We had some Southwest vouchers to use up before they expired so for spring break, we decided to fly to our new state capitol and then drive to Tahoe/Squaw and see how the snow was up there. :) First time flying out of (and back into!) SD.

Straight to Tahoe. Everything was so GREEN!

Geared up and rarin’ to go.

The first day, a huge snowstorm hit. E still had his lesson but only a couple of lifts were open. Then they closed the whole mountain early due to lightning. :(

A little bummed but we got to walk around the village a bit and found a cool coffee shop.

Jumping in the snow. :)

Obligatory oversized-wooden-chair-at-ski-resort pic. Not many people were out so we didn’t have to wait. :)

Played Jenga and ping pong back at the lodge.

It snowed even more overnight so the next day was a glorious blanket of white!

E had lessons again so it was a mad dash to ride as much as the mountain as we could to make up for lost time. :P

See Lake Tahoe in the background?

Nature has a way of just leaving us speechless at times.

Then we boarded awhile w/ E towards the end of the day.

It started coming down pretty hard as we were walking back so these two decided to make a HUGE snowball and snowman.

We considered extending our time in Squaw another day but unfortunately couldn’t cancel our Sacramento hotel so it was bye-bye for now. Another round of drinks for the road. :)

The next day, it was time to explore the California State Capitol.

Inside was what was considered their museum. They had informative displays for each county in the whole state. Ours!

Met @ the Reagan statue for our tour guide. “Free” tour (paid for by our taxes, they joked).

The green Assembly Chamber.

And the rose Senate Chamber.

The guide was pretty entertaining with lots of interesting tidbits.

This bear was apparently purchased by Arnold Schwarzenegger as a gift to CA.

We strolled the park and gardens outside.

From the World Peace Rose Garden.

Vietnam Memorial.

E had lots of questions about war, why people fight and soldiers dying. Difficult but good conversations.

Memorial Grove, a tribute to the those who lost their lives in the Civil War.

Found a Taiwanese place for lunch.

“Bing”, of course!

We then wandered over to the Old Sacramento State Historic Park.

This riverboat on the waterfront is actually a hotel.

We still had quite a bit of daylight left so found a nearby park to run around. He requested hide and seek.

This monkey loves hanging and dangling.

They call this sculpture the alien tourist trailer. :D

Mommy got up early AM to run on the American River Trail.

It was enjoyable until…

The wild turkey that almost gave her a heart attack. :D Then a homeless old man comes cruising on a bike, right past the turkey without a blink of an eye. Said turkey wanders back into the wild, whew!

Beautiful Saturday morning to check out one of the area’s farmer’s markets. Not as big as some of the ones in SD but lots of fresh goodies. We saw these lion’s mane mushrooms we wish we could’ve brought back.

Our return flight was that evening so we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Powerhouse Science Center.

Fun challenges like build a structure to withstand a simulated earthquake…

Or tornado.

These digital sand maps are making an appearance at many a museum.

The museum seemed kind of small when we walked in but there was actually lots to keep us busy for a few hours. We also saw a short planetarium show.

Airport for our first flight “back home” to SD. We used to be super sad to go home after trips. Now, not so much. :)

Let the King of [our] hearts
Be the mountain where [we] run
…
Let the King of [our] heart
Be the wind inside [our] sails
The anchor in the waves
Oh oh, He is my song

‘Cause You are good
You are good, oh oh
You are good…

Oh yes, we see Him in these mountains, hills we run… and bike and hike. Our ‘hood from up high.

Spring has sprung!

Found this on one of the slopes behind us. How did they get that thing up there? But perfectly located to watch a sunset or sunrise.

The extra rains this year have turned everything GREEN!

Bloomin’ everywhere.

We decided to take a day trip to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park to catch the superbloom (which apparently only happens when it rains more than usual).

Stopped for a little bit in the historical, mining town of Julian. Also well known for their pies!

We’ll have to come back for their popular apple picking when in season.

In Borrego Springs, there were fields and fields of flowers with tons of folks frolicking in them. We found a quiet one to snap some photos.

However, we expected to see more of a variety — thinking the flowers around our parts might actually be prettier!

E was more interested in all the little insects we found.

On the way back home, we stopped at one of the trails in Mount Laguna to catch a delish sunset! It was incredibly wiiiiindy and nippy, though, especially at the fairly high elevation.

Went to the Japanese Friendship Garden Cherry Blossom Festival on a Resident Free Tuesday. :)

Zen!

