headin out

Tomorrow, I'll be going to Las Vegas with my BFF Kat to celebrate her birthday. So hopefully we'll be lucky at the slots and have lots of fun. Meanwhile, Hector gets to hang with the kids and make the final trip to the Chinese consulate to pick up my mom's visa.

So that's all for now...lots to do before I leave. :)

faces

My little model Josh is very easy to work with. He was relaxing in the tub so I grabbed my camera for some portraits. We were doing faces so I asked him to show me some emotions...
like anger...

silly...

shock...

taco frenzy

The other night I happened to catch a segment on ABC about a taco truck. I know we live in LA where taco trucks are on every other block but this one is different. It's called Kogi and it's Korean bbq/ tacos, doesn't that sound interesting??Like the man says in the video, he hasn't met anyone who doesn't like tacos or Korean bbq. I agree. Some of the their items on the menu are spicy pork tacos/ burritos, short rib taco and kimchee quesadillas.

Here is the link to the their website. http://kogibbq.com/ It looks like the truck will be in Torrance Saturday night so I might have to check it out and see what the hype is about. People follow Kogi on Twitter to see where the trucks are at. Oh, it's great that the trucks are called Roja and Verde. :)

Hot Hot Hot

This morning was really really warm so I can expect it to get even hotter later...we only live 4 miles from the ocean so it must be super duper hot inland.

I had to post pictures of some snow to feel cooler...yeah I feel better already.

Oh and I will be heading to Vegas next week to celebrate Kat's birthday so we can expect desert heat too. Lots of stuff going on...my little mini trip then Hector will be going to China for a week.

What else will go wrong?

This afternoon, the lamp in the family room TV went out. Yes, our super huge 60 incher. The one where I can stand in the kitchen (on the other end of the house) and watch TV. Of course, this happens on a Sunday so no one is available to either sell us a lamp/bulb or come over to take a look at it.
Luckily for us, that leaves 2 other TVs in the house to watch my usual shows. I think the DVR should still record for later viewing but I have certain shows on one DVR and other shows on the bedroom TV. :)
Tonight Hector and I will be heading over to the Chart House to celebrate our birthdays. Our friend Mark gave us the gift card to enjoy at Mammoth but seriously, my children do not appreciate fine dining. This way we can enjoy our nice dinner without breaking up some childish argument and the kids get enjoy time with grandma. :) Win-win.

I went through the accumulated mail and cleaned the stovetop. It's nice to see the granite countertops and stove all black and shiny. :)

The stripey Noro socks are coming along nicely. Because I have to deal with stripes and more than one strand of yarn, I opted to knit them one at a time. First sock is done; it must have been a personal record for me. One sock done in 4 days. The sock looks great, nice contrasting stripes but I made the foot a bit short (for me). No problem, I know plenty of people with smaller feet. So I cast-on for the second sock and knit happily along for a few inches while Kat came over to visit. Then I discover why I need to knit socks 2 at a time. the second sock is smaller than the first. By an inch in width. UGH. Hey, but I'm gonna keep going...maybe my multiple attempts at trying on the first sock stretched it out a bit. Just keep knitting...just keep knitting! :) I will purposely ignore the obvious differences and just say the socks are unique.

Treat

Wednesday was such a gusty and cold day. Poor Tyler wanted to play in the park but Josh and I were freezing after waiting 20 minutes. Joshua wanted hot chocolate and we were out of the instant packets so I though I should try the Abuelita hot chocolate. It comes in a chocolate square, add 4 cups of hot milk and some sugar and blend. The result is a nice frothy hot chocolate drink. The only problem is that it makes 4 cups so I'm not sure what to do with the leftovers which I put back in the fridge. I'm not sure how it would be reheated. Meanwhile Tyler wanted a Nerds rope (he doesn't like chocolate). Nerds stuck to a gooey chewy rope.

Josh has you in his sights...remember? You're EVIL!!!

Don't Get on His Bad Side

For those who know us, they can tell you wholeheartedly that Joshua is one of the sweetest kids around. He is easygoing and loving.

Our Mammoth trip during spring break included some other parties (I won't mention any names) that made me apprehensive. Just ask Hector, I was totally stressing out about a particular person (child). Let's call her Flippy. I don't want to offend anyone by using a real name...still I feel sorry for Flippy; she has issues (to put it lightly). She does have a very keen knack of riling my kids into a freaking frenzy with her antics. Tyler is old enough now to recognize this so he will ignore her mostly but Josh doesn't quite know how to deal with Flippy.

Wednesday was our day off from skiing so we spent the afternoon with Flippy playing all right for the most part with a couple of spats in between. It wasn't too bad. Later that night we were joined by Flippy and another family to see Monsters vs Aliens. We had put all the kids in a row in front of us and waiting for Hector and He-man to bring back popcorn. I don't know what the kids were talking about but Joshua decided to stand up and say loudly, " You're friendly (points at D), you're nice (points at Tyler) and (raises his voice louder & pointing to Flippy) you're EVIL !!!!!"

Phew, that was a mouthful for Joshua but he summed it up nicely.

