Baseball and a Birthday

This morning we went to Jinky's Cafe for a big breakfast to start off our crazy day. At the girls' sports class, they learned some baseball skills like throwing the ball, rolling the ball, and swinging the bat.


Double home run

Lydia working on her swing

Sophie working on knocking down the ball stand

After a quick wardrobe change for the kids, we were off to Ryan's first birthday party (Ryan is Lydia's classmate Isabelle's little brother). We spent the entire afternoon enjoying fun and games in gorgeous weather.
The party activities kept the kids busy and very happy.


Blow!


Argh!


With the birthday boy


Face-painting


Water gun wars


Trung fights back


Birthday cake time!


So many kids and so much fun!



Sophie makes a dent on the pinata breaking

Lydia does more damage

Life with five kids (Tai is in a baby carseat in the back left)

He'll be back...

So today started off like any other day. Lydia and I left the house a little late for her school, I said hi to some fellow parents and her teacher, and then I drove back home on the usual route. One street before my turn street, I noticed a police car with its light on in my lane. As I sat at the red light, I wondered if the car would be gone by the time I got to that light or if I would have to go around it. Just then, Mr. Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger himself biked right in front of me with his two bodyguards. I couldn't believe it at first, but as my light turned green and I changed lanes to get past the men, I took a good long stare and sure enough, my third celebrity sighting! Mr. Schwarzenegger was smiling and had that "no make-up on" look, as most people do when they exercise. I quickly grabbed for my camera as I slowed down at yet another red light and snapped a picture without looking before I made my turn. I was so glad that Trung was still home when I got there so that I could share my newest sighting. He was right too, being in the elevator with Lacey didn't seem as cool anymore after spotting the Terminator.

Arnold is on the left, you can get a better look if you enlarge the picture.

Easter Sunday

We attended my friend Emiko's church this morning and really enjoyed it. The kids had a good time during Sunday School though Sophie managed to cut two holes in her silk dress. :( After service, we met Tom, Snow, and friends at Alpine Village for their annual brunch...yummy! All the little girls got along well and we all had a wonderful time.

Watching Toy Story 3 on Trung's phone

Sophie wanted to hold the baby

Our family

Isabelle, Tia, Sophie, Lydia, and Kim

Trapping and hunting

Trung started the morning off bright and early to hit the waves with Tom and Victor, a co-worker. He returned home a few hours later with sand in his eyes, a headache (the board hit his head one time), and soreness all over, but he still managed to have a great time. After a quick shower and breakfast, we headed to Marine Park for Lydia and Sophie's sports class. We basically the same drills as last week, but kicking through a goal was added. Then off to McKinley Elementary School to hunt for eggs. We missed the sky-diving rabbit, but arrived just in time to egg hunt. Too bad everything will end up in the trash, but at least it was fun.

Sophie trapping

Double goal!

Trung cheats


Thousands of eggs to hunt


The Chambers (Isabelle, Tom, Ryan, and Jessica)


Waiting for Daddy to arrive...my bunnies


The gang


Dinner at Star BBQ (again, but the one in Gardena)

Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day, the library hosted environmental activities...

Planting...the kids planted cilantro and cosmos flowers

The volunteer commented on Sophie's good eye hand coordination. She refused to touch the soil and get her hands dirty; sometimes I think she has OCD.


Baking solar cookies


Making paper from old paper scraps

Night guest

We now have an awesome arrangement where Marianne and I watch each other's kids every now and then, whether for a night out or to go to an appointment. Tuesday came over on tonight and the girls had such a wonderful time. They all took a bath together and wanted to sleep in the same bed, but that didn't end up happening; Lydia and Sophie actually fell asleep before Tuesday even left. Fun times!

Sleepy time!

Day of Dancing

Talk about a day of excitement! It all started when I received an e-mail Thursday from On Camera Audiences saying that the Dancing with the Stars ticket vouchers, which I had signed up for many months ago, were now available. It's funny how I had just posted on Tuesday a status on Facebook saying that I hoped I would be getting the tickets soon!

Okay, so I quickly responded to the e-mail requesting the Monday performance day, but only the Tuesday results show was available. I contacted my show companion, Susanna, who was equally as excited as I was, and seeked out two more people to join us. Over the next few days, I was able to convince Trung to come since his favorite football player, Hines Ward, is a contestant, and my friend Guro since this is the most "LA" thing to do in my book. I also asked Marianne to watch the girls for the day, which she happily agreed to do. The stage was set, we were going to Dancing with the Stars!

Tuesday morning I was too nervous to do anything, so I stayed home and did stuff around the house. After picking up Guro and a Costco pizza to feed everyone, we dropped off the kids and were off to the CBS Studio at the Grove. We got in line at 1:20ish with about 40 people in front of us, and Susanna met us shortly afterwards. We waited in line for at least two hours in the sun when DWTS people finally started checking our tickets and brought us to shade. During our wait, though, I saw Mark Ballas and Bruno, the judge, drive by, so next time I know to come early so I get in the front of the line to see celebrities too...oh, and to bring plenty of snacks, a lawn chair, and wear comfortable shoes. Yes, I know, I'm already talking about next time; I re-registered on the website for tickets right after the show. :P

Okay, so we finally got out of the sun and sat on benches next to the studio. We waited for another 30 minutes or so, during which time, we went to the porter potty and bought snacks and water. FINALLY, we made it into the studio and they immediately led us straight to the balcony...darn! But, at least we were in the first row right behind the judges and within hearing distance. We were able to catch Carrie Ann Inaba's attention; she waved at us, and there was another Steeler's fan seated behind us, so Hines Ward looked our way and gave us a wave or two...so exciting! The show itself was pretty good though it would have been better with a better view of everything; I think any seat on the floor would have worked. During commercial breaks, a guy named Corey tossed t-shirts and had some audience interaction. It was so cool seeing all the celebrities and just being a part of the show, even though we didn't get any camera time. When the show ended and as we were walking down, I yelled out "Congratulations, Carrie Ann" for her recent engagement and she blew me a kiss. If I could have, I would have hunted a celeb down to get a picture, but with high heels and being extremely hungry, we headed straight to the Grove for dinner instead.

