Happy Friday

Trung had to catch up on some work on Tuesday on my usual night out since we went to Disneyland on Monday for Memorial Day, so I switched my night out to Friday this week.  We enjoyed half priced wine and small eats at Wine Expo, and followed up with desserts at Milo + Olive.  It's pretty cool how preschool brought us all together, but next year our kids will all be attending different schools.  As least we'll always have our "Tuesday nights out".  :)

  

The waiter felt that we needed a prop and latter serenaded our table with the ukelele.

We're back!

 Our Disneyland annual passes expired back in September (Trung's in December since it took me three months to convince him to get one) and recently, the girls have been asking to go back.  After receiving an e-mail from my cousin from Texas asking us to join them for two days after school ends and finding out at least a handful of our friends have annual passes, I finally gave in and renewed our passes.  I had to convince Trung again since passes aren't cheap, but I had a AAA discount (I joined just for the Disneyland tickets discount), so I got AAA for only $44.50 and received a $36 discount for the passes.  Not too bad if you ask me.

I was excited about going back to California Adventure, so I got everyone to wake up early to get there by opening.  With a slight detour getting to the parking structure and an unusually long wait to get out printed passes made into cards, we were finally in the resort at 9.  We made good use of our time and hit several popular rides in the morning, then taking it easy indoors during the heat of the day.  We went on a couple fast pass rides just before leaving to have dinner at Star BBQ, which has changed since we last went several months ago.  Trung and I discussed afterwards how it wasn't as good as it used to be, but maybe because we are used to it by now and the experience is not as new and exciting.

 Family visit to Radiator Springs

 The girls wanted to sit together whenever possible

 Lydia took my otter, and then Trung switched for my seal.  I got stuck with just a fish.  :(

 Trung took Lydia to ride Goofy's flying school, which Sophie is too short for, so we "flew" over to see Minnie instead.

 Lydia didn't want to be in the picture.  Too bad because Dug was so cute!

At least she was excited to see Russell.

 Sophie's first time on the Radiator Springs Racers, though you can barely see her in the middle front seat.  Such a fun ride, no wonder our fast passes were for 4:25 even though I got them at 9 AM!

 You probably wouldn't guess that we were on the Tower of Terror from this picture.  It was Trung and my first time on it and probably my last...I just don't like that "dead drop" feeling, but at least now I can say that I've been on it at least once.

Dinner at Star BBQ with everyone that went to Disney.

It's Cherry Season!

 We went cherry picking at Amber's Farm during opening weekend this year in hopes of getting the best crop, but instead we were presented with cherries that had already been picked over...by birds.  We still managed to get some of my favorite variety, Utah Giants, on the purple painted trees, and everyone left the farm with their fill of cherries.

 Taking a break from picking cherries because it sure can get tiring

 Eren, Sophie, and Lydia in a boat

 Our group of cherry pickers with Tulin and Lisa's families

 A rare family picture

Classmates Lulu and Sophie

Lydia's first 1K

 Every Friday for the last three weeks, Lydia has been participating in an after school program to improve on her running.  The program was to prepare the kids for the Brentwood 1K, but since it was not happening again this year, the school had it's own little run today.  Each kid ran around the track five times and was rewarded with a medal and popsicle.  I don't know how the staff got the kids to have fun running, but they did it and Lydia enjoyed being a part of it.

 Lydia's all ready to go!

 The final stretch

 Holding up the Finish sign for the stragglers to pass

 The Roosevelt Roadrunners 2013

 Waiting for her medal

Yay, way to go, Lydia!

Jack and the Beanstalk

Mrs. Levin and Miss Nitti's first grade classes performed "Jack and the Beanstalk" tonight and it was wonderful!  The play went very smoothly and all the kids were excited to be a part of it.

This is a story of a boy named Jack

 

 Lydia has been so excited about this play and woke up early this morning in anticipation

 Lydia had the most narrator lines and didn't mess us.  So proud!

Bravo!  Bravo!

Lydia loves her teacher, Miss Nitti

Impromptu happy hour

Every Tuesday night, I go out with my mommy friends either to a Happy Hour or to watch a movie.  This week, unbeknownst to anyone, I decided to skip the night out to watch the finale of Dancing with the Stars and because Trung was coming home early Thursday night to watch Lydia's school performance.  At the park after school, however, my friends all still wanted to go out, so I put together a last minute happy hour to Monsoon at a later time; I'm so glad I did because we had a great time!

Catherine, Lisa, me, Tulin, and Ada

Play date in Malibu

 Sophie's classmate Zara and her mom Neeru invited us over to their new condo in Malibu for the afternoon.  The girls had so much running around and snacking that we didn't make it to the swimming pool.

 

 Four little monkeys jumping on a bed

 Glittery girls

Sophie, Zara, Ione, and Lydia

All things Asian

After we dropped my parents off at the Santa Ana airport in Irvine, we had lunch at Brodard and then went to visit Mike.  Trung hadn't seen Alexis is over three months, so it was nice for them to get reacquainted.  After a quick visit with Aunt Monica to drop off some food, we went to a stinky tofu restaurant for dinner and spent a whooping $25!  Gotta love inexpensive Asian food!

