Hockey

Jackson tried ice skating the first time yesterday. He did great on his first day and glided some at the end of the 30 minutes ice time.

Travel times

We visited Jacek and Celia again this year on Memorial's Day weekend. Mulberry trees, beach and hiking were in the plans.

Jackson and Norah were excited to get on the airplane again. Jackson said: we haven't be on the airplane forever! It was just two months ago we were in Costa Rica. He talks like his mommy now. :-)

We flew to the Hollywood/Burbank airport. It is slightly closer to Westlake Village than LAX. Last time the wait to get rental car and the traffic to LAX scared us. Burbank airport was much smoother. Rental car locates on site and traffic was less. We arrived Jacek's house around 3pm California time. 

We went to say hello to our old friend - the mulberry tree! It's just in season. Branches were heavy from the fruits; many fruits were turned purple. After last year we discovered mulberry tree in LA, we started to notice the mulberry trees around our own neighborhood. Now a mulberry snack during our walk or biking trip is a staple. Mulberries in Dallas are smaller than the one in Jacek's neighborhood but taste very sweet nevertheless. 

The next day we went to hike in the hills next to Kate and Jacob's school. Those hills were torched by fire last year. We saw the charred branches dotted the slopes. This spring came one of the biggest blooms. We walked in fields of yellow flowers, extending to where our eyes met the horizon. I recognized those flowers as rapeseed flowers. It's a valued crop in my hometown. Every spring the fields in Qidong were turned into thick yellow carpets. It was used to make cooking oil. Jacek said those would be turned into fuel coming fall when the wind blows. 

We hiked with four little kids. Jackson lead the line as always. Butterflies were everywhere. It was on the path for the butterfly migration. Celia said we were late for a couple of weeks. There were so many of them early this month and caterpillars were all over the path. We hiked to a new playground and kids loved the destination.

After nap, we went to Zuma beach. Water is very cold but all kids jumped in the waves and got soaking wet. A huge seaweed plant got washed up ashore. The root was filled was sea creatures. A passby explained to us the brittle stars using the root as their habitat. And we could find more sealife there if we look harder. Jackson found a few sea urchins there. We found lots of tar on this beach. Celia was annoyed by it but we didn’t know how bad it was until later. Those tar got on our feet and stuck. They were really hard to clean. Celia had to bring us some olive oil to break the tar on our skin. I later searched that there was an oil spill in Santa Barbara County and those oil got weathered and watched up the beaches along LA county.

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Sunday we went to Ventura Pier. There was a coastal hike that strollers could work. The normal parking spots were all gone because of the Mountains to Sea marathon. The quiet town was booming with runners and onlookers. The kids spent time on a big sand hill. Jackson and I combed the tidal pools. There was nothing in those tidal pools. I was at least hoping for some crabs and sea stars. Before we leave our hike, Norah rolled in the sand and refused to leave the beach. We had lunch on the pier. Both kids fell asleep as soon they were on the car. They behaved so well over lunch since they were exhausted. We drove to Santa Barbara to have a longer drive back. This was my second visit to SB and it was indeed a charming city as its reputation. We stopped by the Ferrari dealership near Jacek’s house. Jackson started this new obsession about Ferrari. Those were beautiful cars.

Monday we went to Malibu Creek State Park for a hike. It was a popular rock climbing destination. Kids enjoyed bouldering near the creek. Those big rocks have natural foot and hand holds on them. Jacek and Celia warmed up the pool and we all fit in their hot tub after the kids nap.   

Tuesday our flight was at 2pm. We stopped at Griffith park and ride the miniature train there. Another memorable trip in the bags!

Just doing math

Jackson was excited to go to his new school's playground and fill up the big toy truck.

Jackson: Daddy, that truck is so big that it holds 30,000 rocks!
Daddy: That is a big truck.
Jackson: Yesterday I put 1,000 rocks in that toy truck!
Daddy: So how many days does it take to fill up the truck at this rate?
A short pause...
Jackson: 29.

Will and I both thought of 30 as an answer. It's so interesting to see Jackson has a different perspective.

Jackson loves biking

Yesterday Norah had a 6-7pm soccer game. I took Jackson biking to the firetruck playground (RP Brooks Park). It's about 2.5 miles each way. We both loved it!

Norah goes 24 hours without a pull-up

Success!

A couple weeks ago, Norah expressed her desire to wear underwear (not a pull-up) at night.  I told her that if she kept her pull-up dry every night Tianhong was on her trip to China, she could wear underwear at nighttime when her mommy came back.

Well, Norah did it and so last night, she got to wear her underwear and she kept it dry all night long.  Go Norah!

Norah has also been fond of her "Super Girl" outfit lately.

All Suited Up

Super Girl in Action

Jackson Pedals His Own Bike

This weekend, Grandpa and I put the pedals on Jackson's bike (pedals had been removed to use it as a scoot-bike). 

In his first outing, he was riding well on his own with help at the start and stop.

 In his second session, he learned to start and stop on his own.  Now he can ride as fast as his dad can sprint!

Thanks Grandma for the photos!

A busy weekend

It's been an eventful few days in our household.

First, we discovered a water leak in a pipe beneath our house.  Friday morning, the plumbers dug a tunnel and we are now going on day #4 without running water.

There's a man with a jack-hammer in that hole!

Friday afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa took Jackson for a weekend getaway at their house.  Jackson learned Chutes and Ladders on Saturday, and then went bowling on Sunday. 

Jackson Wins!

And Wins Again!

Tianhong left to visit her family in China, and Norah helped Tianhong with her luggage at the airport.

We thought we had said good-bye to Tianhong, but we got to see her again Saturday night.  Her airplane was hit by hail as they were accelerating towards take-off and had to abort.  She couldn't get out again until Sunday.

Saturday afternoon, I took Norah to the rock climbing gym and she made it all the way to the top of a route (5.5) for the first time.  It was her second visit to the climbing gym.  It was fun to see how much she progressed from her first climb to this one. 

Sunday after picking Jackson up from Chinese school, Jackson, Norah and I ate dinner at Frankie's restaurant, but that was just a prelude to Sweet Firefly ice cream and candy shop.  Jackson has been anticipating the purchase of some Big League Chew gum since he saw it there last Sunday.  Of course Norah had to try it too!  Jackson and I made sure to tell Norah not to swallow it.  Then she accidentally swallowed it and she started crying -- she had this look on her face like she was afraid she was going to die.  So I had to assure her she wouldn't die without making it sound OK to swallow gum on purpose.  (New rule:  if you swallow your gum twice in a day, you're done with gum that day.)