Sige po California (See you later CA)

We spent June planning our first home leave and doing lots of kids activities in Manila. Thankfully we left for CA July 1st as I was running out of low-cost exciting indoor things to do here during the torrential typhoon rains. One thing we did do was explore part of the Intramuros, a fortress on the Pasig River that was founded in 1571. It was very fun and educational to explore, so much history in one place. Most of the Intramuros was destroyed in WWII, but the area around the visitors center has been restored.

Sophia and Aiden on the Pasig at Intramuros

We got on the plane with our little friends and hoped for a peaceful flight. Not to be had by Aiden and Adam - Aiden yelled his head off most of the flight and didn't sleep until near landing time. We arrived at SFO, got our rental car and stayed in a hotel that night. I found a cute little 2 bedroom house in Oakland near the Zoo on Craig's List and we moved in the next day. It was up in the hills, but close to the 580 freeway so very conveniently located. Sonoma county was just too expensive! Our first American meal was from Subway - yum!

Jet lag hit the little ones the hardest - they were literally bouncing off the walls at 2:00 am the first few nights, luckily that meant they also slept later in the morning which made it a little less painful for Mom and Dad. Our dinner that night was BURRITOS! Oh man, how we miss good CA Mexican food, chips, fresh salsa, Pacificos...mmmmmmm.....

Jet Lag!

July 3rd we headed over to Unkle Skoty and Aunt Emily's house in Sacramento and got to see Grami Robin and Grami Jeff. We tagged along with them to a super fun clam bake party - our dinner that evening consisted of lobster, stuffies, salad, corn, potatoes, beer, CA wine and lots of catching up - YUM! It was so nice to visit with our family and friends that night, but we headed back to Oakland as we were still pretty jet lagged.

Ahhh, LOBSTER and La Crema!

Unkle Skoty & Auntie Em

Adam, Aiden, Sophia and Grami Robin at clam bake

We decided not to head out for fireworks on the 4th in the Bay Area, to avoid the crowds and the drunks that come with them. We stayed in at our little Stella Street house and our dear friends Naomi, Jay, Sunny and Kumar joined us. I made a huge pan of "You Will Fall in Love with Me" lasagna (those of you who've had it know what I'm talking about) and our friends brought drinks and dessert. We had a great evening and even slept in till 12:30 the next day!

Jay, Adam, Naomi, Sunny and Kumar

The next day I decided to get us all out into the sunshine. We headed to the Ferry Building at Jack London Square and took the ferry over to San Francisco. I think it was Aiden's 1st ferry trip. They loved it - and Mom & Dad got to enjoy a couple of cold beers along the way! We walked around the piers in SF for a while and headed back to the East Bay.

Sophi, Adam and Aiden on the ferry with Bay Bridge behind them

That evening, our Auntie Simona had a women and kids gathering at her house. The kids and I headed over and enjoyed a fun evening with new friends and old and ate some amazing fish tacos for dinner. It was so nice to see Simona and her daughter Sahara, who's getting to be such a big girl. She, Sophi and Aiden played very well together, it's awesome to see the next generation of crazy kids hanging out together.

July 8th I drove up to Santa Rosa to pick up Princess #1 at her summer job - camp counselor at Clover Leaf Ranch. Zoe is so amazing, beautiful, tan, smiling - all the kids there love her! I kidnapped her and her cohort Christopher and brought them back to Oakland with me. Sophia and Aiden were so excited to see their big sister. It was sad to bring her back to camp as she only had the evening off. Then Adam had to go to France for work, so I was single mom for a week while he powered over to Europe and back that week. I got to have girls night at my house with my best friends Manya and Naomi, the only one missing from our reunion was Angela - we miss you Ang! And an extra bonus, my girl Claudia showed up too.

The three amigos

On the 10th, the little friends and I went to explore the Oakland Zoo. It was a beautiful, sunny day. If I had known how awesome the zoo was, I would have prepped better. It is located in a park, so there we were in the rolling hills of the east bay, checking out lions, tigers and bears - oh my!

Checking out the elephants (they were Mommy's favorite)

While Adam was gone, the little ones and I explored the area around our neighborhood - we went to dim sum, the Berkeley Farmers Market and Miss Sophia got her ears pierced on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley. She was very brave until some lame teen told her it was going to hurt :( but she recovered quite nicely afterwards with some ice cream.

