Grace & Jason

Goodbye Feleses and La Jolla

jason — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:40:39 -0700

After breakfast on Sunday morning, we all packed up and left Hotel Parisi with the Feleses. They were off to catch their flight back to Detroit and we were driving back to San Francisco. They beat us by about 3 hours. We did stop in Los Angeles for lunch with Grace's parents and brother, Dave.

What a great trip. Something I wish we could do every year. Laura and Chris are moving to San Diego soon, so it isn't too early to start planning for next summer... Good times!

West Bloomfield Reunion at Kristen and Scott's House

jason — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:23:02 -0700

On Saturday afternoon, Kristen and Scott hosted a BBQ at their house in La Jolla, and by BBQ, I mean they brought in some authentic Kansas City ribs, chicken and brisket. They overestimated how much Steve and Chris would put away. We had the whole gang there, including Joanne, Andy and their two boys (their daughter had a sleepover), who came down from Irvine. This was the first time this whole group was together since our wedding.

Kristen and Scott's backyard is full of fun activities for the kids. We took advantage of the cooler weather and their new fire pit to make some smores. Before we left, the girls broke into the costumes, which made it difficult to pry "Princess Olivia" from the action. Princess - uh oh...

Thanks to Kristen and Scott for hosting all of us.

La Jolla Cove

jason — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:34:57 -0700

On Saturday, July 17th, we had a late start before heading out to explore La Jolla Cove. We took a quick lap and then spent some time in town while the kids napped/rested.

Dinner in the Gaslamp District

jason — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:45:27 -0700

On Friday evening, we arranged for a sitter to come to the hotel to stay with Sebastian, Eve, Lucas and Olivia in the Feles' suite. We drove over to Kristen and Scott's house and from there the six of us went down to the condo Laura and Chris rented downtown. After drinks, we walked down to Blue Point in the Gaslamp district. Dinner was excellent (and surprisingly quiet).

Afterwards, we went over to Vickie and Steve's condo at Petco park. This isn't the first property they've owned near the park, but it is the first one inside the park. Steve described the elaborate method he used to determine the optimal unit to purchase with the best views while the development was only a hole in the ground (balloons and long string were employed). They use it mostly to entertain and also donate their space to many local charities throughout the season. It seems to keep them very busy. Their philanthropy is admirable.

Everyone enjoyed an adults-only night on the town. When we got back, we determined that the best way to transfer Lucas back to our room was to wheel him away in his pack-n-play. He never stirred.

La Jolla Shores Beach

jason — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:21:08 -0700

A haiku:

we went to the beach

kids and dads played in the sand

moms guarded our stuff

And another:

sand was very hot

forgot my flip flops

ouch! run to water

Oh, why not...

sebastian asleep

stroller stuck in sand

does not roll - pick up

San Diego Zoo with Feles and Abrams Families

jason — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:45:35 -0700

On Thursday, we met up with Laura, Chris and Cooper at the San Diego Zoo. It was hot. Lucas might have sweated out half his body weight in his stroller - poor guy. He called someone to complain. We were hoping the polar bear exhibit was cool, but it wasn't. Olivia and Grace rode the cable car with Eve and Nick across the zoo to the exit. Melanie and I strollered the little guys back. There were a couple escalators to make the trek easier, but Mel's double stroller wouldn't fit. The hike up the hill was my exercise for the year.

All of us had seen enough, except Olivia, who insisted we see tigers and toucans. We went back in search of both and after barely seeing the tiger, we ended up on the other end of the zoo again. We convinced her that some other large-beaked bird was a toucan. This time we did take advantage of the escalators, but it was still a hike.

On the way out, Olivia reminded us that we did not see any giraffes. She was right. We continued to hear about it all the way back to the car, and even a little bit the next day. Now we have a reason to go back.

Seriously, impressive zoo (though Nick said the Detroit Zoo's polar bear exhibit kicked this zoo's exhibit's ass).

Hotel Parisi Apartments in La Jolla

jason — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:29:14 -0700

We stayed at the apartments at the Parisi Hotel in La Jolla the last time we visited, so reserved one again for this trip. Unfortunately, we booked the last one, so Mel and Nick and Laura and Chris didn't have one. Laura and Chris decided to rent a condo downtown instead. Melanie worked her magic and secured the penthouse suite, which was ridiculously big and nice. We all piled in there a lot of the time. Eve even shared her bed with Olivia for pretend nap time.

We all settled in after LEGOLAND and ordered in some food. Every morning we had breakfast together at the hotel. It worked out great.

