Swimming update

The weather has been off and on sunny and foggy, but we have been lucky that every time the girls go to swim class, the weather has been relatively nice. Lydia is still progressing well, though there was a minor set-up back when she kept putting her feet down when she took a breathe. Now she is swimming along and working on breathing to the side better.

Sophie had a rough start because she didn't care for the "boy teacher", but is definitely showing signs of improvement. I was pre-warned by the previous "Polliwog" coaches that she was too small (size-wise) for the "Guppy" class and that she should stay with Polliwog even though she completed all the skills. I took my chances and I am glad I did; Sophie stills needs the extra attention, but she's trying hard.

Sophie doesn't move when the teacher lets go of the board, but at least she hangs on

Sophie and the other little Asian girl would always be the ones left behind, but now it's just her. She told me next week that she will try and go, but we'll see...it is an awful scary experience kicking off into open water.

Soonmee and Minji Visit

My sister-in-law Minji and one her bridesmaids, Soonmee, who I befriended during all the wedding events, came to visit us this afternoon. I got to show them where we live and they even joined us at the girls' swim class! Thanks for coming out to see us, girls!

Lydia and Sophie were all over their new friend

Farewell and Hello

Yesterday we dropped off the last of Trung's family, his parents, at the airport. We had never gone to the Burbank airport before and were surprised at how small it was. Since we were already in the area, we decided to pay Trung's ex-girlfriend Angela and her family a visit since we hadn't seen them in almost a year. It was nice to catch up and watch her son Logan, who is 1.5 months older than Sophie, and Sophie play together.

Trung and his parents

Lydia playing with Logan's Captain America

Logan and Sophie peeking at us

The three year olds, with the five year old hiding behind her sister

After we had lunch, we drove 25 degrees cooler back to Santa Monica and checked out the Fall Festival at the Main Library. The girls just drew some pictures and ate some snacks, but really enjoyed the dancing celebrating the "Day of the Dead" that followed.

Lydia learning a dance

Creative Dancing

The girls have been taking a dance class every Friday for five weeks and this week the teacher finally invited the parents to come and watch. Unfortunately, Sophie fell asleep on the short ride over to the YWCA and was in no mood to dance, but at least Lydia enjoyed herself.

Lydia showing her dance moves

This was our second attempt to get Sophie to participate, but we failed miserably

Bye bye babies

The tissue paper was way more interesting than the present

New outfits

Thanks for coming out to see us!

Cheeks that go on for miles

Pure sugar, pure delight

Free cotton candy at Bloomingdale's

Welcome to Santa Monica

Playing with Grandpa

The pier

Climbing

Today we headed to Garden Grove/Little Saigon for lunch and grocery shopping. We enjoyed the always wonderful food at Brodard and Ma bought food for the remainder of her and Ba's stay. Then the gang visited Third Street while Trung and I took the girls to swim class. We didn't do much, but it was yet another exhausting day.

Abby and Gavyn loved climbing up the stairs

Happy campers

Sophie is adjusting slowly to her new Guppy class, mainly because she doesn't care for the male teacher, but at least she is still trying.

Lydia always has time to bite a hang nail

Sing and Maggie shots

Here are a few great pictures that Sing and Maggie took during their stay with us.

The youngest Ly brothers (not to mention the tallest and shortest) pushing their girls

At the Getty

Checking out the colorful leaves

LA at night

Trying out hats at The Farmer's Market

Me and the little girls

A quick shot of everyone (but Tai) before Sing, Maggie, and Fiona left for the airport

Fall Festival at the Farmer's Market

After a breakfast of Belgian waffles and sausages, the adults took a late morning jog with the kids in jogging strollers. We showed Sing and Maggie the famous Santa Monica stairs and the big houses north of Montana. For lunch we had Umami Burger and the burgers were as tasty as I remembered. Then we drove by Rodeo Drive for kicks and then headed to The Farmer's Market where we had dessert and walked around the Grove. After a quick look at the "Hollywood" sign, we had All You Can Eat Korean barbeque at a new place called "Road to Seoul", which was pretty good and quite satisfying.

The girls conked out on the way to The Grove

One of Lydia's favorite things to do

Lydia and Fiona really enjoyed the live music, too bad Sophie was in one of her moods

Cousins

Fall is here!

Milking them cows

Cowgirl Lydia

Pouty Pic

Taking over the walkway

Feeling a little like Goldilocks

A bored farmer cuts out a winged creature out of an apple for the girls

Celebrities & The Getty

Trung's little brother, Sing, his wife, and daughter flew in last night from Austin to hang out with us for a few days. After breakfast, we walked along Ocean Blvd for a view of the ocean, dropped by Farmer's Market, and then hit Third Street Promenade. We saw a taping of People's Court and even better, walked by Adam Sandler on our way back home! It's funny that I didn't even see him and would have missed him if Trung hadn't said "there's Adam". Of course, I immediately grabbed my camera and Trung to take a picture with him. Adam was just strolling along, so we caught up with him and I exclaimed "Adam, could I take a picture with you?" He was really nice about it and even chuckled when Trung, who was a little nervous, had issues with the camera. He is my biggest celebrity sighting yet!

After a little break, we went to the Getty Center to show Sing and Maggie some great views of the city. We didn't really see the exhibits as the kids are still young and could easily break something, but we still got to enjoy the outdoor sculptures and live music.

I want to be on TV!

The host is also the TMZ host

Adam!

Sunset at the Getty

Fiona, Maggie, and Sing

The Beach and the Fog

This morning Christie, Julie, and I with our little girls met up at Annenberg Beach House. We enjoyed scones and croissants as the girls played in the sand. Some people were filming a commercial, so we got a little closer to check it out, but it was nothing special.

Commercial set

This afternoon the fog came in. Trung could see it over the ocean; it was pretty cool watching it go by.