Egg Hunt

Since we were on vacation for Easter, we missed out on some of the more traditional activities, so we decided to let the girls experience their Easter Egg Hunt on Monday after we all returned home from a day of work.

The girls had a blast collecting both the eggs that they colored earlier in the week and the plastic eggs that Daddy filled with candy. Pearl is such a sweet sister. If she finds more eggs than Chloe, she stops and helps Chloe to find more or she shares her eggs with her. They truly are great sisters to each other.

Spring Break

We decided to take a couple of days off from work to take Chris and the girls to San Francisco for a weekend of fun. Chris invited another local exchange student from Japan, Kuriko. We rented a mini-van and ventured off to Monterey for the first evening with a fun dinner at Bubba Gumps. The next morning we traveled to Felton to ride a steam train into the woods at Roaring Camp Railroad. Then we headed over the hill into San Jose to visit cousins Bruce and Lorene and a delicious dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

Finally, Friday morning we left for our main destination, San Francisco. We toured the city and also took a boat tour of the Bay. We had a great time at Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf and shopping in Union Square. Chloe and Pearl did so well everywhere we went. Chloe actually walked most places and didn't ask us to carry her all the time. They really are great travelers and have fun no matter where we are.

Spring is Here

We have been having great weather here in our small town. As much as I hate what Daylight Savings Time does to my body, I really do love the long evenings and coming home to play with my girls outside. Sorry, no pictures of the little ones here. You will have to see the next post.

We have a Pear tree in our backyard. I have had more than one tree expert mention that it is the largest Pear tree they have ever seen (at least in our county). Due to its size, it takes a bit longer to flower out, but when it does, it is quite spectacular. The whole yard "hums" with the sound of bees. In fact, the tree is so large, that we cannot fit the whole thing into one picture, so you will just have to see it in parts. The tree sits very close to our living room, so occasionally during storms, large branches drop onto our roof. So far, no damage has occurred.

We have all been doing well. I have been too lazy to post, but we are just as busy as ever.

Mom's Birthday or "Is Something Burning?"

We celebrated my birthday just the way I like it, small and at home. I am not sure why there are two cakes. My first guess is that my husband was disappointed with my choice of flavor, so he got a second one in a flavor he preferred. My second guess is that maybe it is too hard to fit 43 candles on one cake. But, perhaps the main reason is so that each of my girls will have their own cake to blow out Mom's candles.

Pearl seemed to think it was her birthday. She was obsessed with it all, the candles and the presents. Even though we split the girls on either side of me and placed a cake in front of each of them, so they could have candles to blow, Pearl still managed to climb over her cake and then blew out the candles on Chloe's cake. As a result, her hair dangled over the burning candles on her cake and it caught on fire, but quickly burned out. She wasn't even phased. PLEASE REFER TO PHOTO below for the visual. Darn! There goes my nomination for Mother of the Year.

Disney Playouse Live

Today we had front-row tickets for Disney Playhouse Live. It was during the Superbowl, so Dad went to his parent's house and Mom took Chris and the girls to the show. It was fun, but I think they enjoyed the Wiggles a lot more. With both girls being 4 years old, I think they were about the oldest kids in the audience. While there were some slow moments, both girls really enjoyed the show. Afterwards, Chloe wanted to do something "more fun".

It was pouring rain outside and we saw two rainbows on the way home. The sky and clouds were really beautiful and if I weren't driving, I would have taken a picture. As it turned out, we still managed to get home by halftime. It was a very short show.

Marty

Marty is our cat. We got him as a baby kitten while we were waiting for our referral for Chloe. We originally named him Mimi, thinking he was a "she". We didn't learn otherwise until we took him to the vet to be spade. They laughed at us and then performed a different operation.

He has been a wonderful cat, although he chose to be an outdoor cat rather than an indoor cat. I guess our forest-like yard is just way too tempting for a king like him. He has beautiful markings and adores people. He will even walk four blocks with Pete and the girls all the way to the corner market and then walk with them back home.

