Vacation Memories (aka lots of photos)

I had some leftover photos from our last day in LA, having dim sum with my mom and brother, so here they are!

And then we were off to Arizona to stay with the Bluths for a week!  They just bought a new house last year and it is absolutely gorgeous and so impeccably decorated, it looks straight out of a magazine.  Look at the little diaper wreath on their door.. adorable eh?!

 Eliot and Jordan... methinks Jordan can't wait to have siblings (or cousins around!), he loved having Eliot and Jaxson around all the time whether it be in the car or in the home.  We started off Tuesday night with a trip to Cafe Rio and then headed to Last Chance early Wednesday morning.  Jordan was in heaven having a buddy next to him in the car, even if it doesn't look it here. 

Eliot and Jordan decided shopping was overrated and instead took a bunch of trips on these airplanes.  

They just sat there when it wasn't running and as a result, got a free ride when another boy came on.  

They both kept saying "wooooo" and Jordan of course said, "deeee!" (which is his way of saying airplane)

We had burgers at Fez (mmmm sooo good) for lunch, and then went home to rest.  We were out and about again for dinner at Postino's.  

 Our amazing hosts for the week.  The Bluths just had a 2 month baby and Jen was such a trooper for taking Will everywhere and feeding him.  They not only hosted us and our crazy kids for a week but grilled an amazing dinner Thursday night in their beautiful new home AND hosted Easter lunch which was fantastic and delicious.   Thanks Bluths!

 The Garners stayed with Quinn's family for the week where all his family was back for his sister Jenna's missionary farewell (which we got to attend on Sunday!).  Love Eliot's face here.. hahaa and Ryan Seacrest's Quinn's too. 

Tara (Quinn's sister) and Jordan who were just getting married last time we were in Arizona visiting!  How time flies...

Us....

Justin since Jess and Jaxson were off somewhere...

Here they are earlier... Jaxson and Jess.. isn't she a cute prego girl?!

Exploring the baci ball field at Postino's...

 And then they discovered the sand....

 He just loves his sunglasses...

 it's a great distraction, that plus paper airplanes...

 Divine food at Postino's...

 If only I could muster up all these ingredients for bruschetta...

We went to the Cubs vs Mariners spring training game on Thursday at noon, and boy was it hot.  Scorching hot.  Our iPhones said 75 degrees but given there was rarely any shade (don't be deceived by the photo.. it was obnoxiously BRIGHT!), the sun directly above us, and not a breeze at all... boy was it hot!

I barely watched any of the game, trying to escape the heat with Jordan.  It was so hot, I couldn't even eat!  All I wanted was a frozen lemonade.  Afterwards, we went to Bahama Bucks... hooray!

 

And this was the first of ... I think four times we went in the next few days....

Friday was Jen's birthday so we kicked off the day with donuts and balloons we blew up and hung over her door with streamers.  I think the kids were more excited about the balloons than Jen, but it was fun nevertheless.  The boys watched the kids while the girls went to shop, and then we met up with everyone at this Chinese Mexican restaurant which was so much food, that none of us were hungry by dinner.  We left the kids with the men again and went to get gel shelac (sp?) manis and pedis that Claire got for all of us!  It was amazing (and has been a long while since I had a mani or pedi last).  Oh how spoiled we were!  We ended up eating take-out at home because we were all sooo full from lunch and of course, had some more Bahama Bucks! 

On Saturday morning, the men went to golf and the women went to an Easter Egg hunt with the kiddos.  Justin's sister and cousin came out so here Jordan is getting cozy with his sister, Alisha.  

 Cute lil William!  Being such a great lil man throughout the trip!  I think I heard him cry once.. maybe.

 Jordan helping Jen push William to the Easter egg hunt. 

 Easter egg hunt.. on!

 

The rest of Saturday was spent eating Cafe Rio, shopping, and more Bahama Bucks!  Hahahaa.  Some of the adults went to the Easter Pageant but I stayed home with Jen and Alisha to watch Les Miserables  and just relax after the kids went to sleep.  The boys all went to help clean up the chairs from the Pageant and then, came home with some late night burritos.  

Sunday morning, Jaxson and Jordan spent all morning running around in the Bluths' backyard.  They were both in absolute heaven.  

 We went to Jenna's missionary farewell and then came back to an amazing Easter party hosted by the Bluths.  It was soooo adorable!!  I hope to one day be able to throw a party as cute as her.  

My photos are dark - but see how cute it was??

 

Jordan LOVED the food and ate a little bit of everything including ham, potatoes, peas, rolls, salad, fruit, etc. But maybe he was just stoked about sitting next to a cute girl and the free bunny ears he got.  

 

The only photo I have of all three boys courtesy of Jen:

To think this was them almost one year ago at our LA reunion in April 2012:

LA/AZ vacation is over!  *sniff sniff.  So sad... but it was a great week of relaxation, lots of shopping, eating, and good times with friends.  I didn't enjoy unpacking once we were back, but I did enjoy Jordan returning back to his normal sleep schedule (until today that is... but he did make it up with a really long nap).  

We have one more vacation coming up but there won't be any kids for Jordan to play with, only amazing family!  He will, however, have an awesome summer with both of his cousins around to play with so all is well.  All is well.  

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....