CalTrain
Hansel had read online the idea of taking kids on CalTrain as a fun activity. So we decided to take our first trip on CalTrain as a family on 6/6. We hopped on the train at Mountain View and went to Menlo Park, where we had lunch at Stacks. We then shopped for a short while before hopping the train to downtown Palo Alto, where we walked around Stanford Mall. They had the Dreams Happen Playhouses strewn about the mall. They were being auctioned off that night to benefit Rebuilding Together. They were very cool. I wanted to play in them.
Graduation Performance
On 6/5, Maile and Beck had their graduation ceremony and performance. Maile's class had their graduation and performance first. One of the mom's put glitter on the girls' eyes. Can you tell?
Doesn't Beck look dapper?
Beck doing a presidential wave.
Maile's class had a science fair. We went with a classic -- a volcano. Maile used playdough to form a volcano around a dixie cup. Then during the fair she poured Diet 7up in the cup followed by some salt. The 7up bubbles up and fizzes over. It was a hit with the kids. They all wanted a turn. They ended up using a lot of our salt.
Then the music class performed. Beck was supposed to shake his tambourine every time the singer sang tambourine in the song. But he only did it at the end. When he did it at the end he did it enthusiastically. We have it on video.
Doesn't Beck look dapper?
Then Beck had his graduation and performance. I don't have any photos of him performing because I was busy shooting video and Hansel was helping Maile with her science project.
Beck doing a presidential wave.
Maile's class had a science fair. We went with a classic -- a volcano. Maile used playdough to form a volcano around a dixie cup. Then during the fair she poured Diet 7up in the cup followed by some salt. The 7up bubbles up and fizzes over. It was a hit with the kids. They all wanted a turn. They ended up using a lot of our salt.
That night we took a family photo. Mathis wasn't too crazy about that.
Beck and His Lists
When Beck lists things off, like his favorite things, he gestures with his whole hand. He looks like a politician.
Mathis' First Meal
As Mathis was approaching 4 months in early May, he started waking earlier in the morning to eat (i.e., 5a vs 7a). I figured my milk wasn't enough to sustain him through the night anymore and that I would start him on solids after his 4 month appointment, which I had done with Maile and Beck.
So, on 5/25 when Mathis was 4 mths and 10 days, we gave him his first taste of rice cereal. As expected most of it ended up on his face and bib. He hasn't taken to it like his brother and sister did and usually starts crying after eating a little over half. While we were in Anaheim this past week I didn't even bother.
So, on 5/25 when Mathis was 4 mths and 10 days, we gave him his first taste of rice cereal. As expected most of it ended up on his face and bib. He hasn't taken to it like his brother and sister did and usually starts crying after eating a little over half. While we were in Anaheim this past week I didn't even bother.
Memorial Day Weekend
Hansel, realizing a holiday weekend was coming up, planned out our whole weekend. He figured on Saturday we'd go to Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos, where we originally wanted to take Beck for his birthday. The park has a kids train and a carousel. And then after the park, we'd have lunch in downtown Los Gatos.
The kids played in the playgrounds first while I fed Mathis, and then we got in line for the train. It took a while because it's a decent length ride and the staff at first wasn't making a concerted effort to fill all the seats. When we got toward the front of the line, they added a longer car to the train and were much better about filling the seats. I think they noticed the line growing out of control.
Maile took this photo of me and Mathis.
After the train ride, Beck wanted to ride the carousel. Maile wasn't interested. I think she had had her fill of carousels. I asked Beck if he wanted to ride a horse since previously he had always sat on one of the bench seats with Hansel. He said okay and seemed pretty excited until it started moving. Then he looked petrified and was grasping onto the horse for dear life. At one point he reached for me, and I think quickly realized getting off while the carousel was moving would not be a good idea.
By the time we left the park, Beck was very tired. So after getting a little lost trying to make our way to downtown Los Gatos, we decided to just go to McDonald's. It's faster, and it had a play structure. We were there for quite a while and even ran into a pair of twins from Maile's class.
Taken with my phone
On Sunday we went to Gilroy Gardens for the first time. Hansel had bought season passes the night before. They were the same price as a regular ticket. Hansel had read online that the park doesn't get very crowded and is clean. The latter comment seems kind of strange but very true. And when we got there, which was about 1/2 hr after the park opened, there was hardly anyone there. By the time we got over to the big cars ride, which was right after lunch, there was a decent amount of people. So it took a while to get through a couple of the more popular rides.
While waiting for Hansel, Maile, and Beck at the boat ride, I spent part of the time watching and worrying over a duckling who was stuck between the two rails. Its crazy mama had tried to cross the rails. I was going to tell Hansel to scoop the duckling to safety, but luckily it finally made its way back over.
The duck and its duckling are on the rock that the three are looking at.
World's Worst Parents?
So sometimes it can be difficult to get Maile and Beck ready in the morning when Mathis is fussy. The remedy for his fussiness is holding him and/or giving him a pacifier. When he was younger the pacifier would pop out quite easily, and he couldn't (and still cannot) put it back in. So one day (5/11) I tried taping the pacifier to him with bandage tape. I didn't leave it on him that long since the longer it's on the harder it is to get off. He didn't seem to mind, and if you look at the photo he's, as Tyra Banks would say, "smiling with his eyes."
Last month I took Maile to a dentist appointment. It had been a while. Even though we do not regularly give the kids treats, the dentist found three cavities. The dentist said her molars are compacted, so food gets stuck. We have to floss her teeth. I'm not a very good flosser, which is why I have all sorts of teeth issues. So I asked Hansel to floss her teeth. Below is a photo of Hansel flossing Maile's teeth for the first time (5/15). Check out Beck. We haven't flossed her teeth since.
