California Trip Superblog!

Hello, friends! 

Greetings from Omaha! After being away more or less for the past 3 weeks, the Omaha Leongs are finally back in Omaha. We spent a LOT of time with family and a LOT of time exploring this great country of ours (#Murica). It couldn't all fit in one blog so here comes a SUPERBLOG! Down below, you'll find a few different posts about different parts of the vacation experience. 

To get you oriented, here's how our past few weeks have looked:

July 3 - Travel to Watertown

July 4 - Fourth of July in Watertown

July 5 - Travel to Marshall, Minnesota for Megan's cousin's wedding

July 6 - Back to Omaha

July 7 - Pack for California

July 8 - Fly out of Omaha

July 9 - Get to Long Beach and drive to Joshua Tree

July 10 - Sequoia National Forest

July 11 - Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park

July 12 - Back to Garden Grove and Pool Day #1 at my sister's house

July 13 - Church in Anaheim Pool Day #2, and family dinner with Megan's cousins

July 14 - Whale watching and spending time time at a park, with a family dinner to finish before the rest of my family gets back into town

July 15 - Beach day #1 and celebrating Ezra's birthday

July 16 - Beach day #2, a tea party for the girls, and some time at the park

July 17 - Water Park with the whole family

July 18 - Another day at the park and another family dinner, and not getting to finish a movie because of a fire alarm at the theater, finished off by our traditional walk to Dairy Queen

July 19 - Park day, Pool Day #3 and family dinner with extended family up where my brother lives

July 20 - Beach day #3, Pool Day #4, and one last family dinner with some extended family

July 21 - Fly back to Omaha

If you're looking for stats, here are a few for you: 

Miles driven on the National Parks portion of our trip: 950

Miles flown to and from Omaha: 4000

Beaches visited: 3

Times at my sister's pool: 4

Boba's consumed by my family: Approximately 10, which honestly, feels kind of low...

Pounds gained by your humble blogger: 5, which again, honestly feels a little low...

Times I had stand perfectly still in the middle of my sister's pool so Jonah could swim to me: Somewhere between 100-1000 =0). 

Really, it was a great trip. The kids enjoyed themselves and were mostly well behaved. It was good to see family and eat lots of good food (although not all of it). The travel mostly worked (although not totally) and the car held up. Megan and my hope is that this trip will have a Core Memory feel to it for the kiddos. I guess we'll just have to see! 

If you'd like to read a few different musings on different parts of the trip, you can read those here: 

Adventures in Travel

The Other Side of the Family

Which Beach?

Goodbye to good food

Cousin Time

Phoebe and Gus

God Sightings

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

California Superblog: Adventures in Travel

Hello, friends! 

When we decided to move from Columbia, MO to Omaha, the biggest reason was to be closer to Megan's family, especially her parents. They live in South Dakota, so when we moved to Omaha, we cut a 9 hour trip down to 4 hours, or 2.5 hours if we drive to Sioux Falls instead of Watertown. That meant that instead of only seeing her parents twice a year (once when we visited and once when they visited), we could see each other more often. Now, weekend trips have become the norm and we've been totally blessed by being so much closer. 

However, to visit my parents, we're still a flight away, which means we're looking at adventures in travel. Add a National Parks trip to our agenda, and suddenly travel becomes a BIG adventure. =0). 

The plan was simple: Fly from Omaha to the Long Beach Airport with a stopover in Denver on the 8th, then start our National Parks Trip on the 9th after a good night's sleep at my parent's place. Then we'd drive to each park, staying at a hotel at about the midway point to our next destination so we broke up the driving. It was perfect!!! 

Or so we thought. 

Allow me to breakdown for you what ACTUALLY happened: 

July 8:
- Our flight gets rerouted so instead of flying into Denver, we're going to have a stopover in Dallas instead

- On the flight to Dallas, do circles over Oklahoma City because there are storms in Dallas

- Wait in the Dallas airport to see if the storms clear up enough for us to leave

- Miss the Long Beach Airport curfew, meaning we can't leave Dallas because we wouldn't get into Long Beach before their noise ordinance goes into affect, meaning we need to find a place to stay in Dallas

- Realize that since we booked our reservations on two different Southwest accounts (so we could use our miles) Megan and I were rebooked on different flights. She was going to fly out at 10am and the kids and I weren't flying out until 3pm

