Bella's Build-a-Bear Birthday Party

 The girls were invited to Lydia's classmate Bella's birthday party this afternoon.  A handful of girls met at the Build-a-Bear workshop at Westside Pavilion to create and dress their own loveable stuffed bear.  Lydia and Sophie weren't into it at first, refusing to pick out their bear and straying away from the group, but they soon joined in on the fun.

 Room 11 Classmates Juliet, Maddie, Bella, Fiamma, and Lydia

 Silly pose

 Recording a message for Bella

Crafty gifts for a craft-loving girl; Sophie didn't want to be in this picture for some reason

Totally 80's

 After months of anticipation (we purchased the tickets back in May), 80's night was finally upon us.  My girlfriends and I got into the spirit, wearing outrageous jewelry, bright colors, and fingerless gloves aka wrist splints.  We arrived at the Hollywood Bowl a little early, picnicked on the sidewalk since all the "green" spots were taken, and people-watched.  It was very entertaining seeing all the crazy outfits...prom dresses, leg warmers with heels, Richard Simmons, etc.  Fun stuff and definitely a night to remember.

 

 Me, Snow, Cindy, and Guro ready to flashback to the 80's

 

 My first time at the Hollywood Bowl

 Wine, wine, and a little too much wine :/

 Check out the Hollywood sign in the background!

 The gals born in the 80's, but still thoroughly enjoying ourselves

 Vacation!

 Mad About You!

Head over Heels!

A tea party

 Lydia attended her first tea party for her friend Joia's birthday after school today.  The girls all dressed up in their fancy dresses and dined on tea cakes while sipping mint tea.  Too cute!

 

 Waiting for the party to begin

A bunch of happy little girls on a sugar high

LA County Fair

 The kids didn't have school today, so we went to the LA County Fair, but not before stopping by Monterey Park for some Taiwanese breakfast.  It's been awhile since I've had Chinese doughnuts, fresh soymilk, and green onion pancake, so it was a treat.  It was Weiru and her kids first time at the fair, having just moved from Seattle in June, and they seemed to enjoy themselves.  Lydia did six book reports and received tickets for six rides, our entry and parking fees were covered, and the kids got free milk, so the only thing I had to pay for was lunch...quite the deal for almost an entire day of fun.  We left at 3:30 to avoid traffic and made it just in time for the girls' 4:40 swim class; the girls certainly slept well tonight.

 

 Foot massages

 Tractor ride

 The three little pigs

 The petting zoo...Sophie and Lydia didn't last very long.  Sophie is about the same height as most of the animals and got freaked out, while Lydia just had enough petting.

 Warren and Juliet had a good time feeding the animals, but were scared sometimes at their popularity.

 Llama llama wants to eat

 Weiru and the girls kept a safe distance away

 The skyride

 "Am I tall enough, Mama?"

 Lydia has always wanted to fly

 Now that's grillin'

 Cooling off with some massive snow cones

 On the dragon roller coaster

 Sophie's one ride because she was too short for most

Mamarazzi

 You get it?  Paparazzi....mamarazzi?  Trung thought of it and honestly, I didn't get it at first.  Okay, it's not like I'm always on the hunt for celebrities, but when I do see them, I get totally star-struck.  If their kids aren't with them, yes, I will go right up and talk to them and even ask for a picture sometimes.  But if I see them with kids, I leave them alone and snap candid pictures.  I know, it's bad, but I can't help myself.  Forgive me and instead, check out my pictures of Carrie-Anne Moss at Sephora; you'll recall her as Trinity from The Matrix.

 That's my friend Weiru on the left

 Zoomed in, way in

 

No, she's actually not looking at me

Santa Monica's Citywide Yard Sale

 This morning we hit the the Santa Monica citywide yard sale in search of some beach furniture and boogie boards.  The girls biked a couple of blocks around our place, but we only found a few people selling items that we weren't interested in.  Then I found an interactive map with all the people registered for the sale and started efficiently going to yard sales around Sophie's school and then north of Montana.  We purchased a boogie board, a pair of Crocs, and plenty of nick nacks for the girls.  I would call that a productive morning.

We saw actor Jason Isaacs and his daughter at our first yard sale

Trung was checking out his push up bars and Jason quickly walked over to him to claim them back.  :P

Our first purchase of the day

Check out all our new stuff for only $23

Endeavor's journey home

This morning I dropped my parents off at the airport and planned on staying around LAX to watch the space shuttle Endeavor atop a Boeing 747 as it lands at the airport.  Unfortunately, the shuttle's arrival time was postponed for two more hours (ETA 12:45 PM) and I had to get Sophie to school by noon, so I decided to pick up some lunch and try to catch a glimpse on the Santa Monica beach.  I guess everyone was thinking the same thing because the beach parking lots were packed and I couldn't get a parking spot.  So instead Sophie and I went to her school, about half a mile inland, had our lunch in the car in the parking lot, and waited.  Trung, who was waiting on the balcony of his work building, texted me that the shuttle was going by Malibu, so I should have gotten ready, but I wasn't thinking.  When I saw people in my rear view mirror staring into the sky, I ran out of the car and watched as the shuttle went right over me.  No time for pictures, but the sight will never be forgotten.  

I walked Sophie to her classroom and as I was leaving, I saw the shuttle coming back again.  This time I was camera ready and actually got a couple pictures and videos.  It was so cool to be able to experience a part of history.  Poor Sophie was still in the car when I ran out to see the shuttle, but she said that she saw it.  Then later that day, Lydia's teacher told me that the kids went outside to watch it as well.  So, the whole family got to experience Endeavor's final journey!

