Nice prize package. Thank you, PTA!

The Panda hat was a nice touch.

This very neat drawing of SD by a local artist was also included.

Safety patrol has been having some fun outings for team building.

Neighborhood threw a fall carnival/festival. We were impressed at how nice the booths were, complete with prizes. Food trucks also showed up but similar to the welcome party last time, lines were long and free food was claimed pretty quickly.

We scored some cool plushies and a huge inflatable bat. Then it got super crowded so we called it a day.

Behind the scenes of our fall photo session (for holiday cards) at Torrey Pines Gliderport.

Golden Hour and a paraglider. We fall in love with this place over and over again upon pretty much every sunset. :)

Daddy and E drove allllll the way to Micro Center in OC to find parts as they are building their own (gaming) PC.

A look inside…

Sneak peak at someone’s Halloween costume @ the school’s annual storybook parade.

Mr. Frosty’s one day after school with g.c. that was one of the art contest prizes.

A bit disturbing…

Trick or treating and a super tall Skellington. :-P

Pikachu & Pikachu.

Our previous neighborhood built up to some pretty spooky entrances in 4 years but our current one did not disappoint this first year.

Besides the turf and concrete in the backyard, we decided to try DIY’ing a succulent wall. We purchased planks from a lumber company, bought posts and put the booger to work, haha.

Moving all the planks to the backyard on a little dolly…

After a weekend of labor, we are so happy with how it turned out! Went from a huge yard in TX to a medium yard to almost no yard so the wall was befitting… Y is pretty happy about not having to do much yard work (or hiring someone to do it). :P

We bought the succulent pots and had them delivered to a lady known for succs in the area to make all the arrangements. Got to chat with her for a bit and found out she used to work as a helper in SG for many years. Inspiring that she could go from that to owning her own biz here. Hopefully America will continue to be a land of opportunity.

The pieces all turned out so beautiful… We barely fit them all in the SUV but they survived. Super low maintenance too!

Started campus visits for middle school and beyond! Y especially loved the chapel here as it reminded him of his secondary school in S’pore.

Sailing after school…

Seems like we’re always at the club now.

His coach has been asking if E wants to do regattas but he doesn’t feel quite ready so we haven’t pushed… He’s been doing some practice races so sometimes we’re back on the water to spectate and cheer on.

There was a solar eclipse one day and the Liu’s walked over to watch.

We wanted to do something unique for the California room floor… Most neighbors were tiling or just epoxying it. We epoxied our garage floor and tile just didn’t quite appeal as much so we decided try another DIY project and paint it a monochromatic Mondrian-esque pattern. Don’t even ask how long we agonized over the various shades of grey, haha. Also, it wasn’t super easy to get the lines straight but we like how it turned out! Patio furniture will go on top.

That’s probably a wrap on {major} house things for now…

His first time seeing a roasted pig at a neighbor’s party… Poor Babe!

After living here a few years, we’ve gotten used to “Indian summers” with September as generally the “hottest” month. So pool days are still in order!

Doing some biking on the trails in our community that are still expanding in the months to come.

Tried this small ramp area on the bike.

A little play date at our new clubhouse, catching up with J since it’s another year at different schools.

Loving the vibe and aesthetic — like chic, urban lodge feel?

Hung out a little on the first floor of the gym which is supposed to be for mostly “recovery”.

Foam rollers make for great robot arms? Haha.

Back outside to the playground!

Hot tubbin’.

Guess who joined safety patrol and is helping to ensure the safety of the pedestrians at school? :) He almost didn’t make the deadline last year for the application but glad he got in.

When the principal (in navy) comes out to observe, you best make sure the streets are safe!

For Labor Day, we went to OC to check out some furniture shops and just hang around.

Someone fell asleep browsing furniture, haha. The boys want this kind of recliner; the mom is nixxing it.

Found Sasquatch in Orange County. ;-P

$400 Grinch Nike’s, anyone? From a vintage shop we stumbled on… They had some interesting items!

Soon he absolutely will not want to take a photo sitting on a heart swing. But this day, he still obliged, lol.

Then bought Singaporean food back home.

Fall sailing is in full swing!

