the carnival returns

the last time we went to lisa's work carnival was 2006 and the kids had been wanting to go again ever since. every year, they would ask me about the carnival. finally, after 2-3 years, i told them that it was never going to happen so they should stop asking. so when she told me there was a carnival, i couldn't wait to tell the kids.
i took the day off and got there early, when they opened it up. the kids were in school so we had to get them. we filled up with samosas, egg rolls and hot dogs. when we returned with the kids, we started with some food and cotton candy, then we headed over to the 30 foot slides (see titanic slide below).

afterwards, we head over to the water slide. the water slide turned out not to be worth changing into swimming clothes so lisa took the chunkster to the bull ride while i waited for my lollipop head to do some rock climbing. see chunkster vs. the bull ride video above. we then spot bath tubs that you can drive. i think this had the longest line but nothing compared to the boat ride at the last carnival. after several tracks of the tub ride, we went to cool off with some snow cones. as it was starting to shut down and there wasn't much left to do (we tried the face painting but it had already closed down), we headed back over to the 30 foot slides and the kids got several rides on the titanic slide. overall, it was a fun and hot day. the kids definitely want to come back again. maybe in another 6 years though i'm not sure they'll be up for 30 foot slides as teens.

first time @ the gilroy garlic festival

almost every year, i pondered going to the annual gilroy garlic festival. i made a very pathetic attempt a couple of years with my sister to the festival but the traffic was so horrendous that we made a detour to the gilroy outlets. plus, it was hot as hell. this year, however, we had a work outing there so i made it! not only did i make there but i made it with a couple of kids in tow. we got there when it opened so traffic wasn't bad, at all. and to top it off, it wasn't as hot as it usually is. this was our reaction after tasting garlic ice cream for the first time. chunky and i didn't mind it, however, chris and lollipop head hated it.
here, the kids are enjoying some $6 "frozen lemonade". yes, it is minute maid and a complete rip off. but it made the kids smile so so big. there was much for the kids to do. they rock climbed and played inside plastic bubbles in water like hamsters in those plastic balls. (video to come soon). i walked around in my comfy 3" heels which was a mistake. after hours of walking in the sun, my feet were killing me. this is something to remember the next time, if there is a next time. though, i am thinking this was a one-time only thing.

next image is of the kids with the garlic torch. if you have never gone to the garlic festival in gilroy, it is huge and vast. there was this whole other area that we missed initially. it is this enormous arts and crafts fair. that's where the garlic torch is. i walked through the festival in uneven dirt and grass for hours, carrying the kids' jackets from morning.
finally, the last image is of me with the kids at the very end of our time there. we were under a tent waiting for the others to meet us. we had a good time but it was quite warm and i was ready to leave. since we were there and all, we made a pit stop at the gilroy outlets on the way home.

emily turns 3!

on sunday, my goddaughter emily had her 3rd birthday. i brought the kids with me. it was a day packed with projects, food, and lots of kiddies. they started off with a diy-pizza-on-a-bagel making project. after the kids made their pizzas, it was baked for their eating pleasure. the next project was a birdseed feeder on a cylindrical roll that's glued on with peanut butter. this project was quite messy. it was taken home in a bag. thank goodness, otherwise, emily would have gotten 2 extra feeders.

the last project was the pumpkin painting one. after the kids painted their own pumpkins, they could sprinkle them with glitter. and who doesn't love glitter, right? surprisingly, out of about 8 pumpkins, only one of them had a face.

despite the projects, the kids had a good ole time just playing with each other. the chunkster made a new friend named david. they even talked about going to each other's homes. they played together with my lollipop head the entire time. well, until david had to go home. it was really really sweet.

kids from left to right: chunky, molly, david, lollipop head, one of the twins, the birthday girl, ava, malia, julian, aubrey, and mateo.

we stayed for a very long 5 hours. two hours before, i was begging the kids to go home. finally, i told them, ten more minutes! i felt bad staying so long but the kids were having so much fun getting to know each other. by the end of the party, chunky & emily were "bffs." super adorable.

day out with the kids

today, i took the kids to lunch. but since we ate so much (pizza, mac & cheese, cheese polenta, salad for me, and gelato), we headed over to the mall to walk off our lunch. i never put them in strollers because if i'm going to have to walk, they are going to walk too. plus, both of them are too old to be in strollers. but not necessarily too big. i just want them to get some exercise with me.

