LA Trip: Day Two

Since D&L were busy with K and baby N, we took some leisure tours around L.A. I have to confess that even though I lived in L.A for eight years, there are so many places that I haven't visited. It's actually nice to visit L.A. as a "tourist". :)

Day Two- The weather was perfect! In the morning we took DD to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. DD was awed by the many giant fish tanks. He got to touch the stingrays, small sharks, and star fish. He even chased some Lorikeet birds against the warning of the workers. :)

DD and I took a long nap in the hotel in afternoon, then we all hang out in the hotel. In the evening we then picked up Hawaiian BBQ and brought them to D&L's place. And yes, we met baby N!!! He is cute and such an easy baby. He even fell asleep when I was holding him!

(This is an interesting picture of DD watching the diver and giant eel)


(Proud grandma)

(N with his proud mommy and big cousin)

More pictures

Trip to LA: Day One (March 26)

Excited to meet the newest member of the Lim clan, baby N, S's parents and we booked our tickets to fly to L.A. on March 26 and stay until March 30 in mid March. Then last Thursday, we learned that our niece K was sick from an undetermined "virus". After much consideration, we still decided to travel to L.A. anyway, since K seemed to be doing better after taking the medicines that the pediatrician has prescribed.

Little did we know that on the day we arrived, K would have been hospitalized and diagnosed with something that was more "rare" than we could have imagined, Kawasaki's disease. The lucky star was with our little K, she responded to the treatment and was released home on Sunday so we also got a spend some time with her. http://limbylim.blogspot.com/2009/03/back-in-hospital.html

This certainly changed our initial plan, but our utter most concern was that K got better and the new parents were not too stressed out from all these unexpected circumstances and about entertaining us. We decided to play by ears and just hang out and see the family when possible.

(DD helping daddy put together his "Gogo Kidz Travelmate." We loved the wheels!)

(DD was also excited to see the "real" airplanes!)

(DD pushing his own carseat)

(Taking a snack break)

(We could fit DD's carseat into his flight seat with the "Gogo Kidz Travelmate" still attached.)

Daddy is home!!

Daddy will be home for 3 weeks!! Yeepeee!!!

DD was so happy to see daddy today that he didn't even call mommy!:) It's amazing that he didn't forget daddy after ten long weeks.

DD was also excited to show daddy the cherry "bobosom" tree in front of our house.:)

Hina Matsuri (Japanese Girl's Day)

Both DD and I have almost recovered from the flu. It was raining on and off this weekend, but luckily the weather was perfect on Sunday morning so that we could have fun attending Hina Matsuri-the traditional Japanese "Girl's Day" festival right here at Fairytale Town. There were lots of boys there enjoying themselves, so DD was not the only boy attending "Girl's Day" festival.. :) Since my sister in law is of Japanese descendant, I think she and DD's cousin K will really enjoy this festival. Hope we will have a chance to take them there in the future. In addition to running around the park ground, we also got to enjoy the following activities:

1. Taiko Drumming (my camera ran out of battery, so here's a Youtube version) 2. Japanese folk dancing (Cherry Blossom dance). 3. an exhibition of beautiful Hina Dolls and breathtaking Ikebana floral arrangements, along with an engaging oral history presentation. 4. a beginning lesson in the fundamentals of Origami paper folding techniques, and 5. a special recital of the stringed Koto.

DD was totally into the Taiko drumming. He sat through the whole 20-minute presentation without moving! Too bad my camera ran out of battery! Attending this festival actually reminds me the importance of showing DD more other cultural events. Of course, we can't learn much in one morning, but it opens one's mind and pique one's interest to learn more about other people's ways of life and cultural heritage. My friend and fellow Taiwanese adoptive mom, T, is so lucky to have lived in S. Korea with her husband and kids and soon they will move to Germany. They plan to travel around Europe while living in Germany! That is what I call a "dream" life. :)~

(DD didn't want to ride inside the "pumpkin", so I guess he is not into Cinderella story.)

(Make a wish!)

(DD was a little leery about climbing the stairs....

...but he made it to the top and slide down!)

(DD loved playing gardener.)

(Loved the choo-choo train, too)

(Exhibition of beautiful Hina Dolls)

(Some girls came dressed in their beautiful kimono.)

When can I get a break from the telemarketers???

I have been sick for a week, but didn't take any sick day offs due to urgent reporting needs at work. Then, I barely got any sleep since Wednesday due to my stuffy nose and constant cough. Feeling completely exhausted on Saturday, I dropped DD off at a temp child care in the morning, then tried to take a nap so that I don't drop dead before S comes home in a week.

Just when I almost dozed off... the phone rang. Picked up the phone, then a Chinese voice came up "May I speak to Miss Jackie....," recognizing that it's the same telemarketer who has been trying to get to me for a few days and just wouldn't take "not interest" for an answer, I hung up and tried to go back to sleep... the phone rang again... "May I speak to Miss Jackie..." I was so exhausted and annoyed that I shouted with very ounce of energy that is left in my body "SHUT UP!!!! DO NOT CALL MY HOUSE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" This is the mean and nasty side of J that only comes out occasionally under extreme stress. This poor telemarketer was just trying to do her job, but she really caught the dragon lady at the worst possible time. She totally ruined my day, because I couldn't fall asleep again after that. Hope my shouting didn't ruin her day, though.

Spain

I went to Spain last weekend for 3 nights last week. It was amazing! Weather was perfect and it was sunny, warm and beautiful.

Here are a few pics from around town. I spent the first day going around Madrid and doing all the touristy stuff. The second day I went to Segovia, which is a small town a short bus ride north of Madrid. The last day I had a nice relaxing day having a 3 hour lunch and then doing window shopping.

I'll post more pics later.