- Accidentally book a hotel that's close to DFW instead of Love Field, meaning a longer trip and a more expensive ride share

July 9: 

- Wake up and decide to go to the airport with Megan so we can see if there's any standby for her flight

- There isn't so we're stuck at the airport for 5 hours while we wait for our flight

- Run into some coworkers who are also stuck in the airport for a bit, allowing me to not have to drag the kids all over the airport while I try to catch another standby flight

- Get to Long Beach with a stopover in Phoenix

- Megan picks us up from the airport since she got in much earlier. Thankfully, our bags got into Long Beach already, so she was able to grab them, consolidate the bags for the roadtrip, and grab some snacks for the ride

- Hang out with my sister in the cell phone waiting lot before driving to Joshua Tree, getting us back on our itinerary because the hotel wouldn't let us move our reservation

From there, the driving all went according to plan. I'll just make two observations about our trip: 

1. I'm not sure that the decision to use halfway points was the right one. I think especially at the end of the day, after a long day of hiking and being out and about, having to spend a few more hours driving to our hotel was not ideal, especially since we were driving up and down mountains, which means narrow roads and wildlife. It probably would have been better for us to drive longer during the beginning of the day and shorter at the end of the day. 

2. I can't wait for JoJo to be done with his car seat. My parents were super generous in lending us a car during our trip so we didn't have to spend money on a rental. However, it wouldn't have been bad to have rented a minivan or an SUV. It was TIGHT back there, especially with Jonah's car seat. Do you want to know the best way to make sure that your kids fight? Put the three of them in the back seat for hours at a time, constantly able to touch each other, both purposefully and accidentally.

Still, we made it! It took us 3 or 4 tanks of gas and about 950 miles, including a bonus trip King's Canyon National Park because we told the kids we were thinking about going to do a cave tour, seeing how far the cave tour was (the closer one was sold out), deciding to not go, then hearing Thaliea say in the morning, "I'm so excited to go see a cave!" There were a few tense moments on the switchbacks and a little more nighttime driving than I would have liked, but we made it there and we made it back. 

And, you know what? I think I'd do it all again... Except for Dallas. That was pretty rough... =0). 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

California Superblog: The "Other" Side of the Family

Hello, friends! 

Most of our trip was spent in California with my parents and my siblings. However, that wasn't the whole show. Even though there was one day back in Omaha between trips, our vacation actually started July 3, when we went to Watertown, South Dakota to see Megan's side of the family. 

We're out in SoDak every Fourth of July and the trip usually looks the same. We'll head to SoDak on the 2nd or 3rd, celebrate the 4th by heading out to Megan's Aunt Mary's house, grill up some burgers and dogs, play some corn hole, let the kids splash around in the hot tub, then at night, set off some fireworks on Aunt Mary's property. The past few years, I've graduated from "bystander" to being one of the fireworks lighters, which has been tons of fun (if not VERY dangerous). =0). The next day is all about Ezra as it is his birthday. It's usually a chill day but the important thing for Ezra is that he gets to open some gifts and eat some ice cream cake.  

This year, things looked a little different. Megan's cousin, Aunt Mary's son, picked July 5 as his wedding day! That meant that there would be no 4th of July at Aunt Mary's (since she'd have the rehearsal and such), and no real celebration of Ezra's birthday on the 5th since we'd be in wedding mode. It was definitely going to be a new experience. 

Honestly, the 4th was a little bit rough. We tried to celebrate both the 4th and Ezra's birthday but it was a bit of a bust. Ezra knew that things were different and he didn't like it. On top of that, the weather wasn't super cooperative. We were able to see the Watertown parade but had to cut our little fireworks show short because of rain (Megan and her sister bough sparklers and such for the kids). I wasn't sure how the 5th was going to go. 

Thankfully, the 5th was actually pretty great! The wedding was tons of fun and it was so good seeing Megan's aunts, uncles, and cousins. I bought Ezra a button that said "Birthday Boy" so a number of folk wished him a happy birthday. The dance party was kickin' (I solidified my spot as best dancer in the family, despite what Ezra tells you), and there was a hayride for the kids, which JoJo enjoyed thoroughly. There were even fireworks! 

Oh, and a little girl asked Ezra to slow dance... =0). 

