Summer 2010

We have had a great summer! Ethan will already be starting school next week so its good we did as much as we did:

In early June, we went to Disneyland. This time we stayed at the Paradise Pier Hotel which is a Disney hotel on the Disneyland property. The hotel was a short walk to Disneyland and was decorated with the Disney theme throughout. Kids loved it!

We also had a neighborhood block party which I helped organize for the six homes on our little block. We had a great time and plan to do it each year! Each family brought some food and we all invited a few friends. John even bbq'd some oysters which were a treat!

We also landscaped our backyard and I will post before and after pictures later...

Ethan lost his first two teeth, I will post the before and after pictures later... He lost one of his teeth but had one which he was able to put under his pillow for the tooth fairy. The tooth fairy came that night, took the tooth and left Ethan $4 bucks!! Ethan was so excited!!!

We went to Legoland with Jaekob and Erisijah (John's neice and newphew visiting from Virginia) in July. We drove to Carlbad on Friday and hung out at the beach and pool on Friday evening. Saturday, we hung out at Legoland all day long! And on Sunday, we drove back to home..it was a long drive but worth it.

Another really fun thing we did this summer was take the kids to see the Wiggles. They are an Australian band who dance and sing to toddlers and preschoolers. The kids have been watching them on tv since they were babies so they were insisted that when they came to our area for a concert, we would have to go! So we did...and got middle section of the 5th row which made it so much more fun. The kids danced and sang and were so excited to be there. John and I even enjoyed the good 'ole fashion dancin and singin, which was a nice surprise!

A few more videos of the kids

Ethan had his kindergarten performance on May 28th, where he sang with all the kindergarten classes. It was very cute! This year flew by - I cannot believe he is going into first grade already! Wow....



Zoe got pizza while we were waiting for her brother to start his performance. Guess she liked the pizza because I caught her doing her happy dance:



Right now, Zoe loves Mulan (a Disney Princess). She would watch the movie every day if she could. One of her favorite songs is Reflections. She sings it all the time and I was able to capture a few lines here:


Another song Zoe likes to sing. Proud to be an American:

Ethan's morning message

In Ethan's kindergarten class, Miss Lim, his wonderful teacher, usually reads a morning message to the class, sometimes giving them a sneak preview of the day or week or reminding them to do more listening than talking etc. Since the school year is almost over, Miss Lim has just started to let the kids create their own morning message which the students will prepare the night before and read to the class the next morning. Ethan was the first kid to be selected and here is his morning message. On Monday mornings I volunteer in his class so luckily, I was able to videotape him in action.

First Tball game, swim class, and ballet

The kids have kept us busy lately. Ethan started tball a few weeks ago. He is on the Giants and is #2. Ethan had his first tball game a couple of weeks ago - it was super cute and all the kids had a great time. He has practices two times a week - Wed and Sat mornings (before games). And he practices with Daddy too. Its been keeping us busy!

Check out Ethan during his first game:


Ethan also takes drawing classes after school and swimming classes. Zoe is back in ballet and has also started swimming. Both of them are starting to swim on their own. Zoe is fearless in the water and really loves it. Ethan was a little more cautious but is getting used to it and can now swim a little bit on his own. Its exciting and they are so proud!

Zoe took ballet before but this time, she is really into it. Last time, she would get bored half way thru the class and want to go home. This time, she is volunteering to help the teacher and show the other kids how to do certain moves. She even practices at home! Here are some pictures of Zoe at ballet class.

Princesses on Ice

We took Zoe to see Disney Pricesses on Ice. She loved it! And I did too! I think Ethan liked the cotton candy and snow cones more!

Star Wars in Concert

We saw Star Wars in concert with some friends of ours. We really had a nice time, the orchestra was wonderful. I think the one who had the most fun was John and Zoe - they both love music! Zoe was pretending to be a music conductor and really got into it!

2009 Halloween

Introducing Batman and Cinderella: