Spent the morning walking around Laguna Beach. Beautiful day. Got a late breakfast at Zinc Cafe (avocado toast and a flat white). Lots of sports cars roaring up the main street near the beach. Bought some supplies at Ralph’s. Back for an afternoon rest, then got dressed and headed up to the house for the party. Edgar arrived with his wife, and Christa with her partner Danny, and Caroline with her sister Elizabeth. We drank old fashioneds and toured the property. Then in a car to the hotel for more drinks and dinner. Met Alex and his girlfriend Christine whom I had a great chat with; she’s from a similar background to Dzung. After dinner more drinks; Christa was getting shots. Then back to the house to finish the night; I insisted on getting Caroline and Elizabeth glasses of water, which they didn’t really want, and walked them to their car when it arrived. Didn’t crawl into bed until 2:30am or so.
Into the office and then off to a team lunch at an Italian restaurant. Fun talking about weird Australian things, and confused everyone by eating my salad last. But, hey, it’s what they do in France! Meetings in the afternoon, and got some work done. Cool that the We Work offices have free beer on tap; didn’t try any of it though as everyone had left by the time Mark picked me up. Was running a script on my laptop so strapped it in to the back seat of the Tesla on the drive home so it could continue. Mark’s sister and dad were over for a Hanuka dinner; fun chatting with them while drinking an old fashioned in Mark’s bar. His dad worked on the MOL project (manned orbital laboratory) as a programmer, which gave birth to SkyLab. Fun telling them about it crash landing near Perth. Walked into Laguna Beach for a nice dinner; the five of us squeezed around a table for three. Food and wine were good, and we had gelato at a small place around the corner afterwards. Home to open presents (socks) and more chatting before calling it a night.
Long flight to the US. Teary farewell with the kids at Perth airport. Lots of waiting around in Perth, and then in Sydney. Lucky to get an empty seat next to me on the flight to LAX. Had bought a neck pillow, managed to get some sleep. Took ages to get through immigration, then car ride to Mark’s place in Laguna Beach. Afternoon in office; rode in Mark’s Tesla (Marci, his wife, has an identical one). Impossible burger for lunch. Met the team, then home to a pre-prepared chef meal for dinner. Rained all day, but beautiful clear day the following morning. Stayed awake until 9pm and then slept until 8:20am. Was the first day of Hanuka, so gave Mark, Marci and their kids the presents I bought over. Fixed a production issue while drinking coffee in Mark’s kitchen. Going in to the office at 11am.
Long sleep last night. Took kids to school, then a good day at work. Eliza went to Zophia’s house after school. Jack and I went shopping, then played together before walking her back homa again. Cooked spaghetti marinara for dinner. Set up some rechargeable candles for some serious hygge after dinner :)
Jack to North Shore in the morning, then we packed up picnic things, grabbed some food from the IGA and headed to King’s Park. The spring festival is on at the moment, with live music. We picnicked and then let the kids play while we listened to the music. They made new friends, naturally. Next was a walk throught the park to see the wildflowers, ending up at the DNA tower. I threw Jack’s new soccer ball from the top to Eliza and Jack waiting below. They also enjoyed getting wet at the fountain. Home for a rest, then Eliza and I made barbequeued lamb skewers for dinner. Early night; I was in bed by 10pm.
Dzung at wine walk. Took kids to karate, then to Garbo, where Eliza bought a magazing of puzzles after seeing the ad for it at mum and dad’s last night. Jack spent his $10 KMart gift voucher (on a small soccer ball). Bought pies for lunch, which we took home and ate, before playing outside for a while. Dzung came home slightly tipsy. We chatted outside in the sunshine, then played handball with the kids for a while. Lots of laughs! She then retired for a nap, emerging a few hours later to prepare dinner. We ate in front of the TV, watching an episode of Blue Planet II. Van and Kiet off on a holiday to Singapore and Vietnam today.
Dzung out to see the ballet. Dinner with the kids at mum and dad’s. Jack had a jumble sale at school today; we gave him money to spend, and he ended up spending it all on presents for his cousins. What an angel! Mum doted on me quite a bit at dinner, not sure what’s going on there. We had a good time chatting and snacking.