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.

nestldown wedding

at the end of august, my sister-in-law's sister, jade got married at nestldown. it was gorgeous, as you can see from the images above and below. it's amazing what floral design can do. my sister-in-law's mother did all the floral arrangements. she is a genius.
after the wedding, i realize i didn't take enough pictures. the ones i did take enough of were the flowers. nestldown is a park located in the middle of nowhere along highway 17 on the way to santa cruz. it took some effort to get there, thanks to my navigation system. we were told to wear comfortable shoes as it is basically surrounded by forests and on dirt roads. i didn't really listen and decided to wear my nearly 5" heels. there were many times where i almost fell. and i wasn't the only one, quite a few of the ladies at the reception tripped and nearly ate dirt. the image at the bottom was at the reception. i took it from my seat. the best thing about this wedding was a surprise performance by my niece and nephew. she was at the mic doing the vocals and he was on the drums doing back up. this is what happens when you hire their music teacher's band to play. it was the sweetest thing.

i have another nephew!

say hello!
to my new nephew...
born on sunday, may 24 @ 7:37am.
meet pax
nhat khanh.
he weighed in at 6 lbs and 3 oz at 19 ½ inches. my brother's second son. he looks just like his daddy and his brother!

and pax's big brother, jett. they are 2 weeks shy of being exactly 2 years apart. he's such a happy boy! congrats to david & thuy!

new hair, new glasses

last weekend, i got my hair cut. shorter, flippy, with a different part, complete with bangs. specifically bitch bangs, is what my hairdresser calls them.

today, i got my new glasses. they are very pretty wine colored transparent plastic frames with bling on the arms which most of us ladies love. i also got transition lenses in case i find myself wearing them in broad daylight, as they will most likely only be worn at night between the removal of my contact lenses and bed. that might be 20 minutes a day.


this is webcam fun with my lollipop head.

election day

as i was coming home tonight, my niece & nephew stopped me on the way up to my apartment. this was the conversation i had with them:

kids: who are you going to vote for??
me: i already voted. who are you going to vote for?
kids: obama! obama!
me: good kids.

there's much to look forward to for our kids.

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.

cousins!

my brothers' babies. how fast they grow. our tubbers is 15 months old but is almost as heavy as his cousins! have you ever seen such sweetness?

our toothless baby

she lost her first tooth!

tubby bubby's first birthday

two sundays ago, we celebrated my nephew's first birthday. he is so soft and cuddly. has the rolls of a michelin he's only one and weighs almost as much as the chunkster who just turned 5! it was a carnival/bbq themed party, complete with a green cake. yes, that is a green coconut cake. it was delicious!
and here is the chunkster being the cute little helper she is. actually, i think she is "in training" for her parents' restaurant. what a sweetie!

our tubby bubby

my nephew is nearly a year old (in june) and has gotten so big! he's crawling now and has at least 3 teeth. he's a smiley baby and doesn't quite talk yet. he's also got all sorts of rolls all over. what a cutie!

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.

meet my new nephew!

jett was born on friday, june 8 at 4:51pm at 6 lbs and 20 inches.
congrats david & thuy!

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...

dreidel dreidel dreidel

i have a little dreidel... i made it out of clay

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!

the little things in life

...are what seem to matter most these days.

what i've learned this past week with the passing of our beloved brother dochi is that life is really too short. especially to have life end at 32. and that he should be a prime example of life and how people should be.

always happy.
always positive.

despite the hell he'd been through. he was always smiling and friendly.

we miss you dochi. ♥

my lollipop head

recently, my nephew has been coming downstairs in the mornings (before i wake up) to see if i would play with him. most of the time, i'm still sleeping and i just tell him to be a good boy and go upstairs.

i've been thinking about it more. i want to try to get up earlier and spend some time with him reading to him. i think it's very important at this age that he gets this everyday. we could have breakfast together while doing this. i just hope i can wake up early enough. i'm going to have to make an effort. while he is not my child, he (as well as his sister) is the closest i have to having kids. i love them like my own. i think this is really important and it's something he needs right now.

i'll post progress reports... wish me luck!

precious moments

last night, i came home late and wanted to see if my chunky & lollipop head (niece & nephew) were still up... and they were. my nephew says to me, i want you to have a baby so i can have a cousin to play with. omg. i don't know if someone put him up to it or not but isn't that the cutest but craziest thing?

later, i was getting ready for popscene and put some perfume on. then chunky says to me, you're yummy and asked if she could have some too. since she was going to bed soon, i told her i'd let her have some tomorrow.

i absolutely adore these babies. i don't even need to have children of my own as long as they are around. they give me so much love. ♥ ♥ ♥

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!