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Mother’s Day 2023

Who goes golfing on Mother’s Day? Apparently just us! While everyone was having brunch, we finished what is normally a six-hour round in three-and-a-half hours. This was our 3rd round in five days. It’s great to see Grace at 100% and enjoying herself (as much as you can in gale winds).

Our tradition of spending Mother’s Day with the Moons was disrupted by conflicting sports schedules. Olivia took one for the team and we were able to meet-up as planned at Mastro’s in SF. We were only missing Lucas, who is in Japan on a school trip.

Happy Mother’s Day to Grace, Clara, and our moms!

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Spring Break – Part 2: White Lotus Edition

Plan B for spring break was a last minute change from a week in LA. Five days in Maui was just enough time for the kids to enjoy spring break, especially as school was a bit of grind up until the break. This was our first time staying at this resort, though Steve and Vickie were married here 21 years ago.

It’s true the White Lotus music played in my mind when I recognized different scenes and artifacts. The kids hadn’t seen it so they have no clue. We had no agenda on this trip and Lucas and I arrived a little under the weather. Any ambitions of snorkeling Molokini, scaling Haleakala, or zip lining faded quickly. For such a short trip, I’m totally cool with just hanging out.

Although we made the most of the ocean, pool, and wonderful food at the resort, mistakes were made. The lessons learned were: you can’t spend hours at a mall with 12 stores; Tommy Bahamas is the Bubba Gumps of Hawaii; no matter how good Morimotos is, 8:15pm island time is too late for dinner.

Olivia’s close friend from school were staying at their home nearby and they were very kind to invite us for lunch. Olivia and Grace were lucky to have spent a few days at the end of last summer at their home. We all went to Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice, which was the best treat of the trip.

We made the most of our last day by trying boogie boarding. I scorpioned on my first ride and was badly damaged. Olivia, Lucas and Grace got some great rides, even if their facial expressions don’t match their true emotions. We had one last buffet to power us through the long trip home.

I’m so glad we took this trip as great memories were made and we’re still able to enjoy traveling together.

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Spring Break – Part 1: Los Angeles

We were going to spend the week in Los Angeles for spring break, spending time with LA grandparents and uncle Dave. We were also going to use the opportunity to see some LA-area colleges for Olivia, but it turns out she’s not (currently) interested in those schools. In any case, we were overdue for a visit.

We stayed in Century City and some highlights included:

  • Dinner at Chosun Galbee
  • Lunch at Ann & Jeremy’s beautiful new home
  • First ride ever in any Italian sports car
  • First (and possibly last) hot pot experience

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2023 U of M Ski Trip to Vail

This past weekend was spent with brothers for life in Vail. Although the tradition goes back at least a decade, this was only my second trip. It’s not easy to herd this many cats on a mountain as big as Vail, but we did our best.

It’s easy to see the routine: Loaded Joes, skiing, hot tub, dinner and cards, with some other activities sprinkled in between. There were some high speed crashes, but everyone went home in one piece. As always it was great to reconnect and catch up with each other throughout the trip.

Lamar and I broke our perfect record of losing in Euchre, but one of those wins was against a team who had no idea what they were doing. Allard and Durbin are unbelievably undefeated and couldn’t be less gracious about that fact – worst winners ever.

Thanks to Brad who organized a special dinner in a private room at Elway’s. His only request was that everyone share a toast. I had a conversation last year about learning the importance of never missing an opportunity to let people in your life know what they mean to you. This group already gets it. Many beautiful words were shared to attest to the gratitude we all share for our decades of friendship.

I’m already looking forward to Super Bowl weekend in Vail next year (and every year thereafter).

GO BLUE!

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U of M Tahoe Trip to Blaine’s – Winter Edition

Matt invited the west coast crew back up to Lake Tahoe for a ski trip. It’s just as beautiful up there in the winter, just snowier. I rode up with Ben on Thursday evening and Matt and Dukes were already up there.

Friday, we skied Palisades, which was the first time for me in years. Because I last skied there when the kids were very little, I don’t recall the big mountain aspect if this resort. It was a welcome change. We met up with Greg and his friends and skied together after lunch.

On Saturday, we avoided the crowds and skied at Matt’s home mountain of Homewood. This was a first for me. I always thought Heavenly had the best views in Lake Tahoe but I was wrong. Homewood is right on the lake with spectacular views everywhere. It was well groomed and quiet. The plumbing is not modern.

Great weekend away with the boys. Hope we do it again soon. Thanks for having us, Blaine!

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Olivia’s Surprise 16th Birthday Party

Olivia hasn’t had very many birthday parties with friends over the years because her birthday lands during the holidays. Her very thoughtful and sweet friends threw her a surprise birthday party. She was in on some discussion for an impromptu party a couple weeks ago, but that never materialized.

On Sunday, while her friend took her to lunch, a bunch of friends came over to the house to decorate and set up. There was enough misdirection that Olivia really had no idea. When she came home, she was truly surprised and overwhelmed.

We can’t thank her friends (and their parents) enough for making this happen. We’re all very fortunate that she has such a kind friend group and we love having them all over. Happy Birthday again, Olivia!

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Olivia’s 16th Birthday

We celebrated this sweet 16-year-old at home this year, which is rare as we’re usually traveling somewhere. It’s hard to imagine that Olivia would need anything just a few days after Christmas, but her generous family always sends  her such thoughtful gifts. It was extra special to have my mom, aunt Jen and Blue here to celebrate together.

We braved the rain and took everyone to Che Fico in San Francisco. I thought it was even better than the first time and every dish was amazing. While not a big party with her friends, we hope she enjoyed spending the day with her family who loves her very much.

Happy 16th Birthday, Olivia!

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Beaver Creek with Grandma and Aunt Jen

The kids got out of school early this year, so we decided to go on our annual ski trip before the holidays. Even though they weren’t going to ski, we asked my mom and Jen (and Blue) to join us to experience mountain life for a week. To keep things familiar, we went back to Beaver Creek, though we stayed at a different hotel for the first time.

After all flying into Denver, we drove up to the mountains together. Things went a lot more smoothly with our flights and bags compared to last year, so we had that going for us. The snow was also the best it has been for us this early in the season, so we were also thankful for that.

Even though we took mom and Jen to some of our favorite places, we tried some new ones together, too. We took a one-day excursion to Vail, which really meant a couple of runs and lunch. The weather most of the week was pretty good. Some bluebird days, some new snow, and some bomb cyclone wind and snow.

All-in-all, it was a fun Rhee family trip, despite the 7-hour delay getting home from Denver. We all flew back to SF to spend the rest of the holiday together. Everyone was super excited to see Luna, except maybe Blue.

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