just us.

headed to the Bay.

It's been a while so I figured an update is in order.

I was on vacation last week so Keira and I flew up to Northern California to spend some time with my parents and brother.  We didn't see much of Ryan since he was in the middle of finals, and more or less spent his time in the school library.  My parents, on the other hand, alternated days off so that they could hang out with Keira and I.

Breakfast at Tina's Place in Pinole.  pretty good food and good value too.

a little playground time.

picking snow peas with grandpa.  I still remember harvesting my dad's garden as a kid, so it's nice to see Keira doing it as well.  We ended up eating the snow peas for dinner that night.

my dad thought it would be fun for Keira to ride BART.  We hopped on in El Cerrito and rode all the way down to Fremont and back.  It was just under an hour each way, and probably just a tad too long for Keira.  We headed to Costco afterwards for some hot dogs and then home for a nap.

Mike was on his way up to the Bay Area (he drove) and got to my parents' house in time to head out to San Francisco to pick up my mom from work.  We headed back into the East Bay to take Keira to her first baseball game!

The Oakland Athletics played the Detroit Tigers, and it was over pretty early on.  I think the Tigers scored 8 runs in one inning, which took about 45 minutes to play.  I originally wanted to go to a Giants game at ATT Park, but they were out of town for the week.  The novelty of being at a baseball game wore off pretty quick, so we left around the 5th or 6th inning.

Friday was another leisurely day.  Ryan had his last final of the week, and my mom had the day off.

breakfast at Meal Ticket in Berkeley.  Mike and I saw it featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.

 

Ryan's birthday present.  He is a whopping 32.  a much needed nap for the both of them right after.

Mike and I made reservations at Fleur de Lys in San Francisco, to celebrate our 5-year wedding anniversary.  We are both fans of Top Chef and Top Chef Masters, and have always wanted to eat at one of the restaurants.  Since we were already in the Bay Area and it was our anniversary..AND we had willing babysitters, we figured...why not?!

we headed into SF early and walked around Downtown SF to kill some time.  the weather started to turn cold and we didn't know where else to go, so we headed back to the car and watched a little Harry Potter on Mike's dashboard.  We thought the 3 block walk to Fleur de Lys would take us a while but we ended up getting there 50 minutes before our 830pm reservation.  Apparently, it didn't matter because they seated us right away and our fancy foo foo dinner began!!

I didn't take a single picture of anything we ate.  I felt a little awkward amongst all the fanciness of the place.  Most of the men were in suits and ties, and the women in fancy dresses.  Mike and I were afraid we were underdressed, although some people came in later wearing jeans.  We each ordered the 4 course menu selection, getting different things so that we had more to try.  I think our favorites of the night, were the artisan foie gras and smoked duck breast (the foie was so smooth!), the trio of lamb loin, shank and merguez meat ball, and the bacon crusted sea scallops. We also ordered the dungeness crab salad, the kobe beef cheeks (we had our first taste of sweetbreads..and Mike nearly lost his dinner), hawaiian swordfish, plum souffle and apple tart for dessert.

Overall, we liked the dinner but were not completely blown away.  I am glad that I can now say I've eaten at Fleur de Lys, but wouldn't necessarily go back.  Mike and I are going to try to do a dinner out, just the two of us, every so often.  I am on the look out for the next "Top Chef" restaurant to try.

Saturday morning, I took Mike back to Tina's Place for breakfast.  My parents were in Alameda picking up a bicycle, so the three of us had the morning to ourselves (my brother was at work).  After my parents came back, we headed up to Sacramento to spend time with my extended family there for the afternoon.

Keira wasted no time getting into my uncle's swimming pool.  My cousin Renita's two boys came not too long after us and the three of them had a good time.

we barbecued salmon, tri tip and hot dogs, along with potato salad, fruit and dessert.  My cousins and I had a good laugh watching the younger generation play waiter with the "old people", complete with a senior menu of oatmeal, prunes, and Ensure. good times with family, good times.

Sunday, we had dim sum with my parents and Ryan before heading home to So Cal.

 

The drive home took us a little bit longer than usual to get home.  Between potty breaks, gas fill-ups and food runs, it took us 8 hours total to get back to So Cal. I learned how to eat pumpkin seeds without crushing the whole thing and Mike did a majority of the driving.  We managed to watch almost 2 full Harry Potter movies on the way home and saw just one CHP too.

