gobble gobble wobble wobble

We were heading home from preschool and saw a bunch of wild turkeys. I decided to make a U-turn so Nathan can take a closer look. Glad I had a decent camera phone but should probably keep a real camera around even on errands like picking up from school from now on. Glad that wild life is still so accessible after we moved away from the zoo.


The fact that this one got off the sidewalk gave me an excuse to slow down enough to take this photo.

Being Green with Orange Stuff

In an effort to reduce our carbon footprint - I tried to use up the pumpkins that both kids brought home instead of chucking them into the garbage --> landfill like I did in previous years. Incidentally, both kids' schools provided recipes in their newsletters so I adapted those to make these:


Omitting at least one cup of sugar from each recipe still gave the muffins and bread just the right amount of sweetness as the farm gave us sugar-pie pumpkins (a sweeter variety). I also added some ground flax and walnuts to the pumpkin bread to up the nutrition and the kids loved both creations. Don't forget to toast the seeds to make pumpkins seeds for a nutritious snack !

Pumpkin patch albums

Both kids went to the same pumpkin patch but with different schools on different days with a different parent. Being an actual preschool and not a daycare, Nathan's preschool requires parent participation on field trips. Basically a child doesn't get to attend a field trip if the parent can't come because they simply don't have enough teachers to watch the very young 3 yr-olds. So you can see Nathan's album has a lot more posed photos as Daddy only needed to watch one child; while Mommy, as a volunteer, was chaperoning a bunch of very active kids and took mostly candids.

靚菜

When I got this beautiful head of Radicchio di Treviso from our biweekly farm box - I couldn't resist taking a picture. Most folks will grill this to mellow its slightly bitter flavor but I'm one of the weird ones who'll eat 苦瓜 raw (pickled with garlic/lemon/soy/sesame), so I actually enjoyed this with a simple vinaigrette - I was very surprised that our kids actually happily gobbled these as-is also and even asked for seconds !

By the way, if you're interested in trying out having just-picked 100% organic local fruits and veggies delivered to your door, let me know and I'll email you a coupon. By referring you - they'll give me a free box that I'll share with you if you live locally.

Little Picasso

Katrina came into my office with this picture and asked me what I thought it was (the original version didn't have eyes and was presented to me horizontally - I was deep in thought trying to solve a work problem and was about to tell her good job on a really nice colorful set of triangles). She then drew on the eyes but didn't really wait for me to speak before telling me her answer - take a guess before clicking the button to see what she said:

A walking dinosaur holding a flower

Muir Woods

We visited a while back at the end of summer but never got around to posting pictures. This was one of the few National Parks that our 3 yr old could hike on his own.

Before our visit, we downloaded the Quest for Katrina to read (I had her highlight words she didn't know and surprisingly, only a few words were highlighted.) It was a fun guide that helped us see and learn much more than if we were just idly strolling around as we do on most hikes.

Mommy helper

It all started when I replied to a mom's email asking if anyone can help her out as her meeting in San Jose got moved to the day she's scheduled help at Katrina's Kindergarten class.

For some reason I really wanted to help this mom even though I've already signed up for Prep (which doesn't require physical presence in the classroom, just cutting/pasting etc. at home - thankfully Jonathan helped with most of last week's matting project) Maybe 'cause our situations are so similar that we both have long commutes and can't always teleconference but still want to be involved with our kids.

Turned out I became the very first official parent volunteer for the class so Katrina was pleasantly surprised to have mom there. I didn't know what to expect but the teachers made sure I got to spend time with Katrina by switching kids around and also assigned me a more interesting task of taking small groups of kids out for a "Fall walk". We walked around campus and talked about what we see/hear/touch/smell/taste (didn't do taste) in the fall. We stomped on some leaves to make some crunchy sounds and clipped some brown ones on our clipboards.

I was a little worried the boys would run off or become uncontrollable but everyone was eager to talk and write on their clipboards and behaved very well !

Monterey Bay Trip Day 3 - Carmel

It's probably not a typical Carmel Valley attraction that usually comes to mind, but the Farm Stand on Earthbound's R&D farm turned out to be a fun morning excursion.

We were then going to check out some of the art galleries at the village but came across the Concours on the Avenue event and decided to check out hot rods instead. The Bavarian Swiss stone cottages and window flower boxes made a perfect backdrop for these classic post-war machines. There were lots of interesting muscle cars but my arm muscles couldn't hold a 33 lb kid and take pictures at the same time for too long, so hope you like the few I did capture with one hand.

