Wednesday Randoms

It's another hump day. Even though this hump day feels like a Tuesday.

This morning started with "what do you want to do today, Lucas?". "See ducks." Okay, that should be easy. We can just go to Almaden Park. However, after talking to him a few seconds longer, I learned that he meant he wanted to go to the Duck Pond! Okay, got it. Not a problem - I still have two more free tickets for us to use. And that's what we did this morning!

Biggest caterpillar I've seen

A novelty: playing with Play Doh (grosses Mommy out)

Little girl thinks she's a lion

We came home a bit earlier than usual (Mommy's still tired from the long weekend). This meant we ate lunch earlier than usual and had more down time after lunch/before nap time.

 Finally let Lucas play with this "new" puzzle

Out of the blue, Lucas tells me he wants to put on his Darth Vader slippers. I told him to get Darth Vader so I can take a picture of him.

 Cheese!

Char wanted in on the action too!

And that was Wednesday!

Memorial Day Weekend

Last year was our first Memorial Day weekend as a family of four. I remember Char sleeping in the car seat during our short family trip (maybe a good 1.5 hrs?) while we went to Vasona Park. This year was a tad bit different. We conjured up a bunch of ideas - Oakland Zoo, Vasona Park (again), Almaden Lake Park, SF, etc. for Monday. However, being lazy and unprepared, we just ended up going to a neighborhood park.

Lucas wanted to ride his tricycle, but I had a feeling that Char would want to ride it too. So instead, I had the genius idea of giving him his birthday present a month early. Say hello to his new present!

A balance bike we had sitting in the garage since Christmas!

Now Char has her own bike too

Our little biking duo

Silly lady

We spent maybe 1.5 hours at the park today. I think both kids had tons of fun "biking", going on the playground, and just being crazy kids. Since we've been doing something fun in the morning, we usually spend our time at home after lunch (after nap) to just hang out and relax.

Mighty proud of his block house

 "Let's sleep on all the pillows!" - Lucas

 

Mischievous lad doing everything BUT napping

 Reward for napping

Here's the real reason our Memorial Day was so low key... we wasted all our energy on Saturday doing everything! Instead of renewing our passes at CDM, we decided to get a membership at HHZ. And guess what? We started our morning by going to HHZ... then after nap time, we went to go to our first SJ Giants game! It doesn't sound tiring on paper, but when you're a parent of two toddlers, it is!

Lucas was very adamant about riding on the zebra

Besties!!!

Didn't want the fire truck, just the BLUE police car

Char enjoying her own solo ride

Family shot on Danny the Dragon

 Two freaked out kids

 Everybody loves a turkey leg!

And that was Memorial Day weekend! Back to regular life...

The Before Memorial Weekend Post

Life has just been busy lately. Due to the busyness, I've been taking less pictures of the kids, taking them to the same places (don't think they really mind) and just trying to have enough energy to get by day by day. 

My not so innocent toddlers

We have doubles of a lot of toys now (the cheapy ones)

Char and her love for cars

Staged arrangement? Or not?

 Fun with Uncle San

 Reading with Uncle San

I just found out that Daddy doesn't work on Memorial Day. So now I'm trying to plan out a sorta fun family weekend for us. Wish me luck! (I need more caffeine...)

Saturday Morning With The Kids

It's that time of year again... WWDC. That means that on most weekends, Daddy will be working either from home or in the office, which means that I will be taking care of the kids and taking them to all their activities by myself. This Saturday marked the first of that. Although tiring, I would have to say that this year is a lot more manageable than last year. Mainly because Char is older, doesn't need that morning nap, can be calmed by stuffing food in her mouth, and likes to play and explore. 

We started off by going to Petsmart and TJ Maxx to kill some time before soccer class. There were dogs outside for adoption. Char was very interested in going closer to the dogs, but Lucas was more hesitant (he's afraid of big dogs right now). Instead, we decided to do our usual "say hi to all the animals" routine inside the store.

 Hi birds!