We took a boat out to “spy” on the water. :)

Just a man and his dog SUP’ing, haha.

Another SpaceX launch.

They braved the new Ramen Nagi… went early but still a line.

Neighborhood playground #2 is open for play.

A Panda award. :)

Elementary school seems like a lifetime ago now but we had one last trip visiting several nat’l parks before 5th started, with our national park pass from Every Kid Outdoors.

We decided to fly into Eugene, OR (a big running town!) to make a driving loop through a few national parks. We landed and went to 5th Street Public Market for dinner.

Found Asian food at Provisions Market Hall.

Walked through some of the shops and boutiques.

We ended the evening with a walk through Hendricks Park.

Excited to spot wildlife at the park!

The next day, we visited the legendary Hayward Field at U of Oregon, home of many well-known track and field events.

Sadly, the stadium itself was closed but it was still cool to walk around the perimeter and on the turf.

Very cool architecture, too!

After, we walked across the street to the Museum of Natural and Cultural Campus, also part of the campus.

The museum wasn’t huge but quite well done and informational about the area.

Explored a bit more of the campus around the museum.

Mommy found a raw vegan cafe that was yummy!!!

Of course the boys had to balance healthy with a trip to Voodoo Doughnuts… (first discovered with Uncle Dan when we were in Portland).

We set out on our drive to Crater Lake with some stops along the way.

Office Covered Bridge — a historic covered bridge.

Tiny playground by the bridge.

Next stop was McCredie Hot Springs.

And boy was the water hot!

Walking through on the rocks without touching the water.

Pit stop to devour some of those VooDoo donuts we got in the AM.

Then off to encounter the first of several falls we got to see on this trip: Salt Creek Falls.

It was a short hike through the trees to get there

It did not disappoint!

Did a bit more hiking around the area.

Gnarly exposed roots.

Plus hanging by the cliff…

Randomly came across a Rivian charge station in the middle of nowhere! A few of our neighbors had ordered theirs so thought we’d show them when we got back.

Then checked into our hotel close to Crater Lake.

Behold the beauty of Crater Lake!

The blue of the water is just otherworldly.

Quick tailgate lunch before taking on the strenuous Watchman Trail down to Cleetwood Cove.

It’s not long but definitely a steep decline down to the water.

Had to stop to admire the azul of the waters (and for water and maybe catch a breath, haha).

The boys wanted to take a dip in the lake while Mommy just enjoyed quiet time on the rocks.

Underwater was apparently crystal clear…

And cold but refreshing!

And then Daddy decided to jump off a cliff for fun…

Post-jump…

It was until after we were about to head back up that Daddy discovered his Apple watch had taken a plunge into the lake w/o him realizing him during the splash… Womp, womp, womp. His excuse to get a new one. So yea, the watch is now at the bottom of Crater Lake!

On to see some of the other interesting rock formations.

Caught some more deer.

Sunset was golden.

We sat to drink it in while E finished his scavenger hunt.

A little casino close to our hotel… They let E walk to the restaurant inside, lol.

Then back on the road towards our next stop: Lassen. Mount Shasta in the background was nice.

Stopped for coffee at a little town we don’t remember and Daddy had some work to take care of.

Walked through the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden in Weed, CA. :P It was ironic that we flew out of CA into OR but then drove back into CA (waaaay north tho).

What is Asian American BBQ? :D It was closed so didn’t stop.

Weed town center, haha.

Library is a good sign.

Grabbed some food at a stand… it was triple digits at this point and we are no longer accustomed to this kind of heat!

Took our food to a nearby shaded park by the river for a little picnic. It was still HOT!!!

A little dip in the fresh spring water was nice. Lots of folks brought huge water containers to fill up on H20.

Then back on the road for some waterfall chasing…

And then… wow, BURNEY! It was a bit of a hike down and the temps dropped like 10-20 degrees.

It was a loop hike so got to see different things back up… as it also got warmer again, haha.

A different vantage point.

Daddy wants to do a looooong thru-hike on the PCT one day.

Poetry in nature, no better combo!

We got to Redding, CA and it was well over 100 degrees. Elias woke up the next morning not feeling well… we were thinking possibly heat exhaustion but not sure.

