OUR TRIP TO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA:

WEEKEND RECAP:

Friday, June 30:

We did most of our packing the other night. HieRan had a half-day today so we left as soon as she got home (around noon-ish) – then she finished packing, fed Jacob, got into some traveling clothes, and we were off (around 3:00pm)!!! We drove up to Folsom to visit my cousin for the weekend, and arrived just shy of 10:00pm. It wasn’t a bad drive at all… not much traffic coming out of Southern Cal this time. Besides I was enjoying all the good tunes pumping out of my iPod! What a difference it makes driving with an iPod! No need to mess around looking for different CDs… all my favorite songs were there at my fingertips! My older brother and his family were already there, along with my cousin, Stacey, and her husband, Miguel, who made the trip from Mexico. Tami was with them (Stacey’s younger sister), and that pretty much filled up the house for the evening. As usual, we were all up pretty late catching up and stuff. Everyone was doting on Jacob (the family’s newest addition), and Mia, Kyle, and Tim spent the last of their seemingly endless supply of energy running around playing “superheroes”.

Saturday, July 1:

Well Jacob and I got up pretty early today, so we decided to go out and wake up the rest of the house! *hahaha* Tami was sleeping on the couch in the family room, so I put Jacob on her tummy and that pretty much got her up with a smile. (Seriously, how could anyone be mad at this face waking them up?)

My cousin, and host of the annual pool party, was up soon after – it was time to start getting things ready for the rest of the guests to come. Before too long the weather had warmed up nicely and it was time to jump into the pool. The kids just eased their way in while we “bigger kids” jumped in and got started on the horseplay!! It wasn’t long before the little ones were splashing around – both Mia and Kyle had found inner tubes that allowed them to go wherever they wanted to in the pool… with confidence. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well Mia took to swimming around. Usually she freaks out when someone splashes water in her face, but not this time. I’m sure by this time next year she’ll be jumping in the pool head first! =S

Edwin was cooking up a storm at his grill. Every once in a while he’d jump in and splash around before having to return to his cooking duties. There was plenty of food, and more than enough company to keep us all busy. Soon there were other family members arriving – if I had to guess there were at least 30 of us there. Family came from the Bay Area, and from the surrounding Sacramento area – it was nice that they could all see Jacob, too (finally). It wasn’t long before we found a ball to toss around. And quickly a game of “3-flys-up” ensued. When we were kids this was a game of agility, speed, position, and finesse. As adults it became a game of brute force, mild violence, and an occasional pulling of one’s shorts. In the pool, as soon as the ball was in the air, it became a contest to see who could climb on top of one another, and who could (inevitably) swallow the most water. The combatants… errr… contestants included me, my older brother, Paul, and cousins Edward and Alex. Tami stood at the opposite end of the pool and was the official thrower. After what seemed like hours of this game, we were all at the pool’s edge huffing, puffing, and coughing up some of the pool water. Edwin joined us and with fresh legs in the pool we had ourselves a 3-on-3 water basketball game. We used a floating inner tube as the hoop… adding to the game’s difficulty. My team included 6’3” Edward, and the quick and nimble Tami. We pitted our skills against Paul (the Wiry One), Alex (Double-O-Shoe), and Edwin (All Heart Baby). We battled to a 21-18 halftime lead… only to be too thoroughly exhausted to continue. We called the game and vowed to play the second half same time next year (I’m calling for a 12-month Time Out). This time next year… GAME ON!!!

The day soon turned to night, and as guests arrived and said hello, they were soon on their way again come nightfall. Feeling the aches and pains of all the physical activity, not to mention my accelerated age (groan), I thought it’d be a good idea to suggest we play some tennis in the morning. *hahaha – I didn’t think they’d take me seriously*

Sunday, July 2:

7:30am… *knock knock knock* (Edwin)… hey dude, are we still playing tennis? (Me) Huh… mmmm…. (owww… my aching back)… sure! I’m there! Give me a second.

