so full and tired by the end of the night that I went to bed early before everyone had left. I know that comes as a real shocker.
A few weeks ago, Vyl convinced Jes that he needed some practice before Kumquat arrives. So he agreed to babysit Rowan for an evening. On Friday night, Bang and Vyl dropped him off around 6:30 and they handed him straight over to Jesse. I paused to see if he would cry but he didn’t! In fact, he was totally cool with him all the way up to the condo. Vyl left quickly and Rowan didn’t even flinch. Instead, he was busy watching Koa who was scurrying around him on the floor.
When it was around his bedtime, we prepared his bottle and he guzzled that down. Unfortunately, he was still wired from all the excitement so we hung out for a while. Jesse even got into the mix and read him a book and then snuggled with him with the lights turned down.
He cuddled his blanket and doggie while sucking his thumb quietly all night (just like Linus) but just couldn’t fall asleep. At one point we put him down in the pack-and-play but then he started to cry for a good 10 minutes.
I felt bad so I brought him back out and we just hung out until he fell asleep. It only took an extra hour for him to settle and he didn’t fuss when his parents returned.
There were a few things we learned last night: 1) our house is pretty toddler-friendly, 2) the dog is good entertainment for a toddler, and 3) we can handle this kid thing together after all. Oh and of course, Rowan is pretty darn cute.
On Wednesday, I got home at a decent time so I decided to take Dog for a long walk and then stopped at the pet store to buy some dog food. While we were there, I thought, “Hm…Dog’s kinda stinky.” So, I dragged him into the bathhouse and he got his quarterly bath. As he always does, he cried and screamed through the whole thing and I left the place soaked.
Oh well. I have a clean dog now and he got a little treat. We’re both happy.
This year for Jes’ birthday, we were actually in town. In the past, we’ve taken our annual trip out of the country during the Labor Day weekend. Last year, Jes spent his birthday in Paris, France. The year before, we were in Florence, Italy. And the year before, we were coming back from Belize! What a lucky guy.
Well, this year I threw him a birthday party with all his friends over the weekend and then took him out for a nice dinner on the night of his actual birthday. On Sunday evening (9/4), we threw a party at our house. We had food everywhere – including the coffeetable where Koa sat and stared at the food all afternoon.
We had a house filled with people and the Scotch was flowing all night.
The Suminos even came and I got to pull out my old GameBoys to help entertain them. When I took them out, Brandon and Cole asked, “What’s GameBoy?” Sheesh. Once I showed them how it worked, they were hooked.
Victor had a good time coaching them on the finer points of wrestling. I guess he enjoyed watching them play as he used to with his own little brother. The boys had fun but Marie wasn’t happy. Victor…the trouble-maker.
Jes made a prime rib roast and we sliced it up for some tasty prime rib sandwiches on Acme rolls. Everyone ate it up along with all the appetizers and sides that we had out all night. It was nice to actually have no leftovers at the end of the night.
Jes also got a yummy Coldstone ice cream cake compliments of the Masayas and then some cupcakes that the Fernandos brought too.
On Tuesday, his actual birthday, we had dinner at Benu. It’s a relatively new restaurant that is run by a James Beard Award winning chef who worked at The French Laundry back when Thomas Keller was still working in the kitchen there. They have a $180 tasting menu that was very intriguing but we didn’t have the stomach for it this time. It included 19 different items on that menu!
So, we opted for a few dishes off the a la carte menu that was equally satisfying and didn’t give you the roll-me-out-the-door feeling afterward. Everything was made so perfectly and the presentation was whimsical and pretty. The food was all very good and there were combinations that I hadn’t had before. The dish above is a chicken porridge with thousand-year quail egg. It was savory and delicious.
We also had abalone, foie gras, lobster, beef, and a very unique dessert made with chocolate ganache, peanut pudding, and miso sorbet. At the end of the night, they served a box of fancy chocolates that were also very rich and flavorful.
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