Jake's Homecoming!

I'm so ecstatic that Jake is finally home after being away for almost 5 days! It's so comforting to have all 5 of us under the same roof again. Kira, Jonah, Mike and I went to pick him up at Fisherman's Terminal yesterday. We got there at about 1pm because we wanted to see the boat pulling up. The ETA was 1:30, but they didn't actually arrive until almost an hour later. I guess they were held up at the Ballard Locks. I almost cried again when I saw little Jacob on the back of the boat waving at us.
From when he tells us, I think he had a blast at camp. He was homesick in the beginning and when he got the card I sent him on saturday, but other than that he did great. He's asked to go back already for the following year. He got a little bit weepy when I asked him about a little blue string that one of the camp counselor tied around their wrist on saturday for them to remember camp, he did have a good time.

I'm so proud of him and the type of kid he has become. It's really hard for me to "let-go" though I know I have to.

Camp Sealth

Jake is going to camp for the first time!! He is going to be at Camp Sealth (http://www.campfire-usa.org/camp/index.htm) until Sunday afternoon. He was really excited and looking forward to all the fun things he gets to do. Mike and I packed his suitcase with him last night and I dropped him off this morning at Fisherman's Terminal. I can't believe how independent and grown he has become. I held up pretty good until it was time for him to go onto the boat - then the flood gate opened big time. I was overwhelmed with all the emotions, I didn't expect to feel the way I felt, but cut me a break, he is my firstborn going away for 5 days for the first time. I stood there on the dock watching as the boat pulled away wondering how Jake's feeling. I'm sure he'll have lots of stories to share when he return on Sunday, and hopefully lots of wonderful summer memories for the years to come.

Jake will be staying at one of the Milky Way cabin. I kept looking at the Google map<http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=47.362988,-122.522283&spn=0.002256,0.004678&t=h&z=18> hoping that it's real-time satellite imaging - sadly it's not. I can only imaging what Jake is up to. I can't wait until he comes home. I miss him terribly.

Kira's first Pig Tails!

Her hair is just barely long enough to do this - I've been waiting for so long to have her hair this way. Isn't she just adorable? She doesn't really like having her hair done quite yet - she pulls anything you put in her hair out almost as soon as you put them on.

She's been walking more and more now, getting more confidence. Today when we were out at the shoe store, she wanted to walk by herself without my help! She's such a big girl now.

Happy 4th!

Hope everyone enjoyed all the fireworks yesterday. I know that we certainly had fun. Unfortunately little Kira missed all the excitement, she went to bed at around 8:30 and she was out cold despite all the commotions and loud bangs. Maybe next year she'll stay up late enough to watch the pyromaniacs, that are her dad and her brothers, at work. I'm just glad that the weather cooperated and the thunder storm went away.

Miss Little Kira

Have you heard of Kai-lan? Well, it's Kira's favorite show!!! Kai-lan is the Chinese version of Dora the Explorer. Kira almost always dance to the theme song whenever we put it on. I've been trying to tape it, but it seemed like every time I get the camera out, she'd stop dancing. This is the best I could do so far, I think it's funny how she shakes her hips in the biginning.

I thought this was a really cute clip of her giggling. I was trying to tape her walking, but I had a hard time to get her to do what I wanted, so I started tickling her - and this is what she did... I also thought it was funny that she pretended to be driving with the PS3 controller - like I said before, she's a MarioKart baby.

Park and Bath

Sunday morning we took the kids to the park for a play date with a few of Jonah's friends from preschool - I think 5 kids came (7 including Jake and Kira). We met at Logan park, where we normally meet. I like Logan park for the most part, except it doesn't have a swing with a bucket seat, so I had to swing with Kira sitting on my lap. The boys like the park because it has one of these climbing structure thingy...boys.


Kira pretty much just walked around a whole lot, holding on to my finger. She rode on the "boat", she slid down the slide (only bonked her head once), but most of the time was spent on a picnic blanket eating animal crackers. When she's just a bit bigger I'm sure she'll be all over the place.

After the park, all the kids took a bath...they really needed it. The boys usually take the bath together, they play with all of their toys and then get rinsed off with the shower-head. They always have a good nice, they try to marinade for as long as they can. I don't like to let them sit too long because they fight quite a bit and are usually too noisy for Kira to try to go the bed. Jonah also has a tendency to drink bath water - I don't know what the deal is with him, we repeatedly tell him not to do it, yet he still does it everytime. As long as he doesn't pee and then drink the bath water - that's just disgusting.

While the boys were taking a bath, Kira got into the tub with me. I asked Mike to take a few pictures because she looks so much like Jake at the same age in the bathtub...I think they can be mistaken for identical twins if they were the same age - what do you think?

Welcome Summer!

Summer is officially here! So happy for the couple of days of sunshine we've had so far.

Jake has completed first grade! He's come a long way and learned lots of interesting stuff at school. We got his spring quarter report card - needless to say, both Mike and I are very proud of him. He exceeded expectations on all subjects, way to go Jake! He will be spending most of his summer time at the Boys and Girls Club with his friends. But he has a couple of things to look forward to such as his long awaited birthday and going away to camp for the first time.

Jonah is pretty much the same. Staying at Kindercare with his friends. He will be moving to Ms. Cerissa's class soon, who was Jake's first teacher. He's learning to read and knows some basic math. Every once in a while I have to remember he is still only 4 years old. He has a very active imagination - especially about monsters in the closet and being alone in his room.

Kira is growing bigger and getting stronger. Her hair is getting longer, it actually covers her eyes if we don't clip it. She's getting more and more animated, she will try to carry on a conversation with you, and play games with you, lots of fun being around the little princess. One downside is that she screams at the top of her lungs if we stop her from doing what she's doing - the real high-pitched shrieking scream that can break ear drums...we're working with her on that. I've been dressing her in dresses now that it's warmer - so much more fun from the t-shirt and shorts for the boys.

It's been a while - sorry

Jake finished his baseball season - this was a picture from his baseball party that we had last weekend at Alfy's. He's a proud kid of a new baseball trophy.


So we've been kind of addicted to Mario Kart Wii since it came out. Even little Kira knows what to do with the Wii wheel. It's really funny watching her mimic us. She's getting so big and wanting to do more big girl stuff.

Kira at the Mariner's game. She does fairly well for about 3 innings...go figures.

Just a cute picture of the little princess.

Mike took this picture when Kira was tire and was asking for me. Isn't she just adorable?

I didn't even know she can pick her nose, but I guess somehow she was able to get her finger into her nose. I think this is just one of those conincidental pictures. I just thought it was hilarious.

Bowling

I got an e-mail for a free bowling party for 4 to Brunswick so I decided it'd be a fun thing to do. The boys loves bowing on the Wii so might as well let them try the real thing. They had a blast and have been asking to go bowling ever since.

Ryean's Birthday Cake

I made this cake for Ryean's birthday. It was a baseball themed party so I made a sheetcake into a baseball diamond and also 2 dozens of baseball cupcakes. I was all prepared for a LONG night of piping frosting, but surprisingly, the cake took way less time than I expected and turned out so much better than I imagined in my head. But the important part was that Ryean was really happy about the cake and Jake a mighty proud that I made the cake for them.