Daredevils, or Creature of Habit 6

For the second Independence Day in a row, we celebrated by having a mini-Liu family reunion. My brother Leon and his wife Claire flew in from their new home in Kansas City to join me, Vince, Benjamin, and my mom, who was already in town from China.

Benjamin kicked off the holiday by asserting his own independence - on the playground. Until recently, he would go down the slide only while sitting on Mommy or Daddy's lap. In the spirit of the holiday, though, he decided that it was time for him to brave the slide on his own. He was, however, still willing to sit with Daddy on another, more dangerous ride - a downhill slalom on his new Plasma Car.

His new daredevil antics all but gave poor Hao Po a near heart attack! The irony was that she was the one who had bought him his new red car. I think she was kicking herself over that!

Thankfully, Benjamin balanced out his outdoor stunts with quieter, less life-threatening activities. Whenever we were indoors, he enjoyed sitting and reading with Hao Po.

On the evening of July 4th, Vince, Leon, Claire, and I tapped into our own inner daredevils by climbing up onto our rooftop to watch fireworks. From our precarious vantage point, we were able to see sparks in Culver City, Manhattan Beach, and Malibu.

And though my father was the only Liu family member who wasn't able to make it to our reunion, he made sure that he wasn't forgotten. In fact, his might have been the most daring act of all: he asked my very cranky, very crowd-averse mother to go to the circus that is Costco to him his precious Charmin. The look on my Mom's face while she was schlepping the Charmin was enough to send me cowering behind my shopping cart and thanking the heavens that I wasn't my dad at that moment. Talk about risky behavior!

Then and Now

My (not so) little brother Leon and his fiancee Claire were in town for the long weekend, and I couldn't help but reflect on how much things had changed since the previous July 4th. This time last year, my brother was not yet affianced, Vince and I were in the process of moving into our new home, Oliver was a blissful only child, and I was about 7 weeks pregnant. Now Oliver is sharing the spotlight with pudgy usurper Benjamin, and I'm about to gain a sister-in-law. It's amazing how much can change in one short year.

The weekend was marked by food, food, and more food. On July 4th, we enjoyed a feast of BBQed steak, corn on the cob, salad, fruit, cake, and more cake at Vince's parents' home. A few days later after we finished digesting that meal, we celebrated my mom's birthday with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

The weekend was also marred- I mean, marked- by Rock Band. Having discovered that women with new babies don't have much free time to play the game with him, Vince was very happy to find that Claire and Leon were willing participants. As I watched them eagerly banging away at the songs, I was forced to reflect once again on how much things had changed in my life. A few years ago, I was a part of rock band of a different sort. Instead of playing in the living room, we played at The Viper Room...

I had an experienced drummer instead of a newbie who needed some hand-holding...

My guitarist Elias impressed the fans with his shredding mojo and Van Halen-esque solos, but I'll admit it's pretty sweet that I get to make out with the guitarist of my current band...

As I journeyed down memory lane, I started to get a little nostalgic for the crazy days of yore with my old band. But then I caught a glimpse of my current drummer and guitarist taking a break, and I realized that I wouldn't trade that band for this one. Not for any amount of fame, riches, or glory.

There Goes the Neighborhood

After months of hoping, waiting, planning, and bated-breath-ing, we finally closed escrow on Oliver's new place! First thing Saturday morning, the Asian Mafia (above) showed up to help us move all of our worldly possessions to our new home in the lovely little enclave of Playa Vista. Mad, MAD props to Vince's Dad, James, Mike, George, and Matt (not pictured) for your help!

More pictures to come after we clean up the hurricane in our place! For now, here are some images from our move.

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Clockwise from top left: The impatient Pug shoves his way into his new home; Father and Son Chan in full moving mode; Vince slips a disc hoisting his wife over the threshold; George invites a neighborhood dog to the Gun Show.