New Year, New Beginning

So I think as the kids close in on 3 years old, our blog will also be a little over 3 years, it's time to reevaluate our lives and schedules. As a mom of 3 year old twins and the primary keeper of the blog, I think I need to set realistic expectations for myself. The kid's lives are rapidly changing and I'm forced to jump in and change right along with them...

I'm finding that naps are becoming a thing of the past. Timo almost never naps now and Cameron is about 50/50. I'm trying to still maintain "quiet time" in their beds, but that last only about an hour. Which means I have an hour to get all my chores done without interruption...and I'm not being very successful at it. So some things have to give...in comes the blog. I set expectations of myself to try and post almost everyday, just to keep up with the amount of pictures I take but it's not very realistic.

In addition to the kids changing, Young's travel schedule is changing as well...meaning he will be traveling almost every week, gone 3-5 days a week. This leaves me alone with the twins all week and the weekends to try and pack in as much family time as we can possibly stand! Again, not leaving much time for the computer...at all.

So I plan to slow down our blog posting dramatically over the next few months. I hope to post any milestones, birthdays, travels and or big happenings in the Ko family but outside that, we plan to reevaluate our lives and scale some things down to make way for new things. (But don't feel like you are missing out anything...it's been raining here for 40 days and 40 nights lately, so it's just a bunch of play dough, coloring and Lincoln Log building going on.)

Since our blog will be updated less and less in the coming months ( I still have a bunch of holiday post to make but just haven't had the time), you can keep posted on the entries through my Facebook page. If you're not a friend then friend me and I'll add you so you can stay updated. Or just check back every week or so.

Have no fear...I might start a new blog in the near future, maybe in the fall when the kids start preschool. I'm thinking a blog about food, tea, bread or something of that nature...suggestions are welcome! Stay tuned....

Pirate Dinner Adventure!

Young had to work one of the day we were on vacation so I took the kids and walked around Downtown Disney to look at all the GIANT Christmas Trees.
I treated the kids to a Build A Bear experience...a first for all of us. I won't go into all that is involved in picking out your bear (animal), stuffing, washing, naming and picking out an outfit...let's just say it was all very overwhelming for the kids. After an hour of being shuffled all around the store, trying to make decisions we weren't sure of, we left with just our frogs...no names, no clothes but the kids were so happy with their frogs! Leave it up to my kids to choose frogs over all the dozens of bears! Here is Timo and Cameron stuffing and washing their frogs...

It was super crowded in Downtown Disney and a little difficult keeping up with both kids in the crowd...so I don't have any other pictures from our morning...but I can tell you it was a fun outing and just a taste of what it's was going to be like at Disney the next day.

After Young go finished with work we took the kids to a special dinner...The Pirate Dinner Adventure! I was taking a risk with this one, it's a dinner and a show lasting 1 1/2 hours...the kids have never sat still that long unless they were sleeping. But I know they both love pirates and thought they might really enjoy the show. So after talking to a lot of people about it, making sure it was suited for kids and not scary, we decided to make the plunge and go for it. We got there a little late but still got good seats...we sat down to enjoy the show and I was so excited...
Turns out, I was half right...Timo LOVED it, Cameron was so scared, I sat with her in the lobby the whole time and missed the show...bummer. Oh well, at least our waiter was super nice and brought us our dinner and dessert to enjoy in the lobby. Cameron and I ended up having some very special time together, just the two of us, so it ended up being fun for me too.

Meanwhile, Timo and Daddy were really enjoying the show. This is my favorite picture...Timo swearing to be a good pirate! The look on his face is so honest and true...he really will be a good pirate!
Timo had so much energy after the show, jumping all around and he just had to have a sword. Daddy got them each a foam sword under the condition they would lose it if they hit with it. Timo was just fine raising his high in the air and shouting "Arrr Matey!" What a good pirate he is!

Bowling!

After the zoo and a long nap, we decided to get out and explore the City of Anaheim. The hotel had a shuttle bus we could take to the downtown area so we hopped on to see what we could see! My attention was immediately drawn to the bowling alley. I wasn't sure if the kids were too young or if it would work, but it was worth a shot...an I'm so glad we did! I don't know if I've seen the kids enjoy something more!!
The bowling alley was equipped with little shoes, small 6lb balls, bumpers over the gutters and small ramp to roll the balls down...everything we needed for an amazing family night of bowling! The hardest part was getting the kids to take turn. It was really hard for them to bowl once and then have to wait until everyone else had a turn before they cold bowl again. They were having so much fun, Young and I decided to forgo our turns and just let the them bowl and bowl.
We started out having them walk up and roll the ball down the lane but the balls rolled SO SLOW....usually only knocking down one or two pins each time.
One of Timo favorite things was waiting and watching the balls come back up. Daddy helping Cameron use the ramp. Our game picked up significantly once we started using the ramp. Cameron even bowled a strike!
After a long game, we took the kids to Johnny Rockets for supper. It was our first time there and I love the little mini hamburgers for kids. Cameron opted for the grilled cheese sandwich and as much ketchup as she could handle.
Waiting at the shuttle stop to go back to the hotel....can't wait to go bowling again! Grandpa will be so happy to know he has two more team mates for his bowling league...

Santa Ana Zoo

Since we didn't get into Anaheim (Disneyland) until around 1am, we kept our first day of vacation super mellow...or as mellow as you can keep it with two toddlers with lots of energy and excitement!
Our first stop was the Santa Ana Zoo. The zoo was about 10min from where we were staying and we could get in free with our membership affiliation of the Coyote Point Museum here in SF...we love free! And I have to say, if we had to pay to get in, I would have been highly disappointed...this zoo was not one of the better ones we've seen. But we mad the most of it and managed to enjoy all the zoo had to offer.
We did see a few animals...the coolest was the camels and the bald eagle!
And of course every zoo has to have a carousel and a train.

