We were thrilled to hear that my cousin Stephanie and her husband James were going to be in town last weekend. Stephanie grew up in a town near my hometown so we have always been close. It was fun to get to know James before we moved away. They came down to visit her family and have a vacation. We were tickled that they wanted to see us. I actually think James just wanted to see the boys and see if they’d talk about body parts or bodily functions.
We met them at Balboa Beach. It was a ton of fun!
James played Frisbee and badminton with the boys for a while. Well, you cannot actually play the game with them – rather you just hit the ball, they scream with delight, and then you have to go pick the ball back up and hit it again. James was a good sport:
Steph’s Mom (my Aunt Cindy) and sister Stacey were there when we first got there. It was fun to get caught up on the whole family:
We couldn’t wait to start the campfire though. It was fun to sit around, chat, watch the boys’ delight in such simplicity (hot dogs and fire), and enjoy a little bit of nature. The boys treated us to an original song:
I started this blog back on February 23rd! So the date this actually occurred (the ‘Last Wednesday’ as I reference it below) was February 20th. Still, I wanted to get this on record for the one day that I actually use Blurb and print this blog into a book.
Last Wednesday we had quite the adventure! Aunt Patti had the day off and arranged for the boys and I to go to the Aquarium of the Pacific with her. Since Goosey is in town she joined us for a wild wet aquatic day! I missed the first part of the aquarium – for good reason! My brother Neal works downtown Long Beach (how fun!) and we met for a brother/sister lunch date. It was so much fun. That’s another story though.
When I caught up with the crew they were getting ready for lunch. The boys were loving the aquarium. Lunch proved entertaining since Walker’s mood looked like this: Still, after everyone got a little food in their bellies we wandered back through the aquarium. The boys were anxious to show me all of the things I had missed in my absence.
The fish in the fresh water tank were a hit with Will…especially because every once and a while a run of fresh water would pour down the canyon (you can see it behind him) and most of the other aquarium visitors would be surprised!
Both boys, not to mention all three of us ladies, loved the deep sea tank. Wow. Talk about perspective.
Walker was a HUGE fan of the puffins. He even had conversations with them through the glass.
Giant crabs. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
Of course Walker was thrilled to spray people!
Goosey even dared to get fresh with the sting rays!
We had our annual Chinese New Year’s party this past Saturday! We had so much fun. It was great to have some of our friends and family with us to eat good food, talk a lot, and encourage Eric’s inner-Chinese man. Plus, as I mentioned to the party-goers, I am hoping that the God of Fortune will smile down on us and send us some place international…soon!
The goods…
Our offering to Buddha
Curry Vegetables (my personal favorite anytime!)
Sweet & Sour Pork
Lemon Chicken
The boys attempting chopsticks…
The piece de resistance – gluten-free homemade fortune cookies! Eric and I had a blast making them.
