Grandma and Grandpa's House

Last weekend we went down to SoCal to spend some time with our family.  It was also the weekend that Sevak completed his marathon in Pocatello, Idaho.  He did great, by the way.  Apparently he made some "mistakes" that prevented him from reaching his goal time of 3:10, but he still finished at 9th in his age group!  And I think the fact that he even finished is amazing.  He also got a bag of Idaho potatoes at the end, which certainly makes it all worth it, in my opinion. :)

Anyway, as Sevak was enduring the grueling challenges of the race, the kids and I were livin' it up with Grandma and Grandpa. :)  When we first arrived, we enjoyed a delicious meal of Armenian dolmah, courtesy of Grandma Rosemary.  Then Simon got to enjoy another celebration of his birthday (Sevak didn't leave until the next morning, so he was actually here for this part).

I got to enjoy some birthday celebration, too.

And so did Rose, because she helped me with the present-opening. 

The next day the kids got to pick fruit from the trees in the backyard, which they were itching to do.  The fig tree was heavy laden, and there were piles and piles of overripe figs on the ground.  The fruit flies were going crazy.  So were the kids.

One of the piles.  If only we could have gotten to these sooner!

The kids also made another round at the kumquat tree, which was the only tree bearing fruit last time we were there.  I just made some marmalade with those little orange jewels the other day.

Love Simon's white trash style (and the fact that Rose is wearing his shorts)

Of course, we blew lots of bubbles on the patio.  Grandma had purchased some fun bubble-blowing apparatuses: 

Rose often requested that Grandpa play his classic rock tunes on the keyboard so she could dance:

And Grandpa also made some of his famous malts:

Here are some awesome malt mustaches:

On Saturday we went to the Museum of Natural History at Exposition Park, just when USC happened to be having a big football game.  It was fun to see all the tailgaters.  It was also hilarious to be fighting against a current of red as we walked toward the museum.  Just imagine hoards of fans heading toward the arena while a little family (unaware that there was even a game until arriving at the park) fought its way to a little cultural experience at the museum.  Story of my life.  Remember this post?  Luckily, we didn't encounter any problems while parking or exiting (because we left before the game was over).

Paige and I with the arena in the background

The kids had lots of fun at the museum.  Rose was full of questions about all the animals and dinosaur bones.  She also really loved the gemstone/precious metal area (so did I!).

Here she is checking out some bugs:

We also went to the butterfly pavilion.  Rose likes papillons, so she really enjoyed herself.  Her only disappointment was that a small white butterfly didn't land on her. :)

Afterward, we dined at a yummy Chinese restaurant (my dad, the epicure, knows all the good spots in L.A.).  We had pho (Vietnamese soup) the day before, so I was in heaven.  It's rare that I get to enjoy my favorite cuisine (Asian) two days in a row!

Other highlights from the trip include: picking lemons from Grandma Ellery's tree, having a yummy tri-tip dinner with extended fam, hitting up the YMCA for group exercise classes, etc.  Thanks for the best time, family!