I checked to see if Paul was able to come with us, but he was no-go. So I had my “breakfast Advil” and got myself together enough to crawl into Edwin’s (new) Lexus IS. Nice ride there cuz. ;) Oh man, this car has everything!! So many bells and whistles, so many kewl features… sensory overload!!! We headed to Kenneth Park in Fair Oaks (my old stomping grounds when I worked in Citrus Heights and played tennis with some co-workers afterwards) where we found the courts surprisingly empty! Of course with the long weekend, there was no one in town… just us! We unleashed out thunder sticks (tennis rackets) and began to bang away. I noticed Edwin was a step or two off his game – no doubt he was feeling the affects of yesterday’s activities too. Still, there was some fine hitting going on (the great ones never really do lose it, right?). ;P We started to play a set, but after 4 games, Edwin had to retire. I was more than happy to join him on the bench… but then Edward showed up (darn his bad timing). So as true champions often do, I called up my reserve energy, dug deep to find that intestinal fortitude, and plowed my way to a 6-2 victory over the young up-and-comer (blast your youth, Edward!). Yep, my game was firing on all cylinders (much like the Geo Metro’s 3-cylinder sports car). With the match completed, we stopped by the local Starbuck’s before heading back to Edwin’s place. The girls had decided they were going to go shopping at the Folsom Outlets, leaving us to tend to the 3 kids. No problem. Paul popped in a DVD and we all took turns taking naps!

We spent one last night at chez Edwin & Joyce – they had work the next day, so we agreed to take off in the morning.

Monday, July 3:

After saying good bye to my cousin, we headed south to the Bay Area. We stopped in Vallejo to see our first house on Penny lane. Not much had changed in the neighborhood, but no one was around for us to say “hi” to… so we continued on to Oakland where we stopped by the Korean market to pick up some groceries for HieRan’s dad who lives in Union City. It was still early in the day, so we hung out with dad for a while before checking into our hotel room down the street. Dinner came around pretty quickly and we were joined by my two brothers (plus the kids) and my mom at TGI Friday’s. Service was pretty bad, and my kid brother had a few words with the manager… got his meal for free, too!! We called it a night and walked back to the hotel (just next door) to catch some Z’s.

Tuesday, July 4:

We were visited by HieRan’s mom this morning. We had a Korean breakfast (which is more like lunch since they really don’t have “breakfast” type foods). Then my mom and her sister stopped by to see the kids again. We had already made plans to see our friend in Dublin later in the day, so we thought we’d stay put as long as we could. Unfortunately, we have a 4 year old in Mia and she was getting bored just sitting around (which is understandable, I suppose). I suggested I take her over to my brother’s place where she could play with her two cousins, Kyle and Tim, again. She was quick to agree with me, and we headed out for her impromptu play-date. When we arrived, the World Cup was on, and I was able to see Italy defeat Germany in the last 2 minutes of the game (haha – sorry Maria). It was close to 3pm when we left – just enough time to get back to the hotel, and get ready to go to our friends’ place.

We drove out to Dublin to see Bertrand and Kimmy (the newlyweds), and enjoy their company for the next few hours. They just completed their kitchen renovation, and I have to say that they did an incredible job! They added granite countertops, and new tile flooring to really class up the joint. Their home looks like a model home – every room is color coordinated, and immaculate (they obviously don’t have any kids… yet!). *hehe* The weather was perfect for an out door BBQ – and Bertrand served up some delicious brontosaurus burgers (with all the fixins too). I was stuffed!! I wish we could have stayed longer, but it was getting dark out, and we needed to get the kids to bed for an early departure on Wednesday. Man, we didn’t even get to have any PIE!!!! *grrrrr!!* Yeah, I totally spaced on that one… I was sooo in the mood for some after that meal, too!!

So we got back to Union City and watched some intermittent fireworks here and there. I was too tired to go searching for a firework’s show, plus the kids had a long day themselves. We hit the sack and called it a night.

Wednesday, July 5:

It was about 7:30 when I got up. I agreed to meet my kid brother for coffee at the local Starbuck’s. Apparently an 8am meeting was a bit too early for the young entrepreneur – he was a no show. So I picked up a couple cups of coffee for HieRan and me, and headed back to the hotel. Check out was at 11am, so I started to pack things up while the kids were still asleep. We eventually got out of there by about 10am and headed to IHOP for our breakfast. We were on the road back to Woodland Hills by about 11am. The drive down highway 101 was a nice one. We made a stop for gas, and then once more in Pismo Beach for dinner. We pulled into our driveway around 7pm. I unloaded the jeep and then helped HieRan get the kids ready for bed before crashing myself. Our journey was officially over. *phew*