Legoland, Day One

For several years, my parents have run a group home for adults with developmental disabilities.  And every year, my step-mom takes the group out on a special trip.  In past years, they've gone on cruises, visited the Grand Canyon, and went to Disneyland among other things.  This past summer, Mira told us this year's trip was going to be a weekend at Legoland in September.

And so, all of us (my brother's family too) came tagging along!

We stayed in the newly built Legoland Hotel.  More on that to come...

This giant Lego tower in the middle of the lobby was our first clue that this was no ordinary hotel.  My Lego boy in Lego heaven.  Pretty much.

My Lego boy who always manages to make a friend wherever he goes.  Grandpa says he gets that from him.  This boy told me a little later that his family was visiting from Australia.  And yes, he had the coolest accent and I kept asking him questions just to keep hearing his cool accent.

The little brother also seems to have inherited the friend-making gene.

Takes this one a little longer to warm up though since she inherited her mommy's shy gene.

Thankfully her best friend is never very far away.

Meanwhile the Daddy was taking care of getting us checked in.

While a Lego bike with magnifying glass in the wheels quietly highlighted the back wall which was covered with possibly every mini-figure ever made.

Okay, enough gawking in the hotel!  We have things to do and people to see!

Getting sprayed by the giant.

Comin' round the bend.

Our whole ragtag crew.  :)


We stopped for lunch when the hotel called to say our room was ready.  So Phil went to get our key card while I stayed in the park with the kids.  We waited... and waited... and waited.  After a few texts from me inquiring about his whereabouts, Phil sends me this pic:

At least one of us was enjoying himself.  Ha ha.

After a very fun day, we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up before meeting again for dinner.

The kids couldn't wait to get the treasure chest open.  Getting the code involved a little scavenger hunt in the hotel.

Fun surprises inside for all.

Lego magazine, a surprise mini-figure, and a bag of chocolate coins!  My Lego boy totally in Lego heaven.

Except the Daddy felt bad for this little guy since the treasure chest only held goodies for the older three.  So he slipped out and bought an extra surprise mini-figure for him from the hotel's gift store.  As well as another one for himself.  (Of course).

Four kiddos happy with their mini-figures.

And the biggest kid of all.  (See that little hand in the bottom right?  That would be my baby photo-bombing me.)

Because that's apparently his thing now.

No one objected to hot chocolate before bed, even though it wasn't even a little bit cold that night.

Tucked into the kids' sleeping area.

More to come...

The Fountain

It was really hot the first few weeks of school.  So hot that Allie would have a sweaty head by the time I picked her up.  Poor girl.  She is Daddy's girl in more ways than one.

So one afternoon, I dressed Jonah in swim clothes and packed the other kids' swim stuff to take with us when we went to pick everyone up from school.

The swimming pool might be your first guess, and a good guess it would be.  But not this day.  Four kids, two non-swimmers, plus myself being required to go in the pool with them to make sure no one drowns doesn't sound completely fun or relaxing.  At least to me.  That's more of a two-man job and we do it when the Daddy can join us.

So on this day, we ended up here...

Our little neighborhood mall which has an outdoor water fountain built right in to the ground.  The kids are always asking if they can go run in it, but the answer is always no because it's always too cold and the kids are always too dressed (with real shoes on) to just let 'em get soaking wet.

But on this day, the answer was a big ol' surprise YES.

Plus Mommy got to stay mostly dry, no one was in danger of drowning, and they had a grand time splashing and playing around.

JOY FOR ALL.

He mostly liked to slap the water around.

My boy who wears his heart on his sleeve.  It's never too difficult to guess how he's feeling at any given moment.  I love this about him.

This one cracks me up.

The younger two were getting cold and were ready to wrap up in towels and warm themselves in the sun.

Big sis helping little bro wipe water drops off his face.

See?  Mommy can be fun... once in a while.  :p

U-C-L-A Fight Fight Fight!

Howdy Bruin fans, it's time again for the Tsais' once annual (except we missed last year- moving and all) tailgating-football watching-cotton candy eating-lost in a sea of blue and gold extravaganza!

And this time, our favorite couple consisting of a fellow Bruin fan and his wife who loves him enough to come to watch football were able to join us!  :)

Allie brought along hair stuff and waited a whole five minutes after we got there before asking Auntie Jami to do her hair.  We love Auntie Jami!  :)

Meanwhile, the boys found other ways to keep themselves occupied.

Mmm, burgers.

Here's a little story.  Once upon a time (that morning), Phil Tsai told his wife he had to go to Rite Aid (literally two minutes from our house) to buy some water bottles.  He was gone for over an hour.  This happens with such regularity that his wife didn't think too much about it beyond a brief wondering what other items were purchased in addition to water bottles.  Turns out, he bought these bubble guns.  And glow sticks.  And cotton candy tubs.  Why?  Because anything that helps him help his offspring to love UCLA football tailgating is completely and totally worth it in his book.  Superfan, remember?

Shadow puppets.

Aw so cute.  But see my husband back there?  I have no explanation for this.  Aside from saying they were roommates for six years in college and beyond. 

And look!  We actually made it in to see (most of) the game, too!

This game right here.

The bubbles, glow sticks, and cotton candy tubs were all BIG hits with the offspring.  But especially the cotton candy.

It was crazy hot and humid that evening so everyone had sweaty heads.

I think it's safe to say that Bruin fandom has been successfully handed down to the next generation.

Oh look, I was there too!  ;)

Bruins-4-life.

WWE: Chicken Pot Pie

This one is high on the list of Tsai family favorites and a bonus for me is that it's easy to make.  The family is happy, I'm happy, so win-win.  The only bummer now is that I'm going to have to start doubling this recipe in order to have any to pack for the next day's lunches since every bit of it got eaten up in a hurry tonight.

Chicken Pot Pie
serves 4-6

Ingredients
1/3 cup butter
1 cup green beans, cut into 1/4” pieces
1 cup carrots, cubed 
1/2 cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
up to 1 cup water (optional)
3 cups chopped cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken)
1 1/2 cups frozen cubed hash browns with onions and peppers (or 1 medium potato, ½ an onion and ½ a bell pepper)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon tarragon
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley (or 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley, I just found we prefer the dried in this)
1 puff pastry shell
Vegetable cooking spray
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add carrots and green beans, and sauté for about 3-5 minutes.
3. Sprinkle flour over vegetables.
4. Cook, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.
5. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Add up to 1 cup water to reach desired consistency.
6. Stir in chicken, potatoes, salt, pepper, tarragon, and parsley.
7. Spray the bottom of a 9” pie plate. (I used an 8x8 square)
8. Spoon filling into pie plate.
9. Cover with puff pastry.
10. Press pastry lightly along edges and trim off corners. (I folded the edges back in because puff pastry!)
11. In a small bowl, combine egg yolk and water to create a wash for the pastry crust.
12. Lightly brush the top of the pastry with egg wash.
13. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until top is browned throughout.
14. Let stand for at least 10 minutes to cool.

Printable recipe