Watch us grow!
Peanut took his first ride on CalTrain today. We were on our way to Burlingame to visit Rowan and Isla.
The train is always a bit hit with Janie.
When we arrived, we had lunch in Downtown Burlingame. Al the kids were busy with their crayons. After lunch, we went back to their house and all three kids played really well together.
This afternoon, Jack, Reese, Rowan, and Isla came over with their parents for dinner. We were lucky enough to get the Clubroom for our dinner party. Janie set-up her tea set while Daddy prepared the steak.
Peanut got to meet Auntie Michelle today. She was very impressed by his weight and sturdiness.
Janie had dinner at the counter with Reese while the others sat at the tables.
The kids were super rowdy after dinner but then settled down to watch Madagascar 2 before heading home.
Today was filled with excitement for this little boy. It started out quiet with Yai. He was super alert and just hung out with her.
He later chatted with Ta over FaceTime and would turn to the screen each time Ta would say something. Maybe he likes his low voice.
Around lunch, Auntie Jia and Uncle Jason arrived and met him for the first time. Toni and Thomas were also here but they were either sleeping or eating. We’ll get a cousin photo next time.
Ama and Ankong also flew in last night and came to meet their newest grandson.
This is a big year for the Lao Family!
Uncle Bang and Auntie Vyl also stopped by to meet him in the afternoon.
He was much sleepier by then.
Here he is with his new buddy Rowan.
Auntie Teresa also came to say “hello” to him. I can’t wait for him to be big enough to follow Henry around.
Happy 4th of July! In the morning, we went to the SF Zoo and met up with Rowan and Isla.
We saw the usual animals but lots of them were sleeping this morning.
We had lunch together at noon and then it was off to the rides!! Dada’s company has special passes for the kids to get unlimited rides on the train and carousel so that’s what we did!!
The kids rode the train twice!
Once with Mama and Dada and the second time with Auntie Vyl and Uncle Bang.
https://youtu.be/4CmYoKOJT8M
Before leaving, the kids went on the carousel and had a great time.
https://youtu.be/G7j46K1CPd8
We also tried getting photos of the kids all the together.
They were super silly and Janie took a selfie of the gang.
She also used Mama’s camera to take pictures of everyone. She’s getting pretty good at this! Maybe she can be Mama’s photography assistant one day.
She took all of these pictures!
What a fun morning!!
Today is Mother’s Day and Mommy woke up to these two little jokers. Janie must have slept really well last night because she was in a great mood.
For breakfast, all the kids had cereal and milk.
The kids found an extra big banana slug near the campsite.
Janie played her kazoo again while Mei Mei tried to stomp on it.
Before the fire went out, Janie roasted one last marshmallow. Her stool came in handy all weekend and went everywhere with her including the bathroom, picnic table, and campfire. Everyone called her the “stool monkey”.
Uh oh…that marshmallow is toast!
What a fun camping trip and the mess on her face really shows it! She slept the whole drive back to Auntie Jia and Uncle Jason’s house and when she woke up, she was all smiles.
While lunch was being prepared, Janie drew some banana slugs.
Auntie Vyl prepared some yummy noodles with veggies, chicken, and peanut sauce.
Then, instead of taking a nap, Janie ran laps around the campground with Rowan and Auntie Vyl.
We also built a fire and Janie played with her painting notebook while Jack and Reese watched.
https://youtu.be/dytd-DC4Xbc
She also learned how to roll dice during a game of “Pass the Pig”. Actually, she was rolling pigs but she got the idea.
Everyone snacked on fruit, cucumbers, salami, and cheese before dinner.
We also had some early marshmallows and Janie was so happy.
https://youtu.be/2QyZWJmoFyA
She roasted one next to Daddy but it went up in flames before she could eat it.
Before dinner, Janie and Mommy did some relaxing in the tent. No napping took place at that point either.
Later, we all went out for Mexican food nearby since we didn’t have anything food prepared for that evening’s meal. As expected, Janie passed out in the car on the way back to the campsite and slept for the rest of the night. I guess that’s what happens when you skip your nap.
This morning, we found a bunch of banana slugs around the campground.
This is what one of them looked like. They’re kinda gross-looking.
Janie helped call them with her kazoo and had a magnifying glass for everyone to see them up close.
https://youtu.be/c2JJrN4SC2E
After dinner, Janie was ready to go hang out in the tent. She must have been exhausted from the day’s activities but I think she was just excited to be sleeping in a tent. So, she changed into her PJs and hung out with her books for a bit.
In the meantime, we started a fire and eventually she asked to come back out.
She loves marshmallows and was very interested in watching everyone roasting them.
I think she gobbled up 4 marshmallows that night while we were all preoccupied.
We also put one on a stick and let her give it a try too.
We celebrated Janie’s 3rd birthday today at the Children’s Creativity Museum. It had a Nemo theme and Janie was so happy to see her favorite characters on the cupcakes and balloons.
Before the food arrived, all the kids (and grown-ups) spent time in the museum playing with foam dough.
There was also a craft table where the kids made rockets.
For lunch, we had Hawaiian food, veggies, and fruit. The Spam musubi disappeared in a flash.
After lunch, everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to Janie and she had a funny reaction to what happened after she blew out the candles.
https://youtu.be/m0QG2TQH5p0
Luckily Auntie Ishya caught the whole thing on video for us.
Janie chose a chocolate cupcake with a Nemo ring on top and had lots of frosting and cake on her face for the rest of the party.
In fact, all the kids LOVED the cake and each had blue frosting all over their faces.
I wasn’t sure if she would able to share the balloons we bought for the party but she did and actually handed some of them out to her friends.
Once the birthday party got packed up, we headed out to the carousel for a couple rides.
To burn off all the sugar, the kids went back inside for some more fun. They all played together on the slide and made a couple videos too.
https://youtu.be/pwF7KQ0v4V0
The slide is green so that you can record yourself with a variety of backgrounds.
I’m amazed that we somehow managed to get all the kids together for a group photo.
Thanks for coming to the party, Friends! Hope you all had just as much fun as we did!!
We went out for Dim Sum this morning for a late Lunar New Year celebration.
Janie loved eating baos and gave chopsticks a try.
Auntie Vyl also gave her a red envelope and $5 inside! Although Janie didn’t understand the significance of the whole thing, she had a good time taking it out and putting it back in – over and over again.
After everyone was done eating, we tried to get a photo of all 5 kids. This was the closest I got when we were inside. For once, Janie was not very happy about taking a picture and ran off. At least they all had a good time playing with each other while we waited for the check.
Then, just before we all headed home, I captured this very rare photo of them on the steps outside. Amazing!! Happy Year of the Ram!