sightseeing – Page 11 – thosecoolkims

…and now for something completely different!

Today was truly a day of epic proportions! After a full day of Kendall and Jordan, ages 9 and 7, we took on Mikayla and Ethan, ages 5 and 4. And what a fun, full day it was…and a completely different experience!

We started off the day driving to Balboa Island, taking the Jeep on the car ferry across Newport Bay. Even Carrie, who like Ed had lived in SoCal all her life, had never been on the ferry before. Basically, you drive your car on the boat and the boat does the rest of it for you. The kids got a kick out of being on a boat…in the car!

Believe us, Ethan was enjoying it way more than he looked like in the pic.

Afterwards, lunch at Ruby’s and a carousel ride…

So what next? Nothing could have prepared us for just how much wetness was about to ensue….behold Castle Park: home of the water cannon bumper boats! Carrie was perhaps the smart one, staying off the boats. Ed, on the other hand, got a thorough soaking along with Mikayla and Ethan!

After taking the kids to see Ratatouille (grown-ups, especially you foodies out there, see this one. We’re serious. Best Pixar movie yet…especially for grown-ups), dinner proved to be fruitful, with Ethan even learning to write his own name!

Now we’re home, and both Mikayla and Ethan have taken to Sophia…they both learned quickly to be gentle with her, and Sophia returned the favor with lots of love.

Great day…it was a trip too because people really seemed to think Mikayla and Ethan were ours…they certainly could pass for them, couldn’t they?

We’re gonna miss all four of the Facey kids so much!

Facey Kids, part one

This weekend we finally got to have the Facey kids over to stay with us. We have been looking forward to having them come over for such a long time, so we made a lot of plans for an action packed weekend! Since having four at a time is a little frantic for us (we’re kid rookies), the plan was to keep two with us, while the other two were at Grandma & Grandpa’s. Then, we’d swap with them the next day and have the other two over. Today was Kendall and Jordan day, ages 9 and 7. They are really fun girls and we had a blast getting to spend some quality time with them!

We began the day at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana. That place was a blast. They had all kinds of fun things for Kendall & Jordan to do – like climbing the rock wall to the Pirate Adventure where they searched the place for clues to solve the puzzle. A few highlights:

Climbing the rock wall

Jordan is pulling herself up on a rope in a chair.

Uncle Ed does the same.

Kendall is learning about erosion – who knew that was so fun?

Uncle Ed is helping the girls push a cloud out of the hole.

Kendall took this one!

The popular favorite – a Pirate exhibit!

Panning for gold.

Auntie Carrie hanging out in the “pet section” of the Kid Supermarket.

After the Discovery Center, we all agreed it was Pizza Time! We indulged in some delicious pizza and then headed on to the next adventure – Color Me Mine in Downtown Brea where we could make some art!

Kendall decided she wanted to paint a small box with a cat on top…

Jordan opted for the same, but with a dog…

Auntie Carrie & Uncle Ed decided to work on a set of food and water bowls for the kitties.

Besides being a lot of fun, we were also glad to have an air-conditioned place to hang out in for awhile – it was 105 degrees today!

Kendall & Jordan surprised us with their attention to detail and committment to their projects! We were very proud of them. The final results…

A polka dotted cat and an adorable golden retriever puppy! Way to go girls! As for C+E, here’s the kitty bowls:

After wrapping up, we came straight home so we could jump in the pool and cool off! Auntie Carrie helped the girls with their swimming techniques, and Jordan swam the width of the pool with her face in the water and “big arms”!!! Kendall did a great job swimming as always and she was happy to show that she remembered all of her skills. Once we got out, Uncle Ed grilled some hot dogs and we got to teach them one of our favorite games, Guitar Hero. Yep – the girls know how to rock!

We’re exhausted! Stay tuned for tomorrow, when we swap kids with Grandma & Grandpa and have day two of adventures with Mikayla & Ethan!

Fun in your own backyard

What a Saturday it was for us – our dear friends Kristen and Steve got married and of course that meant it was a big day. Today was therefore a perfect day for a chill day of experiencing the unfamiliar familiar.

After all, with a sweet new test car from work (and therefore free gas – thank god since we recorded an abysmal 14 mpg for the trip – YOW!), why not? We present the 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited! Ed has loved these since they came out and today was a perfect day for some top down cruisin’ down PCH!

