Is summer really over?

We're back home but mentally still on vacation. The kids has started school and trying very hard to get back into the norm. It was one whirlwind of a summer for me and the family and so no wonder why our summer seem to have passed by so quickly. First, I spent almost a week in the ever fabulous city of San Francisco for the Blogher Conference (even got to hang out with Sesame Street's Grover - want proof?) and then a few weeks later the family was off to LA, then our biggest highlight of all...Hawaii!

Here is a small video I made to share a little bit of what made my summer so great. Hope you had a fun summer too.

Being Asian...

8-16-08 beach mat caddy
Originally uploaded by MJ's Sugar Sprinkles

We hired a local boy to carry our beach mat around...LOL...kidding. That is my son and I couldn't help but make fun of the situation.

Being Asian and extremely tan now, a lot of tourists assume that we are locals. We find it quite funny that we get stopped and get asked for directions. And since we've been here way too many times, we know where to point them out to. Which even makes us look like we are from here.

But looking like local folks isn't all that great. Sometimes we tend to get less service like on a one-day boat cruise my husband and I took one time where the boat crew assumed that we are local islanders. They were especially running and waiting on other tourists. I had to get their attention a couple of times and let them know --- "We are from Chicago, can you please help us?" And then that's when we get waited hand and foot.

We really don't let it bother us. After all, this is where you are supposed to SHAKA -- Hang Loose!

Hawaii is so close to home

8-16-08 This is why I love Hawaii...Rice and Soy Sauce
Originally uploaded by MJ's Sugar Sprinkles

Hawaii has always felt like home to me. No I've never lived here, but I always wished I did. This morning we went to our free breakfast (hotel package deal) and there were white rice and soy sauce available. If you must know, white rice is a norm on Asian households eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. My husband and I were happy, and the kids ate happily with their rice, bacon, and egg.

Years ago I remember giggling that even Burger King here serve rice, egg, spam, and soy sauce for breakfast. Denny's have everything from Filipino food, to Korean, Chinese, and Japanese. So seeing the rice and soy sauce being served this morning wasn't so much of a surprise, but a welcoming one.

Finally Gettin' Laid!

I meant lei'd!

Our LA part of the summer vacation is now over and the family is finally heading to Hawaii this morning. And although it would be nice to get lei'd and laid, I think that with 3 small kids in tow the possibility of gettin' sumthin'- sumthin' with the husband will be close to impossible. So let me ditch the latter for now.

I can't wait to sip my virgin mai tais, stop my toddler from eating sand, and apply sun-block to my sweaty boys all day. Oh the joys!

But don't pity me -- at least I'm getting lei'd. Wouldn't you want to get lei'd too? Yeah, I thought so!

Aloha!

Been meaning to share these...

Our Family's Summer Vacation is going fun and well here in LA, but I still can't wait to start our Hawaiian Vacation! In 3 more days (who's counting?)we will be receiving our leis and alohas while sipping some mai-tais. Virgin mai-tais since the kids are coming this time around...hehe. For the mean time, here are 2 videos I have been meaning to share with all of you.

The SV Moms Group asked their contributors (I'm one of them) to turn in a video of or about our daily mommy blogging lives. Below is what I turned in and here is the link to the fun video montage with the rest of the other contributing writers that submitted.



And I also hung out with Grover at his favorite Street. You know Grover don't you? Blue, fuzzy, big nosed? Sometimes he is known as Super Grover. Yeah that's him alright. Check out video below.

Seizing The Moment

Our family movie of choice in our hotel room last night was Kung Fu Panda. My husband and I didn't know if the kids will go with it because they've seen it with my brother already. And we were really surprised that they agreed so quickly. However, it turned out the be one big mistake. Throughout the movie they kept giving us spoilers. "Mama, look watch this -- Po will blah blah.." or "Oh, this is the best part, watch when Po climb up blah, blah, blah..." It was hard to enjoy it and by mid-show I already knew how it will end. So a note to self: Remember to only pick movies they have not seen yet so they can concentrate and be quiet with us.

I did however walk away with a kick-ass saying from Oogway the wise turtle: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. And that is why they call it -- present"...aaaaahhhh...loved that one! I love all Carpe Diem life lessons. It almost gives one the license to be bad for that moment don't you think? Well, being bad for me is as far as giving soft drinks to my little ones or allowing them to have a piece of cake for breakfast. And yes, I do feel guilty about it. In my defense, I happened to have seized that moment. :-)

Rolling

Now that we are taking our 3 kids with us in our Hawaiian vacation, I'm wondering how we will roll with this new adventure.

Let me explain. For the longest time my husband and I have vacationed to Hawaii alone by ourselves. Our special place to just completely veg out. On some days, we like spending all day lounging by the pool/beach or just simply chilling out in the hotel room. The occasional shopping trips, snorkeling, and other activities somehow manage to make its way through. And on those days he'd rather nap the day away, I get my pampering done. Mani and pedi on such days, massage on other days, and maybe a facial or a body scrub unless I felt the need to shop. But the evenings are a different story -- we always plan on nice dinners, maybe a romantic fine dining, or we catch some local theatre dinner show sort of thing. We enjoy these arrangements because we both get our "me" time and still have a lot of together time and that's just how we roll.

But what happens now that we are taking our kids with us? I'm imagining that the whole "me" time will now be gone. *poof! It will be more of like me, me, me, or mine, mine, mine.

Goodbye pool / sea side lounge chair naps, goodbye to all the pamperings. But the nice planned dinners we will keep. I don't know about fine dining with them, and we may have to resort to some buffet places and watch the free street shows instead. And that is probably how we'll roll.

On Our Way To Paradise

The kids are still in bed while I run around making sure everything in my list will make it to the luggage. Today is the day we are finally leaving for vacation. First stop - a couple of days in LA which isn't a big deal since we visit there quite often and only really go there because of my in-laws. After LA, Hawaii here we come!!! Woohoo!!!

I think we've tortured the kids enough by having them watch our many old videos in Hawaii. The husband and I frequented Hawaii before the kids came along, so this is the first time we are visiting back. We contemplated every year if the kids are too young to enjoy it (and of course the long plane trip), but we figured the oldest of 3 will be too old to not have seen the islands yet before the youngest is old enough. So, we just simply couldn't wait any longer.

My uncle and his wife of Texas are coincidentally visiting their children that same week we are in Hawaii, so I am also looking forward in hanging with the cousins whom I saw last summer.

In time I will get to finish all my Blogher recaps --- but for now, I will be writing about this vacation! I will be posting daily!