lao lao and ah yi visit sf!

jia jia and her santa (by request)

jia jia saw other character balloons and wanted one for herself. of course, lao lao scoured union square until she found the balloon maker.

in sf, one can wait to have a balloon character made by an elf, right next to a political demonstration

mama and jia jia

even lao lao was bitten by magical city lights

ah yi and jia jia check out the ice skating rink

jia jia scolding me for daring to take a picture of her

ah yi in front of macy's (yes, it's december and she's wearing a t-shirt...that's how we roll in ca)

tannenbaum in union square

as commented in the previous post, lao lao and ah yi came to sf for about four days. jia jia had fun hanging out with the two of them while i took (yet another) one-day trip to irvine, and jeff was en route to pennsylvania for a friend's wedding. lao lao made rainbow dumplings, which jia jia loved -- homemade dumpling skin consisting of three color variations: orange (carrot juice), green (spinach juice) and yellow (egg yolk).

we spent the weekend doing usual stuff (i.e. swim class, going out to eat), but also ventured to union square to experience the holidays in the city. there's something about buildings lit with xmas lights that is reminiscent of a holiday season with which we are unfamiliar, yet feels so incredibly intimate. yes, friends, we have hollywood (and various xmas films set in nyc) to thank for that. there's something about a xmas decorations adorning the windows of macy's, sak's, etc. that is evokes a magical sense of holiday spirit...or is it a commercialized one? either way, i plan to take siri to nyc sometime during the month of decemeber. i spent a couple of days in new york several years ago around the holidays, and absolutely loved enveloping myself in festive city lights.