Jingle Bells are ringing

Tonight, I performed a Jingle Bells dance at Christmas in the Park. There were lots and lots of people watching, but for our song, there were only two of us. Me and Ellie. I wonder what happened to the other kids in my class. Oh well. I wasn't scared or anything. Paw Paw and Gung Gung came up a couple days early, just to see me dance! I was so surprised because they didn't tell me anything and then Paw Paw rang the doorbell! I wore black pants, a holiday red top, and Mom's white scarf...oh, and my patent leather tap shoes too. You can check out my performance in the movies at the bottom of the blog. I sure hope you enjoy it!

Also, we had our Xmas party at Tristan and Logan's house. It was a lot of fun and we got some really fun presents! Thanks to Auntie Sarah and Uncle Kelvin, and Auntie Jen and Uncle Ken! Yay!





Enjoying Salt and Pepper wings! Our favorite! And yeah, we like it spicy!






Gathering in front of the Christmas Tree!

Merry Christmas to all!

Holiday Performance

UPDATE: Mommy uploaded the video. Should be running shortly. Also, will have a "rehearsal" cut playing soon as well.

We had our school's Holiday Performance today. My class performed to Feliz Navidad and Jingle Bells (this one in chinese). Too bad I was again stuck in the back, but I stilled rocked the house. Check out the pictures below of the show and us getting ready backstage.

Artwork #7

I call this ...scary fairy

The gingerbread house that Paw Paw and Brendan and I worked on. Doesn't it look nice? Now if only Mommy would let me eat it!

Festival of Lights Parade

We went to the parade tonight. It was amazing. The lights, the music, the dancers and floats. It was super fun. And did I tell you I saw Santa??? Oh yeah!







Marching band. Cool!






Look at those doggies






Cocoa and Cake!






Toy Soldiers!






Here he comes






Santa!

Birthday Party Weekend Bonanza

So we started with our neighbors big birthday bash....it was crowded and noisy with lots of food and lots of music. They even had a jumpy house, but of course, B and I were scared and didn't want to go in. Anyhow, we had a good time.





Fun with ball balloons at Monita's party






Enjoying a chocolate treat


Then, on Sunday, we went to Emily's 2nd Birthday party. The weather was so nice, it was at the park! Brendan and I had a lot of fun, especially when Uncle Peter started making balloons! Yippee





Happy Birthday Emily!

Artwork #6

Thanksgiving Bear

Artwork #5

Squirrel and Owl with Tree and acorns

Uh oh...bad tummy ache!

Yes....I got something bad. Tossing up my dinner....and you know, other stuff. Yikes. I was not a happy camper. And I'm still not because all I've had to eat today was a few saltine crackers! And I drank Gatorade. But, Mommy says that tomorrow, I can have a little more to eat. Brendan seems to be doing okay, can't tell if he has what I have, though it's pretty likely. He has a fever and he had an accident in his crib last night(poop). Mommy had to change the sheets (okay, she and Daddy changed mine too(toss up)). Otherwise, Brendan is pretty happy still. Not me, no sireeee...I am not happy about this at all.

Artwork #4

This is how it works....the teacher posts a sample drawing up on the board. Then he draws and colors on a blank sheet of paper right next to the sample. We get the idea of what he's doing and translate that to our own sheet of paper. All of our drawings are so very different. The class has helped me with my drawing A LOT!!! I can draw more things than before and I trust my own hand. Before, I'd refuse to draw simple b/c "I couldn't".

Movie Time

Mommy took me to see Madagascar2 today. I was super excited about going to the movies. We got popcorn and I brought 1 candy from my Halloween stash (which for some crazy reason, seems smaller and smaller everyday....and I only get to eat 1 a day, so something is going on). The movie was pretty funny and we had a great time. I was a little fidgety, but I lasted the whole hour and a half.

Trick or Treat - Happy Halloween

Trick or treating was really fun...but....I am sick and miserable. (sore throat and yesterday, a low fever). I'm super duper sad about this. I'm taking it really hard...I haven't been sick in a while...I think. It's awfully quiet at home...cuz I'm not talking! I know, hard to believe. I could barely say, "Trick or Treat". I did get a ton of candy, and so did Brendan. Mommy and I went thru it and took out all the bad ones. Hard candy and chewy ones are for grownups and have extra extra sugar monsters. I kept all the chocolate ones, cuz you know, chocolate is my favorite. Brendan already forgot about his candy.