Thanks for the good times family Ko!

what's growing in our garden

Mike got busy this weekend, planting our vegetables:

the larger bushes are cherry tomatoes, which are already coming in!  And it's not a new plant that we went out and bought, it sprouted from the dirt on its own and has been growing ever since!  There are some garlic (or onions, I can't remember) bulbs sprouting to the left of it too.  I think Mike is planning on making a potted herb garden with the herbs sitting to the right of the cherry tomatoes.

 
I'm not exactly sure what one would do with daikon leaves, but my dad gave the seeds to us.  We have daikon growing too, so I'll have to learn to make the chinese-style daikon cakes.  Bok choy is something we enjoy, especially with mushrooms and oyster sauce.

 
Cauliflower and bacon is a family recipe, something my mom's mom made when she was a kid.  Broccoli beef made by Mike? yum!!

the strawberries are starting to flower.  Can't wait until we actually have some to eat!  Need to figure out how to keep the critters away from them though.

and last but not least, we have peas.  I still remember as a kid, picking peas from the vine in my parents' backyard.  My dad was always the green thumb when it came to the vegetable garden, and I'm so glad that he is sharing his knowledge with Mike so he can grow his own.  Our hope is that Keira will show some interest in helping us pick what we grow.  Her school has an on-site garden, and I know the kids get to help take care of it.

here is a random thought....how do people gather carrot seeds?  Carrots don't flower or have seeds in them to harvest like peas or tomatoes do, so where do carrot seeds come from??

my dad also gave us some squash plants, and I think we are giving eggplants and carrots another go.  The weather is getting nicer, so I'm  looking forward to spending more time outside!

I got a little baking done on Sunday, and used some strawberries that Mike's coworker gave us.  I was going to use a vanilla cake recipe I got from my brother's pastry chef friend but I almost lost my marbles when I saw it asked for 3 sticks of butter.  THREE!!  Lucky for me, the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens came in the mail and I used the vanilla cake recipe from there.

Eunice (my brother's friend) said that I could add the strawberries into any standard vanilla cake recipe.  If I wanted the strawberries to simply be in the cake, to add it once the batter was made.  If I wanted the cake to be a strawberry cake, then the strawberries need to be macerated and mixed with sugar so that the juices come out and flavor the cake batter.  I opted to have the fruit in the cake.  

Boy, was it good.  Lightly sweet and not too heavy.  Eunice gave me a simple cream cheese frosting recipe to try, but I think I'll save that for another time.

Family Fun Day - Santa Monica

so I realize I haven't been so great at keeping up with the blog lately.  call it pure laziness really.  and lack of motivation.  the desire is there, albeit a small desire, but I figured I might as well change that.

I am making a second attempt this year to do Project Life, and one idea I had was to have a family fun day at least once a month.  Most of the time it coincides with my long weekends off so that we can do something one day or all weekend long.  a lot of the time, FFD involves going to Disneyland since we are passholders, but I really wanted to do something different, something we hadn't done before.

so earlier this month, we headed to Santa Monica!

we started off with breakfast at Barney's Beanery, and I totally loved the color on their booths. lucky for us, the weather was really nice that day so it was just asking us to sit outside.

we walked around 3rd Street Promenade for a bit and the second we made mention of the beach, that was all Keira wanted to do.  but not before a stop at the Santa Monica Pier.

Keira had fallen asleep on our walk over there, and it was when we were trying to recline her stroller that she woke up.  it was probably a 15 minute nap, tops.  we checked out the fishing scene (that was all Mike), strolled through the rides and arcade and then to the beach it was.

K: mama, what's that smell?  J: it's the ocean.  K: it's stinky!

you gotta love Southern California :)

Keira started off a bit timid of the water, but it only takes one splash to wash that away.  Mike, on the other hand, went right to digging for sand crabs and saying how they would be good bait for fishing.  I know he was kicking himself for not having his fishing gear with him.

hunting for seashells and sandcrabs.

such concentration. and her little pile of shells.

and my favorite (and current desktop) picture from the day:

we left Santa Monica around 230pm, which is not the most ideal time to leave considering its the start of commute traffic AND we were in LA.  after almost 2 hours on the road, we had only gotten as far as Torrance and still had at least another 1.5 hours before we would be home.  We decided to stop and have dinner and ended up at King's Hawaiian.  I had always wanted to go there, but it's a bit far from where we live.  But since we were already in the area, it was almost a no-brainer.

The food, overall, wasn't bad but it wasn't worth driving back from Irvine for either.  I had really high hopes for their pastries too (I love their hawaiian rolls) and they were okay too.  Again, nothing worth making the drive for.

We made it home by 830 or so, a lot later than we had intended, but all in all it was a really relaxing and low-key day.  we had no set plans, no agenda, just good old quality time spent together.

