Taking it easy in Tucson

 Our final day of the road trip, we took it slower in the morning and thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast at "The Good Egg".  With one quick stop at Lee's Sandwiches for Vietnamese sandwiches to eat on the road, we arrived in Los Angeles about seven hours later.  It was truly wonderful getting to sleep in my own bed, especially after having to share with the girls the last two nights since the Priceline hotels we had gotten were for only one bed and we didn't want to spend the extra money to upgrade.

Hot chocolate with chocolate and caramel drizzle...yes, it tasted as good as it looked.

 This is how they make Minnie Mouse in Arizona.

 Apple crunch crepe

 Pumpkin pancakes

 Eggs Benedict with pesto.

 Crossing into California

 Trading palm trees for cacti

First stop in LA was dinner at the vamped up Class 302.  The modernized decor was nice, but seating is even more limited and the new staff isn't very attentive.

Carlsbad Caverns

Most of the touristy places on the way to California require at least a 2-3 hour detour, so with two young kids, we needed to choose a place that was worth going.  We decided that the kids were too young to appreciate the Grand Canyon and the White Sands in New Mexico wouldn't be good in the winter due to possible bad weather, so Carlsbad Caverns was our top choice.  Though the kids did get bored eventually, they found the caverns interesting for the most part.  The kid version of  the self-guided tour helped a lot and was definitely worth the $5.    

 It was a bit too sunny for this shot.

 Lydia the Ranger

The entrance

 On the way down

 Looking back up

 Whale Mouth

 The natural green light from the pool is from the mineral lining called Malachite.

 Sophie got bored halfway through the walk, so Trung gave her his cell phone to take pictures to distract her.  It seemed to work; she was taking pictures of EVERYTHING, but at least this is a good one of the "Fairyland".

 The "big room", one of the world's largest cave rooms

 One of the most lit places in the caverns = photo op!

 Check out all the stalactites!

This dome glistens from the water still flowing down its sides.

Amazing how these caverns are still very much alive.

Driving in the sun

With about 20 hours of driving, and most of it during the day, we had to find inventive ways of shading ourselves.

Using the big bag of Pirates Booty as shade as well as a snack. 

Avoiding the sun and getting more sun spots.

Austin for a day

Trung had I have each visited Austin at least once since we've moved to California, but the children have not.  So, on our road trip back home (we flew down and purchased my brother's car), we stopped in Austin for the day to meet up whatever friends were in town and available.

Lunch at Rudy's; we've missed the super moist brisket

An old friend Henry and his son Trevor joined us; his wife and newborn son stayed home since my family has been sick and they wanted to avoid exposure.

The girls with their gang signs, j/k, they are "dragons".

After lunch, Tiffany (my friend since 1999 and my matron of honor) and Sarah (my old neighbor) and their kids met us at the Domain.

Tiffany's little monkey, Annalise.  Sooo stinkin' adorable.

Sophie and Lydia and Sarah's two older kids, Justin and Amy hanging out at Anthropologie while their mommies shopped.

Okay, their turn.

We took a mini break at Trung's oldest Austin friend Jason's house before meeting his family for dinner at Asia Cafe, an interesting choice I know, but I was craving some spicy Szechuan food.  Trung lived at Jason's house for two years when he first moved to Austin almost 15 years ago.

Annual Taste of Texas dinner

No trip to Houston is complete without a visit to The Taste of Texas for dinner.  Though we always put our name down in advance, we still had to wait a solid hour before we got seated solely because we had a party of 14.  The food was still good, but I was a little disappointment this time because the porterhouse steak that Trung and I split was overcooked and had to be sent back.  We received two complimentary desserts though and one more for Jason's Christmas birthday, so everyone left happy. 

One big happy family

Trung cutting into his 32 oz porterhouse steak.

Second time is the charm!

Happy belated birthday, Jason, and early birthday, Nathan!

