Category: travel

Ahoy!

The kids and I stayed with my SIL and BIL Mindy and Ken and their kids for a few days last week.  They live north of Seattle and while we were there we took the kids to ride the ferry.

There’s a ferry terminal near their house so the outing was very simple.  We parked the car, walked on the ferry and enjoyed the 20-minute trip to the other side of the sound. 


E and Mimi both got a kick out of standing on deck and being out in the wind.  It was remarkably windy–Mimi would wrap her fingers through the grills on the railing and laugh and laugh as she was almost blown off her feet.

When the ferry docked at Kingston, the little town on the other side of the sound, we all got scoops of gelato/sorbet.  And then we caught the next ferry back.


It was a lovely little trip.

Arches National Park

Last week N and I decided on the spur of the moment that it would be fun to take the kids down to Moab. Neither of us had been before and it’s only about a 4-hour drive from our house.  So on Friday N took the day off from work and we drove down.

Despite our best intentions, it was after two in the afternoon before we got on the road (I know!) so it was already the kids’ bedtime by the time we got into our hotel.  But since it was a special occasion I took E to paddle around the hotel pool while N put Mimi to bed.

After E and I got back from the pool Mimi was still super jazzed about our little adventure and amiably refusing to go to sleep.  N and I took turns trying to get her to lie down in her portable crib and she kept crying every time we put her down.  We couldn’t let her cry since it would have bothered the other guests so we did this up-and-down-and-rock-and-shoosh dance with her until after ten when she finally conked out.

The next day we drove into Arches National Park to look around and do some hiking.  The scenery was otherworldly and magical.  The kids were troopers: E held his own on the hikes and Mimi chilled in the baby carrier.

After a late lunch we got back on the road and made it home in time to give the kids a much-needed bath and put them to bed at their normal bedtimes–success!

It really was a nice trip.  The drive wasn’t bad at all and Arches is amazing with lots of kid-friendly hikes.  I’ve love to visit again.

Adventures in Thailand

photo by Jenna

Lately I’ve been enjoying reading about the adventures of our former babysitter Jenna. Right now she’s on a study abroad trip to Chaing Mai and reading about her adventures is bringing back some memories of my own college trip to Korea (various aspects of which have been immortalized in song).

When I was in Korea I remember feeling like my very consciousnesses was expanding; it was the first time I really felt how big the world was.  And even though it was *gulp* a long time ago, that trip still influences the way I look the world.  It’s exciting to read about Jenna having her own life-changing experiences.

I have a lot of respect for her because while I grew up with a Korean mother (and Korean food and culture) and had taken a year of Korean classes in college before my trip to Korea, Jenna doesn’t speak any Thai and hadn’t even really eaten Thai food before she left.  Talk about culture shock!

If you’re interested, follow her blog, Time for Thailand.  She’s a good writer and keeping a blog is part of her coursework so she’ll be updating it regularly.

California Instax Photos


I took my new Fuji Instax Mini camera with us to California. It’s a fun little camera that takes credit card-sized instant photos.

I like using the Instax Mini for family snapshots since its film is readily available online and it’s also less expensive than the The Impossible Project’s Polaroid film (which I tend to save for more ambitious endeavors).

There is just something so cool about watching a photo develop in your hand.

Legoland

E’s cousins are really into Legos and so we went with them to Legoland for a day. It’s a little pricey: admission is almost as much as it is at Disneyland even though Legoland is much smaller. But the kids had a great time.

E loved the rides but my favorite part was seeing the Lego models. The attention to detail was amazing! They had a large section of Star Wars dioramas which were especially fun.

Easygoing Mimi


I love this sweet girl.

Mimi was a real trooper on our trip. While we were at the parks she was usually content just to chill in her stroller.

But for the record she did go on a few rides at Disneyland: we took her on the submarine ride and into the Tikki Room theater which she loved.

E is already asking when we can go back to Disneyland: we told him that we have to wait until Mimi’s big enough to go on Space Mountain with him 🙂

Happiest Place on Earth

A week ago we drove to Anaheim to spend a few days at Disneyland with my brother-in-law and his family.

Disneyland during spring break was, as you might imagine, extremely crowded. But E had a blast riding the rides. He especially enjoyed the roller coasters and wanted to go on Space Mountain again and again. E also loved the fireworks. Every night when they started he would turn to us and exclaim, “Mama, Daddy, my wish came true!” with this expression of bliss on his face.

After Space Mountain, It’s A Small World was E’s favorite ride–he still breaks into the theme song at random moments 🙂

This was our first time going to Disneyland as a family and I have to say, I was impressed. I know they’re well-known for their customer service but it’s totally true: their staff is really great. Everyone was cheerful and helpful and everything was sparkling clean and well-run. So much so that it didn’t even seem like that much of a rip-off. ($3 for a bottle of water? Eh, fine–look at the smile of my kid’s face!)

The thing that struck me the most was the complete absence of snark or irony. The ride operators never got snippy or rolled their eyes (I’m looking at you, Legoland) and the actors were very committed to their roles and radiated cheeriness. I was thoroughly charmed but more gratifyingly, so was E.