Sophia and Aiden on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley

Dad came back (hooray!) and we met up with Simona and Sahara at the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito. What a groovy place for little kids - everything there is "please touch!" If we still lived in CA, I would buy a membership, I can't believe I've never been there before.

At the Bay Area Discovery Museum with Golden Gate Bridge behind

On the 17th, we headed back over to Sacramento to Unkle Skoty's. We met up with Grami, Grampi Jeff, Auntie Megan and cousin Peyton and went to the CA State Fair. WOW! We got to pet animals, Sophi milked a goat and road a horse, we ate wonderful fried fair food, got sunny and had a great time.

Sophia and Grami Robin on the ferris wheel

The boys enjoying a relaxing foot massage

Unfortunately, Adam had to do more work while we were there, so the kids and I decided to adventure over to San Francisco via the BART. Boy, they loved the train. We got off on Market St and walked over to the Zeum near Yerba Beuna Park. I think the Zeum was a little advanced for younger kids, but they really enjoyed the carousel. It was built in Rhode Island in 1906 but couldn't be installed in San Francisco due to earthquake. & fire that year. 

Cuties on the carousel at the Zeum!

On the 21st, we met up with Sahara and her mom at Tilden park. We got to feed the goats lettuce and rode a very cool mini steam train around the park.

Sahara, Aiden, Sophia and Auntie Simona feeding the happy goats

The 23rd we got to see Zoe again and had yummy burritos with Unkle Skoty who drove over to meet us in Petaluma that day and our friend Christopher. We played in the park and had a short but super fun visit.

Five of my favorite people - Unkle Skoty, Christopher, Sophia and Aiden

Grami Judy came down to visit us the next day, the kids were so happy to see her! And that meant that mom and dad could escape for a while. We decided to check out the exhibit at the MOMA - Matisse, Picasso & Parisian Avant-Garde. Our friends Sunny and Kumar met us there and we had a great lunch followed by some yummy beers at The City Beer Store.

Pajama time with Grami Judy - Pajama to the left, pajama to the right, jama-jama-jama - PJs!

Enjoying beverages at the City Beer Store with Sunny, Adam and Kumar

The kids and I enjoyed the Zoo so much, we had to go back with Daddy. This time we packed a nice picnic lunch and blanket. We showed Daddy our favorites - Mommy had to chill with her elephants one more time. That night Auntie Simona made us a wonderful dinner at her house. We had a great evening talking, eating yummy roasted chicken, drinking wine and making merry!

Sophi, Adam and Aiden at the zoo play ground.

Adam and Simona watch the kids race outside to play - so cool that we have such wonderful family friends

The 28th was our last visit with Zoe - BUMMER! We had to catch up on logistics for her upcoming sophomore year at Cal Poly. She has a few more weeks of work. We miss her so much, but are happy to know we will all hang out with her at her winter break. Love you baby.

Adam and the kids going to check out Zoe's wagon - Cloverleaf Ranch, Santa Rosa CA

Sophia and Zoe - Aiden is checking out the pump...

We took the little kids to their first American baseball game, Oakland A's vs Tampa Bay Rays. It was $2 night at the Oakland Coliseum, however the hotdogs were $7 each and beer was even more. We had a great time cheering on the A's as they beat the Rays 13 - 4. We ate pop corn, cheered, sang and had a great time. Sophia especially enjoyed victory dancing around our seats.

YAY - we are winning!

The clock was counting down the final days and hours of our trip. We connected with some expat friends from Manila who happen to also be in CA at the time the day before we left. It was so nice to see those familiar faces in a familiar place. Then last minute shopping, packing, and cleaning out little rental.


We tried so hard to see everyone and do everything but just ran out of time and resources...hope we catch everybody on our next home visit, and remember we always love to have visits our here from friends and family!


Today we are "home" in Alabang and the kids had their 1st day of school. Sophia started 1st grade today and Aiden started Nursery. I'm thrilled to have both kids in the same school and am glad Sophia will look out for her little brother there.

Sophia decided to take the bus to school for her first day

Aiden checks out the globe in his new nursery class

Big hugs, kisses and love,


H-A-S-A