For Randy’s birthday we decided to make a yummy dinner and a fancy dessert. Thomas Keller is no joke! I had to whip a meringue for inside the batter.
As did everyone. The cake and cupcakes were a huge success!
As was the present we got daddy!
But I am so happy at the amazing little boy Malcolm is turning into. He’s so into books. He will go to the bookcase, pick a book and plop down on your lap refusing to budge until you read him a story. He loves showing you things and will call mama, grab my arm and point at anything over and over until I give him my undivided attention.
He feeds himself like a champ using his hand to shovel in the food that falls off the spoon. His favorite foods are raisins and watermelon, close second is anything from the treat cabinet. He heads over to the cabinet like he owns the place and using his strong pointer finger (drawing his hand back like a bow first before shooting that arm out super fast) to point out that he deserves a treat.
I love that Malcolm eats his apples like this. He chews the white part all the way to the skin and then hands me the skin.
Our trip home was longer than the way there or so it felt. We flew United and we were all pretty excited to board and watch some movies. Imagine our surprise when we boarded our flight and it was such an old plane that there were no TVs. I literally almost threw in the towel right there. We managed to scramble and pay for Wifi on all our devices which worked on and off throughout the trip. Both boys actually stayed up for most of this flight and managed to both fall asleep right before we landed. Which meant we had to lug off the plane one carry one, one camera bag, one computer bag, one backpack of toys, one car seat and two sleeping babies. And let me tell you American airlines are not like Asian airlines. You have to man up and lug all that stuff off yourself! But we did it. I strapped Adam to my back and carried Malcolm and Randy lugged all the stuff. Such glamorous travelers we are.
We had a couple hours layover in Tokyo and Malcolm woke right up. And just in case you were wondering what Malcolm looks like after being up all night….here you go.
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| Special Handling 🙂 |
But, we made it. Our next flight was ANA and those stewardesses were so amazing I almost cried. It was the first flight the whole trip (the last three had been United) where they installed the car seat for me, helped me with my stuff and even offered to hold Malcolm while i strapped a sleeping Adam to my back and guess what there were TV’s!!!!!!
And I have to give credit where credit is due. I don’t remember any tears (except maybe mine when I realized the United Flight had no TV’s) at all the entire trip from either boy. They are troopers. And just like that we were back in Manila!
It was nice to be home and after a couple of jetlagged nights we were back to normal!
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| Excited to be reunited with all of our toys |
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| Not a bad view to return to. |
Oh and let me not forget the coffee and the wine!!!
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| (This is a hot chocolate…don’t worry my kids do NOT need any coffee, they are quite active enough) |
For Randy I’ll throw in the IPAs.
2. Running outside. I’ve never been that into running outside, but with views like these how can you not love it. Now that I’m back in Manila looking out at the parking lot from my treadmill, I am sorely missing these California runs. These Iphone pictures don’t do the beautiful views any justice but you just can’t run with a huge camera.
3. Shopping. To quote Randy, what I miss most about living in the US (besides friends and family) is consumerism. To that I say, Randy, sign me up! What’s not to love about Target!
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| Ready to shop! |
5. The Boardwalk. I fought this boardwalk at first. I had some Jersey shore high school flashbacks the first we went and not in a good way. But then we went back on a night where the boys ate early and everyone was in a good mood and I was hooked! Monday and Tuesday nights all rides are a dollar! So for so little the boys could try as many rides as they wanted! Seeing how excited the boys was amazing. It made me a bit nostalgic and wish that we could come back here every summer and watch the boys change and grow on the boardwalk.
Not a bad beach to spend some time on.
We headed home and barbecued a yummy meal.
While we were waiting for our last yummy Whole Foods barbecued dinner we gave the boys some garbage to amuse themselves so we could take some pictures. Worked like a charm. Don’t worry, Malcolm had his trusty dirt pile to play in so he didn’t need garbage.
Malcolm’s little arm around Adam here is just too much!
