We recently had some really nice weather so we got to play in the backyard for the first time in a long time. Timo was all excited to use his new bat and bases and Cameron wanted to cheer. See, here they are when our day started...all nice and clean... Then it quickly turned to "lets dump all the rain water out that has collected in our sand buckets!" Unknown to me, there was dirt in the bottoms of some of the buckets which lead to "fun with mud" for the rest of the afternoon. Then, somehow, it turned into building a brick wall! I was out in the yard pulling weeds, turned around and they had collected random bricks, thickened the mud and had their "mud spreader tools". Apparently watching the construction workers build my parents house last summer had a lasting impression!
We had such a great visit with Young's parents. The kids had so many things to share with them... (and we were so thankful to have a babysitter!) I think these pictures sum up how much we enjoyed having Harmony and Harabagi with us! We started out with a trip to the Academy of Sciences. I don't know about your 4 year olds, but mine are totally into board games right now. I was so thankful for someone here to play the same games with them over and over and over.... We went out for crab one night...one of my father-in-law's favorite meals. The kids got to help crack the crab... And the most fun, as far as Timo was concerned, was playing Gator Golf with Harmony. The children received this game for their birthday and were doing pretty good getting the ball in the gator's mouth but then Harmony decided to "make it a little more interesting..." Money if they got the ball in! Needless to say, Timo was all over that! What these pictures don't includes is all amazing ways Mom helped me when the kids were really sick and just around the house with chores, all the yummy Korean food she made, and all the hug, kisses and tickles! We miss them so much...can't wait to see you this summer!
The children got some really fun birthday gifts from their friends. We waited until we got home to open them...the party was hectic and we needed to clean up. Opening presents was a great incentive for the kids to help clean up! Some of the gifts had instant gratification...like Timo's Giant's shirt and Cameron's Light Bright, the walkie talkies, and robot magnets... While others have had a lasting reward...like Cameron's decorate a doll (she loves!) and her pom poms!
I love this picture of Timo getting ready for church the next morning...he had his new transformer car, his walkie talkie, some robot magnets in his pockets and a balloon left over from the party! He's just trying to keep the celebration going! One of the most rowdy gifts they received, and therefore, one of the most fun, was this boxing glove set. I think it's one of Young's favs too. (note, this was right before bedtime...when we're supposed to be settling down)
We finally had Timothy and Cameron's birthday party few weeks ago, after our sickness reschedule. This year the party theme happen kinda by chance. Our dear friend, Roland Vega, is a clown...no literally, he is a Rolo the Clown and Timo LOVES him! Rolo has appeared at few church functions for the kids and Timo sticks to him like glue. I thought I would build a birthday party around Rolo before the kids outgrew the innocence of loving a funny, silly, crazy clown. And with the addition of the children's new preschool friends, I knew we needed a bigger venue to have the party...enter our fellowship hall at church. And, I also knew we would need several activites to keep all these kids busy for a two hour party...thus, the Carnival Birthday Party was born! Complete with games, popcorn, and corn dogs! I have to just say, I'm so thankful my mother-in-law was here to help...I never would have been able to pull it off without her help! She and I work several hours in getting everything all set up. I made all the signs ahead of time ahead of time, made the cake and did all the food while she stiffed goodie bags, glued pom pom balls on top of the party hats and kept all the food restocked at the party! Great team work! We had a party hat decorating station, carnival games, a tattoo station, and Rolo put on a magic show, did face painting and balloon animals...whew...what a party! Oh, and pinatas!
I made a photo book of the party and will try to share it here. It's my first time trying to post a photo book, so bare with me if it's not working. Thanks to multiple people taking pictures, we got a ton of really good ones. The pictures tell the story of how fun the party was!
Shutterfly photo books offer a wide range of artful designs and embellishments to choose from.
The magic show Rolo did was so much fun! He got all the kids started with a little dance...the chicken dance. I think some of the children were a little shy in the beginning but it didn't take long for everyone to be on their feet dancing, and acting like chickens!
