Sunday, July 22, 2012

THE WEEKEND

This weekend has been a busy one consisting of a ton of family time and vitamin D.
Two of my cousins came to visit from Australia and they brought their friends and girlfriends along with them. So Steven and I went to meet with them in LA.
On Saturday we left in the morning to have breakfast at Mary's Market. It is a quaint little cafe/antique store within a small hippie-like neighborhood in Sierra Madre. I had the Gio Metro which is a bagel sandwich with eggs, avocado, turkey, tomato, cheese, and onions. Steven chose some type of muffin sandwich that came with salsa. Both were superb and we finished breakfast with an order or yogurt with granola and fruit. The service was amazing as well, the people there made us feel like family. Everyone was very kind and since it was a small community, they knew we weren't from the area and asked us questions.
After breakfast we explored the neighborhood and then went off to Santa Monica.

So I'm a bit of a fish geek and wanted to stop by Nature Aquarium. It's is one of the few stores in Southern California that caters to aquascaping (an art technique of making the illusion of a fish tank to look like a landscape). I will explain more on that later since this is one of my favorite hobbies. Seeing all the tank displays inspired me to start working on my tanks again.
While waiting to meet with my cousins for lunch we stopped by 3rd Street Promenade and checked out the farmer's market and stores.
After having lunch at The Grove, we all headed over to Hollywood.


Today, my family had our annual family reunion. Relatives from all over come to our picnic and we all get to see faces missed. We had lunch and proceeded to our family games. Starting off with soccer, then a water balloon toss, musical "hugs", bike riding, etc. 

photo by Duc Nguyen
photo by Duc Nguyen
A not-so-great attempt at a jumping picture
photo by Duc Nguyen

I think we've had enough sun exposure for the weekend. 

With another addition to my summer adventures, good night!

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