We stayed in a hotel so on the 6th we were able to do two of my kids' favorite vacation things: eat waffles and swim in the hotel pool. From there, we went straight back to Omaha to get ready for California. 

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! 

Did I mention that Megan's uncle lives in Southern California as do his two daughters? I didn't? Well, now you know! 

While we were in California, after we got back from our National Parks trip, we were able to spend a dinner with Megan's cousins. Her uncle was still in SoDak so it was just our three families. We went to Megan's cousin's house and pulled "a Horner" (Megan's mom's maiden name), which is when we sit in the same place for hours on top of hours just chatting while the kids get themselves into various forms of mischief (in this case, it was the kiddie pool). We used to meet at restaurants but since Megan's cousin got married and moved to Orange County, now we now do it at her house, which is WAY better for all of our kids. This was the longest that I'd spent with those cousins and it was great. Many sliders were consumed and laughs had. 

So, that was the vacation spent with the "Other" side of the family. I'm so glad that I married into a family that genuinely cares about one another and enjoys spending time together, just like my side of the family. It's good to see family, no matter the side. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

California Superblog: Which Beach?

Hello, friends! 

Welcome to Beach Battle! The competition where we decide which beach that we visited is the BEST BEACH IN LEONG CALIFORNIA VACATION HISTORY!!! The Leongs visited 3 different beaches on their travels, each with their own perks. Alas, there can only be one winner in the Beach Battle! 

First to enter our sandy triangle of competition is MOTHER'S BEACH in Long Beach. Found on the northern eastern side of Naples Island, this beach is protected from the harsh elements of the Pacific, making it perfect for families with young kids. There are no waves, meaning no one can get washed and there are lots of sea slugs that can be found for collecting. It's not the biggest beach but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in easy sight lines and good fun. You will often find Jr. Lifeguards training in the area, and if you're lucky, the passing Coast Guard may even toot their horn to say hello. 

Next up, SEAL BEACH. Downtown Seal Beach is a lovely place full of quaint shops and restaurants. There's even a tea room in case you're feeling fancy like Megan and Thaliea were. =0). At the end of downtown is the Seal Beach Pier, the perfect place to take a walk or do a little ocean fishing. The Seal Beach sand isn't the cleanest but the waves are just the right side for little ones to run away from and not get pulled out to sea. There's also plenty of space for digging holes and ample parking, so long as you don't mind paying for it. 

Our final contestant in the Beach Battle is SUNSET BEACH, in Huntington Beach. It's most famous for, you guessed it, it's sunsets as you have a direct sight line to Catalina Island during sunset, making for a spectacular side. Parking is free (if you can find it and don't mind walking) and the waves are about the same size as Seal Beach. Holes can't be dug and small shellfish can be found, but make sure you're shuffling your feet as you enter the water as there are sting rays in the area. If you're lucky, you may even see someone fishing off the shore catch one like we did! 

Friends, it's a tough competition. Each of these beaches brought their A games and a good time was had by all. The kids loved each one of them and I'm sure would have been happy if we'd gone to any one of them more than once. However, a winner must be declared for this Beach Battle. 

The final verdict is in, and the winner of the Beach Battle is SUNSET BEACH! The waves were good enough to go boogie boarding, seeing a sting ray was pretty cool, and off the coast, we actually saw dolphins too! The boys dug a nice hole and we even found a spot not too far from where we were that had some really tasty garlic fries. 

Congrats to Sunset Beach on being our Beach Battle winner. We'll see if we get back to any of our competitors the next time we visit or if a new sandy champion throws their hat in the ring to be declard the BEST BEACH IN LEONG CALIFORNIA VACATION HISTORY!!!

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

California Superblog: Phoebe and Gus...

Hello, friends! 

I should be honest: the entire family did NOT go on the trip with us. Phoebe joined us for the SoDak portion but didn't come to California. Gus stayed in Omaha the entire time. 

We were trying to figure out what to do with Phoebe for this trip. We knew that she was going to come with us to SoDak but there was a question as to whether we would board her for the 2 weeks we were gone or ask someone to watch her for us. Thankfully, Megan's parents were able to watch her for the time that we were in California. 

Phoebe has a best friend. I'd very much like it to be Gus but we're still working on that. Phoebe's actual best friend is Gracie, who is my in-laws' dog. Phoebe loves wrestling and playing with Gracie. Just saying the name "Gracie" in Phoebe's presence gets her tail wagging something fierce. We're unsure if Gracie feels the same way about Phoebe that Phoebe does about Gracie, but I think Phoebe is growing on her. =0). 

