An Eventful 2011 Halloween
What an eventful Halloween this year. Anders and Arden’s school had the Fall Festival where they had the little cute pumpkin patch, games, a pettie jumpy house and face paint set up at the school backyard. All the kids dressed up, singed Halloween songs and had a circle-around parade. For Arden, it was easy since we had a nice pass-down ladybug custom and she was happy being a ladybug. However, for Anders, we’ve been thinking about the Halloween customs since a couple months ago but he kept changing his mind. He started wanting to be the spiderman, jumping to be the superman, then changing to be a dragon. Finally he somehow came across the idea of being a “ghost” and happily searched ghost pictures online to set his mind. We also went...
G & M Farms, Here We Come Again!
It was such a great experience at G & M Farms last year so when Jean was asking about it, we said, “Yes!” right away. Since it was not a school field trip, we didn’t have the Hayride. But Kyle, Kaitlin, Anders and Arden had a great time in the “corn-box.” Look! Who were buried in the corns?! There was a small area set up with skeletons and ghosts. I remembered Anders was so scared last year. However, this year, he was just trying to make as much noise as possible to wake up the ghost in the coffin. Not to mention about Arden, she didn’t fear even a tiny little bit. Kyle and Anders took the bike rides and used up all their energies. Anders and Arden also got one “big giant” (Anders favorite description) pumpkin...
Happy Hollow with Mike and Jean
Jean and Mike were kind enough to invite us to Happy Hollow for a kid romp fest. Having never been here before with the kids, we were admiring the new rides and facilities that Mike explained was installed after a lengthy two year renovation. The new park boasts an outstanding multi-story rope climbing jungle gym. Their puppet story of the classic “The Frog Prince” had contemporary twist to the story line that was Shrek-like. Both the Prince and Princess became frogs, eschewing materialism and superficial beauty. Anders and Kyle had the most fun in their three rides on the mini roller-coaster. Even Arden joined in on a final roller coaster ride before we head out for lunch at Com Tam Thanh for some Vietnamese rice places. Afterwards, Jean...
Tahoe with Wen, Steve, Bryce, and Jasper
Bryce brought his parents, Wen and Steve, from Texas with him to visit us on an extended play date at Lake Tahoe. The name of Christine’s sister’s yet-to-be-born son is not Jasper, but I’m putting my vote down for that name. Having brothers named Bryce and Jasper just seems quite fitting to me. Both are beautiful parks and distinctive names for boys. The post-natal cousins warmed up quickly and soon were chasing after each other like mad monkeys. We did a little of everything this trip: hiking, swimming, eating, digging, crying, singing, dancing, and very briefly flying. The main support beam on our little kite broke in two after a brief flight on the beach to the dismay of the kids. There was a dissapointment on the trip; I have yet to...
Quick Getaway to Raleigh
As the summer wound down, Christine and I took the kids to catch up with our old friend Sam and Jenny in Raleigh, NC. Chloe, Anders, and Arden quickly became good friends and romped throughout Sam’s house hiding/finding easter eggs, playing doctor, and other shenanigans. Every half an hour or so there would be a blowup, and one little kid would be tattling to the parents about a severe (to them) injustice performed on them by another. These incidents are quickly forgotten, and a new game begins. Sam had to work during the weekdays, and Jenny is very large with their second child, a son. So Christine, the kids, and I found time to wander off to Old Salem Museums and Gardens during the week to do some hiking and learn some history. The Old Salem...
Spring Happenings – Pancakes, Julian’s Birthday, and Blocks
Anders enjoys cooking, and that fits great with Christine’s hobby of trying new recipes. This month’s creations was Ebleskiver (Danish pancakes) filled with jam, honey, or nutella. Paired with a cup of coffee, this was heaven. Anders also helped out in making some traditional Chinese scallion pancakes the following week. I didn’t expect him to be able to flatten the dough into nice circles all by himself. This month also involved lots of home improvement chores for me. The DSL went out and had to be rerouted. Our redwood tree roots pushed down a portion of our retaining wall on the front lawn. The garage door sensors needed some new components. Anders did some home improvement of his own with his wooden block set. He created...