 

Cousins

Trung and his youngest niece

Throw down

Lydia and Sophie dragged this huge teddy bear downstairs and Lydia entertained Alexis with it

Double the fun

Hydra

Minji's Final Graduation

This afternoon, I had the privilege of watching my sister-in-law Minji graduate with her doctorate degree at USC.  Parking was a nightmare, so I was thirty minutes later than I had planned, but I was present to watch the entire ceremony.  Congratulations, Minji, you made it and we are all very proud of you!

Walking to the ceremony

Getting hooded

"The" graduate pose

Dr. Minji Noh Lee

me, Dad, Alexis, Mike, Minji, Minji's mom, Mom, Aunt Monica

First Five California

It is currently dead season for the entertainment industry, so I was surprised to get a text for a job for Sophie.  It was her first picture picked job and for a public service announcement about First Five California, which informs parents how important the first five years of life is.  I was still able to go to my eye doctor's appointment and Sophie was able to attend 2.5 hours of school since the shoot wasn't until 3:30.  We got home around 6:45, so it was relatively short, which is normally the case when schooling isn't required on set (3 hours for kids 1st grade and up).

 The director really made the shoot a lot of fun

Always posing

 On set...the kid in the orange is the main "actor"

The cutest little pancho

Wooby and Peep

Apparently this week is "Celebrate Children's Books" week, so the main library had a special book reading of "Wooby and Peep" with a craft afterwards.  With swim classes over until the summer, I jump at any opportunity to keep the kids busy, so I was totally there.

Ready for story time

Getting goofy

Illustrator Mary Peterson reading her book

Flat tire

 Unfortunately, I'm not talking about the Belgium beer.  This afternoon when I went to pick up Sophie with Lydia, Juliet, and Isabelle in tow, I just had to park in the first parking spot even though there were at least four consecutive spots available, and I went over the curb of the concrete divider.  I didn't think much of it since I've done it several times before at other places, but I went to look at the tire anyways, just in time to hear all of the air hissing out.  I had myself a bonafide flat tire.  I must have hit the tire at just the right spot because this was definitely a first.  Luckily, a friend had AAA card and we were able to call them up and have the spare put on within 45 minutes.  Everything went very smoothly considered the kids had a play date and it was the hottest day so far this year.

 Noticed the two inch slit at the bottom of the tire

My poor minivan...going on five years with us.

Japanese Tea Party

 The girls and I attended the main library's annual mother/daughter party this afternoon; this year, it was a Japanese tea party where we were taught the correct way to prepare and drink tea.  We go every year, though last year, they changed the age limit and Sophie couldn't go.  Lydia arrived late too because she went with Weiru and Juliet to a classmate's birthday party about 45 minutes south of Santa Monica.  I enjoyed the parties more in previous years, but it was still a nice way to spend Mother's Day weekend with just the girls.

 Our vegetarian bento boxes

 Traditional Japanese dancing

 Sophie is the middle without a clue of what to do

Making fans during craft time

After the party, we went home and changed.  Then we went to Weiru's place to have dinner and watch Aliens 2 and 3.  Weiru and Dave didn't care to watch the last Aliens movie, so Trung and I will watch it later in the week.  Maybe a Terminator marathon next?

Wine and Cheese

I had some fellow Washington West mommies come over this afternoon for some wine and cheese after dropping off the kids at school.  We enjoyed yummy snacks and conversations without having to be constantly interrupted by children, which was so nice.  Definitely a great way to start Mother's Day weekend!

  

 

 Wine, cheese, and more!

 Chocolate mousse cake with raspberry filling...so good!

Criminal Minds

Sophie had an extras job on Criminal Minds several months ago, but when it aired tonight, she was no where to be found.  This would be the first job that either girls have done where they don't appear at all.  It also goes to show how much the entertainment industry spends on extras that they don't even use, and it was such an elaborate scene too!  Oh well, at least she got paid.

The playground scene that Sophie would have been in.

Kidspace with Preschool Buddies

Sophie had her kindergarten assessment this afternoon, where the kindergarten teachers assess the kids to determine which of the six classrooms they will be going into in the Fall.  I had to pull her out of school at 1:30 for the 2 PM assessment, which lasted about 45 minutes.  Lydia got out of school soon after and we all left (with Diane and Ione) to Pasadena for an afternoon of fun at the Kidspace Museum.  Lorri arrived later with her gang of four kids and we had a tough time keeping all the kids together.  Fortunately, most of them grouped together, so the three adults were able to keep track of them for the most past.

Petting a cockroach...ewwww

Sophie getting a free ride

Sophie stops in the middle of the "street" to pose for the camera

Not sure, but I suppose Lydia is reading an imaginary book?

Insect entrees, anybody?

Teamwork

Just LOVE Lydia's pose in this picture

Go Team Washington West!

All the kids...we were greatly outnumbered

All the more reason for the moms to enjoy sangrias