My father-in-law is a dog guy. Labs are his jam but he just loves dogs. We knew that Phoebe would be in good shape while she was with my in-laws. We had no idea HOW good it would be. 

Apparently, 2 weeks hanging out with Gracie and my in-laws taught Phoebe how to play fetch, how to get along with cats, and generally how to mellow out and not be so destructive/puppy like. I don't know how much of that was intentional, my father in law says he didn't do the fetch thing, and how much of it was just Phoebe observing Gracie, but we'll take it! Phoebe was definitely glad to see the family when Megan went to pick her up last Tuesday but Phoebe also tried to get into my in-laws' truck when it was time to go, so I think she felt pretty comfortable...

As for Gus, we're not entirely sure that he knew we were gone. We had someone come by every other day to give him some carrots and make sure his water bowl was filled. Gus did great. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

California Superblog: God Sightings...

Hello, friends! 

The kids did Vacation Bible School (VBS) earlier this summer. The theme was "True North" which I believe was centered around Alaska. Anyway, one of the things the kids did every day was talk about "God Sightings," which are all around us. On our trip, I asked the kids occasionally what some God Sightings were that they saw. I was also trying to keep a list myself. I thought I'd share a few of them here: 

- Airport adventures: When Megan and I got rebooked on separate flights and I ended up having to watch the kids at the airport for 5 hours, I was preparing myself for a really long and frustrating day. Instead, there was a God Sighting. As I was walking through the terminal, I randomly saw an InterVarsity coworker of mine. Apparently there were a handful of staff who were going to a conference in Dallas. What a fun coincidence! It didn't become a full fledged God Sighting until I saw them a second time a little bit later. Apparently, their retreat center wasn't available to them until 3 so they were hanging around the airport for a few hours. Having extra hands to watch the kids while I got them lunch and ran around the airport trying to get on standby flights was a HUGE blessing. It also meant that the kids could take a break from interacting with one another and demanding my attention, which made everything easier. 

- Joshua Tree: Joshua Tree National Forest is one of my most favorite places in the entire world. When I was in the Scouts (Hi, Troop 507!), we took a camping trip to Joshua Tree. Some friends and I climbed up one of the gigantic rocks at Joshua Tree, laid out our sleeping bags and just looked up. On top of us were billions and trillions of stars. It must have been a new moon because there was zero light pollution. It looked like we could see every star in the galaxy. I remember very distinctly thinking to myself, "there must be a God." Being able to take my kids to Joshua Tree, to see them climb the rocks and see the stars, and to share the same awe that I shared was something beautiful. The moon was full so we didn't get to see everything but it was still amazing and absolutely a God Sighting. 

- General Sherman and the Giant Trees: We saw a LOT of big trees on our trip. I knew we were going to see some big trees but these things were massive. The God Sighting that struck me the most was the first stop we made in Sequoia National Forest in the Land of 100 Giants. The first tree we saw, by no means the biggest or the oldest, was really cool. I saw that it was 2200 years old, which is when it hit me: this tree was around when Jesus walked the earth. To be in the presence of something that was alive and growing at the same time as Jesus was pretty cool. 

We also saw a tree that was actually 3 giant sequoia's fused together at the bottom but growing separately at the top. I pointed out to the kids that I wanted them to be the same way; they can grow their separate ways but they always need to be connected at their base to the family. I don't know if they got the analogy. =0). 

- Whale Watching: At one point, JoJo said that he wanted to see a live whale. My sister was super generous and bought us tickets for a whale watching tour. We didn't see any whales but we did see HUNDREDS of dolphins. It was feeding time and they were putting on a show. They were swimming next to the boat, doing jumps, swimming upsidedown (apparently it confuses the fish) and generally being very entertaining. The captain said that he'd never seen a pod that big before. It almost made me forget that I was on a boat. Our last beach day, Megan saw some dolphins off the shore, so that was pretty cool too. God's creation is pretty awesome. 

