Just the two of us

My sister-in-law, unfortunately, came down with a cold yesterday morning and stayed home, so my brother and his family decided to take the day off today to keep her company (and to rest sore muscles).  They were kind enough to watch the girls, so that Trung and I could get an afternoon of skiing in with no outside distractions.

  

Enjoying our time together at Squaw Valley

All bundled up and ready to roll

Me, my man, and a mountain

Lady and a lake

Later that evening, we had a little excitement as the dish washer kept bubbling up.  Apparently, my husband used liquid dish detergent instead of the concentrated one and things got messy.  I went through four towels trying to soak up the bubbles.

We rang in the new year with s'mores

Trung's "so-called" perfect fire

Alpine Meadows

If you know me at all, you know I am always trying to cut costs and buying ski tickets in advance is definitely one of the them.  Unfortunately, with children who are just beginning to ski, it is so hard to predict what kind of day they will have and how much they will progress.  We didn't decide until basically this morning that we would be going to Alpine Meadows to teach the girls to ski.  Supposedly, the resort has a more beginner-friendly terrain.  After some initial tears, Sophie mastered the magic carpet, while Lydia decided to hang out after a few runs.

Lydia and Sophie going up the magic carpet, while Trung waits for them

Working with Lydia

All the kids and Magda on the belt

Walk, eat, rest, repeat

Since we needed to meet my cousin and aunt's families for lunch in Chinatown this afternoon, we decided to spend the morning walking around.  After lunch, we visited Ghirardelli Square prior to heading back to the hotel to rest a little before dinnertime.

Fortune Cookie Factory

If you've ever wondered how they make fortune cookies...

These roasted milk teas were almost as big as our heads!

Downtown San Francisco Chinatown

Gotta get our baked goods fix

Even Clinton was here

The tastiest crab ever!

The extended family

Me, my cousin from my second aunt, my third Aunt Sasha (mom's side)

Desserts at Ghiradelli

All the girls chilling at the lake near our hotel

Chasing ducks again

The menu from the first Ramen place we tried waiting at, but after an hour, we got in to another Ramen place one block away.  San Mateo people really love their Ramen.

Discovering Oxnard

On our road trip up to the Bay area, we stopped by a city called Oxnard.  I have heard of it, but never visited until today.  We enjoyed a nice seafood lunch and a great view.  We will definitely need to come back to see what else this town has to offer.

We had a late start in the morning, hence arriving in Oxnard, which was 45 miles away from home, by lunchtime.  After a few more stops for gas and dinner, we finally made it to our hotel around 9:30.  Now to relax a couple nights near San Francisco before another long drive.

 Goofing around in Oxnard

Sophie always has an audience in her sister

Christmas Day 2014

We spent Christmas Day in Orange County with family.  First we had brunch at my cousin Ben's house and then we walked over to my brother's house, hung out for the afternoon, and had an early Korean dinner.

The girls walking with their cousin Alexis to Ben's house

Opening presents

One of the best parts of Christmas

Seeing eye to eye

My cousin Ben

Opening presents is crazy!

With my cousin Christine

Putting together Alexis' Christmas present at Mike's house

The princesses playing with the new castle

All love for Alexis

First day of Winter Break

We started off the winter break with a bang...9 kids came over this afternoon to watch a movie, paint their nails, and just hang out.

Final farewell before everyone disperses

An "Argh"-some day

I won a pair of tickets to the Pirate Dinner Adventure on Facebook, so even though we had just gone for Lydia's birthday in September, we decided to go again for their Christmas special.  I contacted Lydia's best friend Mia's dad and their family planned to join us, so that the girls could get together.

Before the show, the girls had soccer in the morning, we had lunch in Garden Grove, and then we ent to the Discovery Cube for a few hours.  We stayed until closing and made our way to the show.  Even though Trung was dreading the show, it was much better than the last time we went because we all got involved.  I helped with the cannon race, Trung raised the sail, and the kids blew their horns to save Christmas.  All in all, a very fun day!  

Feeling the motion of the sand

Hurricane winds

Photobombing

Photo op

Strong girls

Impressive gingerbread house

Oooooo....tornado

Dinos at dawn

Excited about the pirates show

The girls wanted the blue pirate because he was the good guy last time, but he ended up being the "bad guy" this time.  :/

I was chosen as the flag bearer

Our winning team!

Our "bad boy" blue pirate

Trung was in the with the green vest

Pulling like crazy

He's so strong.  :P

The kids blowing their horns

With our pirate

The guns are real!

Best friends

With the captain and his wife