The kids lining up to go to the second room.
3/7 Chloe's Birthday Party
On 3/7, one of Beck's classmates , Chloe, had a birthday party at Pump It Up in Belmont. Hansel dropped off me, Beck, and Mathis, and then went shopping with Maile. Beck had a great time in the bounce houses, but he also spent a good amount of time on the game tables -- air hockey and this air hockey game shaped like a boomerang.
3/6 Winnie's Mad Hatter Tea Party
On 3/6 I hosted Winnie's baby shower for her first baby. I had decided on an Alice in Wonderland tea party theme because Winnie likes afternoon tea and not because of Tim Burton's remake although its release worked in my favor.
Once I had the theme worked out, it was fairly easy to figure out the rest -- the menu, games, favors/prizes, and decorations. Decorations were fairly minimal. I bought some paper lanterns and found these Alice in Wonderland Stained Glass coloring books (http://www.amazon.com/Wonderland-Stained-Coloring-Little-Activity/dp/048640305X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272312367&sr=8-2) that we also used for the scrapbook. We strung up the paper lanterns with pages from the coloring book.
The menu was an assortment of tea, sparkling lemonade, three kinds of tea sandwiches (cucumber, egg salad, and smoked salmon), home-made cranberry orange scones (they ended up kind of dry), cheese puffs from Trader Joe's (I wanted mini quiches), and Kara's Cupcakes (because Winnie likes 'em). I borrowed serving trays and tea pots to go with the mismatch theme of the Alice in Wonderland tea party. I'm bummed I didn't get a shot of the table.
We played three games -- Baby Food Tea Sandwich game, Baby Bonnet Game, and Musical Teacups. For the first game, I made tea sandwiches with baby food and had members of each team guess the flavor. Winnie was a team in herself and did not get any right. We'll chalk it up to inexperience and pregnancy. Pregnancy affects appetite so maybe it affects taste.
For the next game, each team made baby hats (since this was a Mad Hatter tea party) out of various materials with only about 10 minutes to do so. All the hats were pretty creative, but Winnie picked the leopard hat as her favorite. She likes animal prints.
I introduced the last game by reading a part from the book that describes the Mad Hatter and March Hare moving down a space at the table to use a new tea setting. Instead of teacups we used our handy plastic restaurant kid cups, and the guests passed them around to lullaby versions of Cold Play songs (a CD Winnie at one point had registered for).
For prizes I found bath tea bags at Paper Source (http://search.paper-source.com/index/_/N-/Ntt-bath%20tea). I was looking for tea-themed stationary when I found these. So cute and a nice price. For favors, I had heard about Alice in Wonderland-inspired fingernail polish. So I did an online search and found a 4 pack that had each color in mini sizes. I bought enough for each guest to get one polish and for Winnie to get a whole pack.
I wasn't sure how well everyone was going to fit since our dining room and living room aren't that big, but everyone seemed comfortable enough. And I thought I was going to manage the party prep okay with Hansel's help, but Hansel ended up feeling under the weather. Thank goodness Vicki came over earlier than planned to help. I'm also grateful to Hogene, Margie, and Lara who arrived on the early side and were able to help with some last-minute stuff.
Besides registering at a few places, Winnie also welcomed second-hand stuff. She got some really cute new clothes and accessories and some great used toys and gear. The most important thing is Winnie seemed to have a really good time.
Once I had the theme worked out, it was fairly easy to figure out the rest -- the menu, games, favors/prizes, and decorations. Decorations were fairly minimal. I bought some paper lanterns and found these Alice in Wonderland Stained Glass coloring books (http://www.amazon.com/Wonderland-Stained-Coloring-Little-Activity/dp/048640305X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272312367&sr=8-2) that we also used for the scrapbook. We strung up the paper lanterns with pages from the coloring book.
The menu was an assortment of tea, sparkling lemonade, three kinds of tea sandwiches (cucumber, egg salad, and smoked salmon), home-made cranberry orange scones (they ended up kind of dry), cheese puffs from Trader Joe's (I wanted mini quiches), and Kara's Cupcakes (because Winnie likes 'em). I borrowed serving trays and tea pots to go with the mismatch theme of the Alice in Wonderland tea party. I'm bummed I didn't get a shot of the table.
