Chuck E Cheese Birthday Party!

I'm going to get all the birthday celebrations out of the way first and then go back and update our remaining Jan/Feb activities.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to plan parties.  I love practically every part...invitations, decorations, activities, food, party favors, all of it.  I had been spinning my wheels for a few months trying to think of this years party, talking to the kids and seeing what we could come up with.  With Timo's love of sports and Cameron's love of gymnastics...and the Olympics happening over their birthday, I had the genius idea of an Olympics Birthday party...Perfect!  Or so I thought.  The more I talked to the kids about it the more I heard "Why can't we have it at Pump it Up or Chuck E Cheese or House of Air, I want to go to (insert any birthday location in the Bay Area, we've been to most of them."  The more I tried to talk up the Olympics, the more they talked up bouncy houses and video games.  So after much searching my pride and realizing it's their birthday, not mine, I gave in and started trying to book a birthday location.  But apparently you have to book months out to reserve a party at venues.  Praise God I lucked out with a cancellation at Chuck E Cheese and we got in!  Chuck E Cheese was it, and Tiimo and Cameron we beyond excited!

As soon as we got there Timo was off!  Young couldn't get tokens fast enough for him and they both disappeared into the sea of video games.  Cameron was a little more selective, knowing some game gave out tickets which could be turned in for prizes.  So in typical Cameron fashion, she walked all around, looking over everything first before starting her play.

We couldn't find Timo and Daddy for a while and then discovered them in a very serious battle with aliens! Such a  "like father like son" moment...Timo was in heaven!

Cameron finally selected a few games she thought she had the best chance of getting the most tickets.  You can really see the differences between the twins in these cases...Timo goes for the experience, thrill of the moment, excitement of the game and will play the same gave over and over.  Cameron calculates her odds, looks for the one she'll have the most success at and get the most return from.  It paid off, at the end of the evening, Cameron had 150 tickets from games and Timo only had 35 (the shooting and driving games don't give out tickets).  Timo also used all the token in his birthday crown while Cameron left her token in hers forever b/c it made her crown look pretty...

The thing about Churck E Cheese is it's just chaos and you can't really see your friends when they all arrive. I stayed at the table to greet everyone and pass out the tokens to each child (each one got 25 tokens) Slowly everyone stated trickling in and occasionally we would run into a friend and play a game with them. Cameron and Matthew playing the water shooting game.

After 45mins of game playing games it was time for pizza and the birthday concert.  As much as I loath these "turn and burn" birthday venues, I have to say I was really impressed with Chuck.  Even though there were several parties going on at the same time, each host made your kids feel so special, like it was one big party just for them. (or maybe we just had an amazing gracious host).  After pizza there was concert on stage for the birthday stars with these fabulous balloon guitars!  Each birthday child got a crown, guitar, and a golden guitar pick necklaces.  Timo and Cameron relished their time in the spotlight playing air guitar.

Then Chucky came out to say hi but I kinda missed it because I was setting up their cakes...

And as if going to a venue didn't hurt my party pride enough, I crushed my pastry chef pride and bought cakes this year!  But in my defense, it's because Timo doesn't like cake or ice cream and he requested a sorbet cake!  So not having room in my freezer for two ice cream cakes (I insist on each child having their own cake) I called Mitchell's Ice Cream and ordered him a strawberry sorbet cake and Cameron a Rocky Road ice cream cake.  Timo and Cameron LOVED them!  I have to admit how easy and practically stress free this party was....all I really had to do was put the decorations on the cake!  I think I might start liking these kind of parties.  (did I mention there was nothing to clean up either??)

There was a joint singing of Happy Birthday and the kids blew out their candles...6 years old!!!

                                                                                                                                                                    They threw a ton more tickets off the stage for all the kids and it was a mad dash to collect as much as they could.  Then Timo was gone...he and his buddies couldn't wait to get back to the games.  My son was a crazy boy the whole party, so pumped with energy and excitement. I think he sucked down his sorbet as fast as he could b/c I didn't even see him eat.  Cameron savored her cake and hung around with her friends. Chucky came around for pictures and got Cameron with her best buddy at school, Jordan.  He and Cameron share a passion for dinosaurs.

Another perk for the birthday child is a chance in the Ticket Blaster.  It's 30 seconds of tickets blowing all around you as you try to grab as many as you can.  Our two had no idea what to do, they just enjoyed the tickets blowing all around them while a few landed in their hands.  But at least they had fun!

