Newport Sea Base organized a family event “Discover Scouting” for free so we signed up. This is a 4 hour event which is full of fun activities. First we learned how to fish, then kayaking and play balls, then bird watching on a small boat. William seemed to enjoy all of the activities but when we got home, I asked him did he like it, he said he likes boating but not kayaking! The weather was hot so it was great to be near the water. We had a great time; glad the we joined.
Festival of Flights returned to Long Beach after skipping last year due to Covid-19 pandemic; I remember William as having so much fun in 2019 Festival of Flights, he loved the cannons!
We were asked to show the vaccine cards; they offered free rapid PRC test for those who are not vaccinated; so William had to take one. It was nasal swab, William did it by himself. We waited only for 15 minutes for the result; it was negative.
I was a bit disappointed because this year there was not that many airplanes and booths like in 2019. Luckily there was 1 airplane that allowed us to get in and touch the controls; William loved it!
We sat on the fake lawn to each lunch and watched the performers on the stage; William did not pay much attention to the music because he was busy playing with the Jack’s Game that he got from 1 of the booths.
We got some chicken noodles for lunch, at first he said no but after the first taste, he loved it. It’s really good but too salty, I guess because there’s no veggie; I did not know that if we want veggie we need to order it, which costs a bit more. From the pictures on the truck, I thought veggies is included.
Then I went to get some Churros Sunday which has ice cream on top of the churros; I asked to have the churros separated from the ice cream and that all the toppings should be on the ice cream but they misunderstood, they have the ice cream on a separate cup but the sauces and toppings (I chose Hershey chocolate and Oreos) are on the churros! William took the ice cream and did not want to eat the churros because there was sauce on them. From his look, I think he enjoyed this event.
Fall-O-Ween event was at Heritage Hill Historical Park in Lake Forest. A free event. The scavenger hunt requires 6 stamps, then you’ll get a small bag of goodies. William enjoyed this place very much, he walked around with us without running around. We took quite a few pictures because their decorations are very nice. On the way to dinner, I asked if he liked that event, he said yes. I said, “It’s nice that you got a bag of candies”.
– “Not much” – he replied. And he was right, there was only about 4 candies in the big brown paper bag. I explained to him that there’s lots of kids coming so we have to share the candies, 4 is good enough. He enjoyed eating the candies while looking out the car window: we were driving to a Japanese restaurant near there: the Ajisen Ramen at Diamond Jamboree shopping center in Irvine.
We ordered 2 special bowls, I asked for an empty small bowl so that I could share with William. It turned out he wanted to have a big bowl and let me use the small bowl! I told him he could have the big bowl only if he ate noodle with meat, he said “OK”. And he did, he actually liked the meat in this ramen bowl. It’s been more than a year since we’re back to this place. I remember that time he did not like this ramen as much as he did today: he has changed and knows how to enjoy good foods, which is a good thing.
Oct 2 – Oct 4, 2021
It’s our most favorite season of the year: Autumn; and the nearest location to our place is of course Bishop, which is around 6 hours driving. Actually this year we were planning to go to Cedar City, Utah but then we heard that it’s peaking at Bishop so we changed our plan in the last minute. It’s peaking at North Lake and South Lake, Rock Creek Lake but other areas at lower elevation is still green. Maybe in the next 2 weeks it’ll peak there.
William was so excited as usual about the trip, but he did not like Travelodge, “It’s a motel, not hotel!”.
– It’s a small city, there’s no resorts here. I said.
– Why? he asked.
– Because people come to this town for hiking and fishing , not to relax.
– Bishop is a bad city, it only has motels not hotels! – He kept saying that.
This time we had his Grandpa Thieu Bui (Tim’s Dad) to go with us. He wanted to see yellow leaves. We did not think that he’d have trouble breathing in high elevation area but he did. First afternoon we went to North Lake, he had trouble breathing ; and worse, he left his ventilator at the hotel so we gave him William’s ventilator (which we always carry with us along with EpiPen everywhere we go) and then we had to leave right away.
Sand Castles Contest was taken place at Corona Del Mar Beach, which is about 20 minutes driving from our house.
