Amyblog

HAPPY LEAP DAY!!!

Since starting this blog, I've only written on leap day once before. Once was a month before my daughter was born! Here is a list of all the leap years past. But on this leap day, I want to tell you about news, I'm sure you've probably heard of, SpaceX is coming to San Pedro. Now, there are several reasons I'm excited about this news. Not only because SpaceX is endeavoring to build the Mars spaceship, which is pretty darn amazing, but because of what it will do to the little city of San Pedro. We live only about 10 miles northwest of this little port city.

Already, we've been seeing tons of revitalization efforts in the last five years. We enjoy dining at The Whale & Ale, a fantastic little British pub with very autentic food. Right next door is a quaint little book shop called the Grand Emporium Music-Books-Movies. Then, immediately next to that is a lovely little French restaurant, Compagnon with comforting French country dishes. All around the area there are other little gems and restaurants we have yet to discover. Granted, like all LA up-and-coming towns, there are bits of rough patches. There are certain areas that still need cleaning up. Which is why I am excited by SpaceXs' move to San Pedro. They will surely attract tons of young professionals demanding hip eateries, coffee shops, theaters, and neighborhood markets. These Millenials will surely clean up the city and make it fabulous. I can't wait to see more transformations and enjoy more restuarants and shops. If you are in town, San Pedro will be worth a visit. Check out the amazing wall art we walked by in San Pedro!

Posted on February 29, 2020

PRESIDENTS' DAY

I am constantly learning to live and I constantly live to learn. I can never stay away from a university for too long. So when we had a day off, I wanted to take the kids up to UCLA for some relaxing fun. The kids brought their skateboard and scooter and had tons of fun at different parts of campus. Eventhough it was Presidents' Day, Kerckhoff Coffee House on campus was open. There were actually more people on campus than I had expected. Kepler got some attention, which he loved. Walking around campus brought back tons of wonderful memories of my graduate school days. Then, quite suddenly, I had the strangest feeling of wonder. Twenty years ago, I would never have guessed that there would be two people running down Bruin Walk who are my children! Overall, it was a lovely day. Before heading home, we picked up some cookies from Diddy Riesefor the kids and some tiramisu from Elysee Bakery for me. Enjoy the pictures and this little video of the kids riding down a gradual hill on their rides.

Posted on February 23, 2020

HAPPY SPRING!

After spending three days in Denver with snowy weather and temperatures hovering around 20 degrees for a high, I was so ready to enjoy some warm LA air! We stayed local this year for the long Presidents' Day weekend and so what's better than hiking along the coast? Pretty much nothing. We decided to try out a new hike, the Rattlesnake Trail, in Rancho Palos Verdes.

The trail was a moderate one, only because you have to hike down a pretty steep way to get to the pretty Eucalytus Trail. But the scenary more than makes up for it. The temperature that weekend was perfect, mid 60's, with gorgeous blue skies. We packed a few snacks, I even let the kids bring a few Valentine's Day candies, and ate them by the Eucalytus trees. Enjoy my pictures and hope you're starting to get some warm sunshine where you live!

Posted on February 22, 2020

HAPPY ALMOST SPRING!

I am not very fond of business travel and have tried to minimize it. It's very hard on Mr. BAW and the kids when I have to be away. Much of our routine is disturbed and Kepler also gets less attention. But occasionally, it's unavoidable. This month, I had to take a business trip to Denver for three days. Normally, Denver is a lovely place to visit, but not always in February. I was plenty nervous about the weather leading up to the trip, checking the forcast everyday. It was about an hour drive from Denver airport to my hotel so I was hoping for nice weather. But if you've ever visited Denver, you'd know that the weather is practically unpredictable.

As luck would have it, it started to snow two hours before I landed and things just go worse from there. I landed at 5pm local time, and still had to get a car rental. I told the clerk at the car rental place that I've never driven in the snow before so he decided to give me the latest Ford Edge, telling me that it's a great small SUV for the snow. So I braved the falling snow and found the car only to be completely shocked that I had no idea how to drive it. Ha, it has been over ten years since I've bought a car. I guess technology has advanced and I've been left behind! The gear stick has now been replaced by a shift knob and I couldn't even figure out how to disengage the foot brake. So needless to say, I was not about to figure it all out in a blizzard and try to find my own way to my hotel an hour's drive away at night. So I had to go back into the car rental place and embarrassingly asked for an "old school" car.

Well, long story short, I made it to my destination safely. But it was very challenging! I could barely see the lines on the freeway, visibility was maybe a quarter of a mile. Thankfully, the roads were prettty quiet, with only a few other cautious drivers for me to follow. Miraculously, I got to my hotel safely and I abandoned my plan to hit Target before getting to the hotel. I ended up getting water and dinner at the hotel.

The next several days in Denver brought more snow and I had to scrape snow off my windshield for the first time ever. I also got to witness a plane de-icing for the very first time. It was definitely an interesting trip, to say the least. Here are a few pictures I took on the trip, the snow does look beautiful...from a distance!

Posted on February 21, 2020

KAUAI

Just like that, January snuck by! The highlights of January include Kepler's first birthday and Buzz's very first school dance!! I can't believe that Kepker is officially one year old. He's still very much a baby but he's also a 65lb baby. He still has more growing and maturing to do. But he's a very good boy and very social. His favorite thing to do is to play with other dogs. Unlike Toby, who used to sit between my legs when I took him to the dog park, Kepler is the first to run over to his doggie friends and the last to be dragged home. At home, he's super loving and likes to be with us all the time. We can't imagine life without the big bear.

Although Ahgoo and Mr. BAW attended last year's Sweetheart dance at the elementary school, Buzz never indicated any desire to attend. SO I never bugged him about it. I figured I'd make him go in fifth grade, his last year at the school. But this year, we happened to be free on that day and I thought it'd be fun if we all went. So we double dated, Daddy and Ahgoo, Buzz and I. We had a fun time, a few of Buzz's friends were there, although it was definitely more girls and Daddys.

Before we move on to 2020, I have more pictures to share with you from our Hawaii trip last November. This set of pictures are from Kauai. Kauai is definitely a quiet little island. It is pretty good for young families, there are practically no night life. The island is pretty quiet in terms of shopping or places of interest. Much of the activities we did were beach and and hiking. Oh, and the wild chickens gave me endless amusement. They were literally all over the island, on the beach, by the waterfall, and even in the parking lot of a supermarket. Enjoy the last of my Hawaii trip pictures!