We had a parade at school too. We got little toys instead of candy. It was fun seeing my friends all dressed up. Everyone had really nice costumes. I was a lion again...Roar!

Artwork #3

These are supposed to be Halloween candies. See the candy corn?

Artwork #2

Here's my second art installment. Do you like?

Big Basin

We went to Big Basin for some hiking and a picnic lunch. I took my walking stick and my spotting scope and looked around. Brendan even walked a bit, but mostly, he was in the carrier. We found lots of sticks and dirt...Hee hee!

Art Class

My classmate Ryan has been going to an art class every week. So when his Mommy showed us his artwork, we were amazed. I wanted to try the class so I could draw like that. And last friday, I did. And when Mommy saw my artwork, she was so happy! The only problem is that it's in the evening on Friday....and since my friends are in the class too....I won't change to a different time. Mommy and Daddy are just going to have to make it work.

Happy Birthday Jenna!

Happy 4th Bday Jenna! We had a blast at your ART party. What fun! And now we have some paintings for our walls!

Spicy

I like spicy foods. First, it was Gung Gung's salsa and chips. Now, Mommy's hot and spicy wontons. Wow, it's spicy but I like it. And so does Brendan. Okay, so we're not fans of the actual wontons, but give us some green onion pancake and we become major dippers. Yum!

Future in sales?

The last few months, I've been saying stuff...that Paw Paw says makes me a great salesman. I'll say, "Mommy, oh thank you thank you thank you. This is the best dinner EVER! I love it, oh thank you." or "I LOVE vegetables. I love vegetables. Thank you for making vegetables Paw Paw." or "This is my favorite. I love it. Thank you Mommy. Oh, I love it." And sometimes I'll hug too. That really seals the deal, ya know?

Calacademy of science

We got to preview the California Academy of Sciences today. It was pretty cool. My favorite part was the aquarium, but not all of the fishies were ready yet. I wasn't too much into the animal scenes...I'd rather go to the zoo....those are real, right?

OMSI and Portland Children's Museum

We had a great time in Portland! The Children's Museum, across the street from the zoo (though we went on separate days), is totally awesome. They had this great digging area that wasn't filled with sand, but with bits of rubber. And they had a supermarket with little carts. I ran circles around the produce. Mom says maybe I could be a stockboy cuz I'm really good and putting back all the food my brother picked up. Ha ha. And on Daddy's off-day, we went to the OMSI, which was really super cool. We got to ride on an earthquake simulator, and I loved pushing the 6.8 button! And we got to go in this ball room, where these little foam balls go flying everywhere, and there were hundreds of them. Even little B got to join in on the fun. And oh, the bottle rockets. Wow, super cool!

PDX

So we're here in Portland and we've been having a great time with Mommy. Daddy has work though. I really liked the zoo, but there was quite a bit of walking. I really wanted to see the elephants, and we were so lucky because there was a baby elephant. Cute. He was only 3 weeks old. My brother calls it an "etty" (that's his elephant).

Daddy!

Daddy finally came to visit us in Seattle! I was so excited to see him (I was counting down the days) I wanted to show him everything that I did. Like fishing, crabbing, clamming, mud digging, rock throwing, beach fishing, gardening, blackberry picking and more...but there wasn't enough time to do it all. I did take him fishing at the beach, and we caught a bunch of fish. Then we went kayaking, but it's hard for Dad and I to sit in the kayak together. Better with Mommy. We also went to downtown Seattle for lunch and sightseeing. The ferry ride is the best though!

virus buster

So lately, I've been hooked on playing Paw Paw's "game boy" (nintendo ds). I usually play virus buster, cuz that's the only game I see Paw Paw playing. It's super fun and sometimes I even play other games...but since I can't read I have no idea what is going on and those Brain Age games are just too hard. I play whenever Paw Paw isn't playing...or Mom is playing her Sudoku puzzles.

Fishing

So today we went to the beach to fish. Not our beach, but another beach nearby. Paw Paw and I fished and we made out pretty good. Pretty much every time I cast (okay, Paw Paw did the casting), I reeled in a fish. She barely had time to fish herself cuz she was so busy unhooking the fish from my hook. Most of the fish were pretty small(flounders and cabazons), but I caught a really good sized flounder. We're going to have it for dinner, I'll tell you how it was later.





Paw Paw unhooking my big catch






People stopping to admire the fish I caught (I was the smallest fisherman on the beach!)






One of my fish






Me and my tackle box






Brendan was there too






Showing off my fish!






another fish

Fishing

I don't know why, but I love fishing. Maybe its the boat, maybe it's being out on the water, or driving the boat. Or maybe I really like fishing (though, then again, maybe not). I think I just like being out there, on the boat. It's fun. We don't have to catch any fish, and I still like it. The whole day, I wait for fishing. And it's a bummer if it's raining or cold out. Although...I've gone in the rain and don't mind it at all. Plus, everytime I have all this stuff I have to wear, my jacket, my hat, my life vest, my boots....and I still don't mind. That's how much I like fishing.

The other day, we were down on the beach playing in the water (there was some sun and clear skies - you know it's been raining almost every day here!). I saw this fisherman across the bay and yelled, "HeLLOOOOOOOO? Did you catch any fish?" The guy said yes. Then later, he came right over to us on his boat and showed us some really big salmon. His boat was covered in green seaweed and he was wearing a special waterproof suit. When he went back to his nets to check, he held up the fishies that he caught to show us. It was pretty cool. Later, after an unsuccessful fishing trip with Gung Gung and Paw Paw, he came over to our boat and gave us a small salmon. It made for a yummy dinner.

I hope I get to go fishing today, but the skies are getting grey and dark, and the winds are blowing. Luckily, this morning, it was warm and clear and the tides were low, so we went to dig for clams. We got so many clams we could hardly carry them all. Okay, so I didn't really do any digging, but I sure did a lot of splashing! Check out our pictures from this morning. So fun. Really.

Washington

We're in WA now visiting PawPaw and Gung Gung. I've been out on the boat to get crabs with Gung Gung, digging in the mud/sand, and we even went fishing today out in the bay. We caught a small salmon, but had to put it back because it was too small. Brendan and I have been going down to the beach almost daily to dig and splash. We get totally dirty. Paw Paw does a lot of laundry with us around.

The first day we got here, it was super duper hot....but the last two days and the days ahead...rain rain and more rain. We still go out to play though. When there's a clearing, we head out...course, we still get wet. :)

I touched a dog!!!

And I wanted to touch it! Yes, that's right. Now...it wasn't exactly a big dog...okay, it was a toy poodle. But it was still a dog. And I've been going across the street to play with the nieghbor's cat. Yes, I do pet it. I'm not afraid anymore...of little animals. I'm not so sure about Maggie still, but we'll see. The poodle I pet today was super calm and hardly moved around when we were petting her.

SF Weekend!

Stands for SUPER FUN weekend! In San Francisco! Mommy took us to SF on Friday for a super fun weekend in the city. We rode Caltrain up and then we had to change to another train. I loved riding on the train...been waiting ALL week for this. We went to hear some music and to play at the Yerba Buena Children's Garden right smack in downtown. It was pretty crazy cuz there were a lot of kids, but we had a good time eating lunch and running around. And of course, Mommy took us on the Carousel!

We went to take a nap at the hotel and when we woke up, Daddy came!!! We went to eat near Ghirardelli Sqaure. We ate hamburgers (in and out) on the beach! It was super cool! And the weather was great, nice and sunny, and not a cloud or fog in sight. Afterwards, of course, we had ice cream! Perfect dinner out! (I can do the mix/match stickers that In-n-out gives out!)

The next day, we had breakfast and then headed down to the farmer's market in the ferry building. It was again, a really nice day. We couldn't stay long since we had to get dressed up for Uncle Chanson and Auntie Winnie's wedding. It was in a nice church near Mommy and Daddy's old apartment. It was a kinda long ceremony, but we kept ourselves busy with snacks. Brendan and I had a few outbursts (uh, involuntary, of course), but for the most part, we were quiet.

After the ceremony, Mommy wanted us to nap at the hotel, but we weren't very successful. At least we had some quiet time in the room. Then off to the mezzanine for drinks and snacks. The dinner was awesome. First, Brendan and I enjoyed an extra large bowl of fruit (each) ....followed by chicken fingers and fries (Mom had sea bass, Dad had steak)...and the best part? Vanilla and Chocolate ice cream...with an assortment of fun toppings, like chocolate chips, nuts, marshmallows, cherries...oh, it was so good. Brendan and I went crazy running circles on the dance floor. Mommy says it was really cute, but it was really just Brendan copying me and following me everywhere! We must've run circles for an hour...cuz we were dog tired afterwards. Up to bed we went! Phew!

