Day trip to Santa Barbara

Trung's mom's youngest brother lives in Santa Barbara, so we took a trip up there so she could stay with him and his family for a few days.  We hadn't been in over three years (the last time we visited them), so it was nice to see their new place and to catch up.

Lounging around at the lake in the community where Trung's uncle lives

An afternoon pick me up

Awesome mosaic seats we walked by 

The beautiful Santa Barbara County Office with a lovely garden out back

Kid's World at Alameda Park

The girls always go for the tire swing

Pelican encounter at Stearn's Wharf

Check out the surprise near the end of the clip

The friendly seal who kept asking for food

Ma goes to the Getty

Lydia is still point guard, for now

Lydia almost makes her first shot ever

After Lydia's basketball game, the kids went to coding class, and then we had lunch back at home.  Afterwards, we took Ma to the Getty Center to show her the best views of LA.

Figuring out where to go next

Sophie and the beautiful architecture of the Getty

Lydia probably could have kept going, but I was getting a little nervous

Sophie too busy looking at the map to watch the sun set

And another day has gone

Getting ICE-ed

I bought a Groupon back in November for the Santa Monica ice rink and never got a chance to use it for one of my girls' night outs, so I went with the family instead.  The girls finished all their homework before we met Trung for a quick Happy Hour dinner at Benihana and then we all spent a good hour ice skating.  Thank goodness for late start Wednesdays or else we wouldn't be able to stay out a little late during school nights.

 Waiting for their hot chocolates to cool down

 You'd think we only came for the hot chocolates

Sisterly stabilization

Sophie's classmate and her sister happened to be at the rink too

Basketball season has begun

Every winter session, Lydia switches from swimming to basketball.  She is now one of the more experienced players on the team as a third grader, having played last year, but now really has to step up her game.  Lydia's team this year is coached by Rondell again, which is great because Lydia loves him.  The "Dream" team suffered a great loss this first game only scoring three points, but they seemed to have a good time.  Here's to a fun season! 

Quick talk about good sportsmanship before the game

Waiting for the game to start

Lydia is the starting point guard this year

A Magical Birthday

Lydia's classmate Violeta turned 9 today and she celebrated at the local magic show place Magicopolis.  Trung and I had been there twice before and knew that it would be the same show, so he stayed home to get some work done, while I went to socialize.  The show was still entertaining enough and it was fun watching everyone else become amazed since I knew some of the tricks already.

 Pre-show for the birthday group

 Violeta and the magician

A pretty good chocolate cake considering that it was provided by the venue

Everyone enjoyed the show

New Year's Brunch

Though I've had as little as one person come out and as many as ten; I have still been e-mailing mommies about monthly brunches/lunches and bi-weekly night's out.  Hopefully, I can get a good group to come out regularly, but even if not, it more for me than anything.  :P

The view from our table at the Georgian Hotel for lunch

Rachel's Roosevelt Birthday party

Sophie attended her first birthday party of the year at school for her friend Rachel.  It was nice seeing several mutual friends before school started the next day.

Sophie and her stache

On the road again

After a wonderful breakfast of pancakes and quiche, we fueled up and were on our way back home.  We took a couple stops for lunch and gas, and made it back in Santa Monica by dinnertime.  This road trip didn't seem quiet as bad as the one from Texas and we are considering doing it again during Spring Break to Mammoth.  We'll see.  :P

 My excellent lunch of prime rib sandwich and grilled artichoke

 Watching the sun set as Trung drives the final leg of our road trip

Discovered during dinner at Hana Sushi that wasabi looks an awful lot like green tea ice cream

Casa Michelotti

We had a wonderful time these last few days in a large cabin in Homewood.  It was perfectly situated in West Tahoe, so we had the option to go to either north or south for skiing.  It was a bit crazy at times, but the kids had a blast and that's why we do it.  Friendships were strengthen and many electronics were played; and at the end of the day, we all left with smiles on our faces.  Until next time!

Inside the cabin

Outside...the driveway was on an incline, which made it hard for my brother's rental sudan, but we managed.

Selfie in front of the sign

After lunch in Tahoe City, I went back to fetch my nephew's snow boots back at the house while Trung and the girls went sledding for a bit.  Both our saucer-type sleds broke, but a nice lady offered her sled so the kids had something to play with.

We met back up with Jimmy's family at an old family friend's house near Sacramento.  We have known Jerry for over thirty years and he and his wife kindly opened up their home to us for the night.

Figuring out how to cut this enormous tiramasu cake

Skiing into the new year

Today everyone went to Squaw Valley, though half the group went to the big mountain while some stayed in the kiddie ski area.  We opted to teach the kids one last time even though I had already pre-purchased my lift ticket.  By lunchtime, Sophie was going up the magic carpet and skiing down by herself with ease, and Lydia became more comfortable skiing by herself.  I am not 100% sure, but I think Lydia's accident 1.5 years ago when she slipped and got stitches on her head makes her more cautious and unwilling to be adventurous.

Sophie the skier

Even though Lydia will tell you she doesn't like skiing, I think she secretly does

At least Sophie will admit it

Sophie and I went on the kiddie ski lift three times.  The first and third times went well...we skied together arm in arm, but the second time we were going a little too fast, so I had to let Sophie go mid-hill.  Fortunately, Trung was standing there and got to her quickly and she wasn't even crying (thank goodness).

All smiles after a long day on the slopes

Magda, my new skiing buddy, though I didn't find out until this trip that she used to be a skiing instructor!