William always gets excited when we’re going out; and he likes to bring some of his favorite stuffs with him and put them next to him in the car, which of course makes a big mess. I want to emphasize, favorite stuffs, not favorite toys. Now his favorite stuffs that he wants to bring whenever we go out is: a big bag full of white shipping foam that I got from 1 of the packages, 2 trays of checkers and chess board games, heavy load of coins that he put in my make up bag, and of course a few stacks of playing cards that he put in a drawstring backpack! Anyway, that is not what this post is about.
When we arrived to the beach, which we went here before, Tim parked on the street; William started to say “I don’t want to walk too far!” and kept repeating it over and over. That was when I realized that to access this beach, we’d have to walk down hill for about 7 minutes. Downhill is easy but it’s tough to go uphill on the way back. So we decided to drive down there to park in the paid parking lot; to our surprise, it’s expensive: $5.50 for 1 hour! Huntington beach parking fee is much less: if I remember correctly it’s only $3.00 for 1 hour.
William was so excited that he ran around non stop; but when we got to the sand, he sat down and did not want to go to check out the sand castles, so I stayed and watch him so that Tim could check them out.
It’s Monday, Labor holiday so we had no school/work. We heard about this Tio’s tacos place and decided it check it out.
It’s a Mexican restaurant but the unique thing about this restaurant is that the owner built those art sculptures using junk and recycled materials; some of the tables are hand-made and decorated with soft drink or beer caps. It’d be a better place if there’s no trash around and not too much dust. We bought 4 tacos (beef & chicken) and 2 quesadillas (beef & chicken) for total of $21.00 which is reasonable price.
William at first did not want to go in because he said it’s too hot outside. Yes, yesterday it was hot! I tried to persuade him that inside the restaurant it’d not be so hot, but he did not want to get out of the car. Finally I had to carry him thru the parking lot. Once we were in the shade I put him down and he was ok since then. He was running around and extremely curious about those soft drink caps on the tables and walls: he kept touching them.
We were not planning to go but aunt Eliza had 2 extra tickets because her son and daughter Vi & Bryan could not go. So I purchased additional 1 ticket ($5.00) on their web site so that 3 of us can go.
The Hana farm is part of the Tanaka farm, which turns out to be disappointed: the sunflowers are all done, there were other flowers too but not that as much as the one in Carlsbad. We tried to walked to the small section at the end of the farm where there were still some sunflowers left, but William asked to go to the shade because it was too sunny, so Tim took him to the table where there was some shade. We took some pictures and then left for In and Out Burger for lunch.
We had lunch in the car then went to South Coast Plaza which is only 5 minutes away. William loved it here! It’s been for more than a year due to Covid-19 that we did not go to the mall. To my surprise, William did not run around like he used to do last time we went to a mall. He’s so curious about everything; we took the elevator to the upper level, “It’s a nice elevator!” – I’m so surprise at his remark. He saw the water fountain on the way, he asked “why there’s water here? why the water is running down?” – He asked a lot of Why questions!
I told him it was time to go home but he asked for more time so I gave him more time. We were just walking around the mall, did not go into any store, some times sat down on the benches to look around. I did not have to run after him and call his name out loud this time, thanks God!
Joining aunt Julie with her friends to San Diego for 2 days, 1 night stay at Best Western Plus in Coronado, which only 5 minutes walking to the beach.
We primed William the night before that we’d go hiking; and to my surprise, he was ok with it.
It was a cloudy day which is perfect for hiking. The “Hiking Trail Bonita Falls” is in San Bernadino National Forest, which is about 1 hr driving from Santa Ana. We arrived to the parking area around 10:00 AM; and there were a few parking spaces left. Actually there’s no designated parking lot: we parked along the road and then walked to the 2 green portable restrooms where there’s a little trail to get down.
Once we’re down, we’d have to cross a little creek: there are some tree trunks and rocks lying across the creek so if you don’t to get wet, you can walk on these. William walked on it fine; he was scared at first but kept walking and made it to the other side with Tim; I was so scared that it took me so long to cross it; William was waiting for me at the other end and handed out the wood stick toward me so that I could grab it. Thank you for trying to help, my little boy! 🙂
There’s rocks every where; there’s no established trail! The worse part is that there’s no sign at all. We kept walking on the rocks and asked people for directions when we saw someone. We walked so slow that a few groups of people could easily passed by us, leaving us alone by ourselves. We thought about giving up a few times. William looked tired but he did not complain or cry/whine at all. He was so good today.