The beach was just a few blocks down the street and was a great place for a picnic and some fun with clean sand. We also encountered a nice surprise along the shore - check the album to see what it was:
View album

Monterey Bay Trip Day 2 - Monterey and Pacific Grove

Although it was a Monday, there were long lines waiting outside the Monterey Bay Aquarium - so we were glad to have purchased advanced tickets and proceeded to a special entrance with virtually no wait.

Even though the kids spent a lot of time at the touch tanks at Seymour the previous day, the touch pools were still our first stop here. Our enthusiasm was a bit dampened, however, after an employee yelled at Katrina for picking up a starfish, threw the starfish back in, and proceeded to ignore her when she asked to see a crab she couldn't reach from her side. Did she think Katrina wasn't old enough to understand instructions or was she discriminating against us ? We decided not to bother and moved on to other activities.

The MBA was so vast and impressive on so many levels that it's definitely worth visiting. The downside was so many visitors come from all over the world that often scheduled events like feeding times were stacked up with multiple layers of viewers. The Outer Bay's 54' x 17' x 13" window, though huge, can't even seem to accomodate everyone in a single layer at all times. At other popular exhibits like the Jellies and Seahorses, we had to inch along very slowly while viewers in front admire and photograph. Maybe going in the summer wasn't such a great idea but it was nice to stroll its outdoor area in this weather.

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Monterey Bay Trip Day 1 - Santa Cruz

Even though we were going to visit the MBA on the following day, we decided to also visit the Seymour Marine Discovery Center on the first day of our 3-day trip. I'm so glad we came as it was much less crowded than the MBA, had very friendly staff, and dare I say more educational and fun. It's also a bargain with free parking and the admission for all 4 of us was less than one AAA-discounted child MBA admission. In fact, you don't even need to pay for access to the outdoors area (largest displayed Blue Whale skeleton on earth, life-size elephant seal sculptures, native coastal plants, and a spectacular view on the bluff). The MBA of course is grand and awesome in its own way too but it's another post.

The kids spent a lot of time at the touch tanks (they went twice, before and after the tour) and the staff members were so helpful and chatted excitedly with us about new discoveries they made. You can tell they genuinely love their work as afterall, this is a research facility.

I'm also glad we canceled our stop at the Cirque Magnifique show that was scheduled after our brunch at the Farmers' Market and opted to spend more time at Seymour and got to the hotel earlier to swim before it got cold and dark.

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2009 LEGO Show

We didn't know what to expect but had a lot of fun at the show watching trains go around a very impressive 875 sq foot city/farmland/grand prix race scene/caynon/oceanscape built entirely out of LEGOs. The kids had fun building from the bricks in the play area too. 目不遐給 is how I would describe it.

The Dinosaur Fair

We found out about the Sonoma County Fair and its dinosaur theme quite late and decided at the last minute to take the kids there. The largest themed flower show in the U.S. was indeed quite impressive and it was a fun day. Our normally decent diet took a back seat and we all partook in greasy curly fries and chicken strips (although the fries were fresh-cut...) The adults tried something for the first time - funnel cake - also very greasy, but so good !

I showed Katrina the album below and she decided to blog about some of her favorite experiences. Now that she's graduated from one-liner blogs, check out what else she has to say about our day at the fair :)


View album

The Berkeley Kite Festival

We went to the Berkeley Kite Festival a few weeks ago and I did Rokkaku battling for the first time (totally on a whim). 4th street was nearby so we headed over for lunch and chanced upon The Pasta Shop’s annual Hog Heaven event where we got to sample all kinds of salami, nduja, prosciutto, chicharrones, mortadella, ham, housemade sausages etc.
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Comic moments

Like Katrina, Nathan cracks us up often with his random comments, but unlike his sister who actually does have a sense of humor, his are often unintentional...

Like most moms, I always scout out restrooms upon arriving at a new location. All of a sudden, Nathan yells "NO pee !", turns out he saw this sign:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That same night, we were warmly greeted after sitting down:
"Hi, my name is Bob and I'll be your server for the evening"
While busy coloring, Nathan mutters to himself without looking up, "佢話佢個名係SpongeBob 呀" [He said his name is SpongeBob]....

Bird sightings

Besides frequent visits from squirrels, bunnies, deer, and other critters, we recently had some interesting bird sightings that entertained the kids during breakfast time.

One morning, a whole bunch of these showed up in our yard:They then lined up neatly one by one on the ledge:
Lately, we also have lots of hummingbirds drinking from our tree:

I guess although we don't get to see stray peacocks and such like we did when we lived by the Zoo, we're still somewhat "in the wild" here...

