outings – Page 7 – beakatude

Thanksgiving 2014

By beakatude
on Nov 27, 2014
in family, holidays, outings, yum

This year, my parents came up for Thanksgiving. The Masayas were out of town so it was just the 5 of us with a 22-pound turkey. Heh heh.

DSCN3663 DSCN3648 In the morning, we went to the zoo. It was fun to be there on a holiday because all the animals got special treats and for some reason, a lot of the animals were awake and active this morning. I had never seen a hippo so up-close! They’re actually kinda scary when they’re not sleeping underwater.

Once we got home, the cooking started. Thankfully we had my parents around to keep KK company.

The turkey came out perfectly and we also had a HoneyBaked ham that my mom brought up from Cerritos. As usual, we ate until we were overstuffed and there were plenty of leftovers for sandwiches for the next several days. I love Thanksgiving!!!

Things I am thankful for:

My family – they keep me grounded.
My friends – they keep me sane.
Our health – Only one fever and one short trip to the ED this year!
Jesse’s stable job – 7 years and counting!!
Our next trip to Hawaii in March – hotel and flights are booked!! Woohoo!

Start of the Holidays

By beakatude
on Nov 22, 2014
in family, holidays, outings, videos

One of my favorite traditions is to go to Embarcadero Center to watch the lighting of the buildings and the fireworks. It always occurs on the Friday before Thanksgiving. This year, all the girls weren’t able to make it but KK and I went anyway. At work, I hustled to get off at 4:15 (15 mins early). Then I was able to pick up the kid from daycare, get home by 5:00, catch Muni to Embarcadero, and finish eating dinner by 6:00. After dinner, we caught the “Disney on Ice” show at the rink just before they did the countdown and lit the buildings.

http://youtu.be/Id5vIcKslPg
KK and I had a really good viewing spot and there were no tears from either one of us. (Fireworks may me cry sometimes. I know, weird.)

http://youtu.be/YSLPNtsRzgI
Right after the fireworks, we walked down to the Hyatt to see them light up the atrium. It was weird to be with just the kid this year and to be completely sober but it was just as special in its own way. KK appreciated it much more than the last two years that we went. It also snowed inside the atrium, which confused her a little bit.

After it was all done, we hung out for a little while longer so that Jes could meet us there after arriving back in SF from Geneva. It was so nice to have the family back together again and a great way to kick off the holiday season. Is Thanksgiving really this coming Thursday?! Where is the time going?!

Jason’s Birthday Weekend

By beakatude
on Nov 09, 2014
in family, holidays, kumquat, outings, yum

This weekend, Jes’ parents came up to visit. It was to celebrate Jason’s birthday and to hang out with their granddaughter, of course. I just love their expressions in this picture. They were so happy to see her when they arrived at the CalTrain Station on Saturday morning.

We took them to the Ferry Plaza for brunch and we lucked out with some really nice weather.

For Jason’s birthday dinner, we drove down to Woodside to eat at The Village Pub. This is my crudo appetizer. That clear liquid off to the side was actually a gelee. Neato. KK ate all the pickled veggies off my plate.

Speaking of KK, she got her first fine dining experience and it was such a success. I mean, we’ve taken her to places with white tablecloths and stuff but this was one of those drawn out fancier dinners. We even ordered her very own dish, a very tasty mushroom consomme. She loved it and I only got a few sips of the broth and one of her dumplings. I have to say this was one of my prouder moments with her. The server was so impressed by her behavior that evening and treated her with a scoop of ice cream. I was pretty impressed too.

I ordered the kale and ricotta ravioletti. It was really good and I totally forgot that it was a vegetarian dish.

This was Jason’s birthday souffle and present – a toy replica of his current Mustang in the same shade of blue and everything. He said it will go well next to his Cobra.

And here are a couple pictures that KK took with my phone. It’s fun to get a little view of her world.

This morning, the whole family came over and we took the bus to Chinatown.

We feasted on noodles and porridge and then had a little birthday cake complete with a candle.

Back at home, we all took a nap and then Jesse started preparing the crab that had been given to Jason and Jia from their landlord. He’s a crabber and drops off live crab every once in a while. Jia was home alone on Thursday night so she put them in the freezer and we ate them today.

This time, Jes boiled them in some seasoned water and then made a side of mashed potato and grilled corn.

Yum yum!! Three crabs and the sides fed all 7 of us very well.

Happy Birthday, DiDi!

12th Anniversary

By beakatude
on Nov 06, 2014
in holidays, outings, outta here, yum

We took advantage of having free babysitters and celebrated our 12th Wedding Anniversary on Sunday night at Lawry’s. It’s one of our favorite places to eat and to celebrate special occasions. We got there about 20 minutes early so there was time for a drink and some meatballs. Yum.

Then at dinner, we didn’t have to order anything extra – we just got the prime rib with the creamed corn and mashed potato. Perfect.

For dessert, the waitress brought out two helpings of their English trifle with a candle lit in each one. That was sweet of her.

We also got a bonus dinner together on Monday night after we came home from LA. As we were walking to Marlowe, KK fell asleep in the stroller so we tucked her under the bar and had a quiet dinner together. I had a tasty drink called La Cuchilla, which had grapefruit juice, soda, and tequila. I’m sure there was other stuff in it too.

We also shared the mushroom soup and giant prawns with a spicy cocktail sauce before the burger came out. What a fun evening. KK also slept through the night without a peep out of her for a total of 12 hours!!! She must have had some major catching up to do on her sleep from the weekend.

Belated Celebration

By beakatude
on Nov 01, 2014
in family, holidays, outings, outta here, yum

This evening, we celebrated Mommy’s birthday, which was last week. Before dinner, we stopped at Huntington Beach Pier. It actually felt like fall this evening – especially after a morning of rain and the puffy clouds were still lingering above in the clear blue sky.