Cooking is Messy

 

Even after beach time, Derek continued his culinary exploits back at the hotel. HOWEVER, as you can see, he got a little carried away with the blue goo and put it all over his hair. It took 2 bottles of hotel conditioner to get the goo out and then Derek had pretty slick hair for the rest of the week. Lesson learned here: do not put blue goo in your hair. Derek will have to learn to style his hair with something a little different next time.

Beach Boy

 

 

 

 

Being in sunny Cali for Thanksgiving was amazing. Here we are at Seal Beach enjoying the sand and ocean waves. Though it was too cold for a swim, Derek was happy to "cook" up a lot of sand dishes for us. Though we didn't have toys, we learned the brilliant idea of stopping by a Dollar Store for some toys while traveling. It works wonders as everything is very affordable and keeps you from having to bring things with you from home. Seal Beach has a larger retiree population so the strip malls are full of home-health and hearing aid services - but I kid you not - the Dollar Store there was amazingly well stocked with lots of really good toys! Since we're from Latinoland, our "Dolar Tren" always looks like, well a train-wreck, so Dek was happy with his new dump truck, cooking set and colander. We headed to the kitchen aisle when we realized that we were too late into the season for sand castle molds.

Cousin Convention (Day 2)

 

 

More with the Marfori Cousins after a big dim sun lunch in LA Chinatown.

My First S'More

Tita MG and Marinell's wasn't complete without bondfire and S'mores! We were surprised how chilly it was in the Valley (probably only 50/60, but after sunny 75 - it seemed drastically colder). Dek has started to outgrow some allergies which means more junk food (yay chocolate). Here he is with dad toasting up some marshmellows. He just preferred to eat them straight from the bag is what we found out later...

Cousin Convention

 

The day after Thanksgiving, we headed north from the OC all the way to the Valley. We were joined by more family and cousins - a few meeting for the first time! It was good times a well attended cousin reunion on Mike's side. Dek loved running around with the other kids and had a good time eating his way through all the delicious Filipino food that host MG and Marinell cooked up. All in all, a great day!

Smooth Criminal(ish)

 

 

 

Dek has been going through this very big "Michael Jax" phase (as he calls him), ever since we heard Bad on the radio and he said "Mommy, whos dis?" We gave him HIStory on CD and its been on repeat ever since - kind of makes me kind of happy that Dek is dancing around to the same music we listened to as kids, but a little sad that MJ turned out so tragic (how could he not have). Oh well those early hits are undeniably pop magic and even Dek recognized it at first listen. His favorites are Beat It and Billy Jean currently.

At the end of Thanksgiving, we put on some big hits and let the kids do the dancing.

T-Day with Cousin Sammy

 

 

Here are some highlights of Dek and Cousin Sammy as we enjoyed our Turkey day in sunny Cali. Thanks to Tita Shelly for hosting. Derek got to box, got carried around by a 7-year old and got to play Mousetrap for the first time!

Santa Bear?

We wandered down to Huntington Beach and found this nice little chubby bear dressed as Santa. Being it wasn't even Thanksgiving yet, Derek was excited to see the man in the red suit and in bear-form no less early in the season.

Warmer Climates

 

 

The night we left DC before Thanksgiving it was cold and rainy, a 6- hour flight, 1 hour drive later and 10 blocks from the beach later. Our little man finds the first chance to pull off his shoes run around the playground and steal toys from a local toddler to enjoy the sand. Gotta love the OC! I'll try to get up to date on Dek's adventures on the West Coast in the next series of posts...

A Very Merry Holiday to You!

Presents, please

Getting Chummy with the Dude that gives presents

Derek the Sears Catalog Version

[I'm going to get back to posting a SLEW of Cali Trip postings in a bit...]

 But just in time for Xmas, wanted to wish everyone a a great holiday with some of Dek's school and Santa photos (soo cheesey, no idea how the photogs get the kids to pose like this!)

Dek is really into the holidays this year compared to last, where there was a slight understanding of Santa and presents but no where the excitement and anticipation.  Derek has been asking if every day is Xmas, and its our fault for not really pushing the concept of a calendar on him, but basically - He's REALLY excited. We've told him to just ask for 1 gift, so he's asking Santa for a "fishing game" and then he'll say "and THAT'S ENOUGH!" just to emphasize he's not being a greedy present seeker.  He's also singing along to more holiday tunes, his favorites being Silver Bells and Frosty.

We've only broken a few ornaments this year, but there is still time.

Marfori Quality Time

Dek spent some time with his Titos and Titas perfecting the art of the selfie.

Holiday Cheer

Very Merry Dek

Merry (Belated) Xmas! - posting a bit late here, but here is Dek with Santa (Dad) and a reindeer (identity shall remain nameless). We got some good photos of just Dek with the reindeer head but those were a bit too disturbing to post...

Future Duke?

 

 

It was pretty chilly in Harrisonburg, so we mostly just hid in the bookstore letting Dek try on branded goods and convincing not to buy a previously viewed version of Toy Story.

On the Rocks...

 

 

For equality purposes (and we had a free night at Marriott to burn), we made a trip to Mike's alma mater down in Harrisonburg, VA. We creeped around campus like the oldies we are and were tempted to partake in a random tailgate, but just ended up running around so Dek could explore the place. He is getting even more active and daredevil like and also forming lots of opinions we've noticed. We didn't suffer too much from any terrible 2s, and I heard people say, wait until they are 3 - now I'm starting to see what they mean... everything is a mini-negotiation with him.