Some beautiful orange groves we passed during the train ride. Cameron love oranges so it was all she could do not to reach out and gobble up some.
There was also a playground there that the kids loved...they must have played almost an hour. They haven't been to a playground in a few weeks because of all the rain so they were so happy to have sunny skies and new play structures.
On the way out we stopped by the "Barnyard" where Timo tried his hand a milking a cow, wow, it looks so real! Cameron was a little scared once she saw the "milk" coming out...
I can tell the kids had a blast on our morning outing...it was the first day in the past three days that they took a nap! Guess the Santa Ana Zoo wasn't such a bad place after all...

Christmas!

We woke up Christmas morning thanking our Lord and Savior for His most precious gift..Jesus! We know nothing we could give each other has any value next to the ultimate gift we have in Christ. We hope the kids, even at their young age, can recognize the true importance of this day. Through the stories they hear, books they read and song they sing, our prayer is that the Lord is molding their hearts toward Him. I look forward to them understanding more and more that there is something more lovely about Christmas other than all the toys.

As our typical Christmas mornings go...the kids were late to wake up and we had to bang around the house to make some noise...just to help them along. Neither realized what day it was, even though they went to bed excited that Santa might come. But as soon as we started walking in the living room, Cameron made the connection and went nuts!

This pretty much sums up Cameron's favorite Christmas gifts...her princess dress and her pirate outfit!
I have to say, as someone who gives great thought to each and every toy we get them, it's so gratifying to have them squeal over something you carefully picked out...just for them. And a lesson learned....they both loved practically the cheapest toys they got. Cameron can't get enough of her Walgreens 1/2price princess dress and Timo has built and rebuilt his Ross' clearance rack take apart truck!

We had a few classic Christmas moments...one was when Cameron had to go potty...poo poo potty. She tends to need to sit a LONG time. She doesn't really use the little foggy potty anymore but we pulled it out and put it in the living room so she wouldn't miss out on anything. I felt so bad having her sit there and watch Timo open presents so we let her join in the fun right where she was. Nothing like multi-tasking!
And after all the toys, Timo had a little trouble enjoying a gift that was a non-toy...

Untitled from Sara ko on Vimeo.

Young and I stole a few moments when the kids were occupied to open a few gifts to each other...Young got his badly needed tools and I got my badly wanted bread machine...

The kids love music so much, I wanted some of their Christmas to be a musical instruments...Timo got a saxophone and Cameron got a violin, both were huge hits.

Untitled from Sara ko on Vimeo.

And thanks to me pouring over craigslist practically everyday for 2 months, Santa brought the kids one last gift...a kitchen!! These large kitchens are rather pricey but I really wanted one big enough for both of them to be able to play at as well as their friends. I knew I could find one on craigslist if I looked long enough. (This one was sold by a grandma who bought it for her grandson when he came to visit...which wasn't very often the the kitchen was in excellent condition! She also threw in a huge bag of pots & play food!) I think the kids were a little shocked when they saw it...speechless! But they got over that quickly and went straight to work...making breakfast!

Untitled from Sara ko on Vimeo.

After opening and playing a while, we welcomed our friends Liz and Salvador Rosas. They have been joining us for the past few years now and now it's a tradition!

The aftermath...looks like a good Christmas was had by all!
Our Christmas day ended a little early because we loaded up and drove down to LA for our Disneyland trip. The kids didn't nap all day so we knew they would fall asleep as soon as we hit the road...which they did and we had a nice quiet drive down. What a peaceful way to end a wonderful Christmas day...

catching up

This is one of those time where I feel so far behind in my blog (pictures)...it seems hard to find the time or space to get it going again. We've been on vacation the past week and have a million pictures to go through...plus Christmas...plus what is coming up for New Years! I really want to get Christmas done but have a few videos to upload first. I'll try to get to that tonight and get the post done in a few days...just didn't want ya'll to think I forgot about you....

Just in case you were wondering where we were....

Happy New Year everyone!! Praying for a blessed 2011 for you all!!

Christmas Eve

Cameron woke up Christmas Eve in high spirits and was running full speed all day long. Timo on the other hand was having an off day and spent much of the morning in time-outs...but managed to pull it together by mid-day and end on a high note.
We started by opening our last door on our advent calender. It's the biggest door and the kids have been waiting all month long to open it and see baby Jesus!
We got ready and headed downtown, as per our tradition, to see the big Christmas tree in Union Square, the gingerbread castle in the Westin Hotel, watch the ice skaters, visit Santa in Macy's (which means riding escalators) and have a nice lunch at Scala's Bistro.




It was getting late in the afternoon by the time we finished lunch and the kids were reaching their melting down point...getting back to the car proved to be a bit challenging. We passed a street performer singing Santa Baby and the kids were mesmerised...seeming to forget how upset they were. To our good fortune, he gave the kids a candy cane which made everything better. We got to the car, buckled in and on our way home without one tear...singing Santa Baby all the way. Yeah!
We got home, took a short nap and left for our Christmas Eve Service at church. I don't have any pictures because I was walking around with Timo the whole time. They didn't have child care and Timo doesn't have the attention span to sit still for an hour...so we cruised the halls of the church, drew some pictures, read the Christmas Story, etc...
We came home, put cookies out for Santa and Young read the Christmas Story from the kid's bible before bedtime.
The kids were all nestled in their beds, visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads...so Santa could get right to work! We try to unpack and assemble almost everything that night so we can break down boxes, clean up and have less to do in the morning...