Browse Category: holidays

Year of the Monkey

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On the eve of the Lunar New Year, we met up with the usual people for dim sum at Yank Sing again. I tried to get a photo of Jack’s missing teeth but he wouldn’t smile for me. I guess he’s getting too old to humor his Auntie Beak nowadays.

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We have grown to a party of 12 including the littlest guy sitting in a highchair.

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Here are all 6 kids together. It’s much less organized than last year’s photo but I guess it’s just how it is right now.

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This is last year’s photo. I should have stuck my belly in the photo since Peanut was there but still cookin’.

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Here’s one from 2013 when Isla was still cookin’ (belly on the left).  It’s funny how similar KK looks to Peanut in this photo.

In 2014, we didn’t get a photo because we had dinner at Michelle and Ryan’s house that year. Too bad…this is becoming an annual photo similar to our camping ones. Love it.

Christmas in SoCal

IMG_4949I had the privilege of spending 10 whole days in Southern California for the holidays this year (Dec 19-29).  This was probably the longest I’ve had with the family in a long time.

IMG_5660The girls had lots of good quality time together and we heard a lot of giggles this time around.

IMG_5198I loved just hanging out at the Magical House and it’s so nice to have Brother and Joy living there right now.  He and Joy even made some molasses cookies for us to snack on.

IMG_5204In the mornings, KK would often go to the Cerritos Mall with my dad.  She loved the riding toys and my dad just couldn’t help putting coins in for her.  Jes and I usually just tell her that we don’t have any money.  Heh heh.

IMG_5241What I love about being home is meeting up with old friends that I don’t get to see as often as I’d like.  I met up with my UCLA girls at Linda’s house one night and it was so fun to catch up and reminisce.

IMG_5273Holly also came over one day and brought Andrew.  KK hadn’t seen him in over a year and after a little warming up period, they were buddies again.

IMG_5320Before heading down to SoCal, we made a list of things we wanted to eat and one of them was Din Tai Fung.  IMG_5315So, on Christmas Eve, we went to the new location at South Coast Plaza.  IMG_5314Yum yum yum…love their xiao long bao.

IMG_5387On Christmas morning, we were in Buena Park and it was fun to open gifts with all the kids.  IMG_5346Every year, Jes’ mom buys him and Jason matching sweaters or jackets.  Jes usually gets the blue one and this year was no different.  Here they are with their matching sweaters.

IMG_5424Somehow, we managed to get a photo of all the kids together on Christmas night before dinner.  The twins were so cute in their matching Christmas jammies.

IMG_5462For dinner, Jes made a standing rib roast for the whole family.

IMG_5463He made Yorkshire pudding again this year and they came out perfectly!

IMG_5532Another item on our list was a pastrami sandwich and chili cheese fries from The Hat.  I forgot how enormous the fries were.  We saw couples in the restaurant eating just that as their meal.

IMG_5559Another family tradition is to gather all of my cousins together for a Thai feast at Thai Nakorn.  IMG_5558With Ishya and family also in town, our party was even bigger this year!

IMG_5639Another SoCal favorite is Wahoo’s.  This wasn’t on our list but a nice bonus meal! Jes was so happy with his enchilada.IMG_5645I had my usual fish tacos with extra salsa for my rice and beans.  Boy, I wish they had Wahoo’s up in the Bay Area.

IMG_5617One afternoon, all the cousins on both sides of the family were all together at the Magical House.  So cute.

IMG_5651On our last night in Cerritos, we had some more Thai food for dinner with my family.

IMG_5681Before leaving for our long drive back to SF, we had one last meal with Jes’ parents.

It was so much fun being home for so long.  We accomplished almost everything on our list and I got s few naps in too.

Disneyland

IMG_5127We went to Disneyland again this month since it’s our family tradition and it was the end of my family’s annual passes.  This year, we only went to Disneyland (and not CA Adventure), which was plenty for us.

IMG_5025We were smart to borrow Jason and Jia’s double stroller for this visit.  It was a real back saver.

