Thank God for children (who are not your own)

A world of make-believes and childhood games.

Last Sunday, we were all at my parents' house and enjoying a very lazy day when my nieces and nephew decided to have a "party in the fancy family room." Now, my parents don't have a fancy family room. They have a room where they have ornate Italian furniture that I find hideous and they probably regret buying many years ago as it doesn't fit with the rest of the home decor. Actually it's not too bad as far as baroque furniture pieces go (and if you're Korean, you know the kind of furniture I'm talking about), but I'm more of a minimalist. To kids, this kind of furniture must seem "fancy" and hence their name for the room.

Anyway, for an hour or so, the adults were forbidden to go into this room as they scurried from here to there trying to set up their party. When I was finally let in the room, I first had to sign my name in their little guestbook. The spread, as you can see above, consisted of several different kinds of crackers and chocolate snacks and was complemented with fruit juice. I especially liked the shrimp crackers. When the snacks were gone, we were encouraged to leave a tip indicating that they are already savy business folks.

Afterwards, we drove to the Leo Carillo State Park where the kids could play in the sand. I never liked the beach as much as these kids do when I was young but it seems that I may have missed out on something. The kids were ready to leave only when the sun was a distant memory.