BFF Together

The three girls haven't been all together since June after school was out. We met at Snowflake tea house where they have shaved ice cream and sweet butter toast. Whenever the girls go on a trip, they bring each other a souvenir. Ariana was excited to hand them the fashionable Mickey ears headbands from disneyworld. N gave each one a BFF heart necklace. 

Sunday Checklist

in the parking lot across the street from filipino dance classes, the buildings usually are covered with graffiti. one time ariana had asked "why are the walls dirty in this city compared to other places?" we told her about graffiti, and luckily union city has a devoted "graffiti buster" dept that paints over them right away. i always ask ariana to take a picture with it in the background, but most of the times shes just not in the mood. we havent been to classes for a month, and instantly noticed the colorful murals in its place. the likha kids are rehearsing for the pistahan festival in san francisco. then they were split into 3 groups for the big show in november. its now becoming a tradition to make at stop at Ritas frozen custard afterwards. after being on vacation for 3 weeks, her hair needed to be conditioned - so off to the hair salon we went. ariana is getting the works - mani pedi last week, and now hair. i think its my turn next.

Mani & Pedi

we both got our nails done right before we left on vacation. they lasted for a good while, even with several dips in the swimming pools. i promised ariana when we get home - a manicure & a pedicure. this was her first pedi ever. she picked cupcake pink, alternating with lilac and orange. butterflies on the thumbs, and hawaiian flower on ring fingers. i usually dont get my nails done, but made this a mommy-nana time. off went my robins egg blue nail polish to salmon coral.

Desert Dreams Dimsum

Ariana came up with a plan to take turns picking where to eat. It started out her day, either CPK or pasta pomodora. Then I took over and picked BK bistro for dimsum. It's one of the few restaurants that serve dimsum all the time. She's wearing another dress from gymboree desert dreams - this one in lavender (prickly pear). They were only $5 each with coupon, so I got all 4 colors in size 8.

Home Sweet Home

Leaving Byron's childhood home to ours in san francisco. It just so happened, Ariana's outfit matched the house. She wore gymboree green scene tunic again. It's because we extended our vacation, and I only packed for 10 days. there was only one white dress that she didnt wear. starting from the family ranch on the fourth of july, we have stayed in 6 hotels:

1. Shenandoah inn - Plymouth, ca

2. Hilton grand vacation - Orlando, fl

3. Hilton ohare - Chicago,il

4. Hilton - Cincinnati Kentucky 

5. Clarion - Chicago, il

6. Hampton - Matteson, il

Plus 5 flights: Sfo-Mco, mco-ord, ord-cvg, cvg-ord, Ord-sfo.

Family Ties

Chi-town

we always ask ariana what's the one thing she wants to do in Chicago. This time - to see the big bean downtown at millennium park. And on my list is to stop at Garrett's popcorn. Large bag of caramel crisp with cashews. small bags of caramel and butter for Ariana, and cheddar cheese for Byron. Not sure if any of these is going to make it home to share with josh. Dinner was at Volare Italian restaurant, recommended by Byron's brother. Delicious! Tim even hooked us up with parking downtown. We are so blessed for family connections during our vacation. The weather was just right 80 deg cool. Ariana is wearing a nautical tank from jc crew. She loves this store since the First Lady shops there for the girls.

Jet Setters

we got out of cvg cincinnati/kentucky right when the rain came in. we have 4 check-in luggages, and 2 each handcarries. byron has his carry-on bag along with the laptop computer. me - the small black luggage for Jade to sit on, and my purse. ariana has her purse, and the doll case luggage. her other american doll Cecille is in there. i really only wanted to bring one doll - but she kept insisting that jade & cecille are sisters and cant be separated for 2 weeks. the black luggage fits perfectly under the seat and ariana uses it as a footrest. the doll case goes up in the overhead bin. for those who know me - i am constantly counting and keeping track of our bags. every time we check in, baggage claim, in & out of taxi, luggage carts to & from the hotel room, rental cars, shuttle busses, etc. 4 check-ins, 2 each carry ons. all accounted for.

