Blog, Blog, Blog
I travelled to Los Angeles last week for my cousin’s wedding and to spend some time with my family. Among the many highlights of the trip was seeing my nephew, who is a great kid. He recognizes me, despite only seeing me a few times a year, and like his dad at this age, he’s very sociable.
Like I said, Alex is a great kid, but I hope he outgrows the fighting before he starts school.
Alex is ready for Batman Live at the Staples Center.
(Photo by my mom.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juanomatic/8015875852
Tomorrow is National Train Day. Why tomorrow? Because that’s the 143rd anniversary of the first transcontinental railroad. I had forgotten about this year’s train day except that last week, while in Los Angeles, Sarah and I took a tour of Union Station since Sarah and her dad were staying nearby. Also, I had to pickup a bunch of t-shirts to print at the American Apparel factory near downtown LA.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juanomatic/8015874803
One of the best parts of the visit actually had nothing to do with the tour. We took my two-year-old nephew Alex to the station to see the trains. It’s simply amazing to see how kids are drawn to trains. We took him to the passenger platform, and he was absolutely hypnotized by the locomotives. I took him inside of a Metrolink train scheduled to depart in five minutes, and he was just absorbing all the activity. As other trains arrived and departed, a few of the engineers waved at him as their trains passed by. He loved it!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juanomatic/8015882208
At the end of evening, my mom and I took him aboard the Metro Gold Line to ride to the next station in Little Tokyo, where I was meeting Sarah, her dad, and my dad. He was a trooper. He waved the TAP card my mom gave him and waited patiently as two northbound trains passed by our station. (In due time, I’ll teach him to read a route map. We rode the train for one station, and he loved it.) I had feared that he didn’t want to get off, but he was very well-behaved as we disembarked.
I doubt I’ll make it to Train Day events tomorrow because I’ll be doing something else that makes me feel like a kid: playing softball.
It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me, and I have basically abandoned this blog for the time being.
Two weeks ago, I flew to Los Angeles for Alex’s 2nd birthday. You can see some of the photos in my gallery. This year’s festivities featured a lot of the same attractions: food, beverages, lots of presents, and, of course, Alex. However, unlike last year, Sarah did not come with me, there were a few people absent, but Alex did blow out all of his candles.
My brother and sister-in-law staged the birthday party on the day after his second birthday at a nearby park, Veteran’s Memorial Park in Sylmar. (I should note that we did go to Shakey’s the night of Alex’s actual birthday, which sated my craving for mojo potatoes.) Alex is a popular kid so there were a bunch of his and his parents’ friends at the party, in addition to some of my family. My parents, of course, were in attendance and could hardly keep away from the birthday boy, especially my mother.
I’m not sure when I’ll be back out there, but I’m hoping for another trip before the summer.
This is a few weeks overdue, but I finally had a chance to edit and post a few photos from my early-March trip to LA. The basic premise behind that trip was to go to my nephew, Alex’s first birthday party. It was initially supposed to be at the local Shakey’s, which believe me was exciting because I miss mojo potatoes. But his parents, God bless ‘em, took itupon to themselves to do it at Alex’s maternal grandpa’s house, which needed a lot of preparation.
The party was a success. And there was an even a keg, which did not go to waste, I assure you. Alex opened about 200 presents. And everyone had plenty to eat.
At the end of it, I said “good bye” to Alex, knowing that I wasn’t going to see him again before I flew out the next day. As if he understood me, I said to him, “Bye nephew. I had a good time seeing you, and I’m glad I got to see you so much this year. I’ll try to come out around Easter, but I can’t promise that.” Sarah and my mom saw me say my goodbyes, and they both almost cried watching it.
After I got back, I have to admit that I did miss everyone. Man, I’m getting sappy in my older days.
