World of Color 6/22/10

In June, a new show opened at Disney's California Adventure called World of Color. It's a water show similar to the show at the Bellagio in Las Vegas ... but much better!

Since the show is new, the crowds have been thick.  We really wanted to see it though so we signed up for one of their dining packages that includes dinner and a ticket for reserved viewing for the show.

We had to make a mad dash down there after work in order to get into the park on time for our reservation.  We just barely made it!  We had a good dinner at Ariel's Grotto that finished up with 2 very exciting things ... dessert and our viewing ticket!

Trying the figure out where we were supposed to get lined up was a little confusing, but we figured it out and managed to get prime viewing spots on the steps.  Then the waiting began .... we had some definite time to kill before the show started.  But it was oh so worth it!

A little before the main event, they had a fun pre-show with singing and lightup characters roaming the crowds.

Mike from Monsters Inc.

The Genie from Aladdin

Tigger from the Pooh movies

After that we were just minutes before the show and really excited.  Pictures don't begin to do it justice, but here a few glimpses of what's included in the show.

We all loved it and can't wait to see it again!

Graduation Season

May and June are graduation season, and this year we had 3 college grads and 2 high school grads!

Our friend Sam graduated with a Master's degree in Engineering from Cal State Long Beach.  For some reason we didn't take any pictures ...

John's cousin Philip graduated with a Bachelor's degree in English from Cal State Fullerton.

My best friend Deanna graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Professional Studies from Cal State Long Beach. (She's a sign language interpreter.)  Deanna is very tiny, but she's in the picture below!

And John's cousin Jazmin and my cousin Julia both graduated from high school.  Unfortunately we didn't get to go to their graduations, but we're really proud of them!

Once again guys, congratulations!!

Father's Day

This year we had 3 days of fun for Father's Day.  One with my Dad, one with my Grandad, and one with John's Dad.

My Grandad
My family met up at my grandparent's house in Northridge for a BBQ.  We had handmade hamburgers, salads, fruit, baked beans, etc.  And delicious cupcakes from my friend Sarah's business.  (Check out her stuff, it's awesome!)  We chit chatted, ate, opened presents, and played pool.  It was a fun evening.

Grandad loves presents!  Fancy wine bottle opener, peanut brittle, and a golf GPS all made him VERY happy.

 The whole gang

 Check out Angela's form

Is it gonna go in April?

John's Dad
Our day with John's Dad started at the cemetary to visit John's grandparent's graves.  It was a beautiful day out and we had a nice time.  After that we surprised his Dad with a fabulous buffet brunch at the Pacific Palms resort in the City of Industry.  John's cousin Philip and his girlfriend Nicole joined us.  We were seated in a great little alcove so we had some privacy.  The buffet had just about anything you could think of!  John really enjoyed all of the seafood.  I wish I hadn't gotten full so fast because I would have loved to keep refilling my plate!  Unfortunately, we were too busy eating to remember to take any pictures.  Afterwards we were all really full and sleepy so we went home and vegged the rest of the day!  It was a great day.
 

My Dad
For many many years he's been talking about buying a 1956 Chevy pickup truck and rebuilding it.  It's been on every birthday and Christmas list for years.  We've bought him little toy ones, but this year Bobby (my brother) and I decided to pool our money and get him the real thing!!  We seriously have the most amazing Dad.  He does so much to help us out and is always there for us.  Buying this for him was just something small we could do to show him how much we love him.

So, Bobby started searching all over the internet for trucks.  My Dad wanted a fixer-upper and had some specific "wants" so the search took awhile.  Finally Bobby found one in San Jose.  His friend Mario drove up there with him early one Sunday.  They checked out the truck, negotiated a little, rented a trailer, drove it home, and then stashed it in a family friend's shop.  We wanted my Dad to at least be able to drive it around the block so Bobby spent some time fixing the brakes and a few things like that.  We hoped to wait until Father's Day to give it to him, but he was on the brink of buying a brand new truck in early June and we weren't sure if he'd want 2 trucks .... so we devised a plan to give it to him early.

My Dad and John had been working in our backyard to take out our tree.  (See here.)  Bobby and I decided we'd wait until my Dad was over here working in the backyard and then Bobby would drive the truck over and bring him out to the front and surprise him.  My mom, Renee, and Taylor would follow Bobby and be in the front with me holding the video camera and John with his fancy camera.  We had the logistics worked out, but Bobby and I were both nervous wrecks.  We just wanted things to fall into place and get it over with!!  Luckily, everything worked out according to plan and my Dad was indeed surprised!

What's this!? I thought we were getting something from your truck??

No way! Let's check this out.

 I think he likes it!

Ok, give me all the details ...

Let's try it out for size

Who cares about Papa's truck ... I've got a tissue packet!

Taking her for the first ride around the block

What in the heck is going on back here?

Nala got to ride to Mimi and Papa's house later that day in style!  She wasn't so crazy about it because it was noisy, but she'll get used to it.

Here are a few shots of the truck.  Consider these "before" pics.  There's plenty of work to be done!

John's Birthday

John's birthday this year was a 2-day celebration!!  His actual birthday was on a Friday so he opted to take the day off from work for some extra relaxation.  When I got home at lunch he was still in his PJ's and had just finished playing several hours of video games.  Relaxation indeed!!

After having lunch, we decided it was time for him to open his presents from me.  Nala helped too!

Nala gave him herself and lots of licks!

That evening, John wanted to go to Kavika's for dinner and invited some of our friends and family.  Delicous food and a good time was had by all!

Mmmmm .... fresh chocolate chip cookies with Susan and Linda.

Make a wish!

Auntie Cynthia, Christian, Deanna, and Jazmin

Jim, Michelle, Dave, Steph, Amanda, Clay

Deanna and Loryn

Daryl and Pinky

Zoltan, Bill, Ashley, Sam

Philip and Nicole

John definitely had a fun time.  I also had a fun time getting him into bed that night!!  The next morning he had to get up bright and early though to work on the tree in the backyard.  He seemed fine!  After a few hours of hard labor, it was time to open the gifts he received the night before.

That evening Joh thought we were going to the balloon festival in Temecula with Deanna and Loryn, but I had a surprise for him ... dinner at The Melting Pot!  He had never been there and I knew he would love it.  I was right!!!  We had a fantastic meal and look forward to going back for a special occassion. (It's a bit pricey.)

Getting warmed up for our appetizer

Appetizer ~ Spinach Artichoke Cheese fondue

Main course ~ Beef/Chicken/Potstickers/Veggies with Coq au Vin broth (We got a package deal so the meats were sort of a mish-mosh from their regular menu.)

I can hardly wait!

Dessert ~ Chocolate S'mores fondue with everything you could possibly think of to dip in it!

The meal was heavenly!!  We were so full when we left and can't wait to do it again!

John ended up having a fabulous birthday!  Thanks again to everyone to participated in our 2-day celebration.