My other son

While still dealing with the impending closure of a chapter in my life in another area (will end my relationship with my current company in a few weeks - but that's another post), I just got word that my 16-year relationship with my 'son' is coming to an end.

It's not bad news really - "The World Vision office in Ethiopia notified us that a relative of Mesfin Matewos is now able to assume responsibility for him. This family member will be taking care of Mesfin and providing for his everyday needs. Mesfin will no longer be a participant in the sponsorship program." In fact, it's quite good news for Mesfin - but indeed it's been a very long relatonship and it'll take a while to get used to.

I guess every sponsorship has to come to an end eventually, and even our own children will move away one day.... The bright side is we'll get to help another child. My first child before Mesfin was Monicah in Kenya - I'm leaning towards a girl in the Southern region this time - maybe we'll even let the kids choose their 'sister' this time !

When I met Mesfin for the first time, he seemed a bit sad and scared. He wasn't able to attend school because they were struggling to make ends meet.
After a couple of years, he's grown a very cute head of hair and was getting his basic needs met and had started school and other activities.Many many years later, he had grown into a confident and strong young man !

Cute Street Name

Pretend play

You know your 3 yr-old is ready for preschool when his most exciting weekly entertainment is the gardening team who comes by to service our neighborhood. He's obsessed with mimicking the many 剪草師傅 (gardeners) whenever he gets a chance....

Made a backpack leaf blower out of balloon art from a clown :

But then he thought the balloon 唔夠似 (doesn't totally resemble the blower) because it's not "open", so off came the grip of his putter which has a hollow shaft and makes a much more believable blower:

Well, there's always one guy on the gardening team who trims the edges of the lawn, so his golf iron takes the role of an edger:

He'd make the leaf blowing sound and pretend he's gardening with whatever is around - even when he's in his PJs and ready for bed:

Jazz, Art, Clay, Glass, Taiko

It's quite a lot to cram all into one day, but they were all in the vicinity and all free, so we went for it all :)

First, we arrived Stanford for a Jazz concert for kids. We got to see and hear the soprano, baritone, and bass saxophones which are much less common than their tenor and alto counterparts (although EVERYTHING is new to the kids). I chose this activity to show them different instruments and hoped they could tell me if they've a preference in woodwinds or strings but it seems it'll take more exposure before they'll know. All the musicians gave short intros to their instruments along with cool tricks and fun sounds. The incredibly talented violinist demo'd Pizzicato and col legno - big words that the kids may not remember, but many impressively sat through most of the concert attentively.

Our next stop is the Cantor Arts Center - although admission is always free and we could've gone on another day, we needed to eat anyway and we're already on campus so why not. After noshing on delicious organic/free-range/grass-fed soup, salad and sandwich in the café overlooking a perfectly manicured lawn and the Rodin Sculpture garden, we headed into the museum. While most automatically assume kids won't like art museums, I wanted to give them a chance to prove their sophisticated tastes. Afterall, they love gourmet 'adult' food in restaurants and often get compliments from other diners about their etiquette. But of course they're still kids and there's some running around and noise but they did enjoy it quite a bit.

Next we headed to the Clay and Glass Festival a few minutes away. Although we missed the Ikebana demo, we got to see pottery wheel throwing and tried making ceramic pieces. There were hundreds of artists but Nathan was getting too heavy to carry around so we only made a quick round before heading back to the car.

The last stop is San Jose J-town to check out the Obon festival. Before the Taiko performance, we briefly checked out a Japanese garden and was later very pleasantly surprised to have spotted a back alley that led to an art studio featuring live glass blowing. It was perfect as we were just commenting on the absence of a glass demo at the previous event in Palo Alto.

All in all, it was a great day of music, art, and culture. Enjoy the album:

View album

Deductive reasoning....

Katrina: What does double mean ?
Mommy: It means multiply by 2 (adding 4 small objects to the 4 in front of her)
Katrina: (remembering what three in Spanish sounds like) Oh, so if you multiply by 3, you would call it trouble?
Mommy: ha ha, it's triple, silly ....

狼來了Nathan版 [The Boy Who Cried Wolf - alternate ending]

Both kids have heard the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" a few times from grandparents and other sources. Yesterday, when Nathan heard the story again, he decided to give it an alternate ending:

咁狼話唔好味𦧲翻出嚟, 咁咪得囉? [If the boy tasted bad, then the wolf will spit him out and it'll be ok, right ?]

Twins

This photo was snapped very casually, no posing or pre-planning whatsoever - notice how both boys had the same gait, lip-smacking expressions, and were attracted to the same thing in the same direction ?

