Take Two

 Lydia had her second extras job today on another Disney TV show at the same set location as the first.  The overall experience was much better this time though with a later call time, better food accommodations (they actually fed us), and actors that took pictures with the kids afterwards.  Plus, Lydia didn't have to wear a wig this time, which was definitely a big bonus.  She wore her own clothes and the wardrobe people just added a bow and necklace to her outfit.  

Two of Lydia's bad habits really stood out during this job though...her not listening to directions and sticking things in her mouth.  This time, the parents sat in another room during filming, so all I could do was watch Lydia on the screen as she was constantly told to turn around and look forward and as she was sucking on the "prop" necklace.  I couldn't stand watching her eat that necklace any longer, so I finally asked someone if I could talk to her about it.  She finally stopped, but now I'm wondering if I can really handle just letting go while she works and not feel like I have to control everything. I guess it's a learning experience for all of us!

 Lydia and one of the kid actors in the show

Lydia with the other extras and two characters of the show (the puppet and girl in all pink)

Ice skating...kinda

ICE, Santa Monica's own outdoor skating rink, had it's grand opening tonight.  Though we had planned for months now to attend the opening, it was sprinkling throughout the day, so it ended up 

 being a last minute decision to go.  It was a bit muggy, but I'm glad we went.  The girls decorated cookies and bravely tried ice skating again, slightly improving from last year.  Yeah, I think we'll stick to swimming.  :P  

Lined up in a row to decorate their cookies

Lydia dropped her first cookie and was lucky to get a second one.

M & Ms on a mitten

Fun-shaped floaties

 

Not fearing the ice as much as last year

Sophie gets some assistance from Kim

Exploring in the dark

 Weiru and Juliet joined us this month for Kidspace Museum's Family Night.  With Election day traffic and the time change, we arrived at the museum just before dusk.  Since it was Weiru and Juliet's first time there, we split up after awhile so they could look around more, while my girls stuck with their favorite discovery stations.   As usual, we went to my favorite Pasadena restaurant and Weiru seemed to enjoy her prime rib too. The girls have been having a hard time sleeping with the time change, but they slept really well tonight!

 Bouncing balls

oooOOooo...YAY!

 

Sophie left Lydia to fend for herself

 Stacking cups for the air cannon

 Lydia LOVES Kidspace!

Food brings people together

Today, we meet up with friends in northeast LA, namely the Arcadia and Glendale areas, and spent the entire day out, since we rarely leave Santa Monica nowadays.  First we met Angela and her family at Din Tai Fung for lunch.  We got to hold her new four-month old son, Wesley and catch up with her husband Brad and son Logan.  Angela works in Santa Monica, so she and I occasionally meet up for lunch, but the families don't see each other very often.  Then we went to Westfield Santa Anita mall to kill some time; this must be the place where all the Asians go.  After a quick stop at Sprouts for some meat, we drove over to Jean's place to hang out and have dinner.  Once again, lots of catching up to do, especially for the guys.

Lydia and Mr. Dumpling man

Dumpings galore!

Andrew and Jean, cooking up a storm

Teddy is ready to eat.  Look at all that good food, can you blame him?

A day in Orange

Today, my cousin Ben hosted a joint birthday party for his two girls in Orange County.  They served delicious Korean galbi and various Filipino food, topped with tons of desserts!  Afterwards, we hung out with Mike, Minji, and Alexis for a few hours before headed to Rowland Heights for some Asian groceries and dinner.  A fun day with the extended family!

 Strolling Alexis from Mike's house to Ben's

 Happy birthday to Audrey (3) and Zoey (1)!

Alexis wants cake too, and gives her cousin a tug on the ponytail to express her disappointment

An Alexis burger

Halloween on the 16th

It's funny how Sophie's school doesn't allow costumes (to accommodate less fortunate families who can't afford costumes), while Lydia's school holds a school-wide costume parade.  Both were dressed in regular clothes going to school though, so it didn't really make a difference.  After dropping Sophie off at school at noon, I rushed over to Roosevelt Elementary for the annual parade.  Though the mornings and evenings get pretty chilly, it was quite sunny and hot during the procession.  Afterwards, the class had a small party and then I hurried home to take care of whatever else I could in preparation for the rest of this crazy day.  

