Nom Nom

We finally fulfilled the rain check request from the Althoff family and had a wonderful sit down Korean BBQ meal.  Woody and I ran up to Asiana while the kids were in VBS on Thursday and picked up meat and lettuce and all kinds of wonderful goodies to grill at the table.

We did our best to fill the entire table with banjun and dishes.  Rice wine was added and we also had Harmony juice for desert.

The kids were on their best behavior.  Janet and Michael were in stiches listening to them.  A fox reference immediately caused the kids to belt out "What Does the Fox Say" lyrics.  Annika ran and got her iTouch so they could watch the video.

Great dinner, great conversation.  After dinner, Janet and Woody went to look at the garden and Michael watched the kids play Lego Star Wars on the Wii.  

By seven, everyone was tired and the Althoffs said goodbye.

J. Paul Getty Villa Part 2

The outdoors.  I can't say enough about how beautiful the various gardens are at the Getty Villa.  The main coutyard and the herb garden are my favorites.  Despite the growing visitors, we were able to take some beautiful pictures - all with the iPhone.  We traveled light and I left the DSLR camera at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

J. Paul Getty Villa Part 1

The Getty Villa in Malibu has one of the prettiest views of the Pacific Ocean that I've ever seen.  Built into a canyon by billionaire J. Paul Getty, the architecture and grounds are built based on Getty's passion:  bequething a museum dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures ofancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria. The collection has 44,000 Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities dating from 6,500 BC to 400 AD, including the Lansdowne Heracles and the Victorious Youth.

The place is amazing.  You need reservations to go because the canyon has llimited parking.  Woody secured a reservation weeks ago for the family and Harmony and Harabagee to visit today.  We arrived at the gate at our scheduled time with our entry paper and proceeded to the underground parking garage.

The Greek and Roman arcitecture is built to meet the sloping lands of the area and the Getty Villa is no exception.  There are multiple levels and buildings and connecting gardens and outdoors meet indoors in many locations.  The staff was super nice to us everywhere we went.  There was so much to look at even the kids enjoyed it.  However, the family play room was Erik's favorite.  Here, they could participate in Greek antiquites and art without fear of touching anything delicate.  The kids designed their own pots and did stencils and trace rubs.