California 2015: East Bay – Blooming by the Bay

Although our time staying in the East Bay was short, we were glad we could see some of the faces we have so missed since moving away! There were new babies to be held and kissed, delicious restaurants to be visited (both old and new!), and a lot of catching up to do with dear friends.

Catching up with the Kims! — Lunch in San Leandro with the Kims! Our two girls + their two boys was a crazy mix! It was great seeing them and how much Jinwoo and Sunwoo have grown!

On the second day of our trip, we had dinner at Burma Superstar with Dan’s brother Ted and his fiancÃ©e Jackie in Alameda, because it was one of our favorite restaurants that we were excited to revisit while we were in the area.

Burma Superstar's samosa salad — We so missed their samosa salad! Just seeing this photo of it makes me salivate…

After our dinner at Burma Superstar, we drove over to Castro Valley to have some ice cream with Aileen and David!

The girls on the car ride — Mirei behind the wheel at Knudsen’s Creamery in Castro Valley

With Aileen at Knudsen's Creamery — With Aileen at Knudsen’s Creamery. It was so great seeing her again, and we have to also thank her for bringing us to this delicious ice cream parlor!

So glad we could meet up with Aileen & David! — We finally got to meet Aileen’s boyfriend, David! He’s the first other Yokoyama I’ve met (beyond my own family and relatives). Yokoyamas are all awesome, naturally.

This wasn’t exactly meeting up with a familiar face, but we have definitely missed our favorite taco truck! We had to make a stop in Oakland to get our fix of those amazing al pastor, chicken, and carne asada tacos (plus lengua for Dan).

Tacos from our favorite taco truck! — While we were shocked to see how much their prices have gone up in the past two years, the tacos definitely hit the spot!

Up there among our top most-anticipated moments of our visit was seeing a couple of our dearest friends, Tarrin and Jason, and their newborn son Theo! He was only two months old when we got to see him, and I was euphoric holding that teeny baby and sniffing his head. That newborn smell is so intoxicating! (Before you write me off as a complete nutcase, I urge you to try sniffing a newborn head sometime — I’m pretty sure you will agree with me.)

Loved seeing Tarrin & Jason and meeting baby Theo! — Meeting baby Theo for the first time. Tarrin and Jason make a pretty cute baby!

Dessert at Cookiebar — After eating dinner at Mintleaf, they took us to a new (to us, at least) dessert place in Alameda called Cookiebar!

Vietnamese coffee ice cream at Cookiebar. Amazing.

Mirei loving the ice cream! — Mirei was loving the ice cream!

Selfie with Mirei when she refused to go to bed that night.

On our last day, we spent the evening with Dan’s family after we came back from Fairyland in the afternoon. Mio had fun helping Grandma prepare dinner for everyone!

Mirei at the San Lorenzo house, after we came back from Fairyland on our last full day in NorCal.

yogurt mouth Mio — Mirei thoroughly enjoying her yogurt.

Helping Grandma with the California rolls — Helping Grandma making California rolls for dinner

Mio making rolls with Grandma — Mio and Grandma in the kitchen

Family dinner on our last night. Dan’s mom prepared quite a feast!

Mio saying goodbye to Grandma. She misses her so much!

Mio hugging Grandpa — …as she does Grandpa, too.

M&M with Grandpa — Mio messing with Mirei. I think she wanted Grandpa all to herself!

Saying goodbye to grandparents — Saying goodbye to the grandparents

Saying goodbye to Uncle Ted the morning we left for Los Angeles. Thank you Ted & Jackie for being such great hosts for us during our stay!

Getting an It's It at a rest stop — We grabbed an “It’s It” at a rest stop on our drive down. We couldn’t leave Northern California without eating one!