Jumping bean

Initially, today we had planned to go to Kemah, a boardwalk near Galveston, for the day with Jimmy's family, but then decided not to because, well, we live in Santa Monica and have our own "pier" with much cleaner water.  Plus, it was cold and Sophie and Trung were both getting over being sick.  So, instead we met Jimmy's family at a Mexican restaurant and then went to an indoor trampolining place.  Lydia had gone to a similar one back home for a birthday party and I heard it was fun, so I wanted to check it out.  Surprisingly, Lydia got tired quickly and Sophie was the one jumping away; she especially enjoyed jumping into the Styrofoam pit.

Too cute!

Blurred cousins

Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas from the Lee's!

Oldest of friends

Since we arrived early early this morning (12:30 AM) to Texas, we slept in and got up just in time to drive to Chinatown for some dim sum.  In the afternoon, my mom put her three oldest grandkids to work, making red bean cakes for the church gathering that night.  Afterwards, we met up with our family's oldest friends, the Yen's.  I have known Jasper, the youngest Yen, since I was 2, so for thirty plus years.  Yes, truly our oldest friends.

Each kid had a certain task, what a team!

4 of the 5 Lee offspring mingling with 2 of the 4 Yen offspring (three more to come in the Spring!)

Lee's, Yen's, and spouses

Medieval Times

Since we are headed to Houston for the holidays tomorrow, we decided to visit Mike and his family today to drop off Christmas presents.  We also got to meet my cousin Ben's new baby boy, who was so sweet and tiny.  It was a short visit, mainly because Trung was still not feeling well, so we headed out and over to Medieval Times.  I purchased the tickets on livingsocial, thinking that the girls would really enjoy it.  Trung didn't think they would, but the tickets were nonrefundable, so we had to go.  Fortunately, the girls loved it and Sophie even thought our knight was cute.  I'm not sure we will go back, but it was definitely a fun experience and I know the girls loved not getting in trouble for eating with their hands.

Meeting my cousin Ben's son, Nicolas

Trung is very excited about the show, as you can tell.  He saw it over a decade ago, but this was a new experience for all the gals.

So this is where everyone was going for prom.

Ready for the tournament

Our red and yellow knight, who was the first one knocked out of the tournament.

All six knights saluting the king.

The fall was obviously staged, but the kids couldn't tell.

Swords swinging, sparks flying

Danielle's Christmas Party

Even though Danielle set up the party, Catherine ended up hosting because a water pipe exploded in her kitchen.  Despite that minor change, the party went off without a hitch.  It's so nice that even though our kids are no longer at the same school, we can still have these super fun gatherings, but mainly that we still stay in touch.

The delicious spread

Catherine's beautifully decorated Christmas tree

The kids with their Secret Santa gifts

The presents for the adult's White Elephant gift exchange; I actually ended up with what I wanted this year!

Bitten

Every Friday, Trung and I both take the kids to school and then run over to the San Vicente stairs to work out.  Trung wasn't feeling that well today, so I went by myself.  After dropping the kids off, I was jogging along when I encountered two small dogs.  They were quite aggressive and were blocking the sidewalk.  I would have run around them, but before I knew it, the one in red ran behind me and bit my leg!  It hurt, but I was more shocked than anything.  To make sure no one else got hurt, I followed the dogs back to their home and knocked on the front door.  The sleepy owner was horrified and apologized profusely.  First glance, my bit was barely visible, so I just told the owner to make sure the dogs didn't get out again (the wind caused the gate to open) and then I headed to the stairs.

After a couple of sets at the stairs, I took another look at the bite and though there was no blood, the area was starting to swell and I noticed a hole in my work-out pants where the dog's tooth bit through.  I wasn't sure what to do at this point, so I asked a friendly-looking stranger her opinion about the whole matter.  Apparently, I asked the right person, because she was bitten by a dog before as well and quite badly at that.  She insisted that I get the dog's vaccination information from the owner and maybe even go see a doctor.  I called Trung, who happened to still be asleep, and he said to at least get the owner's information and the vet's information.  So, I went back, got all the necessary information, called the vet, and thankfully, all the vaccinations were updated.  I am sure the bruising will go down soon, but this incident did make me more aware of the less friendly dogs that are out there, especially since my kids want to pet them all.

 Zazu, the biter, is in red and his accomplice

 One hour after getting bitten

The next day the bite looked much worse.  Still not broken skin though.