Little Farm at Tilden

We made another visit to Tilden, went to the little farm this time. Gabriel was fascinated with the animals, but not interested in touching the animals, he also just wanted to run away from us!

Checking out the large wooden statue in the information centre.

The poultry farm!On the boardwalk!

Real Food in Oakland

We went to the "Real Food in Oakland" festival at Jack London, the food was great, we got to try a lot of nice stuff, the free chocolates and the basil ice-cream was the highlight for me! We signed up to Yelp and got free green bags, and Renee got to take a photo with the lobster and Gabriel.

Alameda Beach

Took Gabriel to Alameda Beach for the first time yesterday, there was some other moms there from the Oakland Moms playgroup.
The water was very shallow, hardly no waves, reasonably clean, lots of sand and seaweed for baby to play with. I even taught him how to stamp and splash with his feet!

Again, can't seem to catch him smiling!

Photos at JC Penny

We went to get some photos done at JC Penny, Gabriel was very uncooperative, he wouldn't stay where he was placed, wouldn't look at the camera, could not get a single smile out of the whole session.This was his one smile on camera all day, when he reached out to pat this little kid that was waiting to have his photo taken.

Super Franks

This place is quite a set up, there are all these rooms for kids, they have glow in the dark golf, a games arcade, a huge play area for little kids!
Too bad we don't have any photos of Gabriel when he first arrived, the look on his face when he looked around...he was awed and a little bit overwhelmed.

Gabriel is pushing a car around instead of sitting on it.

Here is one of the many rooms at Super Franks.

Stuffing our faces with curly fries!

Aunt Shirley's visit

Gabriel and I met great-Aunt Shirley for the first time, we had lunch then an early dinner at mom's place. I think Gabriel is getting better, he's still not sure of Uncle Errol...but at least he doesn't burst into tears anymore!Jonah took this clever photo using the webcam on his laptop which turned out quite well, we actually managed to get everyone in the picture!

Mochi ice-cream!

When asked what was the highlight of my trip to Hawaii, the visit to Bubbies ice-cream immediately popped into my head. They had some great flavours, I picked out lychee, guava, azuki bean and sakura, but I got to try some other flavours, strawberry chocolate, passion, green tea and peanut butter were pretty good too!

Diamond Head

Here we are at the top of Diamond Head, the view of Waikiki is pretty nice, the hike up was not strenuous (for me) at all since Jonah carried Gabriel all the way...our photo would have looked more impressive if there were less strangers in the picture!

Ramen

Since we're always on the lookout for really really good ramen outside of Japan, it really surprised us to find TWO really good ramen restaurants in the same town, too bad for us it's in Hawaii, which is still too far from the Bay Area... but it's only half as far as Tokyo!

Patiently waiting for the food to come.

"Where's mine?"

A very drool worthy bowl of ramen!!!

Self-serve frozen yoghurt

I'm officially a fan of frozen yoghurt...and self-serve is the way to go!!! Here we are at Menchies, a self-serve yoghurt bar, and then you pay by weight, we went overboard the first time and ended up with way too many toppings!

Tide Pool

Gabriel is not a fan of cold water, he doesn't like the beach or the pool. He likes to play with the sand and splash water around while his feet are firmly planted on the ground!!! Anyway we found this great little tide pool on the north shore of Honolulu, it's warm and shallow, he had so much fun that he started crying when I took him away.

Kenji giving Jonah a lesson on baby massage

Kenji gives baby Misha a massage before bed every night as part of their sleep routine, so here is Jonah taking lessons and practicing on Gabriel. But since then Jonah has decided that Gabriel didn't like getting a massage and has not repeated the experience.

Waimea Canyon

Here we are at Waimea Canyon. The view at the end of the long drive was pretty and scenic...but when compared to the Grand Canyon...not even close! (That should be removed from the guide books, it's deceptive!) If you have time to kill and don't mind long drives or want to do a bit of hiking then it's not a bad visit. But we could have used the time to see the Na Pali Coast or Wailua Falls.

Merry-Go-Round

Riding the horses on the merry-go-round for the fist time with Gabriel. He seems intrigued, but not terribly thrilled.

Here we are no longer moving, he still doesn't seem all that interested. The only thing he really likes to do is "people watching".

Gabriel's First Birthday

We took him for a ride on the little train at Tilden Park, which he was a little unsure of at first, but I think he had a nice time in the end

He's reading the birthday card, upside down...oh well.

Your first wooden blocks train!

My First Father's Day

It wasn't really that eventful, Gabriel didn't get me anything, he didn't plan anything, in fact, I don't think he had any idea what was going on, but we had a good time anyway.

A visit with the Joses

It's always nice to have Jose and Jose over for dinner... especially when Jose brings his own meat and cooks it for us...
mmmmmm, meat.

A trip to Oregon

We had a great time visiting my brother and his family outside of Eugene, OR. There's lots to do in the middle of nowhere, like...Bowling

Shootin' guns

Hangin' out

Ping pong

Religious debate

Makin' sushi

Playin' frisbee golf

Bought a bike !!!

Just got back to the states 5 days ago and I've already bought my first motorcycle. I've always wanted to learn to ride, and now I can scratch that off the list of things to do before I turn 30.

Picnic at Olympic Park

Here we are on the second last day in Sydney, we had a picnic with my family in Homebush Olympic Park. Great place for a BBQ, bike rides and long walks!
We're at the water feature, which has Gabriel mesmerised! He refuses to look at the camera, but the little guy is getting tired after spending a whole day at the park.

A visit to Cronulla

We finally made it to the beach while we were in Sydney, Jonah was pretty disappointed that we didn't manage to go more often.
This visit was not the happiest for Gabriel, unfortunately he was teething and just feeling grumpy!

Out for a stroll

I love this face, he doesn't make it too often. Here he is out for a walk with my dad. Wonder if he even remembers his time in Australia. Six weeks is really not enough time to make an impression!

Shooting

We got to try shooting (I guess that's why they call it "try shooting" in Australia). Check out Khanh's score card (on the right), she's a natural.

"Never judge a book by it's cover"

Gabriel could not decide which book he wanted, he still needs to learn to put the books back, for now he just throws the ones he doesn't want on the floor!

Aussie Family

Well, we've been here a month now, and although it took some time, Gabriel is more than happy and comfortable with his Aussie side of the family. Here are a few pics of the key players: Grandma Linh, Grandpa Hoc, Auntie An, and Auntie Tran

AAAAAAHHH!

Gabriel reveals his true form.
Watch out.
He crazy.

Next stop Sydney CBD

Here we are at Lidcombe station, on Gabriel's first trip into the city. He's pretty excited.

Climbing

Gabriel's favorite thing to do now is climb. This is his favorite spot, as it is the highest spot he can get to on his own. He climbs up from the floor where he sleeps, on to the bed, pushes everything off the nightstand, and gets up and admires himself in the mirror. As you can see from the photo, he's very proud of himself, as are we.