California Vacation... Within The First 10 Days (or so)...

I think I've ordered these inaccurately, but heck... here we are! The first weekend in CA was FATHER'S DAY!!! When was the last time I was home for that??? Must've been when we got married EIGHT years ago!!! While Tony headed to the Grand Canyon, we went to celebrate my dad after church. Amber and Jason had set up camp in Newport Dunes so a few of us met up there for some good ole father's day fun.

 Grandpa's doing the right thing with the water but all Helena wants are those chips in front of her... you can see it in her glance!

 While we were in Taiwan Tony read/heard some stuff about ground beef so as a family we made a decision to stop eating it unless we ground it ourselves... so no meatballs, meatloaf or HAMBURGERS!!! Honestly, I think it had been 6 months since I'd sunk my teeth into a meat burger but I decided that on Father's Day I was going to go for gold... and boy was I delighted!!!

 I don't know where the kids come up with these ideas... they're not role-modeled at home... honest!

 Happy Father's Day DAD!

A couple of days later mom and I took the kids to the Beachner home for a bit of personal sprucing up...

 this was Helena's first haircut (well, technically I did cut off a tiny curl that had gone awry... but nothing noticeable)... you'll see in future photos that you can actually see her (besides when she's wearing the bucket of course)!

 and this guy... usually only gets the clippers! Boy did he need a bit of something though! Thanks Denise... we all looked much tidier when Tony returned.

 Being mom's chauffeur has some benefits... we got to enjoy her cousins Linda and John Clemente in an intimate setting with just one other aunt... when does that happen in a family this size??? Super special!

 Three Cousins

Let's Go Fishin'

 Most afternoons in Southern California are beautiful - sunny and warm with very little breeze (much unlike Wellington)... when Grandpa came home from work we decided to take advantage of the summer's eve. Hunter got the hang of fishing, for the most part, though unfortunately they didn't catch anything (don't even think they had many nibbles)... but boy were they cute together!

 Helena made a friend who shared some duck food so she was happy as could be... well, she would've been happier had she been unrestrained but goodness knows what could've happened then!! She is little miss independent... not a good characteristic around water and rocks.

And no trip to OC would be complete without a visit to our favorite Newport Beach Fire Fighter - UNCLE MATT!!! This time we did it earlier in our visit than the last day (like last year)... Matt was awesome... he took us for a ride in the engine. Hey, even if it was just out the door, into the parking lot and back into the garage - it was still a ride in an engine!!! I even got to wear the headgear so we could talk to each other... I was impressed!!!

Woo-ooo-woo-ooo-woo-oooo

 It's always a pleasure to see my Grandpa again... and they always make such an effort to come see us right when we get in... I love that about my grandparents!

 Yes, Helena's drinking milk from a shot glass... she thought that was such fun! It'd be tempting to get some for the kids but really that's what communion cups are for, right? (this photo is pre-haircut).

 One night when Tony returned we thought we'd get a little crazy, so we ordered Lil' Caesar's pizza and took it to Matt and Tori's park for dinner. Notice I did take along Helena's chair... that thing is seriously my favorite item of kiddie gear ever!!! Anyway - we enjoyed our fun unbalanced meal together... living it up!

And no trip to California would be complete without - wait, haven't I said that somewhere before??? Well... as often as possible we try to make it out for an afternoon/evening in Homeland with the Provost family... It's usually one of our most relaxed days and this year was no different. After some pool time, rest time (no electric blankets this year) and snack time, we headed out for a bit of a walk before dinner time...

 Homeland is not the bustling big city of Fountain Valley or Huntington Beach... this is "inland"! Even though I'm not sure I could live rurally like this, I love coming out here to visit Uncle Ron and Aunt JoAnn - it's a refreshing change of pace.

 The kids were a bit freaked out by the rather large ants wandering off with carcasses - just kidding... there were no carcasses that we saw... the ants were just rather large.

It's beautiful in a deserty, dusty way. And oddly enough, I didn't get any photos of the family.. what was I thinking!?! Thanks ProFam for always welcoming us in and making us feel so special. We are thankful for time spent with you.

Big Day Out In Hollywood!

Tori and Matt are experts in finding fun family things and inviting people to participate... this is a great example of that... They found out that Toy Story 3 was playing in Hollywood with a special fun zone for ticket holders - okay, that's cool, but really if you had a group of 20+ people the tickets were much more reasonably priced! That's the way the Clarks like things - reasonably priced. Since Tony and his dad took Hunter to his first movie in Taipei, I thought it only fair that my mom and I got to take him to his first movie in the US. So off we went... just 3 in the Ambrose group crowd!

