Atlantis Park

On Friday I took the kids over to Atlantis Park where we met up with some friends. This park was built years ago, when space was more plentiful and swing sets like this were made. The park has an ocean theme, admission is $1, this day there were lots of kids on field trips but usually it's a quiet place.


We had lunch at a Vietnamese noodle restaurant, Anna and Gabbi enjoyed the noodles minus broth, and some white rice. Gabbi also had some chicken.


Sammy loved the noodles as well, recently he's been on an international carb-high (Vietnamese noodles, Italian pasta, and Japanese noodles so far this weekend!)...

Beallagio

Last weekend Steve took the kids to the Beal residence, they have a gorgeous pool. Anna and Tasha hadn't seen each other in over 3 months so they had a lot of catching up to do...


Sam loved their pool as well and stayed in for almost an hour...


Anna couldn't stop raving about their wonderful yard and amenities, I think she compared it to Las Vegas...

Cousins

This past weekend I went up north to visit our Northern California family. Carter has become a very adept bike-rider!


Teddy loves playing chase in his neighborhood and anywhere that has a big stretch of grass!


Lily loves dancing and playing all sorts of games. Very cute cousins indeed.

Anna on "Ice"

Double-click on Anna's image above and watch her pretending she's an ice-skating princess. I think she believes ice skating is this easy, although her moves are quite complex I might add...

Brookie's House

Brooke is a good friend of Anna's from our old church, and yesterday we went to her house for a playdate. While the girls were laughing and screaming and running around, Brookie's brother Ben and Sammy observed, quietly. Mellow fellows, I call them. At the end of the playdate the four sat down for playdough time, Sammy preferred just watching.

Anna's Current Faves

There are three things Anna doesn't leave the home without: Snowbear, a headband, and this Monet necklace (a jewelry brand). We were cleaning out the garage last month and while I was putting potential garage sale items in a box, Anna spotted this necklace and grabbed it immediately.

At her school the other day I noticed one of the girls commenting, "You're wearing the same necklace again?" and she nodded happily. I'm glad she saw that as a compliment. I think Anna may grow up as one of those fashionable ladies who is admired for her style and not following the fad of the moment, hee hee...

Mother's Day Lunch

Yesterday the "Tsurimoto girls" (Yumi, Mari, Anna and myself) took my mom out for a Mother's Day lunch to Garlic Jo's in Newport Beach, a small restaurant chain that originated in Yokohama, Japan. Check out their menu here.

Anna and I are hamming it up at our table.


Mari is diligently pouring the sangria while we await digging into the seafood carpaccio appetizers.


Here's a shot of the shrimp pizza we ordered, minus a few pieces. Everything was excellent, there wasn't a strong pungent smell in the restaurant like you might expect, and as much garlic as there was in certain dishes, it was cooked in such a way that even cloves of garlic melted in your mouth. Other dishes we ordered included garlic steak with garlic mashed potatoes, garlic bread, and what else... garlic ice cream! The food was served family-style so we could share everything.


Even Anna, who is a very picky eater, enjoyed the bread, the pizza (minus the shrimp) and the ice cream of course.


It has been a long time since I've eaten out at a nice restaurant, it made a huge difference dining out without the baby! The lunch confirmed that:
1. I love good food!
2. The Tsurimoto girls can be big pigs!

Sarah's Wedding

Sarah (one of Steve's coworkers) and Henry were married last weekend, we were able to take the whole family. The wedding was held at a Korean Presbyterian church, and the service was performed in both Korean and English.

While I thought I preferred more streamlined wedding gowns, Sarah's was one of the most elegant I've seen, in person or in a magazine! It had lovely beading, an intricate skirt, and beautiful lacing in the back, it looked couture to me!


Here are some of the lovely teachers Steve works with!


We made it through the ceremony but Sammy was too antsy for us to go to the reception. Oh well, at least it's an excuse to get dressed up!

P.S. Note Anna's favorite accessory of the moment, a huge Monet pendant on velvet rope, and Sammy's snack from Daddy and Sammy's outing during part of the ceremony.

Kodak Commercial

Check out the cute Kodak commercial that features Anna and Sammy's photos here. It was really easy and fun to do!

Balboa Island Ferry

A couple weeks ago Anna and I met up with my friend Tracey at her place in Balboa, and we rode on the ferry to Balboa Beach. This is my favorite mini-trip in Orange County now, what a view! And for a one-way, 5-minute ride I believe it was 60 cents. Up to 3 cars can go on the ferry at the same time as well.



We saw 2 sea lions swimming on their backs on the way. Can you see them?



Beautiful sunset shot. It really felt like a getaway even though we were less than 30 minutes away from home. Thanks for the photos, Tracey!