We all meandered around finishing up our last few tokens and enjoying our birthday guest.  Another perk...no goody bags needed, each guest got to turn their tickets in for a prizes on the way out! The downside of this party is all the parents were following the children around helping them, so we didn't get to visit with our friends.  But Timo and Cameron had a blast and have already said they want their party there again next year!

I have to say that Mike at Chuck E Cheese was top notch.  He did everything he could to make my kids' party happen even though they were booked for the date was wanted.  We became fast friends on the phone and I couldn't wait to meet him once we go there.  He ended up giving us the best table in the party section, on the side with plenty of space, away from most of the crowds.  We had the best host and they really catered to our every need...I honestly didn't have to do anything but show up.  And even though it was my fault for booking so late, I feel like we were treated like VIP...not to mention our host gave us a few discounts and didn't charge us extra for the two sets of all birthday items!  All and all it was an great birthday experience for me and most certainly for Timo and Cameron!

Happy 6th Birthday Timothy & Cameron!

What??  Six years old today??  How can that be??  You two seem to delight in breaking the #1 in our house...NO GROWING UP ALLOWED!  As hard as I try to wrap you up in blankets and cradle you my lap, it's becoming impossible to ignore you two are growing by leaps and bounds.  Mommy and Daddy feel so blessed to be your parents and couldn't be more proud of the big boy and big girl you are becoming. Here are few short notes on what a blessing you are to this world...

As I sit to write this year's letter, I struggle with how to put the little boy that is Timothy Ko into words.  My heart leaps when you tell me I'm your BFF or when I see you light up and yell "Mommy!" when you see me at school or when quietly at night, you ask me to lay with you in your bed to help you not be afraid of the dark. I hope you will always be a mama's boy:) In some ways you are just a typically little 6 year old boy,  full of energy, always a potty word at the ready and easily finding success at most anything you try.  But in others ways I can see complex inner battle going on inside your spirit.  You long to be much older than you are, will accept nothing but perfection in everything that you do and struggle with, as you put it, "doing what I don't want to do and not doing what I should do."  It really hurts your heart that your name is frequently on the board at school but you just don't know how to control your little active 6 year old self.  But that's part of growing up and I wouldn't have you any other way.  You are growing up and becoming such a spitting image of your Daddy.  Whether it's dressing "handsome" just like him or laboring over a decision making sure you make the right one, I can see so much of your Daddy in you.  And just like your Daddy, I know the Lord has dentin you for greatness.  Just a few months ago the Lord confirmed this in my heart when you asking me "how can you believe in the Holy Spirit if we can't see it?"  Right then I knew the Lord was going to reveal Himself to you in a mighty way and use you to change people's lives.  You amaze us with the creation you make with your hands your ability to build anything.  I love your silliness, I love your smile, and I love your gentle spirit.  I love that you wear your emotions on your sleeve, I love your passion for even the littlest things in life and I love experiencing this world through your shinning eyes.

My dearest Cameron, my little mini-me, my amazing 6 year old daughter, how do I even to describe you in just a few short sentences? I'll start by saying you absolutely love every single day of life and live life to the fullest.  We rarely hear a negative word from your mouth and can count on you to show us the bright side of every down situation.  Your Daddy is your knight in shinning armor, your Mommy is your rock and your brother is your best friend. You have your own style, your own mind and your own ideas of how the world works.  You seem completely un-phased by the social expectation around you and hold steadfast to your own beliefs.  Those of us in your small but carefully selected circle of friends get the joy of hearing your reason and logic when making sense of your reality.  And while your bother prides himself with knowing all the rules, you pride yourself with all the grey areas around the rules and mastering the art of compromise. With a dinosaur in one hand and a microscope in the other, you are ready to conquer the scientific world.  You are so smart and so articulate with your emotions, sometimes I forget you are only six years old.  And your determination and rare gift to observe and learn from your own and other's mistakes will carry you far on whatever path you choose.  But please know that it's OK to make mistakes along the way and be wrong some of the time.  It's all part of growing up.  I pray you increase your humility to balance out your confidence.  And I pray that your love of singing grows more and more over the years, that the Lord will use that gift to bring Him glory.  I pray you continue to be your own person and go down that road less traveled.  And I pray you always run up to me and say "Mommy, I just need some snuggle time with you."  I could go on and on about your helpfulness, your lovely southern accent, learning Chinese or your obsession to run like a cheetah, but unfortunately, there isn't enough time or space.  You are beautiful just the way you are Cameron, inside and out, so please change and don't grow up too fast...stay my little punpkin for as long as you can.