Because mom had her walker (that darn knee injury again) we got to sit in primo seats in the back of the first level... it was a 3D film, thus the cool glasses and Hunter managed to keep them on most of the time...

I said they were on... didn't mention how on they were... he was so mesmerized by the movie I had to remind him to eat his popcorn.

After the movie we walked about 5 minutes around the corner to a local high school track field which had been transformed into Toy Story Land... here we played with cousins and friends and... lots of toys!

Hunter and I had a race on some crazy bikes - he won - so he was given an ice cream... and boy was he excited! You'd never know the kid was on anti-biotics battling a relapse of pneumonia!

Well, you may have guessed it when you saw him meltdown completely when confronted by a giant Woody and Buzz!!! Needless to say - it was a memorable experience and hopefully we'll get to do something like this again next holiday - with Helena too! Maybe we'll just send them off with Grandma!

Happy Birthday Dear Evan...

Last we met, baby Evan was just a newborn baby Evan... and this year we got to celebrate his first birthday!!! YAY!!!

 As if pancakes weren't enough... Evan ripped into his birthday cake at 10am!!! Well done, Evan... Hunter and Helena of course had a good go too!!! We love you buddy... glad we could be together!

 After our tasty breakfast we took the kids to the local farm for them to have a peek around... Amber has all the fun ideas... well, so does Tony...

Inspirational Morning

Whenever we get back to California Tony tries to see his good buddy Mr Cash. Depending on family commitments and other plans this is often just for one meal... but this trip back, these two high school buddies got to see each other almost once a week! A basketball game (maybe two), their kids' birthday party, lunch at our place, a hang out in the park... and an early morning hike! Way to go guys... way to make it happen!!!

It's always fun to see these two together again... hard to believe they've kept in touch for over 15 years!!!

Now kids, don't try this at home...

Tony enjoyed his scenic trip so much that he took us out to the same area later in the day! The kids enjoyed looking at the tide pools and we enjoyed just being outside together.

Not quite the Christmas card material we may have hoped for... but close!

Carlsbad Triathlon

On July 10 we took a trip south to Carlsbad where we were participating in a triathlon. We got there early enough to drop off our bikes at Janel and Kevin's place before heading over to the beachfront where we met our friends/neighbors from Taipei - Jenny, Nicholas, Isabelle and Madeline!!!! It was fun to see familiar faces in such a different context - especially since that would be the last time we see them for a while! Anyway... we were in Carlsbad for our second triathlon of the season... another sprint distance one! Unfortunately... pictures of the event were not easy to come by...

 After breakfast we went to pick up our rego packets and some other bits and pieces from the sales tents set up for "health awareness weekend"... Helena scored some new "eyes" when I bought my new workout glasses... the salesperson thought it easier to give them away than clean them! I don't blame her!

 Hannah was happy to share her home and toys with the gang... what a cutie!

 So we had a great evening hanging out with cousins and family... early Sunday morning Tony and I left the house to prep for our event leaving our kids in the capable hands of Grandma and Aunt Amber...

It was an overcast morning along Carlsbad beach... we both met several nice people we chatted to while waiting. It was my first time swimming in a wetsuit - Thanks Jason!!! It was a 1km swim total - out into the surf then along the beach to the transition area. The bike was about 25km... up a few rolling hills with a bit of a halfway loop... and a manageable 5km run. As I ran along the road I heard some cheering and it turned out the whole gang came along to encourage us!!! That made me feel even better!!!

 After a good clean up and hot shower we stayed a bit longer to play together with the hospitable Carroll family! Who knows, maybe next year they'll register for the event themselves!

oh and somehow I managed to get a tiny thumbnail of me during the race... not sure where Tony's are... but here you go... me in my tri gear! looking really tight in my hip flexors!

Two Mountain Men and One Mountain Gal...

NOTE: With all the to-ing and fro-ing in the middle sections of our trip, my photo loading and organizational skills got a little mixed up... all this to say that I accidentally DELETED all of the photos from our little family trip to Arizona!! You know that sinking feeling you get when you've done something really irreversible... well, imagine the pit in my stomach when I realized I lost our photographic memories of our car ride through the California desert, our fun overnight stay with Joanne, Scott and Jack (and the exciting trip on the light rail to the Phoenix Children's Museum), hanging out with Tom up in Flagstaff, the kids on the day of the Mountain Man triathlon AND our family's first trip to the Grand Canyon!!! YIKES!!! YUCK!!! It urks me even more now!!! Anyway... we did manage to copy a few photos from the triathlon site and a few from "our Angel" who looked after the kids during the event. Anyway... you'll get the general idea of the event and I'll try to paint the pictures of the trip that are missing.