BFF’s in the making! I know I’ve said this before but who would have ever thought 17 years (!!!) years ago when I met Gabby at Fridays and spilled my coke all over her pants that we would end up in Capitola all these years later with our four sweet baby boys. I am so lucky to have so many amazing friends in my life. Even though I don’t get to see them that often it makes it all the more special when I do and we pick up like we never said goodbye. It’s one of the things that keeps me motivated in this lifestyle. I know that I have a handful of amazing friends and I also know that with every move I meet a few more friends that will be my friends for a very long time to come even if we’re far apart.
We have been so lucky this whole trip to get to spend so much time with all the family and friends that we love. While there are always more friends we didn’t get to see this time (tear…) and all of the time we spent together felt so short that’s all until next time America! Oh and our guest room is open in the Philippines!
Who knows why, but I have the biggest fear of driving down dirt road. It’s completely irrational! In fact, now that I think about it the number one thing Randy and I disagree about on vacation is whether or not to drive down the dirt road.
While we were eating lunch in Big Sur our waiter suggested that we go off the beaten path on our way home and take a side route to Route One. I figured this guy saw our two little kids and would never send us way off the beaten path….well he did. And it was 10 MILES on a dirt road! When I looked it up here here is what I found about Old Coast Road. Four wheel drive vehicles are strongly recommended…never a good sign.
It was actually a beautiful old road through redwood forests, past rivers, up some (steep) hills and both boys fell asleep for most of it, meaning it was quiet and peaceful! And it retrospect not actually scary at all. What it is with me and dirt roads 🙂
We pulled over to take some photos. Malcolm was snore, snore, snoring away in the car so we left him there (public service announcement, we were two feet away and had all the doors open so we could hear him snoring from our photo op).
We got back into the car and headed to Big Sur. My trusty tour guide in life (aka- Randy) had found the perfect trail for the boys. It was the perfect walk! You people should hire Randy out to plan your vacations! It was the perfect length and had a waterfall included.
We headed off down the trail.
Through the tunnel.
And hit the ocean.
Look at this view. Oh California, you just keep showing off!! I thought we were going to be on the bank of a river with a waterfall flowing into it
On the other side of the walk no waterfall, just this jaw dropping beautiful coastline.
I looooove when these two cuddle and give each other hugs. At the moment they are so into it and I’m just hoping this continues! Don’t evil eye me people! Trust me, these two have their fair share of fights, just this morning Malcolm hit Adam because he wouldn’t let him play with the buckle on his booster high chair….ended in tears and time outs all around. But most of the time they do really love being near each other, making each other laugh and cuddling. With all the moving and traveling we do in this lifestyle I think it will be so wonderful if these two are close friends that support each other!
Malcolm wanted to walk the whole way back. When we got back to the tunnel Malcolm was a little scared and my heart melted watching Adam tell him, “Its ok Malcolm, its a tunnel, it’s not scary” and led him through.
After our long walk our next stop was lunch. A million years ago (aka-six) Randy and I had stopped at Nepenthe on our drive down Route one. We stopped here, looked at the view and had a burger and headed on down the coast. We were newly engaged and driving to see our friends in LA and witness our two friends get married in Santa Barbara. Never in a million years would I have imagined six years later we would end up back here with two beautiful boys, living in the Philippines and married for five years.
But first a little window shopping.
The boys decided they wanted this for their room. I told them to save up their pennies until they had one million and we would come back and pick this bad boy up.
Then we stopped to smell all the flowers, literally.
On to lunch. We went to this place Cantinetta Luca and it was amazing! It was the best meal we had out in California!
We stopped for some yummy cookies and coffee. That whole area of California really knows how to roast some coffee beans. I don’t even like coffee and I woke up every morning craving a cup of Verve coffee!
But with views like this it was worth every gummy bear and piece of popcorn we had to throw back there to keep the natives from getting restless.
We reached a long stretch of beach and let the boys out. They were pretty happy to get out and stretch their legs.
Oh and play in the sand. It seriously takes every fiber of my being to not dust Malcolm off every three seconds.
We went about our business and found a comfy spot to hang out. Adam eventually wandered over, sat down and pulled apart his ‘dog’ and finally was grossed out by the inside enough to leave his dog for the next owner. While I don’t advocate abandoning pets when the going gets tough (or smelly) this was one time that I was all for it.