We had originally planned to do a full hike but E wasn’t feeling up to it.

We went part of the way…

Stepped on snow — in August! Then he started feeling really nauseous and we went back to the car.

Daddy and Monday took turns hiking to the geothermal areas while the other stayed with him in the car. He ended up falling asleep which was good.

It went from trees to lots of rocks.

And then smelled the sulfur before seeing it…

After both of us did the hike to the thermals, E woke up and felt a bit better and was able to walk to some areas around the car.

Drove to the ranger station and did the pledge (again) for the badge.

Can’t miss the sign!

Remnants from a previous fire.

Drove by Bethel on the way out. We are aware of some of the controversy but can’t deny that a lot of their songs have impacted the church.

Back on the road again towards Redwood National Park. Stopped at Turtle Bay.

Couldn’t resist another waterfall: Crystal Creek.

A little gimmicky but just had to. ;-)

Had some other unusual knickknacks/artifacts.

Camel Rock area and it was nice to be coastal, where it’s closer to weather we’re used to. (Yea, pretty spoiled now!)

E was happy to see some sailboats.

Made it to Redwood and so did this little minifig. :)

Fern Canyon — parts of Jurassic Park was filmed here.

The moss!

A dinosaur?

Really enjoyed just romping around.

Elk Meadow for… elk. :D

Battery Point Lighthouse and surrounding beach in Crescent City the next day. It was a cloudy, gloomy day and bummer the lighthouse was closed.

Walk on the pier…

Back into the other side of the nat’l park for more trees. :)

Inside a trunk.

Spotted this ‘lil guy.

Got some air with our jump photos… :)

Scary movie material?

Zombie.

The length of this fallen trunk!

The sign, always the sign. ;-)

Then we made some stops along the Oregon coast on the way back to Eugene.

Imagination in nature… back to the good old days.

Sunset!

Managed to catch a farmer’s market the next day before our flight home. Then found out our flight was rescheduled to the day AFTER school starts due to a “storm” brewing in SD. (A storm in SD is “heavyish” rain, lol). We decided to cancel our SW for credit and then booked one way on another airline so E wouldn’t miss first day.

Local fruit we got at the farmer’s market while waiting at the airport.

Bye, ducks! Maybe we’ll be back one day…

Our neighbor wanted to show us his brand new Rivian just as we got home… and we told him about the charger we happened upon.

What a trip! Now time to turn school mode on — bring it on, last year of elementary!

The various parks and pools/gym in our community are done. :)

HOA/builders threw a party celebrating with complimentary food trucks, drinks and other fun activities! Asians gonna be Asians and brought like alllll their extended families and relatives for the free food, hehe. Lines got pretty long.

Acai bowls, ftw!

Sno cones, too.

Zoo night for some of their special summer performances.

Fun bubbly finale for this show.

We didn’t attempt to get ComicCon tix this year but we took the train DT to see some of the fan fare surrounding the convention center.

Smashed avocado waffle @ a cafe we’ve been wanting to try.

Chamoy dole whip @ Belmont after some games and walking around.

Our annual kids bowl free @ Aztec lanes… becoming a tradition, seems like!

Free slushie on 7.11 @ 7-11. :)

A phone booth, what’s that? Checked out the arcade @ Corvette Diner.

Quick round of mini golf w/ some vouchers we had left from his golfing days…

Cinnamon roll pancakes?!

Happened on this Mexican-inspired donut shop.

Very cute graphics!

Fleet Science Center on a Resident Free Day for one of their new exhibits.

Tried a sailing camp at a different yacht club. Verdict: E likes his current one.

Good to be back at MBYC. Just feels like home…

Strength training is important for sailing! This made their insta, lol.

And right before 5th grade starts, we have our 4th grade national park trip to make good use of our free pass…

Walked around the wharf.

Daddy enjoyed seeing some vintage cars.

Running in the morn for Mommy was pretty glorious!

Those windswept cypresses. :)

Then of course the Monterrey Bay Aquarium! It was actually E’s first time.

Hadn’t seen these before! They were flashing/emitting light… Couldn’t quite capture it w/ a cam.

There were quite interesting, too.

Also new to us sea specimens.

The size of this crab!

