Busy Weekend and Friend's visit

Playdate with Parker
Takako and Mari with Aly and Ayase-chan

Saya enjoying water

I asked her to clap her hands and she did!

Alyson playing with a slipper

Noah being silly

Aly and Noah sitting on toy strollers

Saya, too!

We had another busy weekend filled with activities. Sat was Sean's little friend Brandon's birthday party in Bothell. The whole family went there this time because everyone was healthy. It's always nice to hang out with the Dills. Brandon turned two and he is as cute as ever. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera so could not take a photo of him... Sean had a good time, of course, because birthday parties are his kind of party. He sat right by Brandon when they pulled out the cake. Saya was being cute crawling everywhere in her miniskirt. Noah was obsessed with their new flat screen Samsung and we had to separate him from the TV as he was banging on it. Aly was following around a cute older girl named Vicky and she had a blast.

On that night, Mike and I went on a double date with the Collins to a French restaurant in downtown Bellevue. Jen is a foodie (not a fake one like me) and she knows food. I could not even pronounce some of the items on the menu and she quickly helped me from embarrassing myself further. The food and the company was excellent and we had a really good time. I pretended that I know more than I actually do and I said some funny things (as always) but I am glad that they find me amusing.
We've decided that we'll do this regularly and what a good way to chill and relax without getting bored!

Today, I finally was able to meet my Mom's old friend (she's not old), her daughter and two cute little girls. My new friend Mari lives in Redmond and she is here for two years for her husband's assignment with Boeing. Both her Mom, Takako, and Mari are very nice and we had a very good time chatting about my Mom, life here and kids. I hope to see Mari regularly and get to know her better.

I am typing this really fast partly because I had two slices of blueberry pie Mari brought and a slice of chocolate ganache. I think I am overloaded with sugar. I am going to have a blood sugar crash any minute now. It's going to be a looong afternoon...

Aly goes to a salon

Amy, the kids' bang trimmer, isn't around and Aly's bangs were getting longer and longer to the point the poor girl had to tilt her head backward to see things, so I've decided to take her to a salon to get a trim. She was very good, didn't scream or wiggle around. This is the same salon where Sean got his first haircut and he was quite the opposite!

We walked in to the salon and as expected, Aly requested to seat on a pink classic car chair. She just sat there, with a concerned look on her face, but was quiet the whole time. When it was done, the stylist tied her hair and put a sparkle hair spray on her hair. She looked like a princess according to Sean.

When we went home, I put her in a purple dress to complete the princess look and Aly was very pleased. Sean also was very happy and said that "Aly's a princess!" many times, looking at her.

Grandpa's visit and Ayrie and Rion's BD party

Dress up play at the party
Ayrie dressing up as a princess

Little model, Rion

Ayrie and her daddy, Bhaskar

Shasha and Aly reading

Sean and Saya at the party

Rion going for the cake!

Grandpa and Saya bonding time

Grandpa and Shasha came to see us this weekend. They arrived on Friday evening and they will be departing to Oregon coast tomorrow morning. Sean was so eager to see Grandpa and Shasha, he sat by the kitchen window on the counter determined to be the first one to sight their white van (they came in their truck instead). But he acted shy when they actually arrived. The kids were happy to see their dog, Ralph, too, and did not leave the poor dog alone for even a few seconds. We mostly hang out and spent time together and kids were excited to get more attention from all of us.

Our friend Jen has been giving us homemade Korean food these days and we enjoyed her Kimchees, pickled garlic, spicy miso soup (forgot what it is called) and chea gae (sp?) with rice cakes in it. They were amazing!! They also gave us a cedar plank when I told her that I am cooking salmon! I smoked the salmon in the grill using the plank and it turned out great! Thank you so much Jen and Kevin!! The female side of the family took a ride to get fresh donuts at Top Pot in downtown Bellevue this morning and they were really good, too. Mike and Bob went to get cupcakes at Trophy Cupcakes after spending manly man time at a sports bar, too, and I probably gained about a pound this weekend.