“It’s a hidden trail to go up to waterfall, keep to the left” – the man said. So we kept to the left and kept walking, still have no idea how far we needed to go because there’s no signs; the only signs we saw along the way are the paints that people sprayed on the rocks; there were some arrows pointing up. When we were about to give up, we saw some people coming down from what looks like a trail to our left far ahead; “That must be the way to the waterfall” – I told William. So instead of going back to the car, we aimed to that trail. And finally we got there!
But, it’s not it! it’s the beginning of the trail to go UP to the waterfall: it’s an up hill which is full of more rocks! We walked slowly, took breaks often and drank water; at one point William wanted to go back to the car; then suddenly there it is, we heard the sound of the water! So we encouraged him to keep walking and finally we found it. It’s just simply beautiful!
William tried to get near to the waterfall, he enjoyed sitting on the rocks and looking at the water; we took some pictures and short video clips. It’s a small area so when it was started to get crowded, we decided to leave.
The way back of course is faster because now we know the way; but it was so windy that William asked for his jacket.
We crossed that little creek again to get to the other side; but this time we did not care if our feet got wet!
“William, did you like the hike and waterfall?” – I asked. “Yes” – he replied softly.
I’m glad that he’s starting to like hiking and being outdoor. Last year we went to the Malibu state park, he ran back to the car as fast as he could when he saw a small butterfly!
It’s Sunday morning, while we were still in bed, I told William that today we’d go to the yellow flower fields. Knowing that he does not like flowers, I told him to choose. “We’re going to the flower fields, if you don’t want to go, you can stay home with aunt Lily; Mama & Papa will go alone. Do you want to go with Mama & Papa or you want to stay home?” – Of course his answer is “Yes, I want to go”. Prime him ahead most of the time works out fine; I guess when he knows what to expect, he less likely to have behaviors for activities that he does not like.
Tim just had the Covid-19 vaccine shot yesterday morning. He felt tired and asleep until noon. William asked me several times, “Are we going or not?”. I told him “Papa is not feeling well so we might not going”. Around 3:00 PM, he asked again; Tim woke up by this time so I told William to go to the bed room and ask if Papa wanted to go. William ran in and I heard him asked “Papa, are we going to see the flowers?”.
It was the first time ever that we saw him so eager to go out to the flower fields. He hates flowers, he has never wanted to go near any flowers. Last week we went to see the mustard flowers in San Juan Capistrano, he insisted to sit in the car and refused to go out.
So we loaded up with some water and chips/cookies and soon on our way to Chino Hills State Park, where we heard that the mustard flowers are all blooming beautifully this week.
It took about 1 hour to get there: it was so crowded, a long line of cars after cars waiting to get to the park entrance, I guess because everyone wanted to see what nature has to offer. We saw lots of people walking back to their cars that parked along the road with sweat on their face: it was a sunny day and probably it was a long hike for them.
As we approached the park entrance, it was such a beautiful scene open before our eyes: hills and hills full of yellow flowers! Under the bright sunlight the yellow flowers were even shinier! William seemed so excited! When the ranger stopped us to give us some instructions: the road is narrow, with lots of people walking, so drive slow and safely. William said “OK” to each of his instruction!
The park entrance is $5.00 which is not bad at all. The road up hill is indeed narrow but lots and lots of flowers along the road. It’s such a beautiful landscape that no words can describe. Whenever we stopped to take the pictures, William would get out of the car and ran around. Whenever he gets excited like this, he does not care about his safety. He’d run around in the parking lot which almost gave me a heart attack of worrying some cars might hit him. He’s very fast, it’s hard to catch up with him.
We drove all the way to the end, and told him we’d hike a bit. He jumped out of the car and so ready to hike! It was the first time ever that he’s willing to hike around the flowers without complaining! I think he was just bored of staying home :).
The park closes at 7:00 PM so we headed out; we stopped at this most beautiful view point on the way out. William was still so excited that he was running around. I love to see him this happy!
He felt asleep for about 15 minutes on the way home. I’d be tired if I run around that much too.
There’s lots of hiking trails so wear comfortable shoes. I heard there’s rattle snakes here so be carefull.