Okay, so here's what happened. On July 15 we packed up my dad's truck with our bikes, tri gear, kids stuff and a few snacks and drove through the California desert, past Phoenix and over to Mesa, Arizona where we were met by my old uni friends Joanne and Scott and their son Jack. It was so great to see them again and be back in the desert paradise of AZ. Bright and early the next morning, our good friend Tom came over to pick up Tony for a male bonding adventure in Sedona to the north.

While Tony and Tom were exploring the outdoor beauty Arizona has to offer, Joanne and I took the kids into the city where we played all afternoon at the amazing Phoenix Children's Museum. What a fabulous place... I loved the 'noodle forest' (made from those pool toys hanging from the rafters), the play kitchen with fabric pizza bases and felt salads, the cool tracks for marbles to roll down and around, and the moveable courses kids could create their own obstacle courses!!! It was an inspirational place! It was fun to ride the light rail through the city past our alma mater - Arizona State University!!! Tempe has changed quite a bit, but the heat is still the same! We all had ice cream after that hot outing!

After another lovely evening of Leith hospitality we had to say good-bye on Saturday... and we headed up north to meet Tony at Tom's place. We had a bit of a play at his local water park before heading up toward Flagstaff where we were going to have our second triathlon in 7 days! Originally we had planned to leave the kids in CA with my parents so that Tony and I could have a bit of time on our own... but alas, those plans were foiled by my mom's injured knee... so we had a bit of a dilemma - who would watch our kids while we participated in the triathlon? Well, we got creative - we found an on-line service that hooked us up with a caregiver who we met on that Saturday before the event. (Don't worry, she had a police check to be registered with the service) Angel was just that - she was nice, experienced, local and enthusiastic... so I felt comfortable to leave her to mind the kids for the two hours we'd be running around.

Travelling with Tom was great - he knew all the good eateries in Flagstaff!!! After a delicious dinner, we put the kids to bed in our hotel room then popped over to his room next door to get all our gear in order. At the crack of dawn on Sunday the 18th of July we all crowded into our truck and made our way to the transition area to get ourselves sorted.

It was a fun event - a beautiful location at Lake Mary... the swim went well, but I was glad I'd talked to a few locals before I got in... they reminded me that the altitude would make me feel a bit light in breath so they encouraged me to take it easy as I started and speed up from there... I did feel it a bit in the water, but managed to keep it together til it was over. The ride was lovely and the run did me in... but overall it was another fun event. Tony rocked it... he was like 80th or something overall - out of 300 or so competitors... he did really well! And Tom, well, he also enjoyed it and was inspired to register for more events!!! What a blast!

We said good-bye to Tom after showers and a fabulous breakfast in town and we headed up to the Grand Canyon to show the kids one of the natural wonders of the world! Where's my camera now????? UGGGGHHH... we even had our matching Old Navy American flag shirts on... it was precious! The kids seemed to enjoy it. We drove around a few parts along the North Rim... and even bought some groceries and sat along the Rim eating a picnic while waiting for the last of the sun to set. It was magical...

We had a great road trip together and were thankful for the opportunity to do this with the kids! It'll only get better, right, as the kids get older and we can do a few more things! (Still trying to enjoy each season as it's here). But it was especially fun catching up with good friends along the way!

What a beautiful morning! The good thing about these events is you're up and at 'em early in the morning and the scenery is just that much nicer when it's still and quiet.

Who is this blur???

The group in the lake swim

Who's got tight hip flexors?

Nice bike... thanks Jason!

The Good Ole Orange County Fair!!!

Last year Tony took me to the OC Fair for my birthday celebration and we had such a good time we thought it would be fun to take the kids along this time. Being the frugal folks we are though we went on 'canned food' day where we got in 'free' by raiding my parents pantry. We also met up with our new buddy Mikey - it was something of a birthday celebration with him! We all had a blast together... we may just make this a family tradition!

Again we went for the monster smoked turkey leg - a healthy option for the kids, of course!

Actually we did bring in some simple sandwiches and fruit so the kids had something healthy and we could use our 'lunch money' on something more interesting like ice cream.

Miss Cheeky/ I mean "Cheesy"

After our snacking - we thought it'd be fun to catch some rodeo action. This particular event was called "Extreme Rodeo"... and oh boy, we only lasted through about 3 of the competitions since it was a bit too extreme for the kids (plus the loud music didn't help the cause much - our kids are a bit squeamish when it comes to loud noise). Seriously, these guys were nuts - man versus wild beasts - absolutely nuts!

We took our kids to have their own 'extreme' adventure in the playland... well, it was extremely fun for Hunter who was at the age/height to enjoy many of the attractions, but extremely frustrating for poor Mei Mei who was too young/small to ride. What a bummer for her - but by the next time we come, she'll be just in the right size bracket.

Our 'cheesy' kids