- Boogie boarding: I've never been surfing. It just wasn't something I was into growing up and now that I live in the Midwest, my chances are pretty few and far between. Growing up though, I was definitely into boogie boarding. There was nothing quite like catching a wave just right and riding it all the way to the shore. Our last day on the beach, I decided that it was time to see if could still do it. Usually, on beach days, my job is to make sure that none of the kids get pulled into the ocean. Now that they're older, I have a little more freedom to enjoy the beach myself. I was a little tentative at first, but catching that first wave was a definite God sighting. I was transported back to my childhood and the joy that I had being in the ocean and carried by nature. It was like God was reminding me that I'm still his child and that he wants me to enjoy life. The boogie board sat a little deeper in the water than it used to due to added weight (I ate very well on vacation...) but it still held and I got in a few good rides. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

California Superblog: Goodbye to Good Food...

Hello, friends! 

Confession time: I failed on this trip. 

See, whenever I go to California, I have certain goals that I want to achieve. 

- I need to go visit my old church, Chinese Baptist Church of Orange County (Done!)

- I need to sleep in later than I would if I was back in Omaha (Mostly done!)

All my other goals are food related. I need some good dim sum. I need some soon du bu (Korean soft tofu soup). I need some In-n-Out and Tommy's. I need my mom to buy me a Blizzard from DQ. I need some quality boba. All these things I ate and they were glorious. 

BUT, there was one spot I missed... 

Mandarin Noodle House has the best beef noodle soup in the world. I will fight anyone that says otherwise. The broth is simple but so full of flavor. The noodles are always cooked perfectly (I'm a fan of the homemade hand pulled noodles). The beef has a great ratio of lean to fat and is blessed with some sort of voodoo magic that allows it to keep its form while in the bowl but immediately fall apart in your mouth in a tender flavor bite that can only be described as "joy." Have I eaten many a bowl at Mandarin Noodle House? Yes. Have I sometimes order a second soup because the first one is so good? Also, yes. Did I finish the second soup as well and then have trouble staying awake on the drive home because I was so full of delicious soup? Yet again, yes. Was it worth it? Definitely, yes. 

Earlier this year, the Mandarin Noodle House suffered a fire. The owner said that a rebuild was unlikely and that the House was done for good. I never got to say goodbye... 

This isn't the first time that a restaurant I loved closed it's doors. It's actually happened fairly recently. Jingo's (aka Seasonings 63) in CoMO was my SPOT for a spicy beef noodle soup but hasn't been around in a bit. Just this past week, my parents had their last meal at Peking in Garden Grove before it closes for good. The best Reuben in Omaha was at Shwartz's Deli, which is no longer exists. These things happen, especially in the restaurant industry. Still, it's sad to see places that I grew to love close their doors. I'll miss the meals. I'll miss the feeling I had when I entered and definitely the feeling I had when I left. 

Now I need some soup... 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

California Superblog: Cousin Time!

Hello, friends! 

One of the best things about being in California is that our kids get to hang out with their cousins. We just had a new addition to the family (Hi, little, guy!) and I'm pretty sure that we're all done, which means that Mama and Papa Leong will finish with 9 grandkids. Not a bad haul, if you ask me! 

There are a few things that I find interesting about the next generation of Leongs/Chuangs/Tasciks. One is the commonalities in timing and naming. We have multiple cousins who are all born about 6 months apart from one another, and even have names that start with the same letter (shout out to the E-bros and the J-Bros!). Also, we somehow worked it out that my older sister had her 2 kids, then we had our 3, then my brother had his 2, then my younger sister had her 2, so our kids birth order matches our birth order exactly. We range from 14 to 4 months and each one of them is wonderful in their own way. 

It's so much fun seeing all the cousins play together. Whether it be trying new dance moves, digging a hole at the beach, playing basketball or running a play restaurant, it's really beautiful watching the next generation enjoy one another's company. 

While we were on our way home from our last family dinner, the kids were pretty tore up because they wished they could spend more time with their cousins. When we got home, as I was putting Thaliea to bud, she asked why we couldn't move to California. I told her that if we moved to California, we'd wouldn't see our other cousins and her other grandparents as much. Her solution was simple: they should move to California too. =0). 

Speaking of cousins from the "other" side of the family, it was also great seeing our kids interact with Megan's cousins' kids. The oldest on that side is just about Jonah's age, which means they're now all about the age where they can play together and not just play next to each other. Seeing them interact was really great to see. It was also nice that they were relatively self sufficient, meaning the adults were free to "pull a Horner."

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam