After Disney, the Ong’s came to check out our new ‘hood in SD.

Grandparents stayed w/ us and X spent the night on the weekend when E didn’t have school. We got them all Storm Trooper jammies but didn’t get to catch a pic of the 4 kiddos together.

Serious Lego play deep into the night (and then morn!). :)

Leisurely brunch @ the La Jolla Open Aire Market.

And then of course LJ Shores & Cove/Children’s Beach.

Lovely evening stroll through Balboa Park. (They did some of the museums on another day).

In front of the Old Globe. Found out Dr. Seuss lived most of his life in SD and his wife recently passed away. :(

BIL totally enjoyed a round of golf at the coveted Torrey Pines Golf Course.

It’s next to the Gliderport.

And the stunning cliffs we can fall in love with over and over again. :)

A stop at the SD Central Library (Daddy needed some Wi-Fi for work matters).

We highly recommended the U.S.S. Midway and though we didn’t join, they had a good time exploring. It was nice seeing the ship again dropping grandma and grandpa off for a visit.

They call this the “hot dog”. :P

Dinner at Water Grill. Hehe, they were the only kids in the entire resto.

Bros said farewell as their family left first for the rest of their road trip through Cali.

Took the grandparents to the Little Italy Mercato farmer’s market and finally got to try this place walking back to the car. Grandma loves her sweets!

He called dibs on the “gold flakes”.

Surfin’ Santa (totally Cali style!).

Kringle Mingle in Cardiff.

The cutest Camera Camper!

Then took them to Del Mar for the sunset while waiting for a tree lighting. He wanted to go to his usual playground @ Powerhouse Park.

Reindeer Lego build.

A walk through the La Mesa Holiday Village after dinner.

Christmas in the Valley @ Bate’s Nut Farm on the way to San Bernardino to drop off grandparents at Great Uncle’s house.

The SD Mountain Bike Association set up a really fun bike course for the little humans.

Then someone arrived while they were chomping away. (See background).

An unexpected greeting (and candy cane) from Santa!

He’ll take on any ramp. :)

‘Til next time, Mama & Gong Gong!

Met the Ong family @ Disneyland over Thanksgiving break!

Cousins united.

Got the character dining experience @ Goofy’s Kitchen.

There was a dance party every few minutes.

Minnie just does not age. :)

Oh, the dessert spread!

We celebrated Xander’s 6th birthday!

And our anniversary, kinda. :)

Which one are you: C or D?

Yup, the dab is becoming a common occurrence, egged on by Daddy.

First morning walk through Downtown Disney on the way to the park.

He was super stoked for this ride.

We maxed out our time during the Magic Morning hour and we pretty beat by like 9am? A leisurely ride on the monorail sounded pretty inviting…

Also, we may have scarred him a bit by going on Space Mountain so early in the AM. Mommy felt she was getting a bit too old for these kinds of rides, too, while Daddy was having the time of his life. :D

The decorations for “It’s a Small World” were so intricate and lovely.

YES!

Hey, Walt.

The twins, Alfie and Lexie, had to take naps in the afternoon so Xander hung out with Elias.

All the shows were SO good.

And the parade just really gets you in the holiday spirit…

It was convenient staying @ one of the park resorts and walking right in. The rooms had a lot of neat little Disney touches, too.

His own store. ;)

California Adventure Park — the kiddos may have actually enjoyed it more cuz of the recognizable Pixar characters.

Doing this ride first @ DCA may have been a mistake, hehe.

How in the world did Gong Gong film the whole ride without dropping his phone (@ 80+ yrs old!)??? And we label this photo “The Scarring #2”. :D

Woody, you’ve grown?!

Took Gong-Gong to Radiator Springs. :))

Yo Lightning McQueen.

And Mater!

Girls vs. Boys on Radiator Springs Racers. Ladies were victorious!

When some (ahem, majority) of the parents don’t want to do the going around in circles rides, who steps in? Grandpa!

Toy Story Mania was a fave for all of us. Too bad we didn’t to go on it a 2nd time — 90+ minute wait times rest of the day, ugh!

Took a break for lunch and checked out the Boudin Bakery.

Princess Elena, um, we’ve never heard of you? Haha.

Doc McStuffins and friends dance party.

Spidey!

Ralph, what huge hands you have.

Street show.

Frozen is a must see.

Nice little reminder/mantra.

A welcomed little distraction while we waited forever for Soarin’ Around the World (WITH a MaxPass!).

It was totally worth it, though, and we rounded the night waiting to ride it a second time with everyone together.

A walkway, too?

And sign? Lol.

In our lobby. E ended up not wanting to ride this (the real one) after the Space Mountain scare, hehe. Xander did, though.

Cousin love.

Grandparent spoilage on the last day. “Early Christmas presents”.

All (somewhat tired) smiles before heading to SD…

‘Til next time, Happiest Place on Earth!

… more and more in love w/ our fine city! (“America’s Finest”, they say? We believe!)

Though the weather doesn’t fluctuate a whole lot, we are enjoying a bit more crisper temps with it technically being autumn. First time @ Pumpkin Station in Del Mar.

“Won” some swords. They generously gave 2.

Kylo Ren goes trick or treating @ the International Cottages in Balboa Park. Each one was so unique to their own countries.

Kylo @ costume day @ school.

The boyz gang.

Mao Laoshi’s class.

It was like a block party on Halloween in our neighborhood. Everyone was out. What a blast! “Woody” is his best friend on our street.

The haul, sorted. Believe it or not, he ate like 5 pieces max? The Daddy tax, on the other hand, was quite high… ;-P

Fantastic Beasts event at a new to us library.

With some wildlife outside… The owls were quite interesting to meet up close.

He touched that sssssslitherin’ reptile behind before this photo. Ewwww! :D

Scootered by the boardwalk to get to the Carlsbad Fair. Parking was atrocious! Think it’s the largest street fair in the nation so gotta visit at least once, right?

Worked up a hunger just getting there.

Daddy wanted to try a supercharger on the way back so we refueled at a healthy cafe inside an Equinox, which was right next door.

Finally got to visit the Mission Trails visitor center near our place.

Legoland on a day off from school. Decided to get the season pass as E is a zealous, budding master builder. :)

The Star Wars displays weren’t there the last time we came (still as tourists!).

So really, we can come as many times as we want until 2020? He fo sho will be back!

Stumbled across a new snow place, after running into some neighbors over lunch. Full circle story — we met them while house hunting back in April. They were looking at the same community as us. We ended up buying and moving in before them as they just closed not long ago and then the day we ran into them, found out they lived in Singapore for the past several years.

The chalk mural was very well done.

When school’s out and the kid wants to play but you want to stare at the waves and appreciate a sunset… :)) And the weather is still perfect.

A fireball of creation, indeed. ;))

And kinder, semester I photos. (Cheeeeeeeezzzzee!)