Kindergarten schedule

It's official - Katrina is assigned to AM kindergarten. Even though it's 2 months away, I'm already worried about switching our night owl schedules. Even though we got what we asked for (we did sign up for AM), I did at times secretly hope she'd get assigned to PM (due to high AM demand) and we'd be "forced" to do the strange PM schedule. PM'ers need to finish lunch by ~11:20am and still need to follow the AM schedule every Wed - so it really isn't a great option, but at least we'd be on time.....

On a typical day, all 4 members of our household are usually still sleeping at 8:10am (which is when school will start). I'm not sure if it's easier to move our terribly late schedule up 5-10 minutes at a time or to go cold turkey. I'm inclined to enforce an mock daylight saving time change by adjusting all the clocks up an hour - think that'd work ?

Katrina's Blog

One day Katrina ran out of things to play with so I drew a box with some lines below and asked her to draw a picture and describe it with words. She attempted drawing and writing but she rambled on about unrelated topics - so I thought she could use some practice with focused narration. Remembering how she loved holding up books and pretending to storytell to an imaginary audience, I thought she might enjoy starting her own blog and talk about little anecdotes in her life.

I showed her some choices for her blog layout and she actually was very specific about the exact colors and patterns she wanted. She does author 99% of it (I don't have the patience to wait for her to type so she dictates and I type). I do provide suggestions for topics and also help with diction - like correcting 'graduationing' or suggesting replacing '2 covers on top and bottom' with the word envelope. She seems to catch on fairly quickly so maybe one day soon she'll be blogging all on her own ?

www.katrinawlee.blogspot.com

Wind, Produce, and Livestock Farms

Although we didn't actually "enter" a wind farm - this was the closest we've been to these familiar wind turbines as some were just yards from the road. The kids were of course fascinated and loved having windmills adorn the long road to our true destination - a fruit-picking expedition.

Although most cherries were all picked by this time of the year (some farms are already closed unti 2010), a couple of farms off the beaten path were still open with treefuls of these yummy fruits. Pease Ranch also has shaded picnic tables and low branches for kids. Folks were SO NICE too, a worker saw petite me carrying a heavyset 3 yr old and offered to take us all (4 adults, 5 kids + a stroller) back to the entrance on his cart. It really helped as Nathan was exhausted and carrying him all the way back would have been a bit much.

After getting some stonefruits from a neighboring farm, we headed to an Alpaca farm to meet the most ADORABLE animals. The owners were also very nice and brought out treats for us to feed these endearing llama-look-alikes. Their coats were amazingly soft. The owners knew each of their 52 huggable cuties by name ! Katrina kept asking about one of them who had a very pretty name: Moonbeam.

On our way back, we stopped by some more farm stands to grab some strawberries and super sweet corn. Nothing like fresh-picked produce for dinner !

Sand Castles and Sand Sculptures

It was Crown Memorial's 43rd annual contest but the first for us. It was fun to people watch and admire everyone's "sandiwork" (did I just make up a new word ?) The kids had lots of fun of course - check out the art work.

採花賊

To my dismay, our 24 newly planted snapdragons were ALL EATEN within a couple days (do they know how hard it's to plant something with a 3 yr old who'd do the darndest thing ?) At first the nanny thought snails were to blame, but Jonathan figured they can't possibly eat that fast. Sure enough, a mouse was caught the morning after he placed a trap nearby. No relief though - we then discovered blooms were gone from most of the new jasmine plant too. Later that day, we discovered another dead mouse a few yards away. This time the cause of death was unknown as we didn't set up another trap. Did it eat too much too fast ? Or was it allergic to the fragrant jasmine oils ? Who knows - it's all very unsettling - as pesky and these critters were, it's not the nicest thing to have to end their lives. The only comforting thing that came out of all this is the kids seemed to sense how bummed I was and were very empathetic and kept comforting me. Katrina even made me flowers to "replace the ones outside" - how can these not cheer me up !

Class of 2009

For 15 minutes, an auditorium full of family and friends waited patiently for the processional of their beloved graduates. Jonathan joked that it felt like a wedding ceremony. Maybe it was the grandeur of the music - emotions welled up when Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March came on and the adorable kids started pouring in. Don't laugh, but I gained a tiny understanding of what my parents must have felt when they attended my graduation ceremonies.

Katrina was actually one of the "original 12" students that started with this new school last May so they are the very first graduating class of the school that now has has over 100 students. Thinking back on how she had a tough time adjusting in the beginning, she has indeed come a long way in her emotional, spiritual, mental, social, and physical development - so yes, I'm indeed very proud of her !