Mother's Day Weekend
Super behind on updating the blog, but I don't want to leave too much out.
The Wednesday before Mother's Day. Hansel was leaving the house in the middle of the day. I asked him where he was going. I was expecting him to say he was getting lunch, but he paused and wouldn't really say. So, I deduced it had something to do with Mother's Day. Admittedly, I was surprised he was even getting anything. We don't really do much for special occassions.
After Hansel came back, he came bounding up the stairs asking if I was ready for my gift. I replied that it wasn't Mother's Day yet. He presented me with a gift certificate to a restaurant in San Carlos and said I was going on a Mommys Night Out with Caroline and Leilani. I was very touched by his thoughtfulness, surprised by his forethought and planning, and excited about my first non-errand outing without at least one of the kids.
So Friday night Caroline, Leilani, and I went to Piacere, an Italian restaurant in downtown San Carlos. The place has great atmosphere -- very chic. Our reservation was for 7p, and the main dining room was fairly empty when we got there. By 8p, it was full, after which we didn't see our waitress much. The food was okay; the company was better.
Saturday was going to be a busy one for me. Hansel had his 50-mile race in Almaden Valley, so I was left with all three kids. We had a full day planned. Having stuff to do usually makes watching them easier. First, we went to Macy's to buy a birthday gift for a party later that day. Thankfully, there was a baby doll care center toy set up in the kids section.
Then, we headed to Memorial Park in Cupertino, so Maile and Beck could participate in a Mother's Day performance with their schoolmates. Even though festivals are often held at the park, the parking for the park was not designed with that in mind. The immediate lots were reserved for vendors. The street parking runs along a road that goes away from the park rather than around the park. We parked a good 15 minutes away, which seems like 15 miles when you have a baby strapped to you and are pushing two kids in a stroller.
We watched the dance class performances with one of Maile's classmates. I thought it was sweet when I saw Maile holding her friend's hand.
Maile and Beck performed with other schoolmates that came for the festival. They did two songs -- one in Chinese and one in English. Maile and Beck knew all the words and actions for the Chinese song, which was shorter. The English song was "Wind Beneath My Wings," to which they signed the words.
The Wednesday before Mother's Day. Hansel was leaving the house in the middle of the day. I asked him where he was going. I was expecting him to say he was getting lunch, but he paused and wouldn't really say. So, I deduced it had something to do with Mother's Day. Admittedly, I was surprised he was even getting anything. We don't really do much for special occassions.
After Hansel came back, he came bounding up the stairs asking if I was ready for my gift. I replied that it wasn't Mother's Day yet. He presented me with a gift certificate to a restaurant in San Carlos and said I was going on a Mommys Night Out with Caroline and Leilani. I was very touched by his thoughtfulness, surprised by his forethought and planning, and excited about my first non-errand outing without at least one of the kids.
So Friday night Caroline, Leilani, and I went to Piacere, an Italian restaurant in downtown San Carlos. The place has great atmosphere -- very chic. Our reservation was for 7p, and the main dining room was fairly empty when we got there. By 8p, it was full, after which we didn't see our waitress much. The food was okay; the company was better.
Saturday was going to be a busy one for me. Hansel had his 50-mile race in Almaden Valley, so I was left with all three kids. We had a full day planned. Having stuff to do usually makes watching them easier. First, we went to Macy's to buy a birthday gift for a party later that day. Thankfully, there was a baby doll care center toy set up in the kids section.
Then, we headed to Memorial Park in Cupertino, so Maile and Beck could participate in a Mother's Day performance with their schoolmates. Even though festivals are often held at the park, the parking for the park was not designed with that in mind. The immediate lots were reserved for vendors. The street parking runs along a road that goes away from the park rather than around the park. We parked a good 15 minutes away, which seems like 15 miles when you have a baby strapped to you and are pushing two kids in a stroller.
We watched the dance class performances with one of Maile's classmates. I thought it was sweet when I saw Maile holding her friend's hand.
Maile and Beck performed with other schoolmates that came for the festival. They did two songs -- one in Chinese and one in English. Maile and Beck knew all the words and actions for the Chinese song, which was shorter. The English song was "Wind Beneath My Wings," to which they signed the words.
After the performance, I was trying to corale them out of the park, but Maile was relentless in telling me how hungry she was. Even though I told her that we were going to a birthday party with lots of food, it was not going to be soon enough. Fortunately, since it was a festival for the Chinese community, I was able to find some tea eggs.
We finally made it to the birthday party for Danica at her home. The theme for the party was golf since they have a mini putting green in their side yard. There was great activities -- make your own visors and a putting contest -- and yummy food and drinks.
Hansel ran his best time in the race and recovered well, but realized that he no longer got much out of running ultra-marathons. So, he's decided to go back to running marathons. Yay!
The next day, Mother's Day, we planned to take the kids to the Oakland Zoo. We combined the trip with picking up a cake from Masse's Pastries in Berkeley, the place that did our wedding cakes. I say cakes because we had a cake at each table vs one big cake. Recently at Dave and Winnie's wedding, Lourdes, who was my maid of honor, took the occassion to remind me how I let the caterers give some of our leftover cakes to a homeless shelter while a friend of ours, Lara, didn't even get to eat a bite (Lourdes' dad ate her slice). So, I decided for Lourdes' birthday I would get a cake from Masse's.
Hansel dropped me and the kids off at the lower parking lot. We made our way through the hot zoo. By the time Hansel was done picking up the cake, we had traversed pretty much the whole zoo. So I told him to park at the main entrance and to meet us outside the ride area. The rides are a definite highlight. Maile loves the roller coaster, and Beck, of course, loves the train.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)