Finale

We had a 4pm flight home. I was told that crossing the border can easily take 2 hours. Since the day we left was the last day of spring break, people would flock to the States for deals. A wise friend advised us to leave at 7am. Sounded impossible but we managed to hit the road at 7:30. The line at that border was minimal. I think we waited maybe 10 minutes. The drive down was also super smooth. The only glitch is that we now have all these extra hours in between. So, I called a friend in Seattle. Was that ever fun! It was such a great little visit. My friend has two labra-poodle. The Girl had a ball! Literally. She threw this ball around and the dog got tired of it before she did. When Barley no longer wanted to play catch, should would run to pick up the ball for him and stuff it in his mouth. Poor dog.

"I love you, Barley!"


"Bone?"


"Em... how can I get it back?"


Helping out in the yard.


Wagon ride.


Cool ride.


The whole gang.


How many people and how many dogs do you see?


Look at the insulted look on Barley's face and the sad little throws the girl offered. Funny stuff.

That's My Mom

Somehow, I have stretched a 7 day trip to something like 10 posts. I guess the trip was just that action packed.

One of the funnest thing I got to do was to have dinner with my mom without the kids. We didn't just go out to dinner. We went to a company dinner hosted by the company my mom works for. The reason for such a gathering is to honor outstanding employees of the year and my mom was one of the honorees.

My mom worked on and off when we were kids and she worked many different jobs when we were teenagers. None of those employments is what I would call a career. Up till that point, her profession was being a mom. Then, we grew up and she found her calling. She's been at her current job for 10 years and has built a career out of it. Way to go, mom!

Top Counselor 2008! Wow!


Dancing the night away. (I don't know what's with that white circle on her head. Weird lighting maybe?)

Smart Cookie and Golf

Hayden found this toy cup and wanted to drink from it. I told him no and he threw a fit. A couple minutes later, he got his water bottle and told me he wanted "wada". I opened the bottle and thought he was going to drink. This is what he did.



"Hey, Papa, I am practicing. Want to play with me?"

Party and Rides

We were invited to a birthday party while we were in Vancouver. The kids had a good time. I think this is the fourth birthday party this year. All this partying is prompting the Girl to inquire about her own big day. She has it in her mind that we'll have the party at some kiddie play house followed by a lot of cake and we'll invite Baby, only Baby. Yeah, she is not very social.

Here are some random pictures from the party and various rides we went on while we were in Vancouver.

Trying out a scooter. She is not as uncoordinated as I expected but she is still far from being able to ride a scooter or a bike.


Somehow, this is the only picture I have of either of my kids and my friend Teresa. She spent the most time with them while we were in Vancouver. She was also most traumatized. Note to anyone who's going to change a diaper in the future: risking being peed on while changing a diaper is a much better choice than holding a 27 pound porker over the toilet while asking your partner to change his poopy diaper. I am surprised the porker didn't fall into the toilet and no one got sprayed on the face. This story is classic - must record for future use. Oh, and of course, thank you so much for babysitting, Auntie and Uncle!


Racing with the birthday boy.


She either won or cheated.


The girl loves hugging, especially if her hug target is totally still... and made of plastic.


Hugging another piece of plastic. She did actually hug some real people but somehow I didn't take any pictures.


"Beep Beep! Oops, did I hit someone?"


"So this is what life would be like if I had a brother." Baby totally loves playing with older boys. He watches them and then tries to copy them. It's so much fun to watch.


"Another order of air. Hurry up!"


The ball pit is still a favorite. I remember being too old to go into them and always wished I could. It's so much fun!

Causing Pain

My baby.


My baby and I and my new hairdo that I got while my aunt and uncle babysat.


Why does causing pain to others bring so much joy to babies?

Spoiled Rotten

Right, so I spoil the kids. And then, there are my aunt and uncle. They babysat for me while I was in town. Boy, were the kids happy. Kira asked to go back to their house pretty much every time I yell at her.

They even let her play with their reading glasses.


This little tyrant had my aunt and uncle running in circles. He wanted to drink from a cup, not a sippy, which he is not capable of and he wanted to go up and down the stairs about forty times in a two hour period, which he is also not capable of. So my aunt and uncle chased after him to make sure he doesn't kill himself going down and wiped all the water that he spilled. At the end of two hours, my uncle admitted defeat. He didn't think he can babysit the next time we are in town. This little tyrant is just too much work!


This is a video of some "quiet" night time activities.

Dinner with a Star

I had dinner with my mom and her sisters. One of my aunts said that Hayden opened his arms to her and called her Por Por, which is what my kids call my mom. See the resemblance?


Hayden was the star of the evening. He was happy, cheerful and friendly as can be. A real charmer at the table.


"Talking about me?"


"I love raisins. You may take as many pictures as you like as long as I have raisins."


This was taken at the end of the evening. Hayden was getting restless.


What was Kira doing during all the Hayden love? She mostly whined and cried and fussed over just about anything.


This is the only smiling picture I took of her all night. I was told she is the way she is because I spoiled her. Em.....

OMG

This is a bonus post. I have never posted twice in a day. I mean, who has the time. But seriously, I thought this day would never come and I honestly had tears in my eyes. I was touched and excited, yes, but my poor arms are finally going to get a break. Yeah!

I know... the good old days are over. I know...