We were also all very impressed when she immediately hung her treasured medal around her brother's neck as soon as she came off the stage - it's awesome watching a preschooler share.

Anniversary Dinner

We rarely get to go out, so a special occasion is a great excuse go all out to a two Michelin star restaurant in the city. Aqua was a logical choice 'cause we both love seafood. Two glasses of complimentary champagne and well wishes were brought soon after we were seated. It was fun to try some exotic fish - Hawaiian Walu (a bit too tender and buttery) and John Dory (delicious and not to be confused with Nemo's friend, the regal tang). Food was wonderful, presentation beautiful, and service impeccable - a very nice night out indeed.

∞ years

This bronze symbol we designed for our wedding invitation seems perfect to commemorate today. Not only does turning the number 8 久十° = ∞, turns out bronze is also traditionally associated with 8th anniversaries !

Yellow Ladybugs

Whereas Katrina gets to hang out with bunnies, crickets, tadpoles, butterflies, and praying mantises at school, the extent of Nathan's daily interaction with nature is to water plants and pick flowers from the backyard. Imagine his awe when I caught him his own "can" of 4 yellow lady bugs that he can pick up and look at all day long.

Walking in my heart

Katrina is pretty quick at making a comeback sometimes: One night during her bedtime routine, she exclaimed: "Jesus is in my heart !", pointing happily to the right side of her chest. Daddy gently pointed out that hearts are on the left side. Immediately she went, "well that's 'cause Jesus walks back and forth from here to here inside of me ! (moving her hand back and forth from one side to another). As usual, she thought it was hilarious and couldn't stop laughing at her own wittiness :)

Happy Birthday Nathan

We ran out of steam and didn't throw a big party for Nathan this year. On his special day, I took lots of breaks from work to play with him, served him his favorite foods and basically he was given carte blanche to do anything he wanted the whole day. The happy camper seemed to really enjoy his cake and homemade strawberry/apple/grape popsicle too :)

Bird and Butterfly Festival

Amongst all the Earth Day (month) activities, we decided on this event. Afterall, our neighborhood is named after a famous butterfly. We thought it'd be good for Nathan who's not yet in preschool to get some exposure to life sciences. Even though it's called Bird and Butterfly festival, it really was mostly about butterflies. The kids got to do a ton of crafts and also held butterflies (The docent applied a sugar solution to each kids hands and laid butterflies on their palms). Nathan still remembers the experience after a couple of weeks which makes it all worthwhile. Many Kudos to daddy whose allergies got a lot worse this year. He was a great sport and endured the pollen gracefully despite all the discomfort and sneezing.

Bird & Butterfly Festival

Cal Day

Cal Day was a lot of fun. Everything was free: cable car rides, admission to all museums, and all sort of activities. Although we didn't get to see the exhibits that were only open to the public once a year, the T-rex centerpiece alone was worth the trek to the Valley Life Sciences Building. It was nice to take the cable car around the campus and the shuttle to the Lawrence Hall of Science considering we just had earth day (the kids love taking public transportation anyway). Check out how much fun it was:

CalDay

咁我同邊個結婚好呀

Katrina's been noticing that her friends' parents are always together and are "married". Being the curious girl she is, she asked about married people and marriage. I told her when she grows up, she oughta find someone whom she loves very much and who's very nice to her because it's 'forever' and she'd have to be with him till she dies (yes, we've had the death talk a while back)

A little after our talk, she was a little worried and asked, "咁我同邊個結婚好呀 ?" [so who should I marry ?"]I told her it's something that she needn't worry about at this age, it won't be until after she's gone through lots of school

Daddy overheard our conversation and suggested, "咁最好同日日畀山渣餅你食嘅結婚人嘞" [you should marry someone who would give you your favorite Chinese snack everyday !] (then he winked and whispered to hint that he's sowing seeds in her heart to marry someone with at least some Chinese affiliation. After thinking for a sec, Katrina said to Daddy, "咁我咪應該同你結婚囉 ?" [Then I should marry you !] Daddy smiled and said "咁又唔得,因為已經我同mommy 結咗婚喇嘛." ["Oh, can't do that because I'm already married to mommy"]. As always, K likes to laugh at her own jokes and giggled non-stop for a while...

Colorful Neighborhood

Since some of the homes in our neighborhood are voted as "must see" in the Lights of the valley page, we took the gang to check out some very elaborately decorated homes complete with synchronized light displays to music playing to your FM receiver.

Colorful Neighborhood