Visiting LA Via My iPhone

 I was scared of a full flight so I sat next to a mom with a kid who had his own seat.  It worked out perfectly as Jordan initially thought this boy was Finn (the blonde curly hair).  The two shared a seat, watched shows on my iPad, and Jordan felt completely comfortable looking out the window with our new friend (I forgot her name already).  They were on their way to California to visit Disneyland so we chatted a lot about everything she must do, it was going to be both of their first times ever there!

Jordan's shoes were getting tight, so we headed to the mall with wai-puo and wai-gong to play on the carousel and get some shoes!

Joran LOVED the carousel, just like he did last time we visited.  

Wooooo!!!

We picked out some sweet kicks at Nordstrom Kid Shoes, but Jordan liked the balloon better.  These look very bright but the color is purposely faded and the shoes look like he's been wearing 'em for years now (after two weeks only).

 

That's my balloon (my first one)...  as we went back again later for the carousel when Andy got into town and of course, left with a Nordy balloon once more.  

 What's a visit to LA without a BlueSky meeting?  I love my job and the team and it was great to see everyone.  Currently, we have employees from MB, SD, Hawaii, Washington, Utah, and soon Michigan.  We had our quarterly meeting at Shade Hotel (as always) in beautiful sunny Manhattan Beach and ended early which was great as I missed the afternoon traffic rush driving back to the 626.  

 Another trip to the mall, this time for CPK with Uncle Ray and his girlfriend, Grace too!  This is Jordan pointing to the carousel which he got to go on again.  

And I was craving Thrifty ice cream, so we made our way over after dinner at CPK.  Yay for Thrifty ice cream!  

Jordan in his new shoes and a onesie.  The best ever.  

 We headed to the Griffith park trains the next day (no photos) and then to Americana since my computer broke.  Thank goodness for the Genius Bar and Apple Care.  Jordan enjoyed the kid station with wai-puo and had a huge poop while in the Apple Store too.  What better place to poop?!

Enjoying the sun and water fountain.  He will LOVE the Bellagio water show if we ever go one day...

So beautiful - he just stood there, admiring it.  

Of course he had to wear sunglasses and I forgot his, so he just wore mine. 

 We left Americana, headed to Panera (mmmm) and of course, Porto's for a ton of cheese rolls and a big ol' fruit tart.  So get this, the fruit tarts now have a layer of cake in them!  It's not as good as before in my humble opinion.  Just saying...
Jordan didn't have enough shorts for the sunny weather in Arizona (our next trip to be posted later), so we headed to TJMaxx to find some clothes.  Fail.  But we did enjoy sitting on the bench together before we left.

That night, I headed to my old stomping grounds to meet up with Julia who is working nasty busy season tax hours.  Ugh.  Parking in the valet section, thank you very much. 

The Firm is moving offices soon, but they're still currently in this building, the same as the company Julia works for.. but look, remodeling everywhere!  I barely recognized it!

 Bomb diggity. I headed to LAX after our visit to pick up Andy, but his flight was delayed so I ended up at the nearby In-N-Out, where I got Andy a Neapolitan shake and some fries, and then parked on Sepulveda where apparently a ton of town cars park until it's time to go to the airport.  I found the money spot!  When Andy landed, I drove to the airport, not realizing how close it was, but luckily it was so late at night, no patrol officers were nearby so I literally parked the car along with a bunch of other cars, and just waited for Andy to show up.  It was spectacular.  He asked me why I didn't get him a burger too.  It was midnight.. I didn't know he'd want a burger too!  

Andy left bright and early Saturday morning for a golf fitting with his golf enthusiast buddy Ryan, and I left Jordan with the grandparents for a workout.  When we got back, he was enjoying my parents' backyard, running around, and looking for Uncle Ray.  So we went to his house (he lives in the back house of my parents' place) and he enjoyed Uncle Ray's on demand which has Little Einsteins.  

 

 Then wai-gong fed him some mac'n'cheese while Mom went to Sinbala to grab lunch on a triple date.  

  We had a really great lunch with our friends, Becky and Lucy, and their husbands!  On the way there, I had an epiphany that we belong to the asian wives who married hapas club.  I thought it was pretty hilarious, as did they.  Among the six of us, we represented Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, and all sorts of white.  We joked that our kids will basically look alike as they are all mixtures of a half Asian/white dad and a full Asian mom.  It was great to have lunch, catch up, and have an adult group date.  We've had dates with just Andy and me and no Jordan, but those somehow turn into conversations about Jordan, so this was refreshing and fun.

We had AYCE Korean BBQ with the family that night and then headed to Carmela, an ice cream spot Andy and I had on our list to try ever since we lived in LA two years ago, but never got around to!  We saw them at the South Pasadena Farmer's Market but always said we would wait to visit the ice cream shop, which I had envisioned being cute and sit down.  I twas cute - no doubt, but it was not a sit down place!  It was just a storefront with a large kitchen and a little bench outside - but oh my goodness, everyone who had raved about it were entirely spot on.  It was absolutely delicious!!!  I've never had such good ice cream, I definitely think it tops Milk or any other specialty ice cream shop we've been to (including Jeni's Splendid ice cream shop in Ohio).  If you haven't tried it, it's a must!!  I am already craving it again.  

Jordan enjoyed it too!

He heard a plane and pointed at it, but really it looks like he's flashing me a "loser" sign.  Enjoying the bench with Uncle Ray and Grace. 

Yummmm!!!

We visited with the Mizukawas at night and then the Oldroyds on Sunday after Church.  I didn't take any photos then, but it was so great seeing them!  

Monday morning, we headed to Disneyland bright and early - knowing very well that it was a Spring Break day and would probably be dreadfully crowded.

We hit all the "cool" rides first and made our way to Carsland for all the rides Jordan could go on.

Jordan didn't understand the concept of long lines but after a few times, he seemed to get it and became a lot more cheerful whilst in line, knowing the rewards of the aftermath. 

Is this what I normally look like?  Because I'm blaming it on the pregnancy for now.  

Checking out Toontown

 

so tired... ready for my nap Dad....It was a fun day, despite the lines, and Jordan enjoyed it thoroughly.    I didn't take many other photos because we were too busy  enjoying it all.  

  The next day, we had dim sum in the morning with my mom and brother and then headed towards the airport.  At this point, Jordan's nap schedule had been quite off so he continued to resist for fear of missing out and eventually fell asleep with his marker in hand on the car ride to LAX.

I really wanted some Pinkberry but the dang overpriced airport prices really ticked me off.  Perturbed, I was pleased with the McDonald's cones which were still comprable with non-airport cones.  So we both got one and enjoyed our cones before take-off. 

And with that, we headed to Arizona for a week of awesomeness with our friends.  To be posted later....