Monday, July 23, 2007

4 Days. 1,000+ Miles.

We just returned from a trip up to Northern California. This was k's first "major" trip and she did pretty well. It all started with a wedding that we were invited to in Moraga. We decided it would be a good opportunity to visit people, so our itinerary was as follows:

Friday: Visit my college friend and her family in Cupertino. Visit my second cousin and her baby in Cupertino. Visit D's cousin and his wife in Santa Clara and stay overnight at their place.

Saturday: Go to Berkeley (mostly so D could go to the Student Store). Attend wedding in Moraga and reception in Oakland. Stay overnight in Oakland.

Sunday: Visit D's family in Napa and stay overnight.

Monday: Go home, but stop to visit my Grandma and Auntie in Paso Robles.

As you can imagine, we're tired, but it was lots of fun. We have lots of photos to share, but for now, we will leave you with just one of D and k at a rest stop somewhere along I-5.

rest stop

Monday, July 16, 2007

Trying to Crawl

k has been getting up on all fours, trying to crawl. She's probably wondering why we cheer for her when she does this. I have a feeling that once she does start crawling everywhere, we'll long for the days where we could just plop her down and she would stay in one place.

On Her Knees

Trying to Crawl

Also, her first tooth is just barely coming in!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Training for Half-Marathon

For the last 4 months, I have been training for my 2nd Half-Marathon which will be held on September 2nd. I plan to run the Disneyland Half-Marathon in Anaheim in 2 Hours and 5 Minutes, which is over 14 minutes faster than I ran it last year. I should be helped by a number of factors. First I hope I will be in the 2nd grouping instead of the 4th grouping which will allow me to run with faster runners, i.e. less people walking in full costume. I will find out soon, but my time from last year should get me there. Second I have lost about 7 pounds since last year's race. Since I have been running, 15 months ago, I have lost 12 pounds. Thirdly, I plan on stopping (walking for a minute) every other water stop instead of every water stop. There is a stop every 1.5 miles. I have run 4 10.5 mile runs so far compared with 3 10.5 mile runs last year. And I have been stopping every 3 miles or so. Fourthly, I plan on eating a banana or piece of toast w/ jam before my race along with a gel shot instead of just the gel shot. Last year I was jittery due to the caffeine in the gel shot and was hungry. Finally, I will make sure to use the porta-potty 30 minutes before the race instead of 45 mintues before so I am not uncomfortable after drinking a lot of water.

My long training runs are run at a little after 6 a.m. to around 8 a.m. I am surprised at how hot it can get this early in the morning. Even though it is only about 70 degrees at the end on my runs, it slows you down a lot compared with running in 50 degree weather. I am running and biking now, and stopped the swimming, so I can cooncentrate on my lower body. I enjoy running in Huntington Beach with the breeze and the beauty of the beach to look at. Also my running shoes, Asics 2110, are a good fit for me. I read that the Asics 2120 now has Solyte, which is lighter midsole material. I also have new shorts and a shirt, so I will look different in my race. My shorts are shorter in the front, so my legs don't have to move much material, and my shirt is a little lighter, however it does have wider shoulder straps. But the white color should reflect more sunlight. Stay tuned for more updates.

Monday, July 09, 2007

For some reason, Blogger is not letting me put titles on my posts. Anyway, on Sunday we acted like lemmings and met my sister and her husband at Yogurtland. When we arrived at 3 p.m. the line was out the door.

yogurtland line

For those who haven't followed the frozen yogurt craze, this place is different because it is self-serve (yogurt and toppings) and you pay 30 cents an ounce. It ends up being cheaper than Pinkberry if you exercise some restraint.

yogurtland
Here is my creation. Those marshmallow-looking things are actually mochi bits--yum! Kev and I liked the "tart" flavors while D and my sister liked the regular sweet ones better.

taiko line
We also noticed these people waiting next store for Taiko to open at 4:30. That must be some seriously good Japanese food if people are willing to bring stadium chairs and wait a couple of hours for the place to open! D has been there for lunch and it made his "list".

debbie
Afterward we went to Debbie's 29th birthday party at a park in Irvine. I was thankful to have k as an excuse not to play kickball!

IMG_0643
Here's D testing out a jogging stroller that one of our friends brought to the park...now he wants one.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

We had a busy day today, most of which we will blog about later. For now, we will leave you with pictures of k "driving" our CX-7.

zoom zoom

driving

Thursday, July 05, 2007

A (Loud!) 4th of July

We celebrated the 4th of July by hanging at Seal Beach in the morning and having a barbecue at my parents' in the afternoon. At night it sounded like everyone and their mother was shooting off fireworks in our neighborhood. Amazingly, k slept through it all.

pacific electric
We like to use the carrier when we go to the beach since strollers and sand don't work too well. It was amazing how much bigger k looked in the carrier this time.

basket
A tisket, a tasket, a baby with a green and yellow onesie in a basket.

It's getting hot in here...
diaper
...so take off all your clothes (except for your diaper)!

Monday, July 02, 2007

This Is How We Roll

hiding place
On Sunday k was making a lot of noise during service. Good thing we were in the "cry room". D took her outside to calm her down a bit.

After church we met up with one of D's old friends from high school/college and his girlfriend. They flew in from Hong Kong for a wedding the day before. We ate lunch at Wahoo's at Fashion Island. After chatting over some gelato we drove down PCH to Laguna. We strolled the boardwalk and then found a shady patch of grass and chilled.

Laguna

nap
Here's Eug taking a nap. He must've been really tired because it was fairly noisy/crowded.