Busy busy

It's been a busy two weeks. Paw Paw and Gung Gung stopped by for a visit. They took me to my first official dance class and last swim class - on the same day! Silly Mommy for scheduling me crazy. Anyhow, it all went well, and then they took me to Jenna's house for a couple of days.

Jenna and I had a lot of fun playing together, but eventually, we start fighting. PP and GG took us fishing at San Pablo Dam. We didn't catch anything though. And I spent a lot of time driving the girls around in the Hummer....:)

Then, we went to Half Moon Bay to celebrate Uncle Ken's bday..which I've already blogged about!

I finished up my last week of summer school (now what is Mommy going to do with me?). Wednesday was Auntie Lydia's Bday, so everyone surprised her by going over to their "new" place for a dinner! I had fun playing with Bella and all her toys. Did you know she knows letters? No way! Bella and her parents are looking for a new place, but for now, they have a nice place in San Mateo. Mommy brought her lasagna and Daddy made beignets, but I really liked the pasta that Uncle Ryan ordered. Yummy!

Saturday, we went to the Harvest Walk in Carmel at Earthbound Farms. We picked raspberries, golden berries (better than last year and disappeared instantly), radishes, squash, cilantro, spinach, basil, potatoes, flowers, and garlic...oh, too much to remember it all. Mommy made pesto pasta for us tonight and cooked the spinach. I picked it! Cool huh? Have I been busy or what?

Photographer Cameron

Silly Uncle Kelvin and Auntie Sarah






Me...pretending to touch the golf cupcakes






Auntie Jen






Happy Birthday Uncle Ken! Yummy cake!

Bike ride

So, we went over to the park today...on my bike! Yup, I rode there all by myself...with training wheels. And Mommy and Daddy (plus Brendan) rode their own bikes. I did it! Isn't that so super cool?

End of the year school performance

Today was the big day. I've been practicing at school everyday! And I did it. I was brilliant! It was fantastic. And it was like 100 degress today. Mom and Dad and Brendan waited patiently in the blazing sun. But I was great. I danced and sang and did my thing. Oh, awesome.

Let's update

So this week was busy. Mom took me to two different dance classes and the one that I liked the best was like super close to our house. Yay. I really like tap b/c of the nice shoes, I mean, noisy shoes. Mom watched me (from behind the mirror) and I danced just like the others (girls)...Mom said it was just as good, or even better! I was getting really into it. I can't wait for my lessons to start!

Then, we went to Happy Hollow, probably for the last time in a while since they're closing for renovations next month. I rode on the little carousel all by myself. Then we waiting forever to ride the dragon train....I mean forever. Brendan and I were pretty patient. Mom was impressed. I ran into my friend Jude at the zoo. And when I say zoo, I also mean that the place was crazy packed. Probably cuz it was $1 Tuesday....:) I didn't want to touch the animals at the petting zoo, but I told Mom as we were leaving that I'd touch them next time (fo' real?)

And Mom started Gymboree for Brendan when I'm at school. We also went to this "u-pick" place to get some raspberries, loganberries and ollalieberries. It was fun, but there weren't that many berries to pick. I am waiting for the strawberry picking!

tap tap tap

I went to dance class today and had lots of fun. It was a trial class, since I wasn't really sure if I'd like it. But we did tap and I like the shoes cuz they make a lot of noise! I was inspired because I saw a shot at Santana Row where a lot of kids all ages got on stage and performed. It was awesome. Then I couldn't stop talking about dancing. :) Mommy says she going to sign me up soon! Yay!

Thanks for flying with us!

My airplane birthday party was amazing. I had the best time. We had airplane games, airplane snacks, airplane cake....thank goodness no "airplane" food. We had lasagna, Paw Paw's famous chicken noodles, steak and salad and grilled shrimp. It was yummy. My airplane cake was the coolest. Thanks to my friends, Tristan, Logan, Bella, Connor, Chloe, Jenna, Lindsay, Joshua, Emily, Caleb, Andrew, Cheryl, Kendall, and Brendan for coming to my party. It was super fun and I was super tired after. Goodnight! (for more pics from my party, you'll have to go back to years 3-4, then 48th month)




Daddy's yummy Steak and Salad






Grilled Shrimp






Mmm...Lasagna






Daddy's Grill hard at work






yummy






Playing "Toss the Airplane"






The setup






Balloons