Later in the evening, my parents came over and stopped off at (where else) a nearby Chinese restaurant for some take-out. The dining room table was covered with a lot of stuff, so we set up shop at the kids’ table. Is there anything more quintessentially American than Chinese food at Christmastime?
I realized I took way fewer pictures than normal this weekend, which I guess is a good sign that I was enjoying hanging out more than I was documenting. We had a fun late-night excursion to Oink’s Ice Cream and Yogurt on Saturday night, which I’ll try to get photos of next time we’re there. Given how often we’ve hit up Michigan this year… I see it fast being our favorite family vacation spot.
Surprisingly, the kids were incredibly patient and let us sleep in on Christmas Day. Liz and I were both pretty under the weather (I had a cough and a fever that wouldn’t go away, she was just starting to get sick with a non-stop headache). We slept in until around 10:00 AM and the kids…
The morning after the wedding, we all made a return trip to Hong Kong Flower Lounge Restaurant – the place we had dinner, our first night on arriving. The Liu family got together to have an early dim sum, and my mom and dad would be switching over… travelling and staying with my Uncle Eddie and his family for a few more days in California.
This photo probably gives the best view of the sheer size of the dune. Every other photo I took makes it seem like an easy hill. It was super steep, and I had to stop several times to catch my breath.
I should say this at the start: my family never, ever goes on vacation. We did a bit in the past, but our vacations always seemed to include a trip out to visit relatives. Or a wedding. Early “vacations” to me were always events that pulled us out of town. I think of my family as one that rarely travelled just to travel together, for the sheer sake of taking a trip.
Which is why it was great that my sister, on a whim, decided to rent a house for a few days in Sawyer, MI and invited my parents, me and Liz up for a few days. No agenda, no relatives to visit, no events to attend… just show up, relax, and hang out.
We continued the early Christmas tour by visiting my sister’s family in Indianapolis. We all went out to Maggiano’s for a family dinner, then back to Stacey’s house to open gifts.
For the grand occasion of my Grandma Phoebe’s 100th birthday, the entire Jung family met up in Indianapolis. There was a large banquet hall rented out, and friends from all over flew in to town to pay their respects, and to help celebrate the big day. Prior to the party starting up, we got the…
My parents were in town to visit my Auntie Angela and Uncle Leon. The two of them live in Westmont, where they also have a dental practice (that occupies the first floor of their home). My mom was in town to have some work done, and ended up having two root canals. They were only…
Stacey let Liz and I sleep in a bit, and by the time we got out to the living room… the opening of presents was fully under way. After a while, it was hard to spot the toys underneath all the torn paper. Shane, Stacey and Liz watch on as the kids get more and…
Amazingly, given the late night we all had last night… everyone slept in on Christmas Day. I figured the kids would be up at the crack of dawn, but it was closer to 11:00 AM before everyone slowly started to rise. I heard some rustling in the hallway, and found Jahnu sitting patiently by the…
The first night in Indianapolis, Liz and I worked on cooking a big holiday dinner. For several days prior to this, Liz did a ton of work prepping food, as we had a pretty good spread planned. In the kitchen, Liz and Jasmine prepare the green beans. Nesta is also helping out, keeping everyone’s ankles…
The next day, a bunch of the family were invited out by my uncle Charles for an early lunch. A ton of folks set out from the hotel down to Fisherman’s Wharf – we expected a brief walk, but ended up walking a good thirty minutes or more, before we got there. Along the way,…
Today was my dad’s birthday, but we all ended up spending a lot of our time focused on Jasmine again. Today, Shane’s mom Bobbi and his step-dad Dave drove down to wish Jasmine a happy birthday. Of course, we had dim sum at the restaurant. I swear to you – I spent half of my…