My friend Lalaine's picture of the Endeavor when it first came around

Trung's video clip from the Santa Monica Pier

My view of the shuttle from Sophie's school play yard when it came around the second time

My video clip

Mommy Wednesday

 Even though I picked my parents up from the airport on Monday afternoon, we didn't really get to hang out with them until today.  My Dad still went to the convention, for which they were mainly in town for, but my Mom spent the whole day with me.  First thing in the morning, she was already cooking up a storm.  After I dropped Lydia off at school, Sophie, my Mom, and I went to the Farmer's Market where she went produce crazy, buying three bags of fruits and vegetables.  Then Sophie's turn to go to school, and then I had a few friends over for an authentic Chinese lunch. When I left to pick Lydia and Sophie up from their schools, my Mom took a break and was rested enough to join us for swim class.  For the first time in a long time, I got to just chill while my Mom made dinner and helped with the dishes.

  

 My Mom taking over my kitchen

 "Talk like a pirate" at Krispy Kreme and get a free doughnut

Sophie has improved by leaps and bounds since the last time my Mom saw her swim

Scenes from Seaworld

A trip to San Diego isn't complete without a visit to Seaworld.  (Oh, and speaking of Seaworld, they had my camera in the Lost and Found and actually shipped to me.  I was waiting for it to arrive, hence the delay in the post).  Now that our Disneyland passes have expired, Seaworld is now our "go to" amusement park even though it is 2.5 hours away.  Too bad the kids aren't tall enough for the really fun rides, but at least they can both go on the smaller ones.

 

  Still one of the kids' favorite attractions

 The "Pets" show never gets old

 

  Last time we saw this show, "Marina" wasn't able to stay on top of the dolphins

 The sea lions grin at the end cracks me up

 

Shamu Live!

 So glad we weren't in the soak zone...guaranteed wetness tonight

  

 Sophie doing the "splash" gesture to get the whales to splash

 

The finale

Keeping the kids busy

 So it seems that I have misplaced and probably lost my camera, which I am more bummed about because I lost all the pictures and videos I took over the weekend than the camera itself.  The camera was at least a few years old and the battery was always needing to be recharged; my camera phone is more useful these days anyways.  I will still try to do my best to post without it and use what pictures I do have, but it just won't be the same.  :(

 Saturday morning, bright and early, we dropped Trung off at the airport for his trip to Houston to take care of our rental property.  Then we headed straight to The Beachcomber Cafe for a 7:45 AM breakfast.  Afterwards, we picked up some Lee's sandwiches and visited Stehly's Farm in Valley Center.  There really wasn't much to do there, just a trailer ride around the farm, but the kids were content with just playing on the playground.  Then we stopped by Yogurtland to redeem our free yogurts before ending up at Robin and Sabrina's house in San Diego.

It's been awhile since we've all actually hung out, usually we switch amusement park passes and go our separate ways.  This time though, the kids had plenty of time to play their usual dress-up games and what nots, while Sabrina and I caught up.  We even joined them for church the next morning!

 Beachcomber Cafe, babes, and the beach

 The owner of Farm Fresh to You giving his spiel

 Totally dirty from the farm, but totally happy from the free fro-yo

 All smiles after service at Harbor Church

Brian again

Two weeks I posted about meeting Madeline Stowe at Caffe Luxxe and raved about how nice she was.  This time I have to rant about how nice her husband Brian Benben is.  Susan and I met at Caffe Luxxe again after school today and Brian was there again with his group of friends.  I wasn't as distracted since his wife wasn't there, but being around a celebrity always makes me a bit giddy.  Susan had to leave earlier this meeting, so after she left, I took Sophie to the restroom.  Brian was seated right at the "intersection", I brought myself to go over to him and say "hi" and tell him I like his work in Private Practice. Wow, such a nice guy, just as nice as his wife if not more so! Struck up a conversation with me, asking me where I was from, where I live, if I was an actress!  He owned a ranch in Fredericksburg, so we talked about Texas and the current UT campus evacuations.  Looking forward to "bumping" into him again!

Brian Benben, deep in conversation

Folk songs at the library.  Sophie walked Tai over to sit with Cady.

Heat wave

 One night several weeks ago, I was going through all the Barnes and Noble events list and came across a book signing for Miami Heat's Dwayne Wade.  Trung was actually interested in going, which is rare, so I put it in my calender.  So in order to meet Dwayne, you have to buy his new book, get a wristband the day of the signing, and then wait in line to get the book signed.  That's not really a big deal, but the signing is at The Grove's B & N, which means major traffic.  Somehow we made it work and we both got to meet Dwayne and even talk to him very briefly.

 The "stand-by" line behind me

 Dwayne heading to the bathroom

 

 From a distance

 Right up front

They kept the line going, so more people could meet Dwayne, so all my pictures are blurry.  Trung was really happy though that Dwayne looked him right in the face and shook his hand.

Double Down

 A couple years ago, I saw a flyer at a friend's house with a snapshot of her son with a talent agency's information.  She told me all about it, but I didn't really think much of it.  Well, a couple months ago, someone called Sophie "a little actress" and it got me thinking about that talent agency again.  Basically, the agency e-mails all the "clients" casting opportunities, and if you fit the criteria, you might get an audition.  Lydia went to her first commercial audition tonight and she actually liked the actual audition, despite the long wait.  I just plan on doing it for fun, and hopefully one of these days, the kids will be in some kind of commercial or something.  I figure, we live in LA, we might as well take advantage of it, right?

 Lydia's snapshot, courtesy of Knotting Hill Photography

 Practicing her smile during our hour and a half wait

 The commercial is a tech/electronics one

 All the important dates