now i have something to blog about!

my nephew, jude, celebrated his birthday at great america today.  michelle had a slight temperature last night but i didn't want to disappoint her by just staying home when she knows her kuyas are going to be out.  i gave her a dose of tylenol before bed last night and another one after breakfast this morning and off we went to santa clara.

michelle had a blast!  she rode all the rides that would allow kids her size.  there was one ride that she had to ride all by herself.  i kept asking her as we waited in line, 'sweetheart, are you sure you want to ride here?  mommy can't sit with you...'  ako ang kinakabahan e.  she rode by herself and she felt like a big kid!   we also rode a 'kiddie rollercoaster' which i have to admit kinda scared me more than it scared her!  after that rollercoaster, the other rides didn't give her that same rush of adrenaline...she actually looked bored.  she also rode a go kart with me and she kept saying, 'faster mommy!  faster!'  sabi nya the go kart was her favorite daw and the rollercoaster.   

i am not a fan of theme parks (except disneyland, looooove disneyland!) but after seeing how happy my daughter was with this trip, i'm pretty sure more theme park adventures are in store for us this spring and summer.  

carmel and pebble beach

we took a drive down to beautiful carmel and pebble beach today. it was a cold but clear day. here are some pictures:

vacation/staycation: portland

michelle and i had a pre-planned vacation in portland prior to my accepting my new job. we arrived monday and our friends claire and jacob joined us from friday to sunday. here's a run down of where we went and what we did:

day 1: friday, historic columbia river highway, the grotto, and international rose test garden

we drove on the historic columbia river highway to see the beautiful columbia river gorge and the many waterfalls that line this stretch of road, most notably, the multnomah falls. the gorge is beautiful! napapa 'God is good' ako sa ganda ng view from the top of the mountain. we've been to multnomah several times before but it was our first time driving down the historic highway where there are several stops to see the gorge. the photo does not do the gorge justice. mas maganda sya sa personal!

after our drive, we went to the grotto and the international rose test garden. the grotto's gardens up the mountain was very pretty and well maintained. the grotto was really peaceful, too, except for a rowdy bunch of people who were chatting it up inside the meditation chapel. (oo kami yon! hehehe ang ingay namin sinita kami ng matandang babae na nagmemeditate ng binabasa nyang nursery rhymes...seryoso!)

after the grotto, we went to international rose test garden. buti nalang meron pang roses. two more weeks and there would be nothing but dead flowers. claire and jacob managed to see several gorgeous roses and a few more that smelled as wonderful as they looked.

day 2: saturday, oregon coast (seaside, cannon beach, tillamook)

it was a rainy saturday morning but we braved the rain and drove some 50 miles to seaside where the town was abuzz because of the hood to coast relay that was being held there. we had lunch at fultano's for amazing pizza and buffalo wings that were so good, they made jacob cry. =) because of the event, there were too many people and not enough to see or do so we drove to cannon beach to meet with our friends gracious and jay. we had a beautiful view of haystack rock and we all took a stroll along the beach. the sand was warm beneath our feet so we didn't mind the cold ocean water that softly swept the beach.

after cannon beach, off to tillamook we went for a tour of the tillamook cheese factory which is really just an excuse to eat some tillamook ice cream. sarap!!! oh, the cheese wasn't bad either (i really like their smoked black pepper cheese need to look for it when we go back home). the tour was pretty much non-existent...so really, it was all about the ice cream. small world, we bumped into paul's pregnant co-worker at the factory where she was having her ice cream fix.

next stop was a short shopping trip at nordstrom rack to take advantage of oregon's zero sales tax. then dinner at zab for some really good thai food.

day 3: sunday, woodburn premium outlet and japanese garden

zero sales tax is too good a deal to pass up for bay area folks who pay almost 10% for anything they buy. so we went to woodburn for amazing deals at north face. jackets at 40% and no sales tax! (i really should stop saying no sales tax!) sobrang mura kaya go, go, go!

after woodburn we went to the japanese garden. the garden is beautiful and i highly recommend going there during the different seasons so you can see how the plants change in color throughout the year. in the summer, the plants are a luscious green. when we first went in the winter, the mist and the fog added mystery to the already tranquil garden. i can't wait to see the burst of color in the spring and the fall.