80's video

I thought I'd share some of my fave 80's songs. Adam Ant was totally cool. I remember how I managed to score some tickets to see him for a last second show at The Strand in Redondo Beach (now a Bristol Farms). I begged the phamacy manager to let me and Kat off early so we could go. Of course he couldn't resist my request so he let us go. We had such a fabulous time in a crowd of 75 people standing about 6 feet from Adam Ant....good times!! :)

Up Close and Personal

These were shot on a walk home from school. Our neighbor Peggy has a hibiscus bush by her driveway so I tried my best but like usual the afternoon ocean breeze kicks in so it was hard to manage without a tripod. Joshua spied a pill bug on another driveway along with a bee so I practically laid in someone's driveway and took some of the bee.

Not too bad...

Even closer...I can't tell you how much this macro lens has opened a whole new realm for me... my fave lens so far...

Video Round-Up: Mammoth 4-09

Here is the latest video from our Mammoth trip. I just mash it all up into a movie, add some background music and voila!! Excuse my abrupt and shaky videography...don't worry I'm keeping my day job...

Sometimes I Stun Myself

I can't believe that in 2 years after starting up knitting and learning all I can that I knit and produced these babies...began on March 31,2009 and completed April 13, 2009. I used the Embossed Leaves pattern but I'll call this pair Honey Mustard.

It helps soooo much to have this macro lens...thanks to my darling Hector.

Seriously it makes all the difference in the world in showing the details.

I totally see this as an entry in the fair...I want to knit more but I'll just admire these for now!

More Zoo

More stuff from the zoo and I think I took about 300 pictures. The playful otter was so cool swimming up to the wall then kind ran up the wall and did backflips. The otter did the same routine all along the wall. Don't they look like they just enjoy life?
This otter decided to come out and pose on the stump...only later did I discover that it peed.

And pooped...

Another alligator with some very impressive teeth.

On a knitting side note: almost done with a pair of socks (Embossed Leaves) which are looking pretty awesome. I'm now debating whether to give them to Josh's teacher for Teacher Appreciation week or save them to enter the fair...

The Monkey socks are 65% finished so maybe these can be the gift socks....I might have to take a survery.

Zoo

We took an outing to the LA zoo today....Hector and I haven't been there in years!!! Maybe since elementary school. I though maybe because it was Easter that it would be empty but I was wrong. Oh well, we bought a family pass so we can go back again this year. The weather was very nice and mild although the kids complained about the hills and smell (come on, we are at the zoo!).

I took lots of pictures and tried at times to use manual focus although I need to remember my monopod. Some came out and a lot didn't but it's all practice and learning for me. The tigers were my favorite and all four of them were pretty active so we must have arrived at a good time. The giraffes are also very cool since I don't have to deal with shooting through plexiglass or wires cages.

Here are some of my favorites of the day....

Reggie the infamous alligator that was finally caught about 4 miles from where we live...

Very vibrant flamingoes.

Gorgeous tiger.

Sweet giraffe.

I'm looking forward to going back soon and taking more pictures.

Winter, uh I mean Spring Break continued...

Although we had winter weather during our spring break, we had loads of fun. I wasn't taken totally off-guard since I check the weather at Mammoth before we head up. The first day skiing was awesome, temps in the low 50's which is pretty warm. I snowboard with Tyler while Hector is with Josh...Tyler and I go all over the mountain since it's mostly intermediate runs.

The second day was still blue skies and sunshine although cooler then the colds started blowing in. That night, snow began falling and continued through the night. Wednesday was our day off from the mountain which was a good thing since there was gusty winds and snow. Not fun. Another friend and her family arrived on Wednesday and went skiing. They said it was not fun.

Instead I took the kids just outside the condo to play in the snow. There is a dismantled tennis court so Josh discovered running then sliding along the court. Plenty of snow to make snow angels and romp. They had a great time. For the rest of the week, every morning gave them fresh snow to play in.

Overall, the week was great! Fresh powder to snowboard in is pretty fantastic. A good way to end the season...I had fun taking pictures of the kids so maybe this summer, we will come back to explore and absorb nature!! :)

Spring Break My Foot!

On the kids' spring break, we usually head to Mammoth mountain for a ski/snowboard week. This year because we have season passes, we've been up there 3-4 times and have been fortunate to have awesome weather...even in December/January which is winter. So we're at April...springtime...but Mother nature decided to give us a day & a half of spring weather then bombard us with 2 days of gusty winds and 10 inches of snow!! This is the first time the kids have experienced these kind of conditions. :) The good news is that the kids were able to play with lots of fresh snow...I'll upload the whole series on Flickr later....

Josh has been fascinated with cameras lately so I let him play around with my little point and shoot Canon. :)

Are You Ready for This?

Ooooh, luscious chocolate cake (from Kings Hawaiian bakery). A week off of school!!!

Cute Easter bunnies...

We're off to Mammoth for our spring break vacation. Five days of snowboarding and skiing with plenty of fun along the way.... no blog updates unless there is an internet connection.

But there will plenty of pictures and video next time for sure!!! Happy Spring!!

April Socks

Spring has arrived!! My birthday present arrived a week early...a totally awesome 100mm macro lens from Hector! I took these pictures on my walk home from the school.
Well, whaddya know? Socks are blooming too! I finished these beauties last night so I had to show and tell. The yarn is a super soft alpaca Knitpicks Imagination in Wicked Witch. This is a prime example of using my toe-up technique since I had a limited amount of yarn. I still had leftovers but it's all good. I made the leg shorter since the sock seems narrow and I'll need to find someone with skinny legs about a ladies size 6.

Also I want to point out my new flickr badge which took me about a hour to find where to create and post that on this blog. Hint: it's under tools. Duh...