Remembrance

I wish my kids have a chance to know my dad. Every time (almost) we visit Vancouver, I take them to visit my dad and I tell them little stories about him. I also try to explain to Kira why he is not with us anymore. It's a difficult task. She doesn't really understand the concept of permanence. She thinks there must be a way I can fix this.

On the other hand, it brings me so much joy when I see little bits of my dad in my kids. I think Hayden has my dad's hands and his concentration and problem solving ability and Kira has his gentleness and maybe his face shape. I guess this is why people say you live through your children.

Theory And Practice

The last post was written before I took off. This picture was taken on my way back. Yes, I survived!

This video was taken right before I set out on my epic trip across SEA. We went from the baggage claim to the car rental desk. I was then informed that I had to go to the elevator, go up, walk across this walkway, get back down on the elevator, walk to the nearest island and wait for the shuttle to pick us up. Essentially, we were just crossing the street but the street is part of a highway and had high fences so we couldn't just cross. I couldn't find the elevator, didn't know which floor to go up to and didn't know which floor to come back down on. So, I walked around in our crazy configuration for about half an hour. Aside from the confusion, the actually moving from point A to point B was not that difficult. I am even considering joining the circus. :-)

Magic Strap

If you look closely at the pictures from yesterday, you'd notice that the girl is sitting in a carseat strapped onto a luggage. Why? Because I was flying solo with the two little ones and had to come up with a way to move one suitcase, two carseats, one stroller, one backpack and two trouble buns from the luggage pick up area to the car rental area in the airport. My solution is the Magic Strap.

I wish I could say I came up with the idea of the Magic Strap except I didn't. Even if I did, I am sure people will tell me I am crazy and there's no way it would work. Well, someone is crazy enough to actually sell these straps. I wasn't sure if it really worked and I have this "I can make that!" mentality so I made my own with some heavy duty webbing and D-rings.



The idea is that you hook the LATCH system of your carseat onto the strap, which is wrapped around your suitcase.


Then, you have the options of just pulling a carseat and a suitcase around or the CRAZY option of strapping your kid onto the carseat and pull the whole contraption around.


Now, that still doesn't solve my problems. Remember I still have one more carseat, a stroller and another trouble bun? Well, I made a second strap and did this:


You see, I strap the carseat onto the stroller and then the kid onto the carseat. Push the stroller in front and pull the suitcase behind. Problem solved! Waaaahahahahaaahaaa!

In Love

Ready...


Set...


Kiss!

It had to happen...

No amount of dress and jewelry wearing can change the boy DNA in the boy. As such, he has to be somewhat destructive to prove his boy-ness. So, something like this had to happen some day. Some people may even be surprised that it's taken this long.

"Pull! Pull! Pull!"


"Scoop! Scoop! Scoop!"

Risque

One day, the girl decided to throw the most ridiculous fit of all times. She insists on wearing a bra. I guess this is part of the whole "I am growing up" thing. Personally, I was not planning on having this conversation until she's at least a tween. She claims she NEEDS one and that she is going to grow really really big boobies. I don't know where she got that idea from - really, I had nothing to do with this one.

So, here is a somewhat risque photo of my growing up girl. Yes, that smile means she won the fight. Throwing a fit works.

The Male Ballerina

Quick, think of a word that means male ballerina!

I couldn't. I jokingly said ballerino and turns out some people really call themselves ballerinos. Others prefer danseur or cavalier or just dancer.

Anyway, here is one who is starting his training really young and is working really hard. I can't imagine a more devoted student.

Ballerina

I made another no sew tutu as a birthday gift for a little girl who is turning 4. I decided to make this one as girly as I possibly could. It's not as full as some of the other ones I've made but there is an airiness to it that I really like. Kiki is quite fond of this one and asked that I make her one for her birthday. Yeah, she's been talking non-stop about turning three. Every day, she reminds me that she is growing, literally. She would say things like, "The Sun is shinning on me. I am growing." "I am growing bigger. I will be bigger than you." "I am turning 3. That's because I am growing and growing."

Anyhooo, she modeled the tutu for me to take some pictures and unlike the other times, she was totally into it this time and posed accordingly. She's seen a ballet class and so she was trying to move like a ballerina.

Twirl


She is so flexible.


Prima Ballerina


I am looking forward to some girly girly days. Hubby is probably thanking the higher powers for giving him a son. Otherwise, the house will be so full of estrogen that he may start to wear a tutu to work.

Slime

I have forgotten about these pictures I took last week. The girl made slime at preschool... or maybe the preschool teacher made slime and let the kids play with it. Anyway, I used to make this with high school kids to introduce the idea of polymerization. I guess Flubber appeals to all ages.

The girl was the happiest I have ever seen her after preschool at the end of this lesson. She was obsessed with her Flubber. She cut it, rolled it, tore it, poked it. At the end of the lesson, she asked to bring some of it home. I almost had a heart attack upon hearing that Flubber is entering my house but really, this stuff is not as messy as it appears. The worse is when it's stuck to fiber (clothes, carpet, etc). Otherwise, it cleans up very easily.

Girl totally hyper when playing with her goo.


I think the boy actually gets the point of the slime more than the girl... not that there is a right or wrong way to play with this stuff.


Little scientist at work. He was totally testing out different properties systematically. He made different piles for different tests.


Goo lab in the kitchen.