House Swap

Weeks ago, Sabrina and I had talked about swapping places over Labor Day weekend.  We haven't really explored San Diego before since we are always going to the zoo, Seaworld, or Legoland; so we didn't plan anything big.  We left around noon and stopped by our favorite Garden Grove places for lunch and dessert.  On the way out, we grabbed a few Lee's sandwiches so that we wouldn't have to worry about dinner and enjoy our time at Mission Bay Park.

 

 The playground is very spread out.

 Trung taking a panoramic picture as the sun sets

 Lydia giving Sophie a lift since she got a little cut on her foot and didn't want to get sand in it

 Trung and I took so many pictures of the gorgeous sky, it was just a beautiful evening

 See-sawing is a group effort

 Let's go, Sophie!

Back to the Basics

Almost every Wednesday last school year, Weiru and I would go grocery shopping and run various other errands (car wash, Target, Costco).  I had to take Sophie at school at noon, so it was difficult getting everything done, especially since Lydia didn't go to school until 10 on Wednesdays.  Well, this year, both kids attend the same school and I don't have to pick Sophie up until 1:40, so it gives me plenty of time to run all my errands.  It was nice meeting up with Weiru again since I literally haven't seen her since the last day of school.

 

 A delicious "all things fish" lunch at Yamato after grocery shopping at Sprouts

Both kids had their back-to-school nights tonight.  Their teachers basically reviewed the daily class schedule and their expectations of the students.  I already know Sophie's teacher since Lydia had her too, but I didn't know anything about Lydia's second grade teacher.  After her presentation, I could tell that she's funny and easy-going, and better yet, she is a studio teacher, so she teaches on set sometimes.  Hopefully this will make her more understanding when Lydia has an extras job.

It's not even her birthday yet and she's already writing about it.  :)

Stalker-mode

 Lydia has been out of practice in riding her bike since we have been on vacation, so we decided to get some time in at her school.  We invited Katie, our neighbor and Lydia's new classmate, and her mother to join us since I noticed that her training wheels were off her bike too.  Then we met Justin and his two girls since it would be the last time that we would see them in awhile because they are moving back to Wisconsin on Tuesday.  The kids all had fun scooting and biking around the big yard while the adults chatted.  Tobey Maguire and his family showed up later too, which distracted me a bit.  I missed seeing him at RFD a couple months ago and was glad to finally catch him now.

 The picture that proves that I am indeed a stalker.  :P

 We were inches away from Tobey several times as he walked by us to get around the play structure to reach his kids, but I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of him that close.

We will miss Vienna (L) and Sabrina (R); the girls all got along so well.

Bangs

I took Lydia to my hairstylist Sri, which I have never done before because she's not cheap, to get bangs to help cover her stitches.  It's not that I didn't trust a cheapy place in Chinatown nor Trung, who normally cuts the girls' hair, to do a good job; I wasn't how the bangs should look.  Sri gave Lydia side bangs because the hair on the side of her head is pretty thin.  I think she did a good job, well at least Lydia wasn't complaining about it.

August 23, 2013

Almost five years ago to the day...August 22, 2008.  My, how they grow!

Fighting back tears

With two kids to get ready for school in the morning instead of one now, I set my alarm 15 minutes earlier that I did last school year.  I needed every second of it too because putting their lunches together took longer that I expected.  Fortunately, the teachers anticipated a crazy first day of school and didn't mind us strolling in a little late.  We even got to stay in Sophie's classroom for 20 minutes to help her settle in.  Her teacher practically had to kick us out though because I couldn't bear to leave.  Even though Sophie already knew six kids in her class before school started, she sat alone on the morning rug.  I almost broke out in tears seeing my baby sitting there all by herself.  Then suddenly she got up, walked over to Trung and I, and hugged us.  *sniff sniff*  She's all grown up now!

Walking the four blocks to school with Trung pushing a stroller full of school supplies

Lydia meets her second grade teacher, Mrs. Lynch

Mrs. Scholder, Lydia's former kindergarten teacher, greets Sophie at the back door

One last activity before our baby starts her schooling career.

Farewell to MD

We had such a great time here in Maryland and were sad to go home, but alas, all good things must come to an end.  Our flight was delayed thirty minutes, so we got to spend just a little more time with An and his family.  Jacob and Matthew are the cousins that are the closest in age to Lydia and Sophie, so it was nice that they all got some quality time together.  See you next year!

Matthew (4), Jacob (6), Sophie (5), Lydia, (6.5)

Steelers vs. Redskins

Before we left for Maryland, Trung discovered that the Washington Redskins would be playing his favorite team, the Pittsburgh Steelers in Washington during our visit.  An wanted to join us and Angie agreed to watch the girls for the night, so the three of us hopped onto the metro and went to see the game at FedEx Field, the largest venue in the NFL.  We arrived towards the end of the first quarter, but were able to witness some pretty cool plays.  Too bad it was just a preseason game though, because all the good players sat out for most or the entire duration of the game.  To avoid the crowds and to make it to the red line before the metro closed at midnight, we left a few minutes before the end of the game.  We arrived at the red line at 12:20, but so many people were stuck there that a subway was turned back on to take us back home.

