Beach Day (Take One)

Today we went to Fort de Soto Beach in St. Petersburg to let the men and children frolic in the water.

5 out of 12 cousins

Someone caught a baby hammerhead shark

The three youngest Ly brothers

Trung messing with his new camera and Lydia posing as his model

Free Cone Day

Sophie had her six year old check-up today and she weighed 37 pounds and stood 43" tall.  She is still quite petite for her age, but is still growing steadily.  After the appointment, we had pho for lunch and then walked over to a cute Japanese trinket store called Daiso.  I let the girls pick out five items, since everything cost only $1.50 that they could play with on our trip to Florida.  Afterwards, we enjoyed our free cones at Ben & Jerry's and chilled the rest of the day at home while I packed.

Love free cone day!

Anna's Disney Visit

We went to Disney today to celebrate Sophie's birthday.  She wore her Anna costume from the hit movie "Frozen" and loved every minute of being all dressed up.  Since the kids were on Spring Break, we got to stay late and watch "World of Color" probably for the last time before our annual passes expire next month.  Everyone was happily exhausted by the time we got home.

Sophie as "Anna"

Mr. Incredible kissing/smelling Lydia's hand

Fist bump for you...

and for you, while Mrs. Incredible signs Lydia's autograph book.

Strike a pose

Our first time in the Tiki room, which was super cute with singing birds and totem poles.

Warrior princess

Sophie's old preschool friend Lulu aka Rapunzel joined us later along with her mom and brother.

Sweet girls

The girls used to be so scared of the Roger Rabbit ride, but now they love it.

Trung and Sophie

On the Gadget's Go Coaster, the first roller coaster that Sophie ever went on over three years ago.

Love love love World of Color

One worn out princess

Lake Balboa

Several months ago we went to Balboa park in San Diego and Lydia wanted to ride a surrey really badly, but it was super hot that day and we didn't have that much time to ride one around.  Soon after, I happened upon a groupon for surreys in Lake Balboa park in Encino.  The girls and I went three years ago to that park and I remembered all the ducks and read about the cherry blossoms in the spring, so I purchased the deal in hopes of catching everything.  This was our first free weekend since the cherry blossoms blossomed and we we made it just in time.

Lydia didn't want Sophie too close to her for some reason

The girls were too short to help pedal, so we got a smaller surrey.

Independent girls

I was pretty impressed how far Lydia was able to go by herself

Shadows and cherry blossoms

Spring, 2014

Lydia trying to sneak up on some innocent ducks

Trung and Sophie watched from afar since Sophie hit her lip playing with one of the other bikes.

After the park, we had some Korean tofu soup and shaved ice.  Lydia asked "are you going to eat that?"  Why, yes, of course I am!  :P

A Chill Thursday

Most days are pretty crazy in the Ly household, with swim classes, playdates, and trips to the museum.  Today was nice and slow with brunch with some girlfriends at Urth Caffe and then a leisurely walk in the afternoon to Sophie's swim class.  I wish I had more days like this when I don't feel so rushed.

My Thai red tea latte on the left and Kumi's cappuccino on the right...almost too pretty to drink

Even the animals were chill today

Sophie's Six!

Today my sweet Sophie turned six!  She wore her new maxi dress to school topped with her favorite denim jacket; she's my little fashionista.  We brought mini blueberry muffins to share with the class and after school, I took the girls to Kidspace Museum and let them do whatever they wanted.  When we got home after dinner, I presented Sophie with a bundt cake and presents.  We've been keeping the girls' birthdays sweet and simple for the last few years and they seem to be just fine with that...plus, we take them to Disneyland.  :P

Tug of war with a whole slew of kids

Lydia & Sophie against the world

Blue building blocks

It's crazy to watch Sophie biking Lydia around now because the first time we visited Kidspace, she couldn't even reach the pedals.

Our first visit to Kidspace was in November of 2010.  I can't believe how little they used to be.

We still always go to La Grande Orange Cafe for dinner afterwards and they still provide kids with Wikki Stix and $3 meals.

While Daddy is away...

Trung went to Tahoe last night for a couple of days on a ski trip with some guy friends, so I planned a busy weekend to keep the girls busy.  First thing this morning, Sophie took her make-up dance class in an art studio in Venice.  Then we went to Costco where we spent a good amount of time trying samples.  I rarely take the kids just for this reason, but I was wanting to kill time, so it was the perfect place.  We had a quick lunch at Freebirds and then relaxed a couple hours at home before heading out again for a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's.  By the time we got back home, it was time to get the kids ready for bed.  Whoo-hoo, I made it through the first day!

The girls had Freebirds burritos for the first time and they liked them!

Two brains are better than one

Sophie putting her entire weight into her pumps

Sophie couldn't reach the gas, so Lydia helped out

Eren rocking it out with Chuckee

I went looking for Sophie and found her on her favorite "ride"...with another kid.  At first I thought he was mooching a ride off of her, but later found out that they had both been waiting for the person before them to finish up.  Then as soon as that person got up to leave, they both sat down.  The little boy paid for the "ride", but the seat was big enough for the both of them that he didn't bothering kicking Sophie off.  Too funny!

Where it pays to shop online

I recently received an e-mail about a casting call for Ebates members to be in a commercial and to tell the world why they love Ebates.  Of course, I jumped at the opportunity because ever since I joined just under two years ago, I have made almost $500 just by going through their website before I shop online.  So I submitted about how I use Ebates and a picture, and actually got a call back to come in to meet with the casting director and Ebates' VP of Marketing.

I was asked to come dressed as a "mom" with a casual top, jeans, and flats.  I thought the audition went well, but I didn't receive a phone call that I got booked, so I wasn't exactly what they were looking for.  Who knows, I could have talked too fast (which I tend to do when I get excited), was not the right age for the "mom" role, or just didn't have the right look.  Regardless, I received $50 in my ebates account just for coming in and the audition was in Santa Monica, so it was convenient.  Even though I didn't get the "job", I still love Ebates and if you love to shop online, then you will too!

A lady and her dog in pink auditioning for a Tempur-pedic commerical next door.

In sickness and in health

Friday night was one of the longest nights of my life.  I woke up every two hours, vomiting and having diarrhea, sorry it it's TMI.  Everyone in the family was fine, so I had no clue what was wrong with me.  For the last couple of days, I had been trying to stick with the BRAT diet, occasionally dining on noodle soup to change things up a bit.  Today, Cora texted me asking if I still had diarrhea because she did.  So, I texted Weiru and come to find out, she had it too!  Apparently, the three of us had caught traveler's diarrhea in Costa Rica.  Though we were miserable for days, we were glad it all happened in the comforts of our homes and not in a foreign country.

Though I felt weak, we made it to Lydia's classmate Mila's birthday gathering at the park this afternoon.  We didn't stay long, but it was nice getting out for a little while since I've been coped up at home resting.

Happy and healthy

The whole shabang

Another mom videotaped the whole children's section of the fashion show.  Enjoy!