On Our Free Weekend

With a busy weekend planned next weekend and the holidays right around the corner, we took advantage of this free weekend and stayed local. Saturday morning we finally visited Santa Monica pier and had a delicious seafood lunch. Then we drove around Santa Monica in the areas where Lydia might attend elementary school just to see if we could afford to live there and from what we saw...we can! :)

Today we took care of some errands, like changing the flat on the baby jogger (which I've used twice with the flat) and dropping off some clothes at Goodwill. After a delightful lunch at a Thai restaurant, we ate some ice cream while listening to some live jazz music at the marina. While walking down the pier, we saw sea lions frolicking in the water and pelicans patiently waiting for their next catch...a new discovery!

Mickey and Minnie Mouse were at the pier. Apparently Minnie has a Spanish accent; I know this because she informed me that "they welcomed tips.". :P

The awesome north view from the pier


Kraft Macaroni and Cheese's big noodle

Hmmmm...lunch!

Marina del Rey

Who knew sea lions were so close?!


Dancing to some jazz

Fisherman's Village where they have live music every weekend

Watermelon Wednesday

Now that Emiko picks Lydia up from school every Wednesday, I can enjoy the Mommy & Me class with Sophie without constantly looking at the clock. Plus, when I go pick Lydia up, Sophie gets to play with her and Ethan, while I get to socialize with Emiko and Todd for an hour or so. The kids do have tons of fun together!

Enjoying homemade watermelon pops on the front porch

Kidspace Museum

After our usual Tuesday morning line-up of a morning jog, (no story time at the library due to the election), and Kid's Club at the fountain, the girls and I went to Pasadena for the free family night at Kidspace Museum. The museum was very entertaining and the girls especially loved riding the tricycles around and around (Lydia cycling, while Sophie tagged along). We'll definitely be back next month! Afterwards, we met Trung at La Grande Orange Café for a delicious dinner; the kid's $3 meal of macaroni & cheese, fries, and fruit distracted them so that Trung and I could actually enjoy our meals...it almost felt like a date!

Waving streamers at Kids' Club where I won another free day pass at Broadway Gym...yay!

Playing at the Fountain

Family night at Kidspace Musesum

Pretty colors

An artist in the making

So cute!

Grinding dehydrating corn into cornmeal

Halloween Weekend (Part 2)

We went to the LA Zoo with Trung's ex-girlfriend Angela and son Logan for their annual Boo at the Zoo event. The zoo was okay and the kids didn't seem all that interested, maybe because they didn't have any interactive programs or maybe because the girls just aren't into animals that much. Plus, we had to split up because Logan wanted to push his own stroller around the hilly zoo and was taking his time. This was our first time at this zoo, so we went on ahead to check everything out.

After the zoo, we went to a Brazilian BBQ place in Downtown Burbank. It was not bad; the girls loved their beef vegetable soup. Then we visited Angela's adorable home and the girls played with Logan's toys. It was nice to finally get to know Angela and Trung said it was not weird at all; I guess eight years and two kids later makes a difference! Next stop...trunk or treat at Emiko's church. The kids basically got candy from car trunk to car trunk instead of from door to door; an interesting concept. We watched a mini magic show and went in the maze a few times...a great end to a fun-filled Halloween!

Air brushed paintings in the arm because on the face was a bit to weird

Talkative gibbons...the highlight of our zoo visit



The LA Zoo


Lunchtime


Trunk or treat


This is how Sophie eats her candy


Lydia making a witch's hand; she finished the popcorn before we left the festival


My newest method of sliding


The girls loved the homemade maze

Halloween Weekend (Part 1)

Let the Halloween weekend festivities begin! We hit the local mall for their Spooktacular Events of trick-or-treat bag and cookie decorating, and a costume contest. I entered both girls, but decided just to let Sophie participate in the 0-3 year old contest so that we could go to the Fall Harvest Festival in Playa Vista. Sophie didn't win, but she was awfully cute! :)

My smiling flower fairy

Lots and lots of goodies at the Fall Festival...Lydia ate all the sprinkles and chocolate off of this apple

We really enjoy our little Playa Vista community; they host the best events! Complimentary food (donuts, churros, hot dogs, pizza), games, and prizes were just the beginning of this event.

Check out Sophie's flying pigtails

Two sisters going at it

Boo Bash

After a MOPS meeting in the morning and a quick stop at Costco, we met up Christine and Cindy at Manhattan Village Mall for their Boo Bash event. Stations for sing-alongs, arts and crafts, and magic shows were set up throughout the mall; it was so much fun!Getting involved in the sing-along

The girls first taste of a caramel filled chocolate

Blowing liquidized dry ice during the magic show

Face paintings of Tinkerbell and Hello Kitty

They come in threes

Our first play date with Lydia's friends Josie and Ava. Lydia was having a hard time being accepted into established "groups of friends" at school, so I was trying to encourage her to make friends with everyone. She really "loves" Ava though.

In the afternoon, we went to a sing-along and Concert Park across the street. Several 5-6 year old boys were there and were quite amused with the girls, especially Sophie. They kept chasing her and she'd yell "not funny" and run away. Too funny! Also, I happened to meant a fellow stay-at-home mom who lives in my apartment building and who's husband works for Yahoo; Trung's work is moving to the Yahoo building in December...small world!

Halloween Magic

The girls and I have been enjoying Halloween events, such as magic shows yesterday and today. Sophie's Mommy and Me class went trick or treating through the adult classrooms and then had a mini carnival. The kids are having so much and Halloween isn't even here yet...just wait until our jam-packed weekend!

Magician Tony was very entertaining; Lydia and I loved the show!


Faye the cowgirl and Sophie the flower fairy


Sophie's classmates


"Bobbing" for donuts; Sophie cheated and used her hands


Beanbag toss; there was a nice big pile of beanbags IN FRONT of the hole


We arrived late to the magic show today, so Lydia went to sit with Christine...


while Sophie sat with Emiko. I stood against the wall with a bunch of other moms.



Magician Jeff was pretty good too


Reading time

Shaved snow and pumpkin races

We ate dim-sum at 9:30 AM when the restaurant opened, which was a first for me. The food was very good, but I saved room for dessert...shaved snow, basically shaved milk instead of ice. Yum-oh! Then after watching the Steelers win (our first time to watch anything live since we moved and sold our TV), we drove back to our neck of the woods. Trung wanted to explore another town and I happened upon the great pumpkin races in Manhattan Beach as I was surfing the net. People from all over brought their themed pumpkin on wheels and raced them down a slope; it was certainly a hoot!

Audrey, my cousin's daughter, and I were fascinated with my shaved snow

Let the pumpkin racing begin!


Lydia learning how to throw a frisbee; way to go!


An Elmo pumpkin


Manhattan Beach, home of beach volleyball


Walking down the pier to the aquarium

Discovery Science Center

We went to visit Mike this weekend in Orange, CA and arrived at our usual time just before lunch and had our usual Vietnamese sandwiches and spring rolls. Then we went to the Discovery Science Center aka Discovery Cube and let the kids run loose to explore science.

The gigantic praying mantis in the bug exhibit

Sophie is our little monkey, she loves to climb

SOS

Trung beating a bunch of little kids in virtual volleyball

Sophie, a mighty duck

3....2...1...blast off!

The family being blown away in a tornado simulation

Mike, Lydia, and Sophie having fun with a full-sized pin point impression needle art frame


The end result


After nap time, we met the Hsueh family at Star BBQ, an all you can eat Korean BBQ restaurant. We ate a lot of food and took a long time, but had lots of fun! We kept the girls busy watching Tinkerbell on my cell phone.


The Ly's and the Hsueh's