Grandma's Birthday

Earlier this month, we celebrated my grandmother’s birthday during my vacation at San Francisco, CA. I think she was surprised that we cooked and decorated my brother’s home for her birthday. It was a very late celebration by the way but she was out of the country at the time of her exact birthday.  It was good that it has become a part of my vacation too to celebrate such a special day. There was no fancy birthday invitations and there isn’t a lot of people, it is basically just me and my daughter, my brother’s family and few friends. Honestly, we don’t know how old she is too except that she is in her 80’s. I miss my grandmother and other family members in the mainland but now I am back in Hawaii, miles away from them.

We had banana lumpia, pancit palabok, fruit salad, siopao and other Filipino food. For my non-Filipino readers, these might all be foreign sounding to you. We also bought some mango cake at the nearby bakeshop. I love mango cakes. I don’t normally see them often. Since I left the Philippines, I hardly eat any mango too. They are so expensive here. Anyway, back to my grandmother’s birthday, we were thinking of giving her something but we cancelled because she is going back to the Philippines soon and she might not be able to take all her stuff. I also gave her some cash that she can use during the earlier part of my vacation. She has probably used it though to buy us some food (again) while we were there. She has always had a kind heart especially to her family and does not want to take gifts but always want to give.

Here are some pictures I took before her small party.

Disneyland Tickets

The whole family loves to visit the theme parks, and they always leave a lasting and lifetime memory for a child visiting the park for the first time.  There's one name that is synonymous with family fun, and that is Disney. Disneyland tickets can be bought separately, or combined with other attractions in the Southern California area, including Universal Studios. It can take several days to see everything at Disneyland, so I suggest buying a two or three day ticket to make sure you maximize your trip.

Many of your thoughts were probably about the end of the school year which was rapidly approaching at the end of May or beginning of June. You might have begun planning what you were going to do over the summer break and how much fun you were going to have while out of school. Many of us went on family vacations to visit family members or to take long drives to other states to sightsee or to visit an attraction like a national park or an amusement park.  Disney theme parks are one of the top destinations every year for families. They include Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida. Both are always rated in the top ten amusement parks in the world and have millions of visitors each year.

Disclosure: The link in this post is provided by dnticket.com.

Growing up on a farm

Thanks for the article from Jermaine Haynes

Growing up on a farm meant I knew I wanted to come back here someday when I got older. I really missed having so much wide open space when I was living in the city so it’s been really nice for me to have so much room to roam and I know the dogs really appreciate it, too, ever since I retired and bought this place. Being on the farm is just calming to me – my kids don’t really get it but I went to SatelliteStarInternet.com and got an internet connection so I could email them so they wouldn’t freak out about my well being – they think that since I’m older I should want to move closer to them or to Florida or something like that but I really don’t want any of that! I love my kids but I miss my wife and being on the farm reminds me of her and the dreams we had of retiring someplace like this together one day, you know? It’s a nice memory.