Santa Monica and PopSugar Studios with Olivia

jason — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 21:14:55 -0700

On Monday, July 12, Grace was working in her LA office. Grandma and Grandpa stayed home with Lucas and I decided to take Olivia out for the day. I had high hopes of taking her somewhere interesting for breakfast, but I couldn't really find anything in Santa Monica. Sadly, we ended up at some place on 3rd Street Promenade (so touristy), but the good news is she ate like a champ, which is a victory in itself.

Afterwards, we stopped by PopSugar Studios on 10th St. in Santa Monica. It was my first time visiting our LA office and I also got to meet several people to whom I've only spoken on the phone. Great office space!

O and I then went over to Fred Segal where we got some refreshments. O also scored a Hello Kitty watercolor paint set and book. We got Lucas a stylish Sesame Street t-shirt.

Central Park Zoo

jason — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:09:42 -0700

On Friday, June 4th, Charles and David came over in the morning before heading out to the wedding rehearsal in NJ. Jen also came over and we went to lunch at Brooklyn Diner. After lunch, we took the kids to the Central Park Zoo (who knew it was so close?). The only thing hotter than 86 degrees and 70+% humidity is going to the tropical exhibit in the exotic animal zoo on a day like that. It was suffocating. The penguin hall was a welcome change - I didn't want to leave. Lucas never met an animal (or person) he didn't like. He had so much fun feeding all of the animals. Olivia is a little more discriminating. She was bummed that there were no elephants.

Olivia second-guessed herself at the ice cream stand and changed her order to a sno-cone. Big mistake. It was a hunk of tasteless ice (I confirmed), so she got a do-over (Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake).

After three hours in the park, we were spent. What a great urban adventure!

American Museum of Natural History

jason — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:01:20 -0700

On Wednesday, we had breakfast in the room before heading out to explore NYC with the kids. We decided to check out the American Museum of Natural History. On our first stop, Olivia reached out to touch a large meteorite and I asked her not to. A docent standing nearby encouraged her to do so saying it would be the oldest thing she would ever touch in her life. After hearing that, I made sure Lucas touched it, too. Olivia isn't too much into the universe, but loves dinosaurs, so we made a bee-line for that exhibit. Her favorite is triceratops. Lucas had fun mostly just running around. This was my first time visiting this museum and it was both beautiful and impressive.

SFO to JFK

jason — Mon, 31 May 2010 21:17:18 -0700

On Saturday, May 29th, we embarked on a week-long trip to the East Coast. Olivia was a little restless as a toddler. Lucas at 18 months does not like to sit still for 5 minutes, so I was a little worried about a 6-hour transcontinental flight with him. He was as active as he could be, given his seat was our lap, but overall he did great. They both slept for a little over an hour, which helped. What didn't help was that although we landed 30 minutes early, we weren't able to de-plane until we were 15 minutes late - further evidence that JFK is the worst airport in the world. Virtually every trip to or from there convinces me of it.

When we finally did get off, we had the stroller loaded with both kids and assorted gear. We got into the tiniest elevator to go to baggage claim, and Danny Glover decided to squeeze in with his Smart Carte and contorted his way in so the door could close. He was nice enough to hold the door for us as we got out. Coincidentally, this is the second time I've seen him on a SFO to JFK flight.

First stop, Tenafly, NJ to spend the weekend with cousins and family.

Long Weekend in Vegas

jason — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:37:14 -0700

The last surprise of my 40th birthday celebration was being able to meet up with the crew in Vegas for our annual (er, semi-annual) trip. Normally we go on our birthday weekend, but we wanted to go to Amy & Lamar's wedding instead this year. For one reason or another, the crew pushed their trip back and Grace "caved" and signed us up. It was a surprise right up until I went to check into our last Virgin flight and saw an itinerary for the entire family to Vegas. Woohoo!

The team was actually a little light this time around. Jen, Linda and Phoebe, Edwin and Kenny made the trip. However, we were missing Danny, Elliott, Oliver, Jea and Prem from our (usual) crew.

Highlights:

Catching some of the Masters in-flight
Staying at the Encore
Cabana and pool day on Friday
My final "birthday" dinner at N9NE on Friday night
Sleep from 5:15-6:30am
Golf with Eddie at Bear's Best
Nap from 2:30-4:00pm with Olivia
More pool time - windy! Olivia doesn't care.
Dinner at Stratta. Steve Wynn came by to thank Linda for her slots play. That's him - really.
Sleep from 4:00-4:30am. Pack up and leave for 6:55am flight home.
Nick asked me to place two bets for him. Apparently he was kidding, but his first bet on Lefty in the Masters paid out and he's in the black no matter what. I'm feeling good about the second bet, too...

40 is the new 20. I felt great when I got home. Okay, I felt like crap. Luckily, the whole family took a monster nap in the afternoon. Great trip. Thanks, Grace!