The views all around couldn’t be beat.

Otters are always so playful and cute!

Loved spending the day @ the aquarium and we will definitely be back. :)

We strolled around Monterrey some more after the aquarium closed. Daddy of course couldn’t resist this local bakery.

Then we found Chinese food close to our hotel… that was surprisingly fairly legit! Drove to Cupertino that evening as Daddy had to be at HQ the next morn.

Back @ our fave coffee shop in the area — Nirvana Soul!

Ube mochi donut was one of their new pastries.

Then back to his beloved Hyperspace. :P

He hit the jackpot on the Nerf game.

500 tix!

Might just be back again this trip, hehe.

Grabbed some you tiao.

Amongst other Chinese food. :)

Found this other arcade. It was kinda outta the way and inside a sports center but worth visiting at least once.

This Meet Fresh right next to our hotel was insanely busy!

Extra taro is two pieces of taro, sadly.

Just chillin’ on our hotel patio.

Elias and Mommy took a drive to Santa Cruz the next day. Parking was a beating (even on a weekday) but we made it to the boardwalk…

Duh, he made a beeline for the arcade.

Then we played some indoor mini golf. Really enjoyed this course!

Played a few games…

Went to a ‘shrooms shop. Mommy was in heaven!

After that, we also checked out their local farmers market (a bit small), walked around downtown and while driving back, spotted a fire.

Really loved our hotel this time… It’s hard to book this one since it’s always full (from Apple employees visiting) so we were grateful we got it.

Kao fam made it into town and we ordered TW food and had dinner on the patio.

Hanging out with Ah-Gong like old times. :)

Fire pit turned on just as it started getting chilly.

First time having these berries… SO sweet but forgot the name of them.

Ah-Ma had plans with her friend and Uncle Dan & Auntie Jesse went to SF so E and Mommy visited a gallery in Palo Alto while Daddy was at the office.

Beautiful landscape art.

E enjoyed doing some drawing/sketching himself.

They had some interactive art stations and we spent forever trying to finish up the scavenger hunt looking for specific objects the in the paintings.

We grabbed drinks at Wanpo, which we don’t have in SD.

Then off to check out the Intel Museum @ their HQ.

Then we went to get fresh fruit at an orchard.

Spotted the cutest kitty!

Got into this sticker event after a crazy long line!

Lines appear to be common here… For SomiSomi? We can walk right in for the SD locations.

Golfland with Uncle Dan!

Did some reading in the hotel lobby…

Matcha for mommy, Italian soda for E to start our day at this cute plant cafe in Mountain View.

More drinks (later in the day).

Nice mural outside a natural foods store we went to in Palo Alto.

Then to some of the free museums on the Stanford campus… YO — Daddy’s initials. :)

This startled us a bit — sooo life-like!

Stanford’s Hoover Tower.

How do they keep the grass so green?

Another smaller gallery…

4th grade was all about monkey bars, with blisters to show… so he’ll take on bars just about anywhere. ;-P

Then met up with the fam at the Berryessa Flea Market.

Grabbed food from food trucks… some fairly authentic Mexican.

Walked around Japan Town for a bit. He can’t resist a claw machine.

Taiwanese for dinner! Then they were off to Yosemite the next day and SF to go back to TW. :( Grateful for the family time but sad to say goodbye as always.

Rose garden on Mommy and E’s last day as they had to go back early for a sailing camp E had.

One more Hyperspace visit w/ Daddy this time.

Went to the HQ store to see if there were any good products/gifts to pick up.

How creative is this? Made from air pods!

The SJC lounge is meh but we got to grab a bite before boarding.

Then Daddy had a couple of days to himself, mostly working but some food-ing, too… Singaporean food @ Killiney.

Otak otak!

And chicken rice…

Annnnd another line… for Salt & Straw. Again, no lines for us!

Katso sando the next day.

‘Til next time, Apple Park!

Then the day before school ended, the Kao family — including the newest member, Uncle Dan’s wifey — arrived. We were hoping they could come in August but they had some schedule limitations.

In front of our dirt lawn, haha. We’ve scheduled landscaping for September.

Uncle Dan enjoying the Oculus. ;-P

Brought some local eats back for them to try.

