Child entertainers

We always see entertainers waiting to be discovered on the 3rd Street Promenade, but these two little boys caught my eye. The guitar was seriously bigger than the little boy on the left!

Tuesday turns 5!

We celebrated Tuesday's birthday at Marine Park at school. The party was dog themed and Marianne did a spectacular job. As one little boy said, it was the "best party ever!"

The birthday puppy, er, girl

Lydia and the last birthday boy, Benjamin

How many kids fit on a tire swing?

Marianne's awesome chocolate puppy cake

What's a puppy themed party without a bone-shaped pinata?

Sophie got a lift from Veen, Tuesday's dad

The girls just LOVE this tire swing.

A morning run and an afternoon exploration

Trung ran the Santa Monica 10K this morning and we arrived just minutes before he crossed the finish line. The girls had on their Daddy support shirts..."Daddy is the Big Kahuna" and "I 'heart' Daddy". Trung ran the 10K under an hour and he said that he could have done better, but a bad cramp got the best of him. We are still very proud!

Good job, Trung!

The girls snacked on the runners' food of bagels and chocolate milk.

In the afternoon, we met Jean, Andrew, Teddy, and Izzy at JPL's Open House. I think the kids are still a bit young to appreciate the scientific aspects, but they still had a good time. Afterwards, we had delicious steaks at their lovely home, accompanied by good wine. :)

Sophie helps keep Saturn in orbit

How walking in Mars is like

Andrew and the kiddos

Calling both grandmas

Our family on Mars

Learning new things

The girls learned some basketball basics this morning: dribbling, throwing, and passing.

Practicing all three skills

Sophie always takes awhile to warm up and participate, this time she never warmed up and the class is 40 minutes long! We think maybe her not being in a Mother's Day Out program or a daycare has made her not used to following instructions. It's different when Mom tells you what to do than a teacher/coach. I'm hoping the swim lessons I registered her for for the entire summer doesn't bomb too. :/

In the afternoon, we attended the Mother/Daughter Tea Party at Santa Monica Main library. It was a very special event, starting with a dance class.

Dancing to the music of "I'm a little teapot"


Check out the refreshments! Can you believe this event was free!



Swirling Sophie


Lydia smiled big for the picture with her friends, but I barely got a grin with my picture with her and Sophie. I've been telling her that none of her good friends will be attending school with her next year and that she should be nice to her family since we will be with her forever, but I guess that is a lesson that she will have to learn herself.

I bought Sophie's dress Friday and didn't realize it looked just like Angelina Ballerina's. :)

Singing and Sushi

My MOPS group had its last Mommy's Night Out tonight at Yen Sushi and Karaoke Bar. We sang all the women empowerment songs and threw in a few favorites like YMCA and Hammer time. This was my first time at a karaoke bar in California, so now I know where to go. I will definitely be back!

Singing "Time after Time" by Cyndi Lauper

A Mother's Day at Disneyland

We arrived at Disneyland bright and early and managed to get five rides in within two hours. This time we decided to try different rides and only the girls' favorite ones, basically the rides that they remembered to ask for. We were fortunate to meet different princesses from last time too! Sophie managed to get a good nap while we took a submarine ride and visited Tomorrow Land's arcade. We had such a good time again that Trung is actually considering purchasing season passes and if you know Trung, that is huge! :P

Winnie the Pooh wasn't around yet, so we took his backdrop

Lydia and Sophie managed to get all the princesses to twirl, starting with Mulan...

then Ariel...

and then Belle. See for yourself!

Always a favorite

Fairy Godmother

Submerged sleep

Still sleeping

Lydia helped during in story time. The reader simply asked that she not touch the cannon...yeah right.

Kinecting

Shortie behind the wheel

Trung couldn't stop cracking up

Traffic!

Happy Mother's Day from Disneyland!

Santa Monica Festival

After the girls' sports class in the morning, we attended the 20th annual Santa Monica Festival. The event was very "green" with several booths related to helping the environment, but it also had some kid-friendly activities. We got to know and appreciate our city a little bit more today.

Trung channeling Pacquiao

Dunking nice men

The girls tried their best and were awarded with a free push of the button



Rescue cuties


The girls could not take their hands off the yogurt cone



Mike shouldn't leave his day job, but it was awfully sweet of him to prepare a song for the girls from one of their favorite movies.


Dancing with the Sisters!


Loving Uncle Mike and Aunt Minji

Preparing for tomorrow's "It's a Small World After All" ride


Sophie vs. Trung


Minji vs. Lydia

But here's the real fight!

Virginia Park Birthday

We attended Lydia's classmate's birthday party after school at a local park. The waterscape was on for the season and it was a perfect day to frolick in the water. We didn't get the memo to bring swimsuits, but luckily Marianne lives across the street and she fetched us some swimsuits and towels. Happy birthday to Benjamin, who looks more like 7 than 5. :P

Lydia in the middle of it all

Classmates

Tuesday's love for dogs is rubbing off on Sophie

Proud

At Sophie's Mommy & Me class, Sophie was so proud to present me with a flower she planted in a planter she painted. I was a proud mama, period. :)

A day fit for the beach

A heat wave came in over the weekend, so we took to the beach. Trung headed out first to hit the waves, and the girls and I joined him soon after.

Trung taking a breather while the girls snack

Studying the waves

New swimsuits

Trung's best attempt that I recorded


My hunk of a man


Sophie playing with the surfboard



Until she falls off of it


Sweeties


Sophie gives Daddy a lift


Yay, a carb-free sushi roll at Hara Sushi!