After a rainy winter, the hillsides of Southern California have turned green!!  As the temperatures climb, we ventured out for a little hike in our local area.  The city still has signs up that says "Brown is the new green" but they should take them all down because green is back in style again!  We had a relaxing time hiking by the ocean.  We were hoping to spot some whales because this is whale season.  But we weren't lucky enough to see any on this hike.  It was still a lovely day.  

In other news, we are ramping up for a HUGE home improvement project that will likely take a year.  We've been planning this since last Spring with an architect, general contractor, and a designer.  Now, after a year, we're finally ready to break ground.  I'm nervous but excited to finally get started.  Life will be hard for the next six months, at least.  But when it's all done, we will never do another remodeling project as long as I live, at least not one of this scale again!  

Also in other random news...after 40+ years, I started to like, more like love eating pickled ginger!!  You have to understand that up until a month ago, I've always hated, hated, hated ginger!  I hated the taste and texture and smell of ginger.  I literally spent over 40 years avoiding ginger.  Then about a month ago, something in my brain changed.  I started to like the crunchiness of pickled ginger while eating sushi.  Next thing I know, I'm hording it at sushi restaurants, buying it from Asian markets, and literally eating pickled ginger with anything I can find, including with Mexican food!!  Um...before you go there, no we're not expecting.  I've always known that our taste buds change with age.  Children loves sweets but will grow to like more bitter flavors as they grow.  But for me to make a complete 360 degree change towards ginger...is that normal?  In any case, ginger's a real health food right?  Haha, I hope so since I've been eating it every day!

Ok, enough random thoughts, I've got to go stress over Ahgoo's fifth birthday party!  Enjoy the pictures from our hike from last weekend!

Happy be-lated PI day!!  I didn't eat any pie on PI day but I explained to the kids the significance of 3.14.  Hope you had a good PI day.  The other week, we went to visit the kids' great aunt and she told Mr. BAW and I to take a walk around the neighborhood before coming back for lunch.  She and the kids then surprised us with our likeness in food!  So cute, the kids were super excited to show us their art work.  Such a cute little activity for young kids!  Plus, it's totally appropriate for us since Mr. BAW and I are "foodies."  By the way, can you tell which one is me?  Yes, the one with black hair.  Oh, and don't assumed that they ate everything...they only ate the egg and pear.  I ate all the olives and other stuff. :-)

It's no secret that I love universities.  But I also love science museums and aquariums!  Last month, we took a "wiki" trip (i.e. a very quick trip) to Arizona to visit the In-Laws.  Though it was a short visit, we packed a lot in!  One of my favorite part of the trip was our visit to the Odysea Aquarium in Scottsdale.  I was pleasantly surprised by how fun this small aquarium is.  I've been to many aquariums, including the one in Monterey (which I think is still the most amazing).  But this one packs in a lot for a compact aquarium.  There is even a rotating theater with some very cute sea lions and sea turtles.  The audience rotates to see different tanks, it was quite awesome.  Of course, the highlight of the day was seeing the sharks.  But I was also happy to see the pile of cuddly, sleeping otters.  The kids are now old enough to find awe in seeing all the sea life.  Enjoy the pics.