Sean, Saya and I went to celebrate Ayrie and Rion's birthday party in the afternoon. Hanae and I met in the birthing class we both happened to take and later on reunited in the baby and me class. I guess we were meant to be friends! They are a great family and Mike and I admire them a lot. Ayrie is such a cute little girl, smart, compassionate and full of smiles. Rion, her little brother, is an adorable little boy who is learning good manners and superb verbal skills from his big sis. I can say it for my kids but yes all of our kids are growing up so fast! We'll be celebrating our kids' birthday together for a long time, I am sure.

Tae Kwon Do

Sean started to attend Tae Kwon Do class on Sat morning from 9:30 since Feb. It's a pretty good opportunity for him to learn to follow directions and work on coordination. He likes it because his good buddy, Parker, attends the same class, too. They make the class fun by using bubbles to kick and punch at etc... He likes it so far and he is getting better. He was showing off his new skills in the photos above.

And... Aly was feeding Saya again when I wasn't looking. I like the look of Saya, as if she is saying "yep... it's Aly."

Sean's official birthday party

Amy did a good job with decoration
Sean's little friend Brandon from his former daycare

I am happy!

Sean with his little friend Parker

Parker said he picked the present for Sean.

Aly playing with Sean's new toy

Saya finally being able to play with the balloons

She thought balloons are fun.

Our lucky new four-year-old had his official party on Saturday. It was supposed to be held on his birthday last Saturday, but the kids got sick. Amy came in to help out with the kids and decorating the living room for the occasion. Amy is really good with making the room look very festive! I handed her the two streamers, one blue and one white and she went to town with them! We put the decoration up while Sean was at Tae Kwon Do and speech therapy. When he came home, he realized that we are having a birthday party for him! He loves and loves birthday parties, especially his own. So he was super excited to get it started.

The crowd was a smaller than last year since some of our friends had schedule conflicts but our good friends and neighbors came over. We had Neal's family, Kevin's family, Yukako's family, Steve's family and Penney from work. I served meatballs, taquitos, boneless fried chicken, rice balls, chips with salsa and guacamole and cabbage salad. I did not make them, no - thanks to Trader Joe's and microwave! We got Sean a Wall-E cake (he is in love with that movie) and he was ecstatic!! When he saw the cake, the expression he had made all the (light) effort worthwhile! His face lit up when we started to sing the happy birthday song and he looked just plain happy! It's wonderful to be a four-year-old! Oh and the presents he got, he had the best day in a long time.

Aly and Noah were really good, too, although they were pretty tired by the end. After all, they skipped their nap. They were happy to see their little friends and were very busy playing. Saya napped really well in the morning and in the afternoon. She was very good.

I am glad Sean had the best birthday experience yet. I am sure he is looking forward to the next one!

At the park...

We spend time outside a lot these days as it's getting warm
Saya, too! but she still has a bit of runny nose.

They get along nicer outside!

Saya's second night bathing in the big bath tub. This time she didn't like it at all~

My dancer Noah. He looks cute with his new haircut.

I just saw something hilarious at the park. After the busy day, I took the kids to the nearby Lake Hills Park to let them run around. There were a group of middle schoolers hanging around at the public bathroom (out of all places!) and Noah was studying them for a while with a very serious look on his face standing close to them for a little while. It was interesting to him because they were dancing and making "music video" (remember those days?). I guess they were 'popping', but actually quite terrible at it. But they seemed content and having a good time. Then out of blue, Noah walked over to them quietly and situated himself right in the middle of the dancing circle. The teens didn't seem very interested in him until Noah actually started to dance with them. He wasn't smiling, no, he had quite a serious expression on him, but when the boys dipped low, he dipped low, when they made jumping steps, he jumped. It was quite hilarious and the teens thought Noah was a star baby, too. They said "get the baby in the video!" and were filming Noah. That made me smile big. (until I realized that Alyson was about to disappear from my sight going over the hill on the opposite end of the park and I had to run to get her... my kids give me a really good work out.)