Long weekend trip kicked off with hot drinks on the way up to LA. Fun branding (that only one member of our household would notice)!

Dessert! ‘Cuz priorities, right?

E’s grass jelly w/ green tea ice cream.

And guess whose DURIAN infused (ice cream et al) grass jelly?

Straight to Nathan Sawaya’s Lego exhibit at the California Science Center, which we’ve been quite a few times. His works were SO GOOD — many recreations of notable works of art: brought back fond memories of art history for Mommy. And can you imagine over 100 million bricks were used to create more than 100 sculptures?!

So many profound quotes sprinkled throughout… He really is not only an artist but a thinker, poet, writer.

His endangered species section was in collaboration with a photographer who then placed his Lego animals in actual habitats and took photos of them — what a marriage of social issues, the environment, art and life.

His mimicry of each one was a hoot. :)

Overlooking Gong Gong’s former MBA alma mater: USC! (And some regret/FOMO from G about turning down a full ride there after h.s. graduation… for a not-so-validating reason.) Don’t we all sometimes wonder about what might have been’s?

Strolled through the lovely rose garden.

Daddy had to charge up the car so we stopped in this neat warehouse district and browsed some shops with lots of independent makers.

Takeout from Pine and Crane. Sorta Americanized TW fare but so very popular…

The next day, we went for a WB Studios tour. They were running a SoCal residents special and E seemed a bit interested in film making after several weeks of film camp.

Anyone can guess the sets of these?

Name that talk show!

Does Ellen not get crazy hot with all these cams on her???

The iconic orange couch in front of the fountain!

THE coffee shop. :)

Who remembers this?

Follow me flossing. :))

Daddy trying to dub in Singlish, lah. :P

Caved in and let him “act” in a little Batman clip… He knows all about green screens from camp!

Interesting CRA fashion exhibit.

Maybe the safest room in the building? Haha.

Wizardry lessons.

He loves comic books so seeing all these covers was cool.

I’d like to thank my amazing parents… ;-P

We really enjoyed the tour!

Avo toast and acai bowls (not pictured — cinnamon rolls) before hitting the road.

Stopped in Irvine for drinks (fresh taro milk!) and takeout before heading home.

Still not really doing any dining in @ restos… so “fine dining” ’tis on our kitchen counter.

Just a quiet Sunday afternoon when Daddy had a league game… explored a lesser known path with stellar views.

Oldest archaeological site in SoCal.

Still ever grateful to reside in such a lovely city!

Back to school boogie bash with the boys. :) It also works out that the parents all get along so well and are friends, too.

One last Legoland afternoon trip before school starts… Getting too old for this ride?

First day photo — at home, by our doorway for a change. Everyone is happy to be fully back (masks and all)!

Why, oh why does Mommy spend an unnecessary amount of time on these back-to-school signs that are flashed for like a few seconds? :) The disturbing life of a designer… :P

They go to school for a week and then 3-day weekend for Labor Day — we’re off to LA for a sort of b-day trip for Mommy… except planned activities mostly for E: Lego art exhibit, WB Studios tour, foooood. :) Happy son, happy life? :))

We ended the summer with a trip to Big Sur (bucket list item crossed off!), SLO and some other Central Coast sights… Warning: mega post — combed through so many photos, finding it difficult to pick and choose. :)

We thought OstrichLand would be a bit gimmicky but it’s definitely worth a stop if you’re in the area. These creatures are peculiarly interesting!

E really enjoyed feeding them though their eating habits were pretty wacky and abrupt.

What’s up? Ostrich butt. :D

Hey, good lookin’.

We then drove into the Danish town of Solvang to walk around… The boys wanted Danishes of course and Elias tried on clogs. :)

Spent the night in San Simeon right by the ocean. It was dark by the time we got in but we took a stroll by the waves in the morn. Where’s E?

As we made our way into the Big Sur area, we couldn’t miss the Elephant Seal Rookery… by sound and smell, lol.

They were some sunbathing and we also spotted many of them in the ocean, swimming, dancing, playing.

E loved this stop and just marveling at these mammals, despite the stinkiness.

The young man and the sea. :)

So many beautiful pullout spots along Highway 1 + Big Sur.

Camera angles here, we promise!

Doing the floss amid a lovely backdrop because why not?

Daddy loves living life on the edge!

A hike down to a little beach.

Have rock, will climb… for E. Always!

Have little rocks, will throw. Always!

The black dots on the rocks are birds and all their poop!

Skipping you know what!

Some bush whacking to get close to the water.

Where the boys at? E doing his billy goat thang!

The iconic Bixby!

We spent the night at Carmel-by-the-Sea — strolled by the water and shops. Then the next day, we drove the other direction back for stops that we missed driving up…

Pfeiffer Beach had like an hours long line via the single dirt road down the day before so we came back when it was less crowded.

The water was cooooold.

But he loved chasing the tides, nonetheless.

McWay Falls!

And through the tunnel to get to the vista point…

When you think of you’ve already seen the prettiest sunsets…

Big Sur, you did not disappoint. Seriously just a slice of heaven!

Made our way to SLO. The most delish superfood lattes and vegan, GF donuts the next morn…

Walked around the Avila area for a bit… considered kayaking but in the end didn’t feel like getting wet that day.

Hiked down to a little cove.

Stopped by Avila Barn for some snacks, souvenirs and fed the animals.

Hey donkey, need a trip to the dentist? :p

Went to Avila Beach for a meal and this huge flower sno-cone that he delicately tried to eat in the car before it melted…

ATV’ing at Oceano Dunes! Found out later that they are likely ending this soon so glad we got the opportunity to try it.

E was a bit fearful at first but caught on pretty quickly…

Got stuck in the drops quite a few times and Daddy had to bail Mama and son out.

Daddy blazed off and did his own thing for awhile while Mommy and E tried to stay on flatter ground.

It really was super fun and quite an experience!

Fun little animated gif. :)

First time riding a bus by the ocean! We had to take it to get the starting point for the dunes which is a ways away and then again back to the parking lot.

On our last day, we went to check out Morro Rock and the bay around it.

Spotted lots of sea otters!

They are playfully swimming just beyond…

A huge rock cairn garden!

Most impressive volcanic plug…

‘Til next time, Morro!

Did the usual get awesome Chinese food in LA on the way back… Gotta love the {Chinese} name of this resto! Hopefully you won’t get called out on animal abuse, lol. J/K.

Pai goo fan in the car… ‘cuz we fancy schmancy like that. :))

And then Mommy’s favorite – hot grass jelly at Health Station!

Look at those taro chunks. ;-)

Just a bit left of summer break and then it’s back to (in-person!) school…