Living An Intentional Life
I cannot believe summer is more than half way over. The other day I bought a watermelon–the receipt said it was over 19 pounds…that’s more than k! I thought it would be fun to take a picture as a comparison. k enjoyed thumping on it.
This past week I also baked a cake for a potluck at D’s work. I decided to get a little creative with it:
For a little over a week now, k has been crawling! It is amazing to see how quickly she acquires new skills. She can also stand up in her play pen and crib (although she has some trouble sitting back down). It is already more tiring to watch her since you constantly have to be on your guard.
This morning we met up with two of D’s co-workers and their families at the Great Balloon. Currently the rides are free, but starting in 2008, tickets will cost $20 (so go now). There was a fair number of people already there when we arrived, around 10:15. You have to sign a waiver and get a number. Our wait was a little over half hour, but we heard the wait can grow to two hours at peak times.
D + k waiting in line.
A view from the underside. According to the operator, we only went up around 275 feet (the max is 500 feet). The allowed height varies with the wind conditions and the number of people riding. D’s co-worker W asked a question that was probably on all of our minds: what happens if the tethering cable breaks? The operator reassured us that we would remain afloat as if in a regular hot air balloon, and that he could maneuver the balloon to a safe landing. That was good to hear, especially for a particular someone in our party who is afraid of heights!
View from the top. Can you find the Mazda building? I don’t think k had any awareness that we were up high.
The rest of our group exiting the balloon.
k and her new friend, M, who is only around one month younger.
All in all it was a fun outing. It was certainly worth the cost of admission (haha). I guess we need to be on the lookout for some other cheap, child-friendly activities around the area. Suggestions are welcome!
Last Saturday morning started with a run that I had eagerly awaited. I woke up at 5 a.m. because I knew it was going to be a warm and humid day. This run was different than all my other runs because this was my first run while pushing a jogging stroller. I was worried that k might not enjoy “running” with me, so I was prepared. L woke k up early and got her ready. I then drove to Sunset Beach and started running around 6 a.m. so she would keep cool and not get too much sun. Soon after I started, she fell asleep. While I was running out to Huntington Beach, her hat fell over her face because her head fell forward while she was sleeping. I noticed that the pavement sloped toward the ocean, and I kept having to turn the stroller to the left. At the turn, I took off her hat and put it in the back of the stroller. Halfway through the 2nd half, she woke up, and started looking forward. At the end she was touching her toes and was probably ready to get out of the stroller. We had run 6.2 miles. I learned to switch hands every 30 steps or so, and it worked out pretty well. I have 2 more weeks of hard training. I plan on doing an 8 mile run this Saturday with k. Then I plan on running 13 miles by myself the next week. Then I will taper toward the Disney Half-Marathon.
Sunday morning we drove to Napa (and we didn’t get lost this time!) Before we went to D’s parents’ house we stopped in at Bouchon Bakery again to pick up some breakfast treats. Once we arrived at the house, k was a bit overwhelmed by all of the new faces, but she calmed down by lunchtime. In the afternoon she was having a grand ol’ time rolling around the floor and doing the “bouncy-bouncy”.
k was able to meet her cousin Shaun for the first time.
We ate lunch at a restaurant called Brix. They had a lovely garden out back.
The Lim clan (minus Jackie, our sister-in-law, who took the picture)
Grandma Lim with her two grandchildren
At night we had dinner at Zare. The waitress told us that the restaurant is closing for good in about a week. Too bad, because the food was really good!
Saturday afternoon we went to Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church to witness our friends from WPC tie the knot. Neither of us had been to Moraga before. Although there is some bad traffic around that area, it is beautiful once you get there.
The church is on a hilltop. This is the view from inside the church.
The church building itself is also very nice.
This picture was taken by the father of the groom before the ceremony. Too bad I missed most of the ceremony due to the fact that k started making noise. At least D was able to fill me in. 🙂
The getaway car.
The reception was at the Oakland Marriott, where we also reserved a room. k seemed to enjoy her first stay in a hotel room. 
This bed was sooo comfortable. The whole ensemble can be yours for around $3,000 according to their catalogue.
The view from our room during the day.
The view at night.
k slept through most of the reception. Amazing, considering all of the glass clinking and such. There were about 400 people in attendance.
Cutting the cake.
The lovely couple.
Note: She’s Chinese and He’s Japanese, so she wore this Chinese dress part of the time and then changed into a Japanese kimono-dress. How cute. I believe the wedding cake topper was also Chinese-Japanese.
The only time we got lost during the long weekend was going to D’s cousin’s house in Santa Clara. I’ll just blame it on Yahoo! maps, which told us to make a left instead of a right. Santa Clara actually reminded us a lot of Irvine. D’s cousin’s wife cooked us a delicious dinner of short ribs with a vegetable puree, mashed potatoes, rolls and salad. I called it “gourmet” but she described it as “rustic”.
The next morning we headed up to Berkeley. We had fun posing with k around campus. We couldn’t resist buying her a couple of things at the student store. Notice that I dressed k in her tie-dye outfit so she would blend in.
Taking a break by Strawberry Creek
Sitting on Oski
Wheeler Hall
Sather Gate
I don’t think this bridge has a name.
Can you believe the student store on campus sells dried squid? Ew. They also had sushi to go, which was unheard of when we were there. 
We stopped at one my favorite Berkeley cafes–Cafe Strada. 
Lunch was at Zachary’s. Deep dish pizza–yum. Yes, it still deserves a place on D’s restaurant list. 
We made it to Cupertino in six hours. After exiting DeAnza we looked for a place to eat and ended up at Siam Thai. The chicken dishes we ordered were tasty, but my side of pad thai was somewhat lacking in the flavor department.
Afterward we went to my friend W’s house. I first met W during my freshman year in the dorms. I started saying “ai-yah” and “yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah” because of her. 🙂 Anyway, I was excited to meet her two daughters, each of whom coincidentally have one of my names. (I’ll let you figure that one out yourself).
W served us some refreshing watermelon. This was no ordinary watermelon so I had to take a picture!
Next we went to my second cousin’s house. Her baby was born within a couple of days of W’s youngest (they’re about three months old now). As you can see, both W’s baby (pictured above) and k’s third cousin (pictured below) have a lot more hair than her!
Next stop…Santa Clara.
We just returned from a trip up to Northern California. This was k’s first “major” trip and she did pretty well. It all started with a wedding that we were invited to in Moraga. We decided it would be a good opportunity to visit people, so our itinerary was as follows:
Friday: Visit my college friend and her family in Cupertino. Visit my second cousin and her baby in Cupertino. Visit D’s cousin and his wife in Santa Clara and stay overnight at their place.
Saturday: Go to Berkeley (mostly so D could go to the Student Store). Attend wedding in Moraga and reception in Oakland. Stay overnight in Oakland.
Sunday: Visit D’s family in Napa and stay overnight.
Monday: Go home, but stop to visit my Grandma and Auntie in Paso Robles.
As you can imagine, we’re tired, but it was lots of fun. We have lots of photos to share, but for now, we will leave you with just one of D and k at a rest stop somewhere along I-5.