IMG_5013We ventured up to Toon Town, which we hadn’t gone to in a very long time.  When we went to visit Mickey, memories of working there suddenly flooded my head (both good and bad).

IMG_5115The kids took their annual photo with Santa and Peanut was loving his comfy lap.  KK was still a little weary of the man in red but sat next to him and told him she wanted “Octonauts” for Christmas.

IMG_5125One of the best treats I’ve had there was this apple pie funnel cake that all 9 of us shared.

IMG_5054It was so much fun being there with the whole family and it never seems to get old – especially now that we have our own kids to relive the magic and fun.

IMG_0256What’s also nice about having the whole family there is that I actually get to ride some of the faster rides while the grandparents watch the kids.  They were like “mini dates” for us.  This is a photo of me and Jes waiting to board Star Tours.  Jes, the rebel, put his 3D glasses on before we were allowed to.IMG_5066We also rode Hyperspace Mountain with Brother and Joy.  Fun fun fun!

IMG_5110I also love the Christmas decorations all around the park.  Makes Disneyland even more special.

IMG_5095Looked like Peanut enjoyed all the lights and colors too.

IMG_5079Since it was Disneyland’s Diamond Celebration, they had these funny backdrops for us to take photos.  IMG_5289Too bad KK was sleeping because only Peanut made it into these pictures.  Pretty funny stuff.

IMG_5152After dinner, the rest of the family went home and we stayed until closing time.  It was fun taking KK on Dumbo and the rocket ships at night.

IMG_5153We also stayed for the fireworks and watched Fantasmic one last time before they closed it for the building of Star Wars Land.

IMG_5164We may or may not visit Disneyland next year if it’s not worth it.  I’m glad we went one more time this year.

Thanksgiving 2015

IMG_3608We stayed home all day on Thanksgiving Day and ate spaghetti for dinner.  Then on Saturday, after Jason and Jia returned from Seattle, we had our usual turkey feast.

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Even KK contributed by making the crescent rolls!  IMG_3625Peanut wanted some.

IMG_3627Jason and Jia brought their feeder seats and we had all the babies sitting with us at the table for dinner!

IMG_3618It probably lasted about 20 minutes before one of them needed to be held.

IMG_3610 IMG_3615The twins got to eat avocado too!  I bet Peanut was super jealous.

Lights and Kids

Boy, Light-up Night has really changed in so many ways.  Lightup2010It used to be a night of friends, cocktails, and hijinks. This is a photo from 2010 when Brother, Joy, and Mommy joined us.

IMG_3113Now it’s about wrangling kids, taking family photos, and getting home at a reasonable time to put everyone to bed.  Regardless, it’s still fun to be out there at the Embarcadero Center to see the buildings light up and watch the fireworks go off.  It’s my official kick-off to the holiday season since it always occurs the Friday before Thanksgiving.

IMG_3138This year, it was super convenient for me since KK’s school is just down the street from there.  What I’ve been used to is scrambling to get out of work on time, braving traffic across the bridge, parking the car at home, and then catching the train as quickly as I can to make it on time.  Last year, Jes was in France and this year was no different.  The difference for me was that I was lugging around TWO kids now.  I don’t know how those single moms do it!

IMG_3145This year, Ranee and Stephanie were on board and met up with us in time for the fireworks.

IMG_3067It was disappointing that the Hyatt did not have their usual lighting of the atrium but we still went over there to see the tree.

IMG_3144Get your fat pants, pumkin-spiced everything, and shopping lists out ‘cuz the holidays are here!

20 and 13

IMG_2640This evening, we had a date night to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary.  It was also to celebrate our 20th year together.  That’s half our lives!!  Crazy.

IMG_2636Dinner was at Wayfare Tavern and I got raw oysters that I didn’t need to share with KK.  😉IMG_2637We shared the fried chicken and mac and cheese on the side.    IMG_2641With all the kids sleeping with Grandma on watch at home, we stopped at a bar on the walk home and had a few more drinks.  I realized that the last time we had a night out alone was when we went to Saison for Mother’s Day last year (2014)!  Wow.

Thanks for babysitting, Mommy!