Soccer and soup

 Today the girls took their first soccer class with a new group of kids at Franklin Elementary.  We literally had to drag them to field, but once they got going, it wasn't so bad.  Afterwards, they played at the nearby playground for a little bit before we headed home for lunch.

 

 Team cheer

 

 Sophie climbed her first rock wall while Lydia stood ready to catch her (I wish)

    Hanging in there

In the afternoon, the girls went biking along Montana, a trendy street and great place to spot celebrities.  About seven blocks out, the girls complained that their helmets hurt, but no helmet = no biking.  So, Trung and I had to carry both bikes home; not really my idea of fun.  I was quickly cheered up at dinner, where we met eight other families at Souplantation.  We occupied the entire back room and had a blast!

 Everyone loves a baby

Healthy Kids Day

This morning I went to a clothing swap and was able to exchange the girls' clothes that I didn't like for some Disney clothes, a couple pairs of shoes, two puzzles, and three books.  What can I say...someone's junk is another person's treasure!  I didn't think that I would get anything since I'm pretty picky about what my kids wear, but I was pleasantly surprised with what I found.  I would definitely go back again, stay longer, and bring more clothes to swap!

After lunch, we went the the Y to enjoy free admission to promote healthy kids.  It was a rather small set-up, but the kids still enjoyed it.

2 moonwalks and a couple sports sections

Hooping it up

When the rain stops

A mother duck with her six ducklings in our path on the way to Sophie's school

 Too cute

 Fashion blogger Aimee Song at the Kenneth Cole Beauty Event at Santa Monica Place

 Getting a free five minute makeover from Benefits

 

 All made up and nowhere to go

Drama at Swim Class

Lydia got a bee sting on the chin during swim class today

 

One hour later in dance class.  What a trooper!

Sophie still learning

Some progress

Just another Mom's Night Out

Almost every Tuesday night Snow and I (sometimes joined by other friends) have a Mom's Night Out.  Tonight we went to The Misfit for drinks and dinner and walked down the Promenade to find that there was a party going on at Santa Monica Place...and we weren't invited.  :(  Apparently, Santa Monica was hosting an event for international travel agencies to promote the city.  We still got some photo ops with the props. 

 On the red carpet

 A freezing lifeguard

 A private party in the middle of Santa Monica Place

Peter Tilden "on air" at Fraiche on the walk home

Chilling at Disney

We have promised Sophie a day at Disneyland since her birthday, but other birthday parties kept popping up.  We finally took her today to California Adventure and did whatever she wanted to do.  (Well, what Lydia wanted to do because Sophie always wants to follow her sister.)  Then we dropped by Star BBQ for dinner, where we haven't been in ages!  It's not as good as I remembered it, but still a great bargain.

Trung as Belle and me as Beast in Ursula's cave, the girls' favorite spot

Lydia doing some stretches

Sophie surrounded by large screens

Lydia chased the Monsters, Inc. emblem around the room

Just chilling and enjoying the works of Disney

Bumper cars!

Hundreds of water spouts for World of Color

Posing Sophie on a dolphin

Cheery Lydia

4D Toy Story shooting ride...so much fun and always worth the hour wait.

Mike & Minji's Baby Shower

Today, I co-hosted Mike and Minji's baby shower for their baby girl Alexis Ruth due on June 16th.  Minji's bridesmaids Sylvia & Soonmee and I had a good time putting together the diaper cake last weekend and hanging out while organizing.  Everyone seemed to have fun and Mike & Minji seemed happy with how everything turned out.  Can't wait to meet my new niece in a short two months! 

 My first time making a baby carriage out of a watermelon.

 New Gymboree clothes for baby...courtesy of yours truly.

 Teddy bear theme

 The diaper cake creators

 Mike smelling the "poo-like" melted chocolate in a diaper to figure out which candy bar it is

 

How many toilet paper squares long is Minji's belly?

 

Grown men drinking milk out of a baby bottle.  Too bad it was unintentionally rigged (by me) because the nipples were different flow levels.  What can I say, it's been a long time.  :P

 The parents-to-be

Guesstures fun

A jam-packed day

Wednesdays are always busy for me because that's when I make my grocery runs to Sprouts and sometimes Costco. Now my Wednesdays have gotten even busier with swim class AND dance class in the afternoon. The girls started their new Creative Ballet class today and loved twirling in their adorable outfits, courtesy of my niece Jocelyn. Their teacher Angie is wonderful and very patient with the kids, hopefully the girls will continue to enjoy it for the next seven weeks.

Lydia is back to breathing while swimming again. Hope it lasts...

Second position

Twirling with ribbons

The girls just love prancing and twirling around.


At the bar

Ready for the onstage performance

Actually "dancing". I will have graceful, dainty daughters if I can help it. :)

An Ariel Birthday Party

Sophie's classmate Emme celebrated her 4th birthday at Yahoo park with an Ariel-themed party. Ariel herself came and did face paintings and balloon animals. The weather was awesome too, though a bit on the chilly side.

The multi-talented Ariel

Sophie got a pink heart, while Lydia got a rainbow

Ariel reads about her underwater adventures

Sophie discovered the secret to balloon shaping

The larger than life (well, Sophie) Ariel pinata

Lydia attacks the pinata

Sophie gives it love taps

Toyota Grand Prix

Trung's company gave out free tickets to the Toyota Grand Prix race car event in Long Beach to encourage employees to come out and support the Truecar team. I was excited about seeing the celebrity race, but didn't catch a glimpse of anyone since helmets were on and there were mesh screens over the car windows. The race was still pretty exciting to watch, as Eddie Cibrian crashed into Brody Jenner and other celebrities hit the walls. The event was loud and cool for a first-timer, but I don't see myself going again in the future as the kids were tired of walking everywhere.

Sophie says "grrr'

Our next car

Even though we were surrounded by amazing cars, the girls were more interested in these toy ones.

Monster truck

Wilbur the pig

Trung trying to put in earplugs for Sophie, but alas, they were too big

After walking around basically the entire track, we finally reached our grand stand

LeAnn Rimes sang the anthem

She's quite talented, though all I could think about was how low her top was.


The biggest celebrity in the race

High rise viewers

The view from our seats

The celebrity race was pretty exciting with two crashes, fortunately nothing serious.

Trung's company Truecar's driver Katherine Legge.

The Truecar tent had tons of food; too bad we found out after the fact.

Katherine in her #6 Lotus

I kept looking for Helio Castroneves, the only driver I know because of Dancing with the Stars, at the Paddock, but couldn't find him, so I figured he wasn't at this race. Apparently, he was...darn it! I wanted a picture with those dimples!

Trung and the Tecate girls