at the mall, we came across this photo booth and decided to go in... this was the last and best pose we took.

day at steinhart

i took my nephew & niece to the steinhart aquarium at the california academy of sciences up in sf. last time i was there, i went with my sister (for her 16th birthday) at the golden gate park. there is reconstruction for a new academy there and isn't expected to reopen until end of 2008.

so we went to their temporary location on howard street. their main exhibit is penguins. we went to the feeding of the penguins and it was absolutely packed. it was really interesting. there were about 9 or so penguins. all but 1 or 2 are coupled up. there was one that we thought was fat and lazy (because she didn't swim and just stood there), it turns out that she's losing her baby feathers (still kinda fluffy) and isn't able to do anything (swim or eat) until her new feathers are all in. but about 20 minutes in and after spending nearly 3 hours there, we were tired and left early.

we saw loads of other sea life and reptiles. jaden really wanted to see dolphins and sharks but alas, there were none at the temporary site. much fun was had by all. and during the "who can be quiet the longest" game, they both crashed on the way home...

coercive child-begging

on halloween, i went trick-or-treating with my brother, sister-in-law and their two kids. it's been ages since i've gone. i think the last time i went was for myself. and that was probably middle school for me. while i was probably too old for it, i still looked like i was 10. i remember filling up my pillow cases with candy. halloween was as good as christmas.

it's such a shame that halloween has been ruined for the kids these days. all the hooligans, freaks and psychos out there preying on poor innocent children. i remember the streets being full of kids in cheap plastic costumes with those hard-to-wear-masks. the costumes now are so much better than they were back in the day. and having gone again after nearly 20 years, i was pleasantly surprised to see people still in the mood to scare children, in a good way.

we had dinner in mountain view so we went to the neighborhood next to castro. the first house we went to had no candy. she gave the kids quarters. she said that they never got trick-or-treaters. so we moved on to a different neighborhood. the older the homes, the better. we came to one house where superman answered the door. then he called out for wonder woman to come see the trick-or-treaters. lo and behold, it was both wonder woman and superman! harry potter was so in awe, that he was totally speechless and forgot to say the 3 magic words. it was awesome.

as for me, after walking in 4 inch heels all day and night, i was ready to call it a day. while my brother and sister-in-law took the kids to grandma & grandpa's house, i went home. to do some ironing.

what a wild night. hope everyone had a fun halloween!

i now have video...

a carnival with the kiddies

last thursday, my sister invited me and the babies to her work family carnival. she took our nephew last year but as it was just the two of them and he didn't want to go on any rides, it was a bit boring. this year, chunky is old enough to go so we both took them.
we waited in line for... gosh, it could've been an hour or so, for this water ride inside this kiddie pool. and at the last minute, jaden didn't want to go. thank goodness chunky still did. but it only lasted a minute, she started looking very lost and then cried until she was taken out. i have it on video, it's actually quite hilarious.
the train ride was better. the line was shorter and it went faster. plus, lisa & i could ride in a train car with them. the train went in circles around the parking lot.
there was this huge pokemon where kids were playing inside. chunky kept saying poke! poke! and there didn't seem to be much of a line so we went over to check it out. it was okay. just a bunch of babies inside chasing balloons that were being blown by a fan. chunky seemed to really enjoy it. she wanted to stay even though our turn was over.

we took a food break after all this waiting and playing. they had hot dogs, soda, popcorn, beef taquitos, cheese & bean quesadillos, hummus, spinach dip with flat bread, meat balls in tomato sauce (random), egg rolls, and ice cream. we oinked out. it was fun.
jaden saw someone with a stuffed tiger so he decided he wanted one. we went to where they had them. it was this bowling game. it seemed kinda hard so i didn't want to play. i was sure i would've lost it for him. so, we had jaden play. the guy in charge was really nice. every pin that jaden hit, he gave him. he even gave jaden 3 extra balls to bowl. the last one was soooo close. it ricocheted off the side and hit the very last pin. and he got his white tiger.

afterwards, we took them up this high slide. actually lisa took them, i was in charge of taking pictures. but the battery in my camera died so i couldn't get one. i tried taking it with my camera phone but it crashed my phone. i had to restart the phone. then, the kids got their arms painted with flowers (for chunky) and butterflies (for jaden). i took a picture of it with my camera phone but it didn't come out.

everyone had great fun. can't wait for the one next year! thanks lisa!