Hawaii--Days 7 & 8

Sunday morning we woke up and had a little church in our room. We like to visit churches when we're on vacation but having no car made it a little difficult here.  So Young loaded up a children's Bible story on his ipad and built a Bible study around it for the family.

After church we packed our lunch and headed to the beach!  Jennie rented a paddle board for an hour but got a little tired after about 45min and gave us the rest of the 15mins to enjoy.  It was just enough time for me to realize I'm so out of shape!  But Young and the kids loved it and could have played on it all day!

We headed over to the pool in time for the lunch pool party going on with Micky.  We also got life jackets for the kids this day so they could go into the deep end and really enjoy splashing around for pool party. In hindsight, we should have done life jackets days earlier...even though the kids can swim, there was always that threat of them going too deep that kept me on my toes each day and kept them clinging to me in deep water.  They loved the freedom the life jackets gave them and ended up keeping them on all day.

It was Young's first day off to enjoy the pools and the kids wanted to share it all with him.  They dragged him from pool to pool, in the lazy river, in all three hot tubs, down the water slides and in and out of the beach several times.  I'm not sure how relaxing Young's "relax day" was, but the kids LOVED having him around all day.

I was trying to follow them all around to take pictures but lost them on the lazy river at some point.  I just sat down thinking they would pass by sooner or later...and it was hot!  I put a towel over my head for a little shade and that's when Goofy spotted me.  I guess I was looking so goofy, he decided to stop mid photo session and come over to mimic me.  He called the Disney photographers over and had them snap a few photos of the two Goofy ones by the pool!

We finally got the famous Hawaiian shaved ice!  We missed it when we took our North Shore tour because of the rain but the Aulani has their own shaved ice booth.  Cameron had been seeing everyone eat it all week long and had been asking and asking.

We signed the kids up for a special program at the Beach Club that night, a surfing party with dinner, dancing and crafts so Young and I got to have a nice sunset dinner together.  We enjoyed the sunset together and then headed out for a romantic dinner...have I mentioned how much I love the Aulani hotel??

The next day was our last day, Daddy was back working, and it was the kids chance to do what ever they wanted one last time. Cameron chose the snorkeling and Timo chose going back to the Beach House to play video games.  The Aulani has their own snorkeling reef which is great for beginners.  It's small, no under current, no waves and you can walk in, swim out as far as you want but still be close to the steps. Both Timo and Cameron had wanted to snorkel but when we took a little tour and watch a few people go in, Timo changed his mind and decided to stay on shore...which is why I let him go play video games while Cameron and I went out.  It was easier to keep up with one child at a time.  I had bought an underwater camera in anticipation we would snorkel so we were ready.  Cameron loved it!  She was such a trooper, learning how to put her face in the water and breath and we saw some beautiful fish. We took some great pictures with our water camera, only to lose it, bummer. But we had fun and look forward to do it again some day soon!

Young and Jennie decided to rent a cabana on their last day so they could sit outside to work and enjoy the beautiful weather.  After snorkeling, I picked Timo up from the Beach House and met Daddy for lunch. Some little perks came along with the cabana...drinks, fruit, snacks and lunch!  Timo and Cameron got exposed to some yummy new fruits on our trip!

We hit the pools again, one last time.  The hotel has a huge splash area for kids with smaller water slides and it's amazing.  The kids played there the first day but didn't really go over again until the last day.  It's like they rediscovered it and stayed there most of the day.

Since it was our last day/night, we didn't make any plans, we just let the kids play and swim as long as they wanted...the pools were open till 9pm!

Young took the evening off work and  we had dinner in our cabana before we had to vacate it and hit the big water slides and hot tubs for some night time swimming.

It's not often that the kids ASK to go to bed but it happened this night.  They were worn out!  I hope they enjoyed Hawaii as much as we enjoyed sharing it with them.

The next morning we woke and got busy packing to make our flight...leaving was very hard for Cameron, and Timo was constantly asking when we could move to Hawaii.   Looks like my kids have been bitten by the Hawaiian bug too!