A different sort of Americana

The days following the wedding were spent with Mom's family, though Dad's family continued to make guest appearances, and we were accompanied all the while with huge amounts of food.

Tasty homemade banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches)

One afternoon Dad had the brilliant idea of going to Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Park. It would have been wonderful if it was not 1pm and in the mid 90s. I don't know who was crazier, Dad for suggesting or me for caving in and actually going along with him. The birds and other wildlife knew better than us--they were certainly laying low.

Hot and dry, we didn't see a single piece of fauna

In the other direction we had a perfect view of the Rockies, completely unobstructed by trees and other things of interest

Dad and Uncle Peter carrying Austin. Austin was the only smart one.

At least there was a 'lake'

Back at the house, food was being prepared!

Uncle Mark, Aunt Gayle and Erik were invited for a little cultural lessonTiny quail. I felt bad eating such a little bird, plus there was hardly any meat. One of the tables (there were probably 30 people scattered about the house)

The next morning, July 4th, started off all-American with brunch at Denny's with the Donnellys. Gosh, I sure had been craving pancakes for the past few months!

In the afternoon we went to celebrate the 4th with a sort of cookout. Here is the view of Aunt Nancy's yard from Uncle Tan's balcony. They live next door to each other.

Lynn doing Mom's toes

Remember those quail from last night? Well here are their eggs, wrapped in ground shrimp and deep fried. I couldn't quite get myself to try one.

Uncle Tan and Uncle Kiet putting the finishing touches on Uncle Tan's new smoking lodge.

My youngest cousins on Mom's side. Somehow this reminds me of 15-20 years ago, when I used to play with my cousins on Dad's side.

The ladies of the grill. Aunt Amy and I tried to pick up a few secrets from Aunt Lieu.

Grilled mussels and kababs

The women's table

The men in their cave

From the balconies we could see, just above the highway, a few fireworks

The next and final day, a visit to see Grandpa

The night before we left Colorado we had one final family dinner at a restaurant specializing in Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup), and Danielle, who lives only 20min from Aunt Amy's house, joined us. It was nice to see her and to confirm that she survived her trip to Italy.

The next morning I woke up at 1:30am (I probably should have just pulled an all-nighter), reacquainted myself to the treadmill, then headed to the airport at 3am for our 6am flight. Conveniently for us, Uncle Kiet works early mornings at the airport and drove us, along with Uncle Peter, Austin, and Angeline, who were on their way to Virginia that same morning. Mom went her separate way to Minnesota to be with Andrew, Jennifer, and Carter as they await Baby #2. Dad and I took our leave to steamy old Raleigh.