Our New Year's Weekend
Where do I start? We had a crazy, busy New Year's weekend, full of friends and family in Southern California. The holidays tend to bring everyone from all over the globe to the greater LA area, so of course we had to meet up with people that we only see once every 2-3 years!
Such as Moni, my Ecuadorian friend & former roommate
In addition, we got to visit a couple of cool places while we were in town. Like...
...The Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena!
We had a great opportunity to tag along with Tita Tiff & her family to the Rose Parade. It was the first time for anyone in our family to go. Tiff & her family attend a church that happens to be right on Colorado Blvd, and they let their congregants (& friends) come on over, set up chairs, tables, bring food, etc. and watch the parade. So we had seats that we neither had to pay $50-60 for nor had to camp out all night in the cold for. We did have to wake up a little earlier than normal, to get to my friends' house, where we walked about 20 min. to get to her church by 8am.
From there all we had to do was drink tea, eat snacks and watch the show unfold. For those of you who have never been, it truly is a different experience being there in person. You can smell the flowers on the float, and really appreciate the grandness of it all. The crowds & energy just aren't captured on TV. We really enjoyed the morning. Tiff and her family are involved with Scouting and she had worked on the Scout float which won a National Trophy & looked great! We were so proud to cheer with her! 
And of course, no trip to my in-laws would be complete without lots of good Chinese food. After the parade, we all went out to eat dim sum & noodles (good luck for the New Year, you know). I think I seriously gained 5 pounds over the weekend!
We visited Universal Studios Citywalk later on that day, and met up with two of my husband's best friends from his childhood. It was fun to see them, and they totally doted on our son (which he of course, ate right up!) Our son had his first arcade experience there too!
On Jan. 2, we went to the Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center. It was really neat! The animals are all made out of recycled materials, and it was designed with kids in mind!
It's totally hands-on, they can touch everything, and there are so many places to crawl in and out of, and adorable animals hanging in and off of everywhere. The crawlways were definitely NOT made for adult sizes (as I found out the hard way), but our son loved it!
I would recommend this to any families who happen to be in the LA area and are looking for something fun to do.
That evening we got another chance to visit with "old" friends (not that we're old, we've just known each other a long time!). Another former roommate of mine (did you know that I had at least 16 different roommates before I got married?) hosted us at her apt and fed us Peruvian food. We met children of dear friends who we'd only seen in pictures before (and they're all toddlers now!) It was fun to watch the kids all tear the place apart!
Whew! Sunday evening we arrived back at home. Thankfully this week we've been taking it slow, resting and recuperating from our crazy new year celebration. Happy 2010 everyone! Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Such as Moni, my Ecuadorian friend & former roommateIn addition, we got to visit a couple of cool places while we were in town. Like...
...The Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena!We had a great opportunity to tag along with Tita Tiff & her family to the Rose Parade. It was the first time for anyone in our family to go. Tiff & her family attend a church that happens to be right on Colorado Blvd, and they let their congregants (& friends) come on over, set up chairs, tables, bring food, etc. and watch the parade. So we had seats that we neither had to pay $50-60 for nor had to camp out all night in the cold for. We did have to wake up a little earlier than normal, to get to my friends' house, where we walked about 20 min. to get to her church by 8am.
From there all we had to do was drink tea, eat snacks and watch the show unfold. For those of you who have never been, it truly is a different experience being there in person. You can smell the flowers on the float, and really appreciate the grandness of it all. The crowds & energy just aren't captured on TV. We really enjoyed the morning. Tiff and her family are involved with Scouting and she had worked on the Scout float which won a National Trophy & looked great! We were so proud to cheer with her! 
And of course, no trip to my in-laws would be complete without lots of good Chinese food. After the parade, we all went out to eat dim sum & noodles (good luck for the New Year, you know). I think I seriously gained 5 pounds over the weekend!
We visited Universal Studios Citywalk later on that day, and met up with two of my husband's best friends from his childhood. It was fun to see them, and they totally doted on our son (which he of course, ate right up!) Our son had his first arcade experience there too!
On Jan. 2, we went to the Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center. It was really neat! The animals are all made out of recycled materials, and it was designed with kids in mind!
It's totally hands-on, they can touch everything, and there are so many places to crawl in and out of, and adorable animals hanging in and off of everywhere. The crawlways were definitely NOT made for adult sizes (as I found out the hard way), but our son loved it!
I would recommend this to any families who happen to be in the LA area and are looking for something fun to do.
That evening we got another chance to visit with "old" friends (not that we're old, we've just known each other a long time!). Another former roommate of mine (did you know that I had at least 16 different roommates before I got married?) hosted us at her apt and fed us Peruvian food. We met children of dear friends who we'd only seen in pictures before (and they're all toddlers now!) It was fun to watch the kids all tear the place apart!Whew! Sunday evening we arrived back at home. Thankfully this week we've been taking it slow, resting and recuperating from our crazy new year celebration. Happy 2010 everyone! Gong Xi Fa Cai!
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