It took us about 10 minutes of trying to set up the reel to realize we had no idea what we were doing. So we found the oldest fisherman on the pier and asked if he could help set up our rod for us. He was great! He had been fishing in Capitola for 50 years and had the magic touch (there’s some foreshadowing for you).
I told him we probably wouldn’t catch any fish. I mean does anyone ever catch any fish off a pier and I didn’t want tantrums to ensue when we had to leave three hours later without a fish.
But Adam was sure that we were going to catch loads of fish. I was already planning how I would bribe him away.
Well, wouldn’t you know it, Adam’s confidence worked! All of a sudden we caught a fish! An itty bitty one but the old fisherman told us we could keep it and eat it!
Not only did we catch fish but we had this view the whole time we were fishing. And because we’re in California sea lions were swimming around in the water the whole time.
I loved that Adam was into fishing 110% to the point where he was totally fine cutting up and baiting the squid. No squeamishness whatsoever!
We caught tons of fish! They may have been teeny but we were excited to cook these guys and eat them.
And when in the states I figured what the heck. Adam had his first ring pop.
I’m not sure if the it’s the ring pop or the fishes but this was one super happy little boy. Sometimes on vacation we get so caught up on all we want to see and do that we forget to stop and enjoy where we are. As the boys get older I’m continually amazed at how they bring us right into the moment and remind us to slow down. Sometimes it’s because we physically can’t move as fast with all the stuff little kids need but sometimes it’s because they want to do something so simple and basic. My impulse is always to say no and keep moving but more and more lately I find myself stopping and realizing that there is no reason to say no and this is exactly what I want to be doing!
We got home just in time for this little one to wake up. He was just as excited to see the fish and get them ready for dinner. Thank goodness Maria was there because none of the rest of us knew how to clean fish.
Ever wonder how long it takes to get a good picture when kids are involved. Yes….I realize I have discussed this once or maybe ten times before. But looking back at these pictures it’s pretty hysterical!
Mistake number one, asking these peanuts to pose in the sun. After all four balked at the sun in their eyes we changed photo shoot locations.
Much happier…but no one is looking at me. Oh, in case you’re wondering Adam’s teenage mutant ninja turtle band-aids are purely cosmetic.
Cute, but only Roman’s looking my way.
Cute but no one’s looking my way.
Getting closer….
Um….getting farther away.
I can’t take Malcolm’s face here! He is so excited to be with the big kids (and near the pile of dirt I spent all summer digging him out of).
Almost there!
Here we go…this is about the time I broke out a bribe. Surprised it took me this long? I am too!
This is where we pushed it too far…too far Fo. Should have just given up.
And one more with Aunt Sandra.
To make our last night with the Ley’s extra special we broke out Roman’s Birthay Pinata! What a big hit this was!
This ship had three skippers who always think they’re in charge, four parents who think they’re in charge but never are and one toddler who actually is in charge.
Oh yeah, and this three hour whale watching tour had all the sea animals you could imagine. Even when we were pulling out of the dock we saw a whole bunch of sea lions just swimming around.
But wait, where are the whales?
As we headed out on our whale watching tour we were all on top alert to spot some whales.
And guess what? California didn’t disappoint. Within the first thirty minutes we saw four humpback whales jumping out of the water eating anchovies and a school of dolphin swimming right alongside the boat!
Malcolm kept up his perfect record of passing out the second he got on a boat.
Then people, this is where things took a turn for the worse. Randy always insists that he doesn’t get seasick. I think this is mostly because he loves boats, fishing and the ocean so much he thinks if he ignores it he can get past it. But this poor guy started suffering an hour in. The boat was pretty rocky.
Then people started dropping like flies, Aunt Sandra and Isla both weren’t feeling so great. The rest of us were ok. I felt so bad that these three couldn’t enjoy the rest of the trip. We saw the most amazing sight. At one point there were four humpback whales feeding on anchovies, a school of 50 dolphins and sea lions all swimming right next to the boat. We even saw Risso dolphins jumping out of the ocean. Unfortunately I had both boys to keep in the boat and couldn’t take any pictures but believe me when I say it was a truly magical moment. (but don’t worry Sandra and Randy, it wasn’t that great, you didn’t miss that much).
At least Randy got to see this guy at lunch. And at least it seems that the boys get their sea legs from their mommy!
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