Char can spend hours staring at the dogs (wo wo)

 Newly stocked books @ TJ Maxx

We only have three (?) weeks of soccer left. For the past couple weeks, it looked like Lucas had no interest in soccer. Imagine your stereotypical Asian kid (non athletic) who is kicking and "running" with the ball at a snail's pace. He's so slow his just-learned-how-to-walk little sister can go faster than him! However, whenever I ask him how soccer was, he always says he had fun. Today... well, today was something else! For the first half of practice, he was really into it! He was even kicking and running with the ball fast enough to make Mama proud! 

Good bye stereotypical non-athletic Asian boy

Really into this morning's activity

Weeeee

And now, I'm beat! Maybe it was being out in the sun for soccer. Or maybe it's because I know it's Saturday. Usually I'm pretty okay when it comes to taking the kids out every morning.

Fifteen

Has it already been three months since little sissy poo turned one?! Although she's 15 months old, she still looks like a 9 month old. 

Char is mastering the art of walking now. Whenever she tries to go faster than her legs can currently take her, she ends up falling. She's slowly starting to catch up with all the stuff big bro is doing. And being that she's the little sis who adores big bro, she doesn't mind that Lucas bosses her around every day. 

Now that she's older, she understands maybe 50% of what I'm saying to her (or should I give her more credit?). She also knows enough phrases to get by in life - "ma ma" (Mom), "po po" (carry me), "bao bao" (bread), "nai nai" (milk), "ge ge" (Lucas), "da da" (Dad), "hi" (hi), "ROARRRR" (roar), "wuo wuo" (dog), "teeky teeky" (tickle tickle). 

 What happens when you let her eat a strawberry in the car

 Stopping and looking at flowers

 All ready for school!

 Conquering walking

 Riding a "roller coaster" for the first time

Help from Lucas

Playing with Play Doh for the first time

What happens when all the snacks are gone

Playful. Silly. Bipolar. Sassy. That's our 15 month old princess.

Mother's Day 2014

First of all, why do teachers get an entire week of love (Teacher's Appreciation Week) as opposed to mothers, who only get one day?! I know teachers work hard and all, but mothers work even harder! Anyway, this weekend was fun. We started off Saturday with a cake for breakfast as well as a new coffee mug (apparently my old mug was too gnarly, according to someone who shall remain unnamed).

 "One Fine Lady" from 85c

 Lucas wouldn't look up because he was too mesmerized with the cake

 Both kids made a potted plant for Mommy

 Mommy forcing them to show off their work of art

 Late night snack: garlic-butter (just murdered) lobster

I love Mother's Day! And even more so since I've become one. This is one of the only weekends where Daddy will do all the dishes and clean the house without me unsubtly telling him to do so. It's also a great day to reflect back on how wonderful mothers are. Being a mother is truly the world's toughest job. And although I love Mother's Day, a part of me will always be sad because I was never able to celebrate Mother's Day with my own mother after becoming a mother. 

Well, hope all the mom's out there had a great day!

Third Wheelin' Mother

And it's Friday! This was definitely a LONG week! Actually, long Friday morning. Today started at 5:55. Lucas woke up crying due to a nightmare and wanted me to sleep in bed with him. Later on that morning, he used Purell and massaged it all over his hair. He also unscrewed my sweetened ice tea bottle and poured it all over the carpet right before we were leaving the house. Lastly, he temporarily got lost at the library because he ran off somewhere. Where's my drink?! 

Like I mentioned before, the Shinn kids are great when they're getting along and playing together. Sometimes I feel like I'm getting kicked out of their secret clubhouse meetings. Lucas has been very exclusive with his partner-in-crime, Charlotte, while they're doing who knows what in his room. Since he's extremely loud, I can hear him reading to her, jumping on the bed with her, and of course, ripping his room apart.

I know when I'm not wanted...

 Cramped up watching Barney

 Showing off goodies on the couch

 Mommy trying to be cool and joining the cool kids

 Walking with sissy poo to the library

Good-bye infant tub! Hello "shower with Char" time

Sometimes I just feel like I'm third wheeling them. I'm like the kid in school who tries too hard to belong or something. They only want me around when 1) they're hungry, 2) they're fighting with each other, or 3) sometimes they just want to hang out with their mother. I hear a lot of "Mommy, go outside", "Mommy, go downstairs and make dinner" (hey, it's still 9am buddy!), "Mommy, go clean!".

And because I feel like an outcast now, here's what I do to retaliate:

ROAR!!!!!