2 on the 2nd

Mike and I were both off today (his company observed NYD today and my schedule was switched up a bit this week) and Keira's school is still closed for the holiday break, so...

..we took our time waking up and getting ready for the day.

My parents took Keira to visit my aunt and uncle (my dad's younger sister and brother-in-law) in Diamond Bar on New Year's Day, and she helped my aunt pick some oranges from their tree.  Keira has pretty much been carrying that bag of oranges around ever since.  She refused to let my mom put it down, and showed me that oranges also have belly buttons (my aunt taught her that).  I guess its a good thing she likes to eat them too.

We decided to make the day a family fun day, and headed over to Disneyland.  We figured...eh, it won't be too busy, right?

Yeah, not so much.  It took us about 45 minutes from exiting the freeway to parking and getting out of our car.  The structure was probably getting close to capacity, so we were rerouted to one of the hotel parking lots instead.  The walk to the gates wasn't bad at all, in fact it seemed faster than waiting in line for the trams.

We rode 3 rides, had turkey dogs and mandarin oranges for lunch, and watched the holiday parade.  Keira even did good and pee-peed in the potty twice while we were there!  No accidents...yay!

we would hate to ruin a hot outfit like that, wouldn't we :)

December?! Really?!

since the girl is still asleep, might as well post...right?

speaking of the girl, she is on day 5 of some viral bug going around.  it all started on Friday with a few vomiting episodes and then 3 days of oozing diarrhea.  She has a nice cough probably due to post-nasal drip, and really hasn't been eating much but drinking like a fish.  I hope she is on the upswing of this sickness, it's really the sickest she has ever been.

our tree is up, and has been since thanksgiving weekend.  this picture here depicts the aftermath of a leaking tree base.  we checked and watered for a whole week before discovering the leak, which lead to the unwrapping of several presents including one for Mike that he didn't know about and a playdoh set for Keira.  We subsequently let her play with it, since she does so at school, but have now decided we are going to hide until she is older.  Playdoh + carpet + toddler not understanding that she needs to keep it IN the tray = not a good thing.

our December family photo. I can't believe I managed to do this for a whole 12 months.

We were lucky enough to get a visit from our friends Fiona and Eric.  Little N has grown so much and come so far since we last saw her in July.  and big E is such a ham herself.

Oli and Keira.  Up to no good.

30% off holiday ornaments at the Disney Store + a mama shopping kid-free = 3 princess ornaments for the princess lover at home.  Belle and Snow White currently grace the tree, and I'm waiting for another "special occasion" to give her Rapunzel.  Or Tangled as she calls her.

Holiday gift exchange between Oli and Keira. oh, can you FEEL the excitement?  Linda and I have both learned a lesson: if we want the kids to behave and eat their lunch, do the exchange AFTER lunch, not before.  This is also the day the vomiting started (sorry LB).

an hour or so worth of manual labor by the homeowners (yes, I helped too!) led to....

this!!

Mike is beyond himself when it came to holiday decor.  This is our first house that we could actually do something to, so we went out with a bang.  I just hope our neighbors don't think it's tacky.  Either they really do like what we've done or they are just being nice.

pancakes for breakfast on Sunday.

holiday card making by the family.  Mike cut and I sewed.  And we let Keira "help" too.

so that's that from our neck of the woods.  Christmas sort of snuck up pretty quick.  It seems that once Halloween comes to town, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's are right behind.

family update

at the Kings games, 11-8-11.  they won!!

Keira: a funny story...I picked her up from school yesterday and the teacher told me that she built a gun out of Legos.  The teacher told her that that wasn't allowed at school and asked her where she learned to do that.  Keira's response?  My daddy plays with guns.  I lifted my head in "oh my goodness"-ness, and when the teacher asked if it was true, I had to say yes.  We let her play with a nerf gun once or twice a few months ago when Mike first got his, and somehow she figured out how to make one.

She is still enjoying school, learning new songs and making lots of artsy pictures.  She is still pretty opinionated and will cry and whine to get things, but is still a playful and imaginative girl.  She's starting to grow into size 3T clothing and is wearing pull-ups now, which means it is time to be serious about potty training.  Kai Lan is still one of her favorites and she likes telling us when she's "burped out of her butt."