Yes, we’ve lived here all our lives and have been down this road before, but it’s been a loooong time and we’ve never done this drive together. But you know, rediscovering something familiar IS a lot of fun. Especially when you’re experiencing it together for the first time. We started our mini road trip at Bolsa Chica and just headed on south, taking in the scenery. Southern California beaches really are beautiful and for all the griping about real estate prices and the cost of living, well…we guess this is why!

We think we’ve broken down what each of the major beach areas represent. Huntington is a pretty laid back surfer town, albeit with a lot of tourists. Newport is incredibly wealthy – lots of orange skinned long blonde haired middle aged ladies with shih-tzus and leopard print pants driving Escalades. Laguna is genuinely pretty, with a borderline bohemian feel in parts. Dana Point is just kinda there, and finally San Clemente (which was actually new for both of us) was really nice, with a nice pier, a good restaurant on the pier, and a lively yet relaxed atmosphere. For all the talk of Orange County’s homogeneity, we certainly saw a lot of different faces of OC beach life.

Anyways, it was the perfect summer day in the perfect summer car. Proof that you don’t have to always travel far to experience something new! It’s often all about the context.

SF, Day 3.

So much today – where to begin?!? We got up early with yummy breakfast in mind. We tried to hit up the local spot we kept reading about, Dottie’s True Blue Cafe, but much to our disappointment, there was a line around the block! So, we decided to keep the splurge alive and head over to The Clift Hotel, which was designed by Phillippe Starck. Ed stayed there last time he was in SF on business (lucky guy!) and he said I had to see it. Boy, was he right! It was a grand place and very exciting. Unfortunately, I was too intimidated to take pics in such a fancy place, but I have to say that it was the best breakfast we’ve ever had! We’re still salivating.

Today was also “Bay to Breakers” here in SF, which is a BIG DEAL. Ed coined it as “Burning Man, the Marathon”. There were people everywhere, in all kinds of outfits, with all kinds of alcohol and various other things that were making the 7+ mile trek across town. It was pretty cool, but pretty overwhelming – it was already pretty busy in town being a Sunday and all. But with this giant event, we figured we’d skip the sightseeing and take the road trip we wanted to go on to Bodega Bay. Of course, aside from thinking it would be a pretty drive with excellent seafood, this was the major source of inspiration:

(Yup, the spot of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds!)

The drive didn’t disappoint, it only took a little over an hour and we had the chance to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge. So pretty!

Ed was hungry….

but Carrie squashed the thought…

heh.

Here we are!

Then it was off to Bodega bay where we had great scenery and awesome Dungeness Crab and Chowder at a great Restaurant!

We looked all over though and we couldn’t find the schoolhouse and the playground in the teeny-tiny town! But it was definitely a nice time getting out of the city and it really felt like we were on vacation today. Now, we’re getting all settled in at our new home for the evening, The Phoenix, and we are gonna get drinks at the Tonga Room, a Tiki Bar that has a live band doing cheesy covers on a raft that floats through the indoor lagoon. Sweeeet!!!!

SF, Day 2

Today started off with a bang. We got up relatively early with plans to explore. First, Carrie got to indulge in a little retail therapy at a bonafide Benefit Cosmetics store. Benefit is from San Francisco and Benefit is Carrie’s favorite!

So cute. Carrie loves Benefit makeup!

Next we headed up (um, down) Lombard Street because a) it’s the curviest street in the country, and b) it just wouldn’t be a vacation if Ed didn’t have to go on some crazy driving mission. It was cool though, and it gave us a lovely view of the city-by-the-bay. Ed was very excited to drive down this famous street!

After Lombard Street, we hit up SF MoMA. Wow – it was perfect. They had this really cool student exhibition there – California College of the Arts at 100: Innovation by Design – it was AWESOME. We were so impressed by the collection. It was our favorite exhibit of the day, without a doubt. L.A. should be ashamed of itself, MOCA doesn’t even come close!

We shopped around in the museum shop, oogled all the fancy modern merchandise and decided it was time for a cocktail, so we cruised around the corner to the W Hotel for our usual martinis…

Speaking of swanky, now we have to go get ready, ’cause we’re going to fancy dinner at Frisson

Check this place out!