Princess Diana

for the past years i have been trying to get to princess diana's exhibit, especially to see THE wedding dress. it has been touring for 10 years and returns to england next month. the last stop is in cincinnati ohio - union terminal museum. the dress was gorgeous seeing it in person - altho it was more of a taupe beigey color than ivory cream as you seen on tv or photos. i dont know if it was the lighting in the glass case to preserve it or it had yellowed from the 1981 wedding day. it wasnt as poofy either, perhaps they didnt put all the slips in the display. the 25 feet long cathedral train was attached to the waist of the dress, with the tulle overlaying it from the tiara. at one point i had imagined myself at the wedding standing there as how long it would take princess di's dress to pass me. knowing my mother was very fond of princess diana, i know she would've loved to see this. its actually because of her where i too am fascinated with diana's life too. the exhibit was put very well together by diana's brother. afterwards we went to the banks area to eat right between the football stadium and cincinnati red ballpark. saw the famous roebling bridge. it was the longest suspension bridge built in 1866, until john roebling designed the brooklyn bridge in new york. ariana is wearing a b&w outfit from gymboree "yellow & black" line.

not allowed to take pictures - google.com image

Famously adorned with thousands of pearls and a 25-foot train, 275 yards of silk-and-taffeta lace gown by David and Elizabeth Emanuel became an instant icon when Princess Diana wore it for her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles. 

Four States

we added one more day in orlando. really another pool day, only to be kicked out again due to lightening and thunderstorms. this giving us a chance to go to the outlets. didnt buy much since the stores were similar to the livermore ones we went to before we left cali. our first flight was from MCO orlando florida with a pitstop in ORD chicago (illinois), to get to cincinnati ohio. CVG airport and the hotel is actually in northern kentucky. we just cross the river to be in cincinnati. this was ariana first time to fly on an express jet - 55 seats, 1 seat on the left and 2 seats on the right. we always ask for at least 2 seats together. she isnt ready to sit away from me, even if its just the next row up. we have been very fortunate for the kind passengers to switch so we can sit next to each other. there are times where we wont board the flight for the seats are too far apart. and now ariana doesnt like us to split up at all. i dont know remember what age josh was when we sat apart. a couple of times i would give up my first class seat to him, while i sat in coach. then when he didnt get first - i would remind him to be happy that he has a seat on the plane.

Summer Vacation Wear

Gymboree Bright & Beachy - Brave the wave tee w/ chevron shorts

Pool Time - Gap Desert Palm bathing suit

Disney Minnie ears dress

1900 Park Fare

we have been to cinderellas royal table (magic kingdom) and akershus (epcot) for a princess meal. these are well worth going to - especially to see at least 5 princesses and collect their autographs. sure beats going around the parks waiting in line. ariana was perfectly fine not going to one this year. i decided to make reservations for Cinderellas happily ever after dinner at the grand floridian resort. even though she didnt receive a royal invitation via shutterfly.

Frozen Fun in Hollywood

Frozen summer events started on July 5th in Hollywood studios. I got the premium package - this getting us up in front for the royal procession parade at 11:00 and front row seating in the sing-a-long. This was a very entertaining show. the only character ariana wanted to meet was princess sofia. she is not very fond of taking pictures with the ones wearing a mask head, not even mickey mouse. so really, this picture is with sofia the first. the plan was to bring the purple ballgown to wear, but once we heard about the frozen events - ariana wore a blue ombre dress from tea collection. Ariana was so frozen-ed out that she was singing "let it go" and "build a snowman" in her sleep.

Epcot China & Morocco

we went to the world of showcase section at epcot, aka the countries. to see princesses meet & greet, you have to be in line at least 20-30 minutes before the scheduled time. if you arrive later, you take the chance of not making the cutoff. "outside" characters can only appear for so long due to the heat, so they only let a number of guests in. first stop was china - to wait in line for mulan. afterwards we headed to morocco for jasmine & alladin. ended up eating dinner in italy.