Must point out that he is getting a hole in EVERY single pair of pants on only the left knee. Is he crawling around (one-legged?) at school??? :D

We had settled on a nice outdoor location for E’s birthday party: grassy area, nice views, playground, bathrooms, covered pavilion that could be rented, small beach by the bay. His birthday happened to fall on a Saturday this year so we decided to throw it day of. As mentioned in the previous post, Elias’ uncanny kinship to rain on important occasions reared its ugly fair head again but all is well in that we were able to reschedule to the following week and most were able to still make it.

No surprise that our Lego fanatic requested a Ninjago theme. We didn’t spend quite as much time on this one as his 1st but did enjoy a small dose of creative event planning. :)

We designed a digital invitation (paperless strong!) and a link to it on his website.

On the menu:

We made these food tents but it turned out to be super windy on that day so we actually had to tape down the labels. Oh well, kindergartners don’t care, right? And at least no rain!

The “snake fangs” container got a Ninjago face lift, haha.

The wind also affected the table covers so we kinda just stopped fooling with them after awhile. Very bare decorations (as in almost zilch besides Ninjago plates, Ninjago table cover (that kept flailing), brick platters and napkins) — we had considered balloons with Ninjago faces but the city’s Parks and Rec doesn’t allow them as they understandably didn’t want them floating into the water and possibly harming animals.

Kiddos started showing up and they wasted no time in playing!

After some food and free play, we assembled them for a 2-part ninja challenge that would deem them worthy to participate in the Ninjago Lego build. :)

Mischievous Sensei Yu imparting the mission. :P

The first charge involved the practice of Ninja star throwing. And to play the part, gotta look the part, right?

Shoutout to Daddy for folding like 30 of these — they also got to keep them after the game. Loved the origami paper and the masks were just too funny on the kids.

There they go!

The second task called for chopsticks — and picking up tiny origami folded stars (saved “confetti” from our wedding — can’t forget Chrissie who folded like thousands of these for us!) from one cup to another.

B-day boy needed a crash course on chopstick usage. :-P (Six, time to learn chopstix, haha!)

Alas, everyone passed the ninja challenge and it was time for the mini build.

We thought a boat would be appropriate and everyone started intently building.

All the parents were like, they are SO quiet!

With a bit of collaboration, adult help and flying tiny parts, all boats were complete! Cole + airboat:

Of course they all rushed off with build in hand to play with them in the grass, sand and playground. They roamed {wild} for a bit and then we congregated them again for cake.

The boat appeared in several cake photos. :)

Daddy made a little speech thanking guests for coming, becoming part of our community as we transitioned to our new lives here.

The cake wasn’t quite as elaborate as his first one (no Auntie Angeline here, boo). We ordered it from a local grocery store (recommended by SD moms for their cakes) with a custom edible photo printed on it and then enhanced it ourselves with this very cool Ninjago cake scene set (also edible — made with wafer paper!).

The wind decided to pick up right @ cake time so the background scene on the cake kept blowing over. :( We took a pic of it later with leftover cake for posterity:

(Daddy ended up eating the whole dang thing!)

Took quite a few tries to get all the candles lit.

Holding up the box to shield the wind.

WHOOOOOOOO.

Requests on particular toppers and which part of the cake (ie: Lloyd’s butt???) they wanted to eat were aplenty. :P We did our best in accommodating all, haha.

These two win the most-passionate-about-and-ate-the-most-cake awards. :) Oh, and party favors make a sneak appearance here.

Favors consisted of brick/block boxes with Ninjago faces affixed, Ninjago lollipops that we made, custom designed miniature candy bars, connectable brick erasers and stackable pencil sharpeners.

Close-up of the chocolate bars:

Wrapper design:

Mommy and E had fun assembling them:

These three played ’til it was dark (and chilly) and still did not want to leave! Another full circle story: we ran into their family last March @ LAX when Mommy had to go to TW. Their dad is actually the bro of one of our friends in Dallas! At the time, we had only been thinking about (wishing, praying) to move to SD. Shortly after that, through a sequence of total God-sized orchestrations, our move became a reality. We remember hanging out w/ them @ the airport, totally uncertain about our future and seeking His face about next steps. And here we are, a year later, playing on green pastures by the waters. :) On top of that, they go to the same Mandarin school. The Lord comes through and desires to give good things to His children, though sometimes that period of trusting and faithfulness seems soooooo long and laborious. But oh the sweetness of looking back and seeing His hand holding ours through the process and the journey.

Okay, so enough sappy stuff… Ninjago Birthday Party: Mission Accomplished? We hope so! Seemed like everyone had a good time (and told us so). We’re thinking birthday parties just once every few years but happy that his first real one turned out well and we’re so grateful to celebrate with new friends, neighbors, classmates and parents.

Lastly, we e-mailed personalized thank you cards to each guest that looked similar to the invite. (In the blank area was a custom message).