Happy birthday dinner

We celebrated my 39th birthday today at Ruth's Chris.  It was a nice time to celebrate just with my boys.  I feel so blessed that they are in my life and that they are such good people.  I am so happy.  When will we celebrate with the rest of the family???

Solar eclipse

Today we participated in history and got to see the solar eclipse.  The kids took great precaution to see the solar eclipse with cereal boxes and solar glasses.  It was a great time.  April 8, 2024 will be the next solar eclipse... Noah will be about to head to college and Micah will be finishing up high school.  Will we be able to watch this together???

Petersen Museum

It has been several years since we have been to the Petersen Museum.  The last time we were there Micah fractured his arm and we ended up in Urgent Care.  This time around, there was no car ramp and the Discovery changed.  The boys liked viewing all the cars, especially the Bugattis.  When will we head back???

First day of school

Today the boys had their first day of school..  Micah is now a 4th grader in Yellow Cluster and Noah is in Blue Cluster as a 5th grader.  This is Noah's last year at Open School, which is exciting but also sad because he will be moving on to middle school!  This is the last year the boys will be together so I hope they enjoy it.  I know that I will.  What will this last year be like for Noah???

Friends forever

Noah and Micah have been so fortunate to make some good friendships at their school.  They really loved having J visit from Singapore.  It was nice to see them all hanging out together.  When will they get to see J again???

Date night

Tonight we went out to dinner at Father's Office and then we watch a movie!  An actual date night!  Afterwards, we went to the Culver City Hotel to have some drinks and to listen to live jazz.  It was a great time!  When will we go out again???

Surf Rider's beach clean up

Today we spent an hour helping the Surf Rider's clean up Venice beach.  I didn't realize how many cigarette butts were at the beach!  We picked up about 4 pounds of trash and then we enjoyed the rest of the time near the waves.  When will we get to help out again???

Art time

This summer we have found ourselves at Playa Provisions for coffee and art with Jawsh before goes to work.  The boys have been working on their favorite comic characters and Jawsh has been working on Melting Man.  I love drinking my Americano, watching my boys bond.  Will they remember these lazy summer days when they get older???

Happy Anniversary

To continue the celebration of our 12th anniversary, Jawsh and I had dinner at Providence.  The last time we were here we celebrated our 5th anniversary, so 7 years have passed since we last ate here!  We were able to take advantage of the dine LA menu and the prix fix was delicious.  The service was impeccable and we really enjoyed our evening together.  Where will we celebrate next year???

12

We made it to Shutters on the Beach for our annual photo on the terrace.  We can't believe that it's already been 12 years since we said "I do."  Since we take this photo every year, the boys are starting to remember stories that we have shared and it's been such a fun reminder of the love and time that has passed since 2005.  We had dinner at Coast Restaurant downstairs and we were seated in the coziest of nooks where the boys read their graphic novels by the noise of the boardwalk and where Jawsh and and I enjoyed a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and Rose, respectively.  What will our 13th year of marriage bring???

Balboa Park

Today we went to Balboa Park.  We weren't initially sure about what we were going to see so we just walked around and enjoyed the music of organist practicing while we are lunch at the Japanese Friendship Garden.  Afer lunch, we went to the Fleet Science Center where they had a special video game exhibit, Game Masters, which everyone enjoyed.  Then we saw an IMAX movie entitled A Beautiful Planet.  When we finished it was time to hear decal to LA.  When will we head back to Balboa Park???

OB

After driving through San Carlos, we headed to Ocean Beach to spend time with the K Family.  The boys loved walking through the community and hanging with their friends.  They had an opportunity to do Virtual Reality gaming, which they loved.  They also loved going to the beach to swim and boogie board.  It was such a relaxing day.  What will tomorrow bring???

Childhood memories

Today we drove down to San Diego to visit Jawsh's childhood past.  In the 18 years that we have been together, I have never visited his old neighborhood!  It was so cool to show the boys where he went to school, where he learned how to ride a bike, and his old houses.  The boys were interested in visiting the donut and taco shop.  I hope that the boys will have fond memories of their childhoods that they will show their children one day.  When will we visit again???

Cousin love

Las Vegas.  The boys look forward to this trip every summer.  They love swimming multiple times a day, spending time with their cousins, and playing with the dogs.  Only if life was like this everyday.  It's always fun to see the cousins reunite and play like no time has passed at all.  When will we do a different trip together???

Kerry James Marshall

Today we ventured to DTLA with the K Family to check out Kerry James Marshall's show which is a 35-year retrospective of his work. Marshall, a child of the civil rights era, set out to redress the absence of African American art. The exhibition contains nearly 80 paintings, all of which contain images of Black subjects going about their daily business, presented with utter equality and humanity. The exhibition was unfolded in chronological order, allowing us to trace the development of Marshall as a painter.  We got into MOCA right when they closed off the line and we were able to view the exhibit in 30 minutes (although we wished we had more time).  Will this inspire the boys to paint about their lived experiences???

Family picture- finally

Finally a family picture... here we are enjoying beautiful Ojai... how long will it take till we take our next dressed up family photo???

Congrats Yojin

We were so happy to witness Yojin and Bryan's beautiful wedding in Ojai.  It was such a wonderful and intimate ceremony.  After the wedding they had a short Korean ceremony called pyebaek. Thet wore special wedding hanboks and they bowed to their parents who are seated behind a low table stocked with traditional and symbolic wedding foods such as chestnuts, jujubes, and dried persimmons.  Finally family will throw the jujubes and chestnuts back at the bride, who has to try catching them with her wedding skirt which they say will amount to how many children she will bear.  How many kids with Yojin and Bryan have???

Sushi

Real or fake???

GMG Chess

This was Noah's fourth and Micah's third time in the annual chess tournament.  Overall the school came in second place but the boys did not come in the top three in their levels.  Noah left the tournament determined to take his chess sessions more seriously and Micah left the tournament in search of Powerade (these two are so different).  They will both receive scholarship money from their school performance again.  Overall, the boys had good time and we hope that they will continue to improve.  Will they want to sign up next year???

All Stars

Micah was chosen to play on the All-Star team in his division.  He was very excited.  I was up in the box taking stats.  Micah was the only player that hit off the pitcher every time he was up.  Many times, the batter will get walked or strike out but Micah did very well.  We were all so proud of his ability and the growth he has shown from last year. He went from batting 0 to .300 (or something like that).  Will he want to play next season???