Two More Mondays

The countdown begins! When my alarm clock went off this morning, I was very happy to know that I only had to get through 2 more early Monday mornings before summer comes!

This Tuesday, we had a boys' night and girls' night. The boys went to a (free) SJ Giants game and spent a lot of money grubbin'. 

Lucky guy got a baseball to take home too

He started practicing his swing at home and has gotten much better

Getting spoiled by Dad

While the boys had their little outing, I just took Char to eat some good sushi. After, we just went home and she got to play around in the backyard. I know, a bit lame, but I was tired!

After what seemed like forever, I finally remembered to bring the kids to a Home Depot event. All the parents were helping their kids paint their picket photo frames nicely. I decided to not do it and let them paint it their own unique way. I'm currently deciding whether I should let them put their mismatched photo frames inside the house. Well, at least they're proud of their work!

Working hard

Stylish lady also working hard

Don't they look so cute in their HD aprons?

Enjoying the awesome ride while I look for more plants

We went to a Hello Kitty/Melody party. Hours playing in the sun definitely leads to family nap time when we go home.

Look at that huge Hello Kitty!

Bubbles galore

We all did this when we went home

My mini me - cleaning up before church

Sunday OOTD

On the way to church, we had an interesting conversation in the car.

D: Do you want another brother or sister?

L: Sister. But we can't, how do we fit another car seat in the car?

M: Oh, good point. Can we get rid of Lucas?

L: No!

M: Can we get rid of your sister?

L: No... wait, yes!

Our two fish are tiny compared to these koi fishes

Read some books while Char was zonked out in the car

 End of the weekend look

May the 4th be with you!

Weekend SHINNanigans

I think I have summeritis. There's still five weeks left till summer, but it's really just four weeks since the last week of school is really not that academic.

 Lucas out of the woods - no longer sick!

 Trying out Blaze pizza

 Big, Medium, and Small mesmerized by Vitamix guy

Lucas loves the weekend! His routine is to go to the bathroom and get an iPad. Currently, he's into Scout (Leap Frog) and told me he wants a Scout party. I'm kinda hesitant with this and I'm hoping he changes his mind when I ask him again in two weeks.

 Can you tell he loves Cars?!

Since we didn't have any parties to go to this morning, we took a trip to HH. Right when we turned on to Senter, we realized that we BOTH forgot our wallets (aka: don't have membership cards). That was seven minutes wasted right there! What are the chances that we BOTH forget our wallets?

 Happy carousel riders

 Char trying to feed Lucas and Lucas rejecting it

 Cutest firefighter lady I've met

 Handsome fireman

Our after HH tradition has always been to eat at Chik-Fil-A. The kids know that after they eat their chicken strips, they can eat some fries and drink lemonade. And after that, they can play in the play area. Unfortunately, the play area got loud really quickly and the kids wanted to leave.

 Her "boo boo" bandaid

 Picnicking in the living room

Sundays are the same. They're usually slow days with going to church, lunch, and just lounging around at home. This Sunday, we stayed out a bit too late having a church dinner. At least the kids had tons of fun before they passed out.

Ever since Pops put new batteries in Scout and changed the name "Lucas" to "Charlotte", Char's been pretty obsessed with him. This Leap Frog product has great value! Both kids enjoy singing songs with Scout. I heard them singing (very loudly) Twinkle Twinkle in Lucas's room. Around five minutes later, I noticed the singing stopped and it became really quiet. When it's quiet, it usually means they're up to no good. I quietly walked into Lucas's room, waiting to yell at them with whatever bad thing they're up to. And... I catch both of them reading a Bible! Char understand what I've been reading too, which makes me want to read to her more since she's clearly showing that she understands quite a bit. Yup, that was a humbling mother moment for me right there. Sometimes when it's quiet, my kids are up to good!

 Diligent Bible readers

 And a minute later, the "good kids" turn back into their normal selves

 Have been sitting on these steps after church to eat their snacks for ages

 Look at this precious face!

