The OC Fair

Every year my mommy and I look forward to visiting the fair! It only comes around during the summer, and we wait all year for it. There's tons of yummy food.



We eat corn on the cob and chili dogs and ice cream and fried potatoes and so much more! Then we get to go on the rides.



I love the ferris wheel cuz I get to see the whole fair from way up high! The big slide and bumper cars are always super fun. And I always have to go on the merry-go-round; it's my favorite.



There's also a petting zoo with lots of little baby animals. I got to feed the baby sheep!



We even get to play some carnival games. I won a ducky playing shoot the water gun! Best of all, my mommy and I get to run around like little kids together! We plan on going to the fair many times this summer :)

Huntington Beach

It's summer! That means more walks down the beach with my mommy! We like to head to the world famous Huntington Beach Pier and walk along the sand. There's always tons of people out doing fun stuff. We sit and watch the surfers catching some waves. We watch the athletes playing beach volleyball. We see all the rollerbladers and bikers wooshing by. The main street has a lot of shops and restaurants for us to browse through. It gets crowded during summer, but that's the fun part. People watching and sunning ourselves on the sand, two of our favorite things! :D

The Bay

Sometimes my mommy and auntie take me on a short trip to the bay near our house. We just sit on the sand watching the water wash up over our little feet. It's very calming. We watch the people go by in their kayaks and little boats. I even saw some people riding a bike that was floating on the water. It was so cool! We sit and talk,and have a little snack. But mostly just lay on the sand before we start our day so we get a chance to relax for a bit. It's one of my favorite things to do with my mommy...lay on the sand watching the water.

The Harbor

Sometimes getting away is as easy as driving down the coast. My mommy and me take drives together, just to think and clear our heads and spend a little time alone with each other. The ocean is so pretty always, morning noon and night. Sometimes we'll stop and just stare at it. One of our favorite places to sit and watch the boats and people go by is the Harbor. A coffee, a bagel and view. Nice little getaway.

Disneyland!

My mommy took me to Disneyland!!! We had so much fun playing around the park. We ate a lot of yummy foods from Bengal BBQ, and pizza at Pizza Port, and corn dogs, and ice cream and cotton candy! Then we got to ride the Merry-Go-Round twice!



And I got to drive a car on Autopia, and shoot aliens on Buzz Lightyear, and ride a boat through Storybook Land.



My favorite was It's A Small World, and I got to sing with all the little boys and girls from around the world!



I even got to see my girlfriend, Tinker Bell. I had so much fun! It was like my mommy and I were both little kids together. I even got a new sweatshirt. Mini vacations are the best! Close to home, but so much fun, and I got to spend a lot of quality time with my mommy!

The Philippines

My first trip overseas was to my mommy's homeland. We have a lot of family there to visit, and it's nice to see where you came from. I got a stamp in my passport and everything. It was a very long flight, half a day. But we finally arrived in Manila to be greeted by mommy's uncle and cousins. The Philippines are half a day ahead of the U.S. so it was daytime there when it's nighttime at home. We were pretty tired and had trouble adjusting to time, but there was a feast waiting at uncle's house, and all the cousins were there to meet us. Such a big family. I love family! We spent a few days in Manila and got to tour the Intramuros District, the oldest district in Manila where they fought in World War II. A lot of the buildings were all burned up, and there were old rusted canons still in place. Ruins all around.







After a few days in Manila we hopped a tiny propeller plane and an old banana boat to the resort island of Boracay. It looked like Hawaii to me. The water was super clear and the sand was as white as me. It was a really small, poor town on one end and an endless row of bars and nightlife on the other side. We got to go horseback riding, and shopping, and island hopping on a boat, and snorkeling, and relax on the sand, and eat a lot of seafood. We were very happy!



We stayed there a few days then we left sadly to Cebu. Only sad because we loved Boracay so much. In Cebu we met with more family and had another feast. We also got to visit Tops, the highest mountain in the Philippines and we got to zipline ride down it. Scary! But fun. We did a lot of sight seeing. We even visited a Taoist temple that was really pretty and peaceful.



Just a couple days in Cebu then we headed to another resort island called Bohol. It was different from Boracay, a lot quieter. No bars or anything around, just a small town with a nice beach. There we got to see the spot of the Blood Pact, the first treaty between the Philippines and Spain. And we met the tarsiers, tiny monkeys even smaller than me. We also visited Chocolate Hills, hundreds of hills clumped together and during summer they turn brown and look like hershey's kisses. And we took a ferry boat lunch through the rivers and visited 16th century churches.




Just a couple days in Bohol and we went back to Manila. There were family parties to attend and people to visit. We spent Christmas with cousins in Tagaytay, a mountain region with an active volcano. Yikes! But it was nice and we stayed up all night singing karaoke. We rested our last couple of days in the Philippines. So much we had done, so much we had seen. I'm glad to have seen the place where my mommy was born and hope to see it again soon.

Washington D.C.

My mommy and daddy took me to our nation's capital. My daddy is really big on history, so just being there was very exciting for us. You can feel the history of the city just standing in the middle of the National Mall. I was very excited to visit the Capitol Building, the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean and Vietnam War Memorials, and as many Smithsonian Museum buildings as we could. The Natural History and Air and Space Museums were my favorites! We visited the Supreme Court and the National Archives, where I got to see the real Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Star-Spangled Banner. There was so much to see. All the buildings were so tall and had stone carvings all around it with big white statues. It looked like we were in ancient Rome! And the Korean War memorial had statues so real, at night they all look like they were going to shoot at us. It was scary! We were even in such a big history mood that we visited Philadelphia for a day to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.



Back in Washington, we had our first taste of Ethiopian food in the Adams Morgan area, known for its fun atmosphere and nightlife. We enjoyed a great little French Bistro in DuPont Circle, with authentic french street food. Street food is the best! And we had a nice, gourmet meal in Old town Alexandria at Vermillion. Tasting the local's best foods and restaurants is one of our favorite ways to really experience our travels. There's a grown up feel about Washington D.C. that my mommy says is sophisticated. I felt smart just being there. :) I love the simple beach life most, but if we ever did move to a big city, Washington D.C. is the only place to live that seemed like home. It's fast paced and fun, but the history and culture of the area is very appealing. We were only able to stay one week, so we definitely have to come visit our nation's capitol again.