Unusually Busy

Living thousands of miles away from both of our families means that we don't get to see our families as much as we'd like to. That problem seemed to be resolved with an unusually busy few weeks in which we saw many family members. Here's a recap...

The Basses Visit
It all started with a visit from Bryan, Kathy, and Estelle who were in town because of a conference that Bryan was attending. They were conveniently staying only about five minutes from us. We spent a lot of time hanging out at their hotel pool, exploring our town, and playing gin rummy (which was become one of our favorite pastimes).

One of the highlights was taking Estelle to Manhattan Beach to see the ocean. It was an eventful excursion for Estelle who excitedly watching the birds and the surfers, though she had a bit of a spill in the water when a wave suddenly surprised her. Though the latter was a really sad moment for her, it provided a good bit of laughter for the rest of us. I'm sure she'll think it's funny one day!

Kathy and Estelle exploring the shore


Too cute to leave off the blog


Estelle and Kathy


Us...in our usual pose

Mama Kira Comes to California
A few weeks later, my mom came to visit us from Hawaii. We had a great time eating, shopping and just hanging out. She and Frank had a particularly good time watching wrestling on tv (an odd interest to have in common). Unfortunately, it was a relatively short trip, but we had a great time catching up with her nevertheless!


Viva San Antonio!
Exactly one week later, we headed to the great state of Texas to visit PJ (Frank's sister) and mom. It was my first trip to San Antonio, so I was eager to see what the city had to offer.

One of our first stops was the River Walk. There were lots of shops and restaurants. Mostly, it provided great photo ops! Here are a few...

Frank's mom (Peggy) and us in front of cool mosaic art at the River Walk.

Frank and JC's Texas Prom Picture
(just joking)


Frank with his mom and sister


My attempt at art


No, we're not on the boat. Just thought it was pretty!

On Veteran's Day, we also made it down to the Alamo where we learned about it's history and, of course, took more pictures. Enjoy!

Me and Frank

The front of the Alamo

Frank and a cannon

Pretty building with random guy

Family picture at the Alamo!

Needless to say, we had a wonderful time catching up with all of our family in the past few weeks. It was a whirlwind, but always fun!

Birthdays Galore

Last week, we celebrated a few birthdays in Las Vegas (shocker, right?) with Brett, Shye and Brian. Also joining the party were my cousin Landon and his girlfriend Jaime who flew up from Hawaii for a little vacation. As usual, there was a lot of eating, shopping and gambling. Here are some highlights from our trip...

We arrived on Thursday night and met up with the rest of the group. It's like we never left...

One of our favorite places to grab a fun, frosty drink is 32 degrees.
Here's Shye, Frank, Brett and Bob on Thursday night starting things off with a bang.

After 32 degrees, there's always pizza from New York New York.
What's Vegas without late night/early morning munchies?

Since we were celebrating three birthdays - for Frank, Brett, and Jaime - we went out for a celebratory dinner at Fix in the Bellagio on Friday night. Everything was great...from the food to the company!

Group shot at Fix

The birthday boy and me

Brett and Frank toasting to another fun birthday

One thing about my family....we love food. In large quantities. So when Landon suggested we go to Lawrys for dinner on Saturday night, Frank and I were happy to oblige. It was our first time there, and it didn't disappoint.

Frank, me, Jaime and Landon at Lawrys

The birthday kids with their dessert

After dinner at Lawrys, Frank and I met up with Brett, Shye and Bryan to do some gambling. When we saw them, Brett gave Frank a fun birthday hat she won at Excalibur. These were actually more useful than I initially thought. You could see Frank from all the way across the casino with it on! After all, it's not often you see a 6'4 guy with a wizard hat on....

Frank and Brett with their party hats

All in all, we had a great time celebrating with our friends and family. And why not? We were in Frank's favorite city with some of our favorite people.

Happy birthday to Frank, Brett and Jaime!

My "tru" home (ie VEGAS)

This being maybe my first and last post I actually write... This is my first time in Vegas in 2005. Needless to say I was hooked from that point on. I feel vegas-itis if I do not go at least every other month... That be said... I wish you all a good night...

Road Trip to San Francisco

It's pretty much common knowledge that we enjoy road trips. Usually, the trip leads us infamously toward Las Vegas, but a few weekends ago, we ventured north to San Francisco to see one of our best friends, Noah, who was in town playing football.

We left for San Francisco on Friday afternoon. Other than a bit of a traffic jam in LA, the trip was pretty uneventful. One thing to note about the trip to San Francisco from LA - there are cows. Stinky cows...at one point we could smell them even with the windows rolled up. Despite this, we persevered and arrived in the city and went to visit with Noah for a bit before calling it a night.

On Saturday morning, we had a hearty breakfast with Noah at IHOP. It was really great catching up with him...just like old times. Before long, he had to get ready for his game, and we had to go check into our hotel. We were staying in Union Square at the Powell Hotel - which was a great find as it was very affordable, comfortable and convenient! By the time we got settled in and walked around a bit, it was time to go to the game.

The view from Candlestick Park

Under the bright lights

Braving the cold...yes, the cold!

Noah and Frank...together again.