Took them to this Japanese/fusion resto with ocean views. And also known for character buns — these were matcha red bean turtles.

Duck ramen — Grandma and Y ordered.

Found a little shortcut to La Jolla Cove.

Auntie Glo does not like walking… we all took turns pushing her around in her wheelchair.

Everyone enjoyed feeding this little feller.

Working those quads on this steep incline. ;-P

Took them to Torrey Pines/Blacks Beach another day.

Uncle Dan and Y decided to take the sketchy (surfer) path down…

Can you spot Uncle Dan and Y? :)

Unintentionally and spontaneously was back on the Ho Chi Minh trail… arguably one of the hardest in SD.

The amount of scrambling required, hehe.

No filter on the beautiful color of that patch of rock with the sun shining on it!

On Thor’s throne. :)

After lots of scrambling, we made it… again. And it felt just as difficult as the first time.

But the views sure make it worthwhile.

On pins & needles whilst snapping photos, hehe.

Elias was running ahead on the trail and then fell hands first into some bushes and acquired a bazillion splinters. :(( ‘Twas not fun attempting to pull out as many as we could.

Coronado Island on another day to see the SD skyline.

They wanted to check out our community gym.

And a walk on our trails that are still being developed…

Uncle Dan saying niteynite. :)

Annie’s Canyon for another hike…

Pretty flowers were blooming.

Flowers on cacti are always interesting.

We did one loop and asked Uncle Dan if he wanted go for another… he opted out, lol.

Took them to the bunny cafe.

And Mommy’s fave completely GF resto. They really enjoyed the food!

We got a text that these two just happened to be at a park around the corner so we stopped by and played for a bit.

Stroll around Old Town the next day.

Blacksmithing demo.

J joined us for a Cowles hike before he was off to China.

These two were the first to the peak! We’ve trained them well. :))

Bidding their last farewells in the car… like they’ll see other in a couple of weeks, haha.

One of my Mommy’s fave coffee shops after a morning @ the Little Italy Farmers Market.

Uncle Dan wanted Jesse (wife) to try a crawfish/seafood boil. This ain’t Louisiana but we found a place! And the owners were from LA (as in Louisiana). :P

Experience was legit w/ the bibs. :)

Next stop: San Jose/Cupertino! Daddy needed to be there for a week for work so the Kao’s are driving up to join us. They wanted to do some side trips in NorCal like Monterey/Big Sur/SF/Yosemite anyway.

More to come…

They stayed in little tents.

Private evening tram ride.

Nature at its best!

They also did a nighttime guided tour through the park.

Evening games, dinner, campfire and s’mores before bedtime.

Rise and shine! Daddy said he was woken up pretty early by the roaring elephants.

They had a special viewing of the wildlife ambassador of the day — the cheetah, who did a few crazy fast runs, apparently too swift to catch on video!

Then they got the whole park to themselves for a bit before it was open to the public.

Scary eyes, haha.

Gorillas are always such a riot.

All in all, such a great program and experience!

Quiet little celebration…

Recital! He was SO nervous but played well — one of Mommy’s faves: Angel Eyes.

Then we swung by an AAPI fair… Fun to meet all the Asian creators.

Mother’s Day GF sweets and drinks.

Panda pride Principal’s award.

Long weekend drinks at the cutest plant cafe!

Then we did a day trip to Laguna. Visited some rescue seals and sea lions at The Pacific Marine Mammal Center.

Walked around the town center and of course couldn’t resist gelato.

Ukelele performance.

Uncle Ji (Mommy’s cousin) visited! This was actually our first time to meet his daughter, Joanna.

They came during May Gray but we got lucky and caught a clear sunset @ Torrey Pines. His wife’s wish for a Cali sunset was granted, yay!

Elias always be climbing around on the side. :)

Sunset picnics can’t be beat… ‘Til next time, Hsiao’s!

Rock climbing as usual!

To Mommy’s dismay, we are 2 for 2 coming across a snake on this trail. :(( But at least both times she avoided looking at them.

These two, on the other hand, were ecstatic to spot the slithering wildlife.

Daddy on the rock.

Spot the bovine?

Another J’s bday. :)

Always monkeying around, haha.