Mike: He's still aiming to learn how to play a ukelele, and will spend an hour or so most nights learning chords and strumming.  He was a master chef this past weekend when we had several of his college roommates (and spouses and kids) over for a thanksgiving lunch.  He brined and baked a really good turkey (and I'm not just saying that), and had the best idea to serve it family style to our guests.  I loved being able to sit around with some of our closest friends, sharing a meal and stories from the past.  He still hasn't taken out our boat (and we've had it almost a year), but is still hoping to next summer.  We went to our first Kings game of the season last week...and they won!!  He installed a pot-style fountain in our backyard and has proclaimed it relaxing with the sounds of softly falling water.  Mike also recently spoke on a panel for Career Night at UCI.  I was so proud of him (he isn't a big fan of public speaking)!!

Jamie:  I celebrated my 34th birthday last week and have been baking quite a bit as of late.  The seasonal decorating bug has hit too, and I've been really getting the house into the spirit of the holidays.  A new work schedule rotation has started, which allows me to be home more nights during the week and have a 3-day weekend every other week.  It's taking some getting used to, but time with family is more important, so I'll have to deal with it.  I'm learning to drink coffee black (my mom would be so proud) and have most definitely figured out I don't like pumpkin pie.  I can't get enough of Harry Potter and have been watching at least one HP movie a day when I can.

just a few more pictures...

more pumpkins for our doorstep...it's fall!!

$181.77 worth in change...this is several years worth!

our thanksgiving feast with friends (11-13-11)

Keira at Disneyland with her two BFFs, Mia and Ava (11-10-11)

Keira's school is having a thanksgiving luncheon today and I get to go!!  Most of her school functions happen on a Thursday, and since I work every Thursday I hardly ever get to go.  But I am so excited that I get to spend some time with her at school, it's these moments I really cherish!!

all things fall related

Hellooooooo November!  Where the heck did October go?

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. The recipe is from a package of Nestle Toll House chocolate chips, but modified by our awesome neighbor who first let us try them.  Instead of 2 sticks of butter, she only used one and substituted the other stick with (canned) pumpkin.  She added some pumpkin spice as well, but since I didn't have any I just used cinnamon.

we bought a ukelele while in Hawaii, and Mike is set on learning a song or two by the end of the year.

Our little ice cream cone...or cupcake.  It can go either way.  Keira understood the concept of trick or treating this year, and went for a bit with Mike and my brother's girlfriend Julie.  She made out pretty good in the candy department and even walked most of the way too!

my girl in glasses.  melts my heart every. single. time I see this picture.

self-imagined skateboard. intelligent creature, she is.

her most favorite aisle at the Circle Store.

a new closet set-up, a la Mike.

and our November 2011 family pictures:

a family that can make faces together, stick together!!

Hawaii, part 2

building sand castles with grandpa

Keira and the hula dancers.  Her mama was surprised she wanted to take a photo by herself!

shave ice at Matsumoto's

hot & spicy shrimp and shrimp scampi from Giovanni's Shrimp Truck

Waimea Bay

and sadly, that's where the picture taking stopped.  Both my parents and Mike & I had massages on Thursday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Mandara Spa and then we had one last beach hurrah at Waikiki Beach.  We left early Friday morning, giving us a few days to readjust to reality.  We had a great time and can't wait until our next trip back!

Hawaii, thus far

October blogging?  almost non-existent.  bad Jamie, bad.

so, rather than do a recap of the last few weeks, I'll just share what we are up to right now.  That's means...Hawaii!!

this will probably be a picture heavy post, because really, doesn't Hawaii sort of speak for itself?

our first meal from Tanaka Saimin

boozing it up on our first night at the Yard House. (and I finished the whle darn thing!)

Shave ice (Keira's first one!)

riding the Pineapple Express at the Dole Plantation.

contemplation.

first trip to the beach.

cupcakes.

heading to the wedding in style.

bride and groom's first dance...the hula!

that is it thus far. we are headed to the beach pretty soon so Keira can play, and then a bus ride down to Ala Moana mall to walk around.  We still have a few more days here in Hawaii, so we want to make the most of it!  stay tuned!

September who?

September hasn't been such a good blogging month for me.  so on the last day of the month, here are some happy and not-so-happy things RIGHT NOW.

not-so-happy (might as well get it over with):

the slightly fat lip I am nursing thanks to a princess piano falling on my face. all the loud talking (aka yelling) I've been doing this morning. the headache that seems to come and visit me daily for the last few days.

HAPPY:

purple flowering plants outside one of our windows. they do well in this area because they aren't being trampled on.

iced tea from last night's post 12-hour shift Jack in the Crack food run. thank you Lois for starting the addiction!

Keira's artwork from school. and that's only some of it.

a successful attempt at peeing in the potty this morning. and no, the Maxims are not hers.

finally getting around to reading the last book.  loved the last and final movie, but sad its over.

napping children. hopefully there's two now, rather than one.