A few random photos

Sometimes events happen and then we lose track of time...
It seems only yesterday that this workshop started...

 and now look how far it has come!  Jim and Clare have been working so hard!

And the children keep themselves busy while Jim and Clare are working...

With a little help from MD -- I mowed the lawn!

She has become quite the expert tree climber recently...

And swim lessons continue... the next session just started and everyone has been promoted - including this fella who has since stopped crying!

M&M are in there.. somewhere!  Sorry it's not a very good photo but it's hard to keep an eye on all 3!

We are busy... really busy these days!  Family portraits are turning out to be a blast!  The children spend the day outdoors while Daddy takes pictures of their friends and their families.  I am getting better at using MG's scooter now.  (haha!)  We've all learned the rules to Simon Says, Mother May I, Red Light Green Light, and a few other outdoor games.  Honestly, it's hard to play these games with only 4 participants, but we do our best!  Before they would play these games for the sake of playing and rules were disregarded - merely a basis for a sibling gathering/argument (however they saw fit!).  But now we are playing by the "rules" and learning not to cry when we are told to go back to the start!  Slowly...

More events are taking place -- Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Something fishy going on here....

well, maybe some little ones at Half Moon Bay.
Vince decided to take us all fishing today -- yippee!  (insert sarcastic smile right about here :))
Here they are getting started:

 Everyone is excited!  Vince bought them each their very own fishing poles!

  or light saber... it's very versatile!

 The pier:

 Casting the first pole:

 The bait... fresh squid!

 Big sis helping out:

 

 One of our fishing neighbors gave us his fish...

 So the boys had some fun with them!

 Look mom!

MG is determined to get her very own fish - forget the neighbors' donations!

 The boys were content to play with the donated fish!

 Then he finally caught his very own -- great job MD!!!!

 Here it is... need a magnifying glass????

 Again, boys didn't care... they played with them anyway!

 And she's still determined to get her own...

When he became bored with the fish, he started to play with the bait!

 And MG's determination may be paying off...

 There you have it, baby girl finally got one!!!!!!

 Yahoo!!!!!!!!!

 In the bucket...

 Out of the bucket????

 It was time to go home so we had to decide what we were going to do...

 That one fish knew it wanted to go back into the water...

 MD voted for the fish to go home.

 MG wanted them to return to the water.

 Boys won the vote... the fish came home with us.

We were too tired to cook this evening, so we went out for Vietnamese food in San Mateo.  The fish are in the frig... waiting for Vince to fry them up... all 7 of them (hee hee, I know, what a feast that's going to be!).  They had so much fun today.  Well worth it.  It was hot in San Jose, so driving to HMB was worth it.  It's going to be 93 tomorrow... wow, a few more days of heat!

The weekend in review

Vince's birthday sort of lasted all weekend!
Saturday we met his family at Palace BBQ Buffet in Sunnyvale.  If you like meat (A LOT of it) and cooking it on your own, this place is for you!

Vince and his brother had to sit at a separate table.  His sister and family were running late.  They will sit with them upon arrival.  They started...  They had a great time cooking their meal.

YUM!!!

Us, on the other hand... not so much!  My MIL (mother-in-law) and her family members cooked some meat.  MIL's mom (in white hat) didn't eat much.  Neither did her friends, sitting next to her.  They took a few bites, then ended up cooking meat for the sake of cooking meat... which MIL and I ended up finishing!  I was pretty proud of MIL and I -- we sure know how to eat!  :)

The children... well, they ate here and there, but they mostly had jello and watermelon!  Meat buffets are not their thing!  They prefer Fresh Choice -- mac and cheese all the way, baby!  But it was Daddy's birthday so we let him decide.  MG had fun using chopsticks!

Surprisingly, MD did not eat much.  What you see in front of him was barely touched in the end....

This little one ate a little bit of everything and then wanted to walk around.

It was a fun afternoon.  We then went to MIL's house and sat around chatting until later in the evening (I was full arounf dinner time so I skipped dinner... until 11PM when I was hungry again!).  The children went to the park and played with their cousins... who bought them ice cream from an ice cream truck!  I have NEVER purchased ice cream for them from an ice cream truck before -- so it was a wonderful treat for them.  My reason?  Why, when you can buy ten times the amount for the same price at Costco!  My friends, how can the experience be any different?  Just come home and have the darn ice cream in the comforts of your own home!  Oh well, I'm just cheap!  I gave them each $1 for the ice cream... but honestly, I wasn't sure if that was enough!  Thanks for taking care of them Tracy, Liberty, and Christine.  They had so much fun today.

Sunday rolled around... and they were jumping around again at Pump it Up in Sunnyvale in honour of Josh's 5th birthday.  

A whole lot of bouncing and jumping going on here!!!!

MD wanted to do this... but he needed someone to go with him.  MG could not be convinced.  E was too little to even think about doing it...

Guess who won?!  I overlooked my fear of heights and up I went!

Which then prompted Olivia to ask Melinda to go with her!  They both did very well!

Cake time!

Our friends from Allen:

The Mahs:

The Edgintons:

The Robertsons:

MG, Sarah, and Olivia -- I hope they will remain friends for many years to come!

Theodore and E -- whoops -- eyes closed!

The Quach3 and Asadas -- with a very jumpy Josh!  Happy 5th Birthday Josh!!!!  We had so much fun today!

Then we headed to Jim and Clare's to celebrate Vince's birthday (again!).

Auntie Clare let MG mash the potatoes (her favorite - I hope she didn't drool too much while mashing them ;) !!!):

She gave it her all!

Uncle Jim kept the boys busy using the toys from Josh's bday party bag:

Vince poured the champagne:

We cheered:

Dinner was served!  A delicious meal prepared by Clare -- pork chops on the grill, grilled bell peppers, steamed broccoli, green salad, and mashed potatoes.

Then MG brought out daddy's cake:

Uncle Jim presented Daddy with a gift that was given to him from his neighbor, Pat, who lives across the street.  This pick ax and shovel combo was once her husband's when he was in the military.  Bob passed away earlier in the year.  He was a good man.

Everyone waiting for Daddy to "cut the cake!"  (Courtesy of my mom, we now have a cut the cake song!  I will get the children to sing it one day!)

And that was our weekend... how was yours?!!!  Are you ready for Monday?!  I am!  Tomorrow I walk with Melinda.  We are starting up our walking routine again.  Tuesday, the boys start preschool and prekindergarten!  Let's see what the week has in store for us...

Oh, and a backyard update -- Jim has been working VERY hard!  This weekend there was a LOT of digging!

Guess what this is going to be?  Well... I'll give you a hint... if Jim leaves it there much longer, MG and E are going to get very creative with John's vehicles!  Know what I mean?!

And we have been enjoying these yummy treats!  Do you know what they are?  Asian Pears! Juicy and sweeeet!