we were supposed to go to the waterfront park before heading off to the airport to drop of the newly weds but the car's passenger window broke and wouldn't close so we can't drive off somewhere and leave the car vulnerable to thieves. we went home where the boys attempted to fix it without success. gracious and jay came to our rescue and dropped claire and jacob off to the airport. paul has scheduled an appointment first thing tomorrow morning to get the window fixed before we park it at the airport tomorrow.

that pretty much sums up our portland vacation. michelle and i will be back in the winter for some skiing and snowboarding. nyahaha!

will post pictures after i get them from claire. =D

avenue of the giants

we drove more than 200 miles north to see the biggest trees in the world, located right here in california. it was well worth the long and exhausting day trip. the beauty and majesty of these trees makes me want to go on more hikes. (magiging outdoor-sey type na ako???)

michelle's tantrum at 430 am this morning nearly threw me into a fit. (we are so much alike sa ugali, di lang kami magkamukha). but she made up for it by being a perfect angel during the long drive.

we wanted to go to eel river for a quick wade but the drive was just too long and we have to pick up my mom from work so we had to head back to civilization before dark.

we went to spiral for dinner and we are now waiting for the fireworks to start on tv.

happy birthday, USA!!!

this is our car driving thru the chandelier tree

cars easily drive thru, SUVs like this need to fold their side mirrors

the tree is believed to be no older than 2,400 years old


a chunky monkey trying to climb a giant redwood

isn't she just the cutest? (haha!)

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this is infront of the Giant Tree

52 feet circumference

at least something has a bigger waist than mine!

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by the creek

memorial day

i want to say thank you to all the men and women who bravely serve in the military to protect our citizens, our country, and the world. my salute to all those who died in battle for the sake of freedom. in the words of general mcarthur, 'old soldiers never die, they just fade away...' your sacrifice will always be remembered.

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we went on our annual cherry picking and picnic yesterday. daming food! busog busog nanaman. it was a beautiful day in brentwood and livermore, a great escape from the thick fog that covered daly city for most of the day.

here are our photos.

mt. hood

snowy mt. hood proved to be too cold for me. we went on sunday and the drive was longer than our playtime in the snow (almost a 2 hour drive, and only 20-30 minutes in the snow!). while we were all bundled up, our gloves were not meant for making snow balls. our hands were freezing after 20 minutes and i thought out loud, 'this is what frost bite feels like!' we went back to the car and back to portland before our fingers fell off.

michelle obviously had fun, just look at her smile!

pero mas malaki ang ngiti ng ama while sliding down the slope on the tube.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

this our (mine and michelle's) first 'major' snow fall. the images were taken outside our portland apartment.

michelle really enjoys playing the snow. ako naman i still prefer playing in the sand in a nice warm beach over playing in the snow. =) but this kind of weather is good every once in a while. =)

south lake tahoe

we went to south lake tahoe for the weekend. michelle wanted to see snow but there's hardly any snow in the area. she was not completely disappointed though.

california academy of sciences

we bought a membership to the new california academy of sciences which gives us unlimited visits for one year. we want to take michelle there frequently and get her interested in the sciences.

since paul is here this weekend, we braved saturday's the pouring rain, thinking that many of the visitors would be deterred by the downpour. we were wrong! the parking garage was full and the museum was packed! we didn't get to see everything since it was so crowded but michelle had fun looking at fish and dinosaur skeletons. she's into dinosaurs right now. she would ask me to look for tv shows that feature dinosaurs (and no, not the cartoon kind but the jurassic park type of dinos) and she would watch them even if they are an hour long.

the cal academy building is one of the most eco-friendly buildings in the world (read more here) and it's a great place to take kids and get them curious about the world around them. here are some of the photos we took at the academy. more photos in future visits.

mini-moon

paul and mimie's 3rd anniversary mini-moon

a beautiful day in san francisco

we were blessed with another beautiful day here in san francisco so we went to bi-rite creamery for some ice cream and a stroll at dolores park.

she's finally gotten over her fear of walking (even touching) sand.