 Brothers #2 and #4 (there are five of them) at FedEx Field

 The girl was just going to kiss the guy on the check, but he turned at the last minute and got her on the mouth.  I didn't see it, but Trung did and he said she was a real good sport about it.

 Getting a better view from our nose bleed seats

 I think we were the eighth row from the very top.  It got a little chilly later into the night.

 Score!  But not enough as the Redskins won 24 to 13.

There were almost as many Steelers fans as there were Redskins fans.

Butler's Orchard

An's family lives 10 minutes away from a little farm that harvests fruits and vegetables all year round.  This was the perfect activity for the girls because they love fruit; I think they ate more than they picked!

 The ripest raspberries seemed to be hidden beneath all the leaves

 Sophie's first dangle earrings

 Our family of raspberry lovers

 An, Angie, and Jacob (Matthew stayed at home with grandma)

 The blackberries were much easier to pick, but also more sour

 Getting all the good berries on top

 Looking through blackberry eyes

 Nice big, plump berries...perfect for a cobbler!

Angie said that Jacob's favorite part of harvesting is riding down the slides nearby

Too bad the slides were too wet from the drizzle, they seemed like a lot of fun

 For the sake of dry bottoms, everyone else stayed off of the slides

 Brothers' wives

Duckie derby

What is duckie derby?


We thought that we would be taking it easy tonight and going to sleep, but we received an unexpected invitation to go over to Chi's house.  So, around 8:30 PM, we gathered at their place and ate, drank, and were merry.

Trung plays foosball often at work, so I guess he needed to show off his mad skills.

Not to mention dance skills

Washington DC

 Again, even though we knew the girls wouldn't care for it, we took an afternoon trip down to the Capital to teach the girls a little about history and politics.

 Trung took a few architectural pictures on his way to the museum to meet us after moving the car a few blocks away.  The car was initially parked a few feet into a metro zone just a block from the museum, but we didn't want to take the chance and get a ticket.

 This rose makes me think of Romeo and Juliet

 The girls and I checked out the mammal section while we waited for Trung to arrive

 The towering T-rex

 Kissy kissy

 I took goofy pictures of the girls because apparently the Smithsonian National Museum on Natural History wasn't interesting enough for them.

 For my next gift, the Hope Diamond will do just fine.

 The world's largest crystal ball

Out of habit, I told the girls to stop touching the gemstone, but Lydia pointed out a sign that read "please touch".  Touche, Lydia, touch away!

 The girls didn't care for the animals, but loved looking at all the gems; they truly are my daughters.  :P

 A drive-by shot of the Washington Monument, which was under construction

 The closest we'll probably ever get to the President

 We went to Trung's cousin Amy's house in Virginia for hot pot.  Lydia and Sophie loved Amy's dog, Turbo; Amy said he hadn't got that much love in years!

I've never eaten hot pot while standing up before, but it was fun and I'd like to think that I was burning off everything that I was eating.

Philly in a day

 We drove into Philadelphia late last night and found out the hard way how bad the drivers are in Pennsylvania.  I don't care to drive at night and in wooded areas, so that didn't help either.  Needless to say, I was extremely relieved when we were greeted by the beautifully lit City Hall in Downtown Philadelphia, just a couple blocks from our hotel.  

Since we needed to move our car (An lent us his Honda) by 8 AM, Trung and I woke up early, but just to pack up the stuff that we would leave in the car for the rest of the day.  Trung walked back from the all day parking garage and then we got the girls up and ready for the day.

  We walked over to Reading Terminal to enjoy an Amish breakfast and to look at all the goodies.  I found it amusing that philly cheese steak pockets were being sold alongside pigs in a blanket.

 So much candy

We walked over to the historical district even though we knew that the kids wouldn't care for it, but we are after all in a very historical city!

 

 The girls playing catch with Lydia's kitty outside the Liberty Bell Center

 "That's a big crack," Lydia said.

 The front of Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

 The very room of the signing

 We were already hungry when we walked over to Jim's Steaks, so after standing in line for 45 minutes, we were starving. 

The philly cheese steaks weren't quite as good as I expected, though you probably couldn't tell by the way I was stuffing my face.  The bread was nice and soft, but the meat seemed a little too dry.  Trung got the works (mushrooms and peppers) on his sandwich, which helped a lot.

 Everything seemed to made out of glass on the cool wall and inside too, but we couldn't find the way in.

 Lydia's Marilyn Monroe moment

 The beautiful City Hall that took our breaths away as we drove into town

 Sisterly love in the city of brotherly love

The seafood platter at Cantler's...some of the best crabs I've ever had!  :P

We learned a new method of getting crab meat...hammering.  Trung didn't like it so much since it tended to smash the crab meat.