Winter Play

This weekend, in pursuit of snow, we traveled to our cabin in the mountains. Sadly, there was no snow, but rather, lots of windy rainy weather. Even so, we managed to have a lot of fun watching movie after movie after movie. The girls got a little stir crazy, so Daddy ventured outside and took them to the park by the lake near our house. They played in the sand until the rain became too much and then they came back inside. Chloe and Pearl managed to have a fun time playing jigsaw puzzles and imagination games with quilts and blankets and pillows.

Now that we are back home, I look to the mountains and I can see snow all the way to the base, almost surely at our cabin. Perhaps we will get another opportunity this season to let Chloe and Pearl experience snow for the first time.

Playing Around

These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago. We were just playing around on a typical evening at home. Chris and the girls were really having a fun time together, so we captured a couple of cute pictures. It really is nice having her stay with us as a part of our family.

Everyone is healthy for now and we are really enjoying our evenings together around the fireplace.

Chloe's 4th Birthday Party

Even though it is mid-January in California's Central Valley, we managed to have a very beautiful day for a birthday party, mostly outside. We had a few less guests than anticipated, but it turned out just perfect and a good time was had by all. I think Chloe will be talking about this day for a very long time to come.

Tomorrow Chloe turns 4

Yet another long break between posts. I have been busy planning for Chloe's 4th birthday. I have a lot more pictures from our Winter break, but I don't know if or when I will get them up.

Tomorrow Chloe turns 4. We were just going to have a small little party here at home, a scaled-down version of last year's big event. We only invited a few locals. Then Chloe said she wanted to be Snow White. Pearl said she wanted to be Belle. Then it turned into a costume party with all guests invited to attend as their favorite Disney character. Add a bounce house and a petting zoo and pony rides, and I think we will be exceeding even last year's extravaganza.

Here are some pictures of Chloe trying on her outfit for tomorrow. Enjoy.

New Years Day

We spent New Years Day morning at the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk. It was sunny and 70 degrees, with almost no people. The girls got on the rides with NO lines and had a real fun time. Afterward, we went to Roaring Camp to ride the train, but we missed it by 1.5 hours, so we just headed to San Jose to visit with Cousins Bruce and Lorene. Michelle had to go home a couple of days ago, so we missed her.

Cousin Bruce keeps a box full of toys just in case younger visitors stop by. Chloe and Pearl dumped all of the toys out of the box and then proceeded to play with the box itself. They played magic disappearing games and Jack in The Box among many others.

Vacation Part 1 continued

On our last day in Southern California, we visited Olvera Street and the Walt Disney Concert hall. The concert hall had an audio tour and it was wonderful. I have a feeling, we will be coming back to view a performance next time.

Vacation Part 1

CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS MORNING

A TRIP TO THE GETTY MUSEUM

DISNEYLAND

TRAIN RIDE AT FASHION ISLAND AND A PIRATE DINNER


We left for the Los Angeles area the day after Christmas as a group of six, Mom, Dad, Chloe and Pearl, Chris and her friend Michelle. Michelle is also a Chinese Exchange student; however, her host family is in Virginia. She and Chris became good friends through the exchange program and the internet, so we invited her to join us for Christmas break. Michelle enjoyed Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with our family and then it was off to Southern California for adventure and fun. Sadly, she had to return to Virginia on December 30th, so she missed out on the second half of our vacation.

First, we went to the Getty Museum, then shopping at South Coast Plaza. The next day was Disneyland and dinner at Medieval Times. The next day we went to Newport Beach and shopped at Fashion Island, touring the University of California at Irvine (for Chris) followed by another dinner show, Pirate Dinner. Finally, we went to Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles and then toured the Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry. We then spent one night at our cabin in the Tehachapi mountains before returning home (for a day).

Portraits

We had these pictures taken a few weeks ago. I think they came out really great. These will definitely be framed and posted around our home.

Visit with Santa

After their dance performance Saturday morning, the girls had a chance to tell Santa what they wanted. Chloe asked for a Princess Guitar. It has been sitting under the Christmas tree for a few weeks now, so I think we are good to go.