5:30 AM Sunday 4/14/2019.
Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/kZfBY783xSv9pkVH9
Just came back from Thailand on Wednesday, but knowing the flowers are still good at Carrizo Plain we could not resist so on Sunday we packed up and drove there, 3.5 hours driving, not bad.
I tried not to wake William up because it was still early but he woke up as soon as I put the jacket on him; and he stayed awake since then.
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It’s been raining few days a week for the last 2 months here in Southern California which is very rare to happen; which is pretty good because we were so lack of water last year. This also helps the wild flowers to bloom so much that everyone is calling it’s a Super Bloom year. Of course with our love for wild flowers, it’s hard to pass this opportunity so we we went to Walker Canyon in Lake Elsinore last weekend, and this weekend too.
Luckily for us the weather was nice, no wind so it was not cold; and the city provide a huge parking space right off the freeway exist (Exit Lake St., make a right turn, the parking lot is right on the left. It closes at 4 PM so make sure to move your car out before that time). From there, walk under the bridge then you’ll reach the mountains, 3 minutes walking.
First time we went here, William mostly sat in his stroller and refused to get out. But this time he refused to sit in the stroller; he enjoyed walking on the dirt road while eating his M&M chocolate. That’s what we want to see from him: enjoy the nature. The only thing we wish is that he’d listen and would walk with us, not running ahead or around without asking us so we ended up running after him because we don’t want to loose him in this huge crowd (I’ve never seen so many people coming to see the flowers like this before, way so crowded). Because we had to always pay close attention to him we did not have much time to take pictures but Tim managed to take some good pictures of us.
Whenever he’s in the open or huge space, he has the tendency to run off without waiting for us, and refuses to hold our hands; and our only choice at that time is to run after him. Telling him to stop doesn’t work!
We were taking pictures, and he just decided to run back to the yellow gate. Tim followed him. Then he continued his way to the ice cream truck. He did not ask for ice cream but he said Yes when Tim asked if he wanted one.
So Tim bought 2 ice cream: 1 minion lemon ice cream bar and 1 shave ice cup. William was so happy licking his Minion ice cream and followed us to to back to the flowers field.
We came up to the yellow gate and he decided to sit on it to enjoy his ice cream. I thought he’d sit fine but as soon as I take my hands off him, he felt off as well as the ice cream bar. I guess I should have told him so that he’d hold on to the gate better. He cried but not because he was hurt: “I want my ice cream!”. We promised him we’d get a new ice cream on the way back. He stopped crying but did not look happy. Now he wanted to sit on the stroller, drinking coke and eating M&M chocolates.
So on our way back to the car, we stopped by the Ice Cream truck to get him another Minion bar as promised. As we were waiting in line, he tried to stand up from the stroller, and then the stroller lifted backward, and he felt again! This time he did not cry but he was shocked! so I held him in my hands and comfort him.
I felt so bad that my negligence caused him to fall 2 times. Both of these incidents can be totally avoided if I always have him next to me. Being active kid, he’d never sit still so I should have pay more attention even when he’s sitting down.
But overall the trip was fun, this time we went with Grandma Tuyet and aunt Eliza. The weather was nice, flowers were beautiful and most importantly we got to spend quality time with our loved ones.
Short trip to Palm Springs with my Mom and my sisters’ families (total 13 people), stayed that Palm Canyon Hotel for 1 night, then took the Aerial Tram to the Mountain Station for some snow. It was cold but that did not stop William from lying on the snow! He especially loved the swimming pool and jacuzzi at the hotel because it’s heated.
Our first stop was at the Cabazon Dinosaurs, took a few pictures with the giant dinosaurs. If you want to take the Adventure Tour then the admission is $13.00 but we did not. Then we headed to The River of Rancho Mirage for lunch. It’s a beautiful place; William loved to play with the water in the man-made pond.
Got to the hotel around 3:00 pm and they let us in early (check in time is 4:00 pm). The villa is so roomy that the children loved it. It has 2 bed rooms with each has its own spacious bathroom. One room has 1 king bed which we stayed in, the other room has 2 queen beds for my sister and her 2 children and my Mom. We also booked a studio for my older sister which has 1 bed and 2 sofa bed. Both have fully equipped kitchen and full size refrigerator.
After a short break, we went down to the pool, William immediately jumped in with his Dad; and didn’t leave the pool until it got dark.
More Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/fGa9hYqZA6ZBZJk98
It’s too late into the persimmon season but we went to the farm anyway because the owner said there was still some fruits left. I was more into the scenery of the farm: autumn leaves.
It’s 1 and 1/2 hour driving to the place from our house; not too bad.
It’s hidden in a residential area, and it’s smaller than we thought. The owner just got the farm recently. They were selling $2.00/lbl. We had a choice of picking the fruit ourselves or we could get those that they already picked and placed on the table in front of their house.
Tim grabbed container and went picking the fruit from the trees. William did not want to go there; he kept running back to the car; I really had a hard time to catch up with him because it’s an up hill run up to the car from the farm.
I guess because he loved the scale that the owner used to weight the fruits that he kept running back.
William also loved to walk on the stack of hay, even lie down on it; Hay was all over his pants and jacket.
Sunday early morning. It was raining for the last few days, and the news said it was snowing on the mountains so we decided at the last minute (on Saturday) to drive up there and enjoy some snow. Mostly because we know William loves to play with snow so much. We left house around 7:00 AM; William woke up when I tried to get him dress; I gave him a bottle of milk to drink on the way to pick up grandma and his aunt and cousins Bryan and Victoria. Aunt Eliza brought some chocolate donuts so William had some.
Before turning to Hwy 138, we stopped by at McDonald for restroom break. I bought some hash brown but William refused to eat.
There was just a little traffic when we passed by Wrightwood town. The parking lot for the West and East Mountain High resorts are full so we had to park on the street and had to walk a bit to get to the play area. (People parked on the sections that have the sign No Parking; we should know that they don’t enforce it in the days like this (so many cars, there’s no way they can tow them all) and park like other people so that we didn’t have to walk far).
At some point William didn’t want to walk so I had to carry him. High altitude really makes one tired easily.
William loved to play with the snow too much, he kept running around; we had a hard time keeping up with him.
Around noon, he was tired and just wanted to sit; that was when we decided to leave.
William must be hungry that he grasped the chocolate bags and ate them; he felt asleep moments later; but he woke up when we stopped by at the same McDonald for lunch. I bought fish sandwich but he only had a few bites of the bread and then asked for chocolate donuts. And after that a few french fries while watching Minions on his little phone until we got home around 2:30 PM.
Bishop / Mammoth Lakes trip from Saturday 10/7 to Tuesday 10/10/2017.
Fri afternoon. The place offered free admission from 5 PM – 7 PM so we thought why not go?
At first William was so attached to the traffic lights; he would not to go anywhere else. Tim pulled the little car up to him but he refused to ride; he kept dancing around the posts. Finally we had to forcibly carried him out of that area and placed him the beach area, that is when he’s started to explore around.
He especially loves the construction place with lots of pvc pipes; and also the gas station; he tried to pump gas.
www.pretendcity.org
29 Hubble, Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 428-3900
Saturday 5:30 PM. It was so hot that we decided to go to the beach, the nearest one to our house is the Newport Beach. While driving on the Pacific Coast Highway we saw signs about free trolley ride so we decided to take a ride. Luckily the stop is right on the parking lot Read More
Saturday 5:30 PM. It was so hot that we decided to go to the beach, the nearest one to our house is the Newport Beach.
While driving on the Pacific Coast Highway we saw signs about free trolley ride so we decided to take a ride. Luckily the stop is right on the parking lot at the Balboa pier. It took half hour to complete the circle. The trolley driver stopped at the Hoag hospital on the Pacific Coast Hwy to pickup more customers but there was no one around. She said we can park here for free and take the trolley to go to the pier. The trolley is provided by the city, and runs from June to July, from 7AM-9PM It’s a good idea especially during the summer days, it’s really hard to find a parking near the piers.
This time at the beach, Williams showed sighs of interest in playing with the sand (last time he’d kick and cry when we tried to take him to the sand area) but he still refused to go near the water, so Tim just held him and stood there to watch the waves. He also showed interests in listening to the music; he’d stop near the homeless man who was playing guitar and listen to his playing. He also raised his hand to high-five with a young man who’s obviously the homeless man’s friend.
After all looks like William had a nice time at the beach today; we’re all happy!
Friday 6:00 PM.
It’s a hot day so we decided to go to the beach. I bought a Pizza Hutz pizza on the way home from work so we can eat fast before heading to the beach. It’s really nice to feel the cool wind; William ran around just like it was his first time at the beach.
William was 6 months old when we started to go back to travel.
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