News!

Not me, of course, but my brother-in-law Sing, and his wife Maggie! Yay! Little girls are so precious...we should know, we have two! :)

Making a move

Susanna and I took the kids to watch Curious George at Lakeline Mall. I didn't find out until just a few days before that Regal Cinema has been offering free movies at 10 AM every week for the entire summer! Well, the girls didn't make it through the movie because Sophie was fidgety and Lydia got scared from some of the scenes. So, we headed out early and Susanna and Ethan met us after the movie at Gymboree.

Afterwards, we ate a simple lunch at the Food Court. While I was off washing Lydia's hands, Susanna caught Ethan on her cell phone camera making a move on Sophie. Poor Sophie, she didn't even know what was happening though I'm sure Ethan's Mommy had something to do with it. :P

Looking all innocent...

eyeing the prey...

making a move...

SCORE!

Kids Swap

When we ate out for dinner tonight, the girls ate much faster than Trung and I, so we were glad that they found something to entertain themselves...booster seats. They kept standing up and sitting back down on the seats for the longest time.

Lydia loves seeing herself in pictures, so she's been putting her arm Sophie lately to insure that a picture will be taken because who could possibly pass up a sisterly moment? Certainly not I.

After dinner we went to see newborn Ethan, so that Trung and Lydia could meet him.

Imagine having three kids...wow, I'll definitely have to think long and hard about that one!

Gangsta Ethan

Nick and the petite pansies

Mayfield Park and Reserve

This morning we met Persephone, her mother, and Kyan at Mayfield Park to check out the peacocks. There wasn't much for the kids to do, but it was a nice serene place to visit.

The master of all peacocks


Persephone, Kyan, and Sophie


Sophie running away from a peacock


Checking out the waterfall


Sweet smiling girls


Me and my girls


A spying peacock



A peacock getting just a tad bit too close to Sophie...

and then to Lydia.

Fingerprints in the dirt


Sweethearts on stairs outside of Mozart's


Best buds

Welcome to the world!

Sophie and I went to visit Wendy and her baby boy Ethan at the hospital today after dropping Lydia off at Mother's Day Off. Congratulations, Wendy, Nick, and big sister Kaitlin!

Me, Ethan, and Wendy

The proud daddy and his boy

What a cutie!

We'll miss you, Jade & Sieun!

Sieun, one of Lydia's best friends at Mother's Day Out, is moving back to Korea today. It's sad how Lydia doesn't know that she will probably never see Sieun ever again. :( We had a wonderful time getting to know Sieun and her mother, Jade; you both will be missed!

Sieun and Lydia at their last playdate

Sieun and Jade, all chalked up

2 Birthdays and a Girl's Night

We started Saturday off with breakfast tacos and pastries from Pablito's. Lydia had a muffin from which she only ate the chocolate chips on the top, while Sophie inhaled a pumpkin empanada.

Sophie sitting in a "big chair"

Yummy empanada

A few hours later we were headed to Henry and Susanna's house to celebrate Ethan's second birthday.

Susanna and I with our kids

All the kids from the party



Fun with Daddy after naptime

At six, we walked a few doors down to Khan and Hwa's house to celebrate Lana's third birthday. After enjoying authentic Vietnamese food, we put the girls to bed, and then I was off to the Melting Pot to have some fondue dessert.

The sunset on the way to pick up Wendy


Wendy, looking fabulous at 8.5 months pregnant and I enjoying the ying and yang dessert

Falkenstein Castle

I attended a party at Falkenstein Castle with a couple of friends Wednesday night. The sponsors of the party had a diversity of displays and activities like bungee jumping, henna drawings and water sliding; I had never seen anything like it even in my college days!

Falkenstein Castle at sunset

Rukaiya and I trying out toasted larvae, mine is still on my tongue

The perfect little place to hang out

Bungee jumping fun

Stay tuned for more pictures once my friend gets a chance to upload and send them to me.

My First Triathlon

For the last two months, I have been training for a triathlon. Initially I just wanted to get in shape, so I just joined Sarah and Ravel in their training sessions. I even threatened that if they asked me again to do the triathlon, I would no longer "train" with them. Well, three weeks before the event, I swam the required 800 meters without stopping and officially decided to do the triathlon; I even convinced Kyle to join that night via IM. Not only has this been a memorable experience, but I got to make some pretty cool friends.

Me, Kyle, Sarah, and Ravel before the triathlon...

and afterwards.

Yay, we did it.

Team Bruno (named for Kyle's cropped top)

A reenactment of our finish since our families arrived a bit too late.

Triathlon with kids

Some of the food Trung and I prepared at our after party. I made tri-berry cobbler in honor of the triathlon.

Three tanned triathletes

Adam and his "Asian girls"

Amy and Sophie

And now, for the Top Ten Triathlon Moments, drumroll please!

10. Swim Team - The nickname given to the young man who informed us how long the pool was. How did he know? "Because I'm in swim team".
9. Ravel borrowing Adam's sweaty and stinky helmet that he uses for his daily commute to work because his noggin was too big for all the other helmets.
8. According to Sarah and Ravel, me freaking out before the race and repeatedly stating how nervous I was
7. Sarah, Kyle, and I looking for the so-called sandy beach the first time we trained at Decker Lake, the site of the triathlon. All we really found was a small area with a sandy bottom.
6. Ravel and Kyle's triathlon tops that showed some tummy...can we say "Bruno"?
5. Sarah trying to determine the length of the swimming pool by counting the number of tiles.
4. Tall Kyle joining us for his first swim and finding that the water only came up to his waist.
3. Ravel needing assistance taking off his swim shirt before a run because it was nice and stuck on him
2. Kyle in the middle of telling Ravel and I how to get around Barton Springs when suddenly slipping on a rock and submerging himself underwater. *It's okay, we were already a couple feet in water.*
1. Finishing my first triathlon and having Trung say how proud he was of me. :)

A game, a spring, and a birthday

Just about every Friday night, we have a group of people come over to play Settlers of Catan or Seafarers of Catan, depending on how many people make it. We have everyone arrive around 7:30 PM, so both kids are already bathed and Sophie is in bed. Lydia watching a couple episodes of Sesame Street while we start the first game, and then we take a break around 9 so that Trung can put her to sleep. We've been doing this for several months now, and it's worked out quite well.

The entire Catan Clan finally trying out a new game.

In the morning we went to Zilker Park for some hot summer fun. Susanna, her mother, and Ethan joined us and got to enjoy the 68 degree water of Barton Springs for the first time. Afterwards, we ate at Shady Grove so that Trung and I could enjoy the green chile cheese fries on again.

Yay, Sophie can slide down all by herself now. It seems that the experience at Great Wolf Lodge has made her braver.


Water break for Ethan and his little love, Sophie.


Lydia swinging high with Daddy


Posing with Mommy


Enjoying the cool underground springs.


Is three really a crowd?

In the evening, we attended a surprise mini celebration for Maggie's 30th birthday. The kids had fun building blocks and running around, while the adults got tired just watching them (mainly Lydia). The delicious chicken and seafood skewer dinner was completed with an Oreo cookie ice cream cake...yum!


Taking down the castle that Lydia built all by herself



Teamwork


Future parents of America

Sophie knows to keep hydrated during this hot summer

Happy Birthday, Maggie; may this be the most memorable year yet!

Sophie and Trevor taking a step together