After the usual Lydia pick-up, then Sophie pick-up, we actually went to swim class.  The kids really did want to go because it was the last class of the year and they get their lollipops.  Plus, Lydia has a little crush on her teacher...then again, all the moms do too!  :P  I dressed the girls in their costumes after their showers and we headed home for a quick bite to eat before getting lost in the masses on Montana Avenue, where the majority of the shops and restaurants were handing out candy.  We made it to 16th Street right around 6, when the Montana event ended, and made our way north.  This street is famous!  I heard that Steven Spielberg was trick-or-treating here earlier, model and actress Amber Valletta lives on this street, and the famous haunted house is here too.  The line for the haunted house was too long by the time we reached it, so we decided to forgo the full-sized stuffed animal "treat".  Maybe next year.  Happy Halloween!

Psy meets Obama

Principal and vice-principal as Tweedledee and Tweedledum

My fairy

Lydia and her current bestie, Mia

Kicking it

A sky proposal?

Lydia says her teacher has "a nice face"

Palmetto, a shop on Montana

The houses on Montana go all out

The girls are pros at trick-or-treaking

Mommy says to always stick together

The famous haunted house

Trung channeling "The Bodyguard"

Amber Valletta personally handing out candy

Snow's Night Out

Today we celebrated Snow's birthday with all the ladies. The nine of us met at Tar & Roses for dinner, where we enjoyed awesome fusion food and even better company.  We continued the festivities (minus two lovely ladies) at Sweet Lady Jane, where we successfully overstuffed ourselves.  What a fun night!

Our appetizer...deep fried whole snapper

Weiru and I shared a seafood pot and trumpet mushrooms

Desserts and tea

The Tavern

Today is Snow's birthday, so we went to a nice restaurant in Brentwood called The Tavern to celebrate.  While there, we saw local celebrity and actress Jennifer Gardner, who I've been waiting to see for quite some time now.  Santa Monica people tell me all the time that they see her out and about, and finally after a year and a half of living here, I got to see her for myself.  We sat with our backs against each other, so I couldn't get a view, and Snow only saw her back for most of the meal, but with all the mirrors in the room, we would catch glimpses of her.  When not staring at the lovable actress, Snow and I caught up on what we did over the weekend and enjoyed a delicious meal.

Jennifer is the one in blue with her chin her hands.

See her reflection in the mirror?

The real star of the show.  Happy birthday, Snow!

Where Jennifer goes, paparazzi follows

Sophie and James, her school and swim mate, chatting it up

Sophie swims just fine in the deep pool with a life jacket

But without the jacket and sinking right out of the gate, she is more timid

Teacher Josh pushes her and she braves up

Sophie has grown "leaps" and bounds during this session, hope she doesn't forget it all over the winter.

San Diego Zoo

 After a quick breakfast, we drove down to the world famous San Diego Zoo to meet up an Austin friend Allen, who just moved to California a couple months ago, and his reason for moving...his girlfriend, Grace.  After making one round in the Lost Forest to see monkeys and bears, we had a simple sandwich lunch.  Then off to the Urban Jungle and Panda Canyon, where Lydia saw her favorite animal.  After seeing the pandas, we parted ways with Allen & Grace and continued onward to see the cats and then one last stop at the playground before we called it a day.
 

 Up close and personal with a hippo

 A poser monkey

 The alpha gorilla watching Trung taking a picture of him

 This goofy monkey rolled the entire time we were at the exhibit

 The kids were more interested in the fake animals

 Two little monkeys

 Apparently, giraffes are really funny.

 The panda exhibit

 Trung, the girls, Grace & Allen

 So cute

 SMOOCH!

A fun day at the zoo!