Big smiles from me and Noah

Sunday morning was reserved for sightseeing. I wanted to walk around Union Square more, see Chinatown, and of course, shop! For some reason, I love to play tourist!

Cable cars in San Francisco

Frank and some weird golfing frog

The entrance to Chinatown

Loved the lanterns

Obama in Chinatown...probably the coolest picture we took.

Me and a big heart...I couldn't resist.

Before we knew it, our sightseeing and shopping had to come to an end and we had to make our way back to the hotel to check out and get on the road back to LA. Overall, we really enjoyed our weekend in San Francisco visiting with our old friend, Noah, and exploring a relatively new city for us.

Earthquake

Today, we experienced our first earthquake as residents of Southern California. It happened around 11:45 this morning while we were both at work. Actually, it all happened very quickly and was done before I even knew what had occurred.

Rest assured that Frank and I are just fine, though. Oddly, there's not much to say about it. After it happened, we went on with our days as usual. It was a bit anticlimactic, really...but when referring to earthquakes, anticlimactic is definitely a good thing!

A Visit with the Basses

A while back, we were able to visit with some family from the Bass side...Bryan, Kathy, and Estelle. It had been so long since we saw them and it was really great to catch up over the weekend. It's always great seeing Bryan and Kathy, and Estelle just gets bigger and funnier every time we see her.

Since it was so long ago, it seems a little odd to be blogging about it now. (What can I say? I have not been as diligent as I'd like to be in updating this blog.) Anyhow, we had a wonderful time catching up. Some highlights of our trip include....

Playing Taboo with Bryan and Kathy (remember torpedo? and glasnost?)
Playing Gin Rummy
Estelle saying, "Too bad, so sad"
Going to the lake/pool

Here are a few pictures from our great time...

Frank, Estelle, and JC in the car

Frank and Estelle at the playground

Memorial Day Weekend In Hawaii

Over Memorial Day weekend, we visited our family in Hawaii. It had been around a year since our last visit which is surprising since we live in California now. Needless to say, it was a trip that we had been looking forward to for a while now. Obviously, it was great seeing everyone and catching up. Unlike most people when they visit Hawaii, our days did not revolve around going to the beach. On the contrary, they revolved around....EATING! What can I say? I have my priorities in check!

Anyway, some of the highlights were....

The children....they're getting so big! I remember when visiting relatives used to say that to me when I was a kid and now here I am, telling them the same thing. We loved seeing all three of them - Isaac, Isis and Kiersten. They all have very different personalities...Isaac is a charming rascal, Kiersten is the quiet one, and Isis is almost 3 going on 16.

Golfing at Koolau....it's touted as one of the most challenging courses in the country. I was a little nervous going in because of this. In the end, we had a great hanging out with Uncle Brian and Landon. Only in Hawaii, can you golf next to a mountain, eat spam musubis from the concession stands, and see wild pigs on the course. In the end, I lost 15 balls, but I'm calling it a moral victory just for finishing!

Eating at O Bok....my favorite Korean restaurant in Manoa Marketplace. I get hungry just thinking about it.

Anyhow, it was a great trip. I regret that I didn't take more pictures while we were there, but I did manage to get a few - mostly of the children. Enjoy!

Frank and Isis

Jenna and Jadine

Jenna, Isaac, Jadine, Isis and Boozie

Frank, Isaac, Jadine, and Boozie

Isis (the new ham in the family)

Kiersten and Isis at the park

Isis with Grandma's hat on

Go Dodgers!

A little while back, we fortunate enough to attend a game at Dodger Stadium. It was our first time visiting the historic field and watching the Dodgers play in person. We arrived early to the game, found our seats (which were surprisingly awesome) and purchased some drinks and a couple of famous Dodger dogs. Here are a few pics of the stadium and our first game...

Dodger stadium from our seats before the game.

Another pregame picture...

A view of Dodger Stadium from the bullpen.

Big smiles at the game!

Supercousins Reunited!

We love having family in town to visit us. Given that most of our family either lives in Hawaii or Minnesota, it obviously doesn't happen that often. But when it does....it's always a good time. A couple of weeks ago, Patrick and Shannon came to visit us from Minnesota. Unsurprisingly, Patrick and Frank resumed their usual "two peas in a pod" behavior. (I trust that if you've seen them together for more than 5 minutes, you know what I mean.)

On Friday afternoon, we visited the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. It's a really fun area with shops entertainers and it's right next to the beach....what could be better? We also went to Houston's to celebrate Patrick's birthday.






On Friday night, we went to a club in LA called Elevate. It was on the 20-somethingish floor of a building. I took a couple of photos in the beginning of the night and then completely forgot that I had a camera. Here are a few with my friend from work, Anna.



On Saturday, we went down to Sunset Beach to get sushi at a place called Daimon. It's one of our favorite places to eat. The sushi is the best I've ever had. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating. I was too preoccupied to enjoy dinner AND take pictures!

On Sunday, we bummed around all day. But, we were able to take more beach photos. (I know we already did that, but can you blame us? It's 5 minutes away!)





All in all, it was a great weekend hanging out with Patrick and Shannon. We can't wait to do it again!