After dining at Wood Ranch, we went to the garage and ended up on the same elevator as Lacey Schwimmer and the two blonde dancing troop girls! I recognized Lacey immediately and asked for Trung to take out his phone. I asked to take a picture with her and the other dancers, when to my utmost dismay, Trung's phone beeped, indicating that it was low in battery and that the camera would not work. I WAS SO DISAPPOINTED! I almost asked Lacey if she would walk to our car with us so I could take a picture with my camera, which I left because they confiscated cameras and cellphones prior to the show. Oh well, at least I got to meet/touch her and had two witnesses. :) Trung actually forgot to leave his phone in the car, so we were lucky to even have it at that time. *Next time I will try to arrive earlier, bring something to sit on, bring lots of snacks and water, bring my camera and/or phone (their system of confiscations is pretty efficient), and have a Sharpie and something to sign ready. Just before we left our place for the show, Trung and I were frantically trying to find his Terrible Towel and Steelers jersey. The night before he was saying that he'd try to get Hines' autograph, but we'll never know if we would have gotten it since we didn't try. This too we shall learn for next time.

Susanna, me, and Guro, all decked out for the show

Me and my honey

The hardest and stalest ice cream we have ever had, purchased from a push cart while we were waiting in line. I could have broken a tooth (or two)!

Stuck at Garden Grove

Mike, Trung, and Lydia got haircuts at Little Saigon this morning and I got my big toe re-manicured since that nail seems to break awfully easily. Then we had dim-sum at a new restaurant nearby called Seafood Princess 2; it was pretty good and they even served smoothies. We had a table full of hot food seconds after we sat down; those cart pushers are pretty crazy! During the kids' naptime, Trung and I sneaked out to watch "Source Code" for a rare date and to use up my AMC gift cards. Fortunately, the kids slept the entire time we were gone, so Mike got to enjoy his basketball while doing us a favor. We ate dim-sum before 11, so by now we were starving, so Trung and I stopped by our favorite All-You-Can-Eat Korean barbeque place, Star BBQ, for dinner on the way home. We ate way to much this weekend, but it sure was fun!

Mike got his haircut first

Cooking away at Star BBQ

A jam-packed day

We started off the morning with blueberry pancakes and then everything after that was crazy fun. The girls had their first lesson at Marine Park; the first sport learned...soccer! The girls dribbled, trapped, and kicked the ball; Lydia seemed more into it then Sophie, but they had their moments.

At their squares

Reflection of the lesson

Play time!

After quickly eating and packing for a night's stay in OC, we drove to Abalone Cove State Park in Long Beach and met up with Lydia's classmates Isabelle and Tuesday and their families. We enjoyed tidepooling and observing an assortment of underwater creatures.Family Pic


Rocky

Floppy

Lydia closing an anemone

Water tag


Sophie gets some air

Adorable!

Sophie wanted to take a picture with this waterfall on the way back

Running in the fields

After a clothes change in the van, we were off to a Vietnamese restaurant to celebrate Mike's birthday! We topped the meal off with birthday ice cream cake! Gotta love my binge Saturdays!

The start of Spring Break

The next two weeks is Spring Break and I wasn't sure how we were going to pass the time, but some moms got together and volunteered for a day or two to watch the kids so Lydia has a play date almost everyday. Instead of the usual school period of 7:45-11:15, the play date is 9-12, so we have all been sleeping in.

While Lydia was at Tuesday's house on Monday, Sophie cut up a storm at home. She really can occupy herself with scissors for hours!

Tuesday Lydia went to Coral's house and afterwards, I pushed the double stroller over a mile to Baskin Robbins for their free cone day.

Wednesday Lydia went to Joslyn Park for her play date while Sophie and I went to her Mommy and Me class. After a simple lunch, we went to Sprouts for our weekly grocery run. Wednesdays is double saving day because you get the sales of last week and the current week. At night, the girls and I met up some friends at Santa Monica Place to watch Shrek while donning Shrek ears. I didn't even know they have weekly movie showings!

Marianne's Mimosas

We celebrated my friend Marianne's birthday at World Cafe on Main Street in Santa Monica. A couple ladies left early and didn't make it into the picture, but we had a nice group and lots of fun, especially while drinking bottomless mimosas. Marianne is Lydia's classmate Tuesday's mom and has been a good and very helpful friend, picking up Lydia from school when I'm running late or have other events. Happy birthday, Marianne!

Shikha, Marianne, Robyn, Virginia, Diedre, me, & Jessica

Mazel Tov

We attended our first bar mitzvah and truly enjoyed the entire experience. I've seen the ceremony performed in the temple on TV before, but it's different when it's a friend's child. After the ceremony, we went with Josie's family to eat lunch at a Jewish deli to keep with the religious theme. Then we relaxed a little and Sophie took a nice long nap before being dropped off at Guro's for the night while the rest of us enjoyed music and food at Duke's in Malibu.

At the temple, Ava, Josie, and Lydia making funny faces

Women in Black: Area, Grace, & Jo Ann

The hostess of the party getting a lift

Dancing with Daddy; Lydia took a little while to warm up

Shooting star

Four little girls watching the waves

I ran into the Weasley twins from the Harry Potter movies while we were waiting for our car in the valet line...my official celebrity sighting! I actually took a picture with Oliver (right) first because James was inside on this chilly night, but I managed to catch him on the way out to their car. :)