His magic show was really fun too. Rolo was so funny and gentle with the kids. He called volunteers up for each magic trick and the children thought it was the funniest thing in the world! Here is part of Cameron's...
The best part was seeing all the kids leaving, their faces all painted, tattoos up and down their arms, carrying their balloon animals, clown noses on and licking their lollypops from the pinata! Made all the work worth wild!
It's always cute when the babies/toddlers start talking and add their own spin to words...sometimes combining multiple words to make one or they little toungs just can't wrap around enough to pronouce others. Now that the twins are getting older, their vocabulary is becoming more and more clear...which is kinda sad to me, it just means they are growing up. But there are a few toddler words that are still hanging around...and I hope they don't change!
hangerburger...hamburger
boops...boots
yeyoos...cherrioes
glubs...gloves
smarshmallows...marshmallows
smovies...smoothies
lobcrab...lobster
(I won't lie, I find myself saying these even when I'm not around my children...)
I tell ya', when we travel, we could just as easily stay at the hotel the whole time and the kids would be entertained. I think just a change of scenery does wonders for their excitement level. Even the simplest things become fun in a whole new way. Having same snacks but in a new chair or a routine bath but drying off with a new bath towel...Wow! Timo trying out his new lightsaber...making himself at home, fighting the bad guys in his underwear! Sharing was bed wasn't so bad except when Timo woke up one night around 2am crying that Cameron was laying on him....literally, she had rolled almost completely on him! Crazy sleeper. But this is how they started out the night. Breakfast in our room...it's nice not having to run to get ready to get breakfast right away. So our not-so-fun moment was on our last night. Cameron really wanted ice cream so Young took her out for a little Daddy date while Timo, Mom, Dad and I headed back to the room. Timo pushed the elevator door button as I turned around to look for Dad (he had stopped to look at something in the lobby) In the 30 seconds I turned around, the elevator doors opened, Timo walked on and the doors closed! The instant they closed I realized Timo had gotten on all alone!! I started freaking out, pushing every button and yelling at the doors to Timo to just stay on the elevation, in case he could hear me. A bellman came up and stated pressing the buttons for the elevator to come down, a few other guests had gathered around offering ways to help. A moment or two later the doors opened and there was Timo! Whew! In typical Timo fashion, he started blaming me for not getting on too. He was so brave but definitely held on tight when I was hugging him. What a scare!! From then on, we talked about Mommy and Daddy always step in the elevator first. Needless to say, that night at bedtime prayers we were thanking Jesus for protecting my little boy!! Yeah for family vacations! I'm so thankful we were able to make this happen...all the ups and down were worth the great family time we had.
Our final day in So Cal was spent in exploring Santa Monica. I just love Santa Monica...I think it's my favorite area in LA. I just love the neighborhood feel, the shopping, nature, and of course the beach! As we were walking around the park area and the kids spotted a ferris wheel on the Santa Monica pier so we decided to go check it out. We discovered this cute kiddie park called Pacific Park on the Pier that had so many rides for the little ones! (but they were too small to ride the giant ferris wheel) I was so proud of Cameron riding this Froggy Jump ride...a kiddie version of Free Fall. It raises up and then gently drops, going up and down, dropping each time. I thought she would get scared once she got up there but she LOVED it...she rode it 3 times! Timo was all about all the games. We told each of them that they could pick out one game each to play...they both chose the multi player games so they both got to play each game...well played kids, well played. Cameron chose a skeet ball kinda game where you roll the balls to make your race horse move. And Timo picked a water shooting game to blows up a balloon...neither kid won either game...but they sure had fun playing.
Balancing was the "thing" for the vacation. Everywhere we went, everything we did, the children found lines, curbs, walls, anything to balance on. At Cameron's request, we had sushi for lunch! Mmmm, avocado sushi and ramen noodle soup are her favorites. We strolled over to the 3rd Street Promenade for a little shopping. Timo got upset with me because I wouldn't get him a $50 pair of light up Sketchers shoes...poor boy. Guess ice cream can make up for anything. One more stroll over to the cannons and he was a happy camper again...good way to end our last day in LA!