 Pops and poplings

 Been craving some authentic Cantonese food

 No, not kidnapping her - changing her diaper

 Zonked out!

Haven't held her like this in ages... wannabe-NB-who's-actually-2

And that wraps up the weekend!

Shortest Weekend Ever

Weekends seem much shorter when you have to work on Friday night. And that was the case this Friday! I went to our first Silent Auction for school. It wasn't that bad, but I'm just not used to wearing heels and greeting people and coming home "late" (9:30) on a Friday. I'm usually sprawled on the couch by 9:30.

Can't resist a photo booth

We went to the mall on Daddy's birthday (past Saturday) because I was on a mission to get Lucas some new jeans. He had a random growth spurt and he outgrew al his 3T's. He's currently wearing 4T and 5T! I also need to get him new underwear, too!

 When did my baby become a little boy?!

The boys went to the Apple store and whatever else and the girls went to Target, ON, and Disney store. 

 When did this little girl get so big, too?!

She chose this outfit

And here's Sunday night dinner and dessert.

 This family loves Mexican food!

 Why is pineapple out of the rotation now?!

 Little girl wanting to grow up way too quickly!

Not weekend related, but isn't this cute?!

And now it's a couple hours till Game 2. Go Dubs! 4 and out!

40 Eve

There was no extravagant surprise birthday party (note: 5 years ago), there really wasn't anything fancy, it was just a family Saturday. Happy birthday, Pops! 

Okay, so let's backtrack to one week ago where I was still on Spring Break. When we were on our Winter Break, I told Dan that it'll be so cool to go to Alcatraz. I guess after five years of dropping very unsubtle hints (example: "I've never been to Alcatraz before." "I love anything prison related."), I finally had to tell him that I wanted to visit Alcatraz. Since I made reservations for HOPR, I had finally convinced him to go to Alcatraz with me. For me, this trip was worth the wait! My only regret is leaving my selfie stick in the car. The view from there was gorgeous that day!

I would totally commit a crime to live there!

 Listened to every word on that self guided audio

 View from Alcatraz

After we got back to the pier, we headed off to an early dinner. Why does it take 30 minutes to drive 2 miles in SF? WHY?! Maybe it's just us, but we thought that something seriously was wrong with HOPR. The last time we went there was over five years ago. It seemed much fancier back then. There was a changing pad in the bathroom and stacks of high chairs. WHY?! When did HOPR become a family establishment? My Yorkshire pudding was burnt and the prime rib was good, but not great. Sigh... that was a bummer. At least the tiramisu was stellar so it made the trip worth it!

Highlight of dinner: DESSERT

We had an early family celebration Tuesday night at Benihana's. I think this might become a Daddy birthday tradition. As of now, we're on year two.

The kids look so much older here than they did a year ago

 Shinn girls

 Shinn boys

I really wanted to make something special for the hubs for his birthday. Unfortunately, I had absolutely NO idea how to set up my sewing machine! I read the manual AND YouTubed it! I had the husband set it up for me and I tried to do something simple when I came home from work the next day. Unfortunately, I messed it up so part of his present is a bit belated. At least I was able to give him his card! Note to self: learn to sew!

 Husband hard at work setting up my machine

Okay, so today is the big day! The actual birthday!

Me: "We're going to celebrate Daddy's birthday on Saturday. Where do you want to take him?"

L: "Why?! We already celebrated on Tuesday!"

Me: (Hah!)

 Brunch @ Country Inn (mediocre, will stick with Scramblz & Bill's)

 Family afternoon watching the game

I guess this is what happens to birthdays when you become a (young) family. Honestly, it was a long (work) week and I didn't have much time to plan much. But, hope you had a great birthday celebrating with us crazies. Thank you for being a very selfless husband and taking ME to Alcatraz, letting the kids "take" you to Benihana's, and just spending a day on the couch with the family watching the playoffs. Taco truck next year!