We played three games -- Baby Food Tea Sandwich game, Baby Bonnet Game, and Musical Teacups. For the first game, I made tea sandwiches with baby food and had members of each team guess the flavor. Winnie was a team in herself and did not get any right. We'll chalk it up to inexperience and pregnancy. Pregnancy affects appetite so maybe it affects taste.
For the next game, each team made baby hats (since this was a Mad Hatter tea party) out of various materials with only about 10 minutes to do so. All the hats were pretty creative, but Winnie picked the leopard hat as her favorite. She likes animal prints.
Leilani is presenting her team's creation. She was one of the few that wore a hat as I requested. Thanks for getting into the spirit, Lei!
I introduced the last game by reading a part from the book that describes the Mad Hatter and March Hare moving down a space at the table to use a new tea setting. Instead of teacups we used our handy plastic restaurant kid cups, and the guests passed them around to lullaby versions of Cold Play songs (a CD Winnie at one point had registered for).
For prizes I found bath tea bags at Paper Source (http://search.paper-source.com/index/_/N-/Ntt-bath%20tea). I was looking for tea-themed stationary when I found these. So cute and a nice price. For favors, I had heard about Alice in Wonderland-inspired fingernail polish. So I did an online search and found a 4 pack that had each color in mini sizes. I bought enough for each guest to get one polish and for Winnie to get a whole pack.
I wasn't sure how well everyone was going to fit since our dining room and living room aren't that big, but everyone seemed comfortable enough. And I thought I was going to manage the party prep okay with Hansel's help, but Hansel ended up feeling under the weather. Thank goodness Vicki came over earlier than planned to help. I'm also grateful to Hogene, Margie, and Lara who arrived on the early side and were able to help with some last-minute stuff.
Besides registering at a few places, Winnie also welcomed second-hand stuff. She got some really cute new clothes and accessories and some great used toys and gear. The most important thing is Winnie seemed to have a really good time.
2/27 Disney on Ice
The last time Disney on Ice was in the Bay Area in late October it was a princess show. Hansel took Maile and went with Leilani/Hannah and Rich/Zoe. After that, Hansel thought Beck was getting to an age where we shouldn't take just Maile to shows and leave Beck behind.
Disney must have realized they were limiting their market because the next show was not just Princesses. This new show was going to have Cars, Little Mermaid, Lion King, and Tinkerbell. So for that show I took Maile and Beck and went with Leilani/Hannah and Rich/Zoe. Before the show, they had princess dresses on display and a couple of the princesses made appearances.
The show was entertaining, and the costuming and props created a lot of visual appeal. The Cars just did a little story unrelated to the movie, but for the others they basically skated a condensed version of each movie.
After the show, we exited the building across the street from a park. So, of course, the kids wanted to go to the park, which had a carousel. After playing for a short while on the play structures, they all rode the carousel and then we headed home. In the below photo, Beck is riding on a San Jose Shark as in the hockey team.
After Disney on Ice, Beck took a nap while Hansel took Maile to a classmate's birthday party. The party was in an activity room at the Palo Alto Jr Museum, which is like a mini discovery museum. Hansel said Maile was more interested in playing in the museum than the party, but I figure at least she's getting a chance to interact with her classmates outside of school.
Disney must have realized they were limiting their market because the next show was not just Princesses. This new show was going to have Cars, Little Mermaid, Lion King, and Tinkerbell. So for that show I took Maile and Beck and went with Leilani/Hannah and Rich/Zoe. Before the show, they had princess dresses on display and a couple of the princesses made appearances.
The show was entertaining, and the costuming and props created a lot of visual appeal. The Cars just did a little story unrelated to the movie, but for the others they basically skated a condensed version of each movie.
After the show, we exited the building across the street from a park. So, of course, the kids wanted to go to the park, which had a carousel. After playing for a short while on the play structures, they all rode the carousel and then we headed home. In the below photo, Beck is riding on a San Jose Shark as in the hockey team.
After Disney on Ice, Beck took a nap while Hansel took Maile to a classmate's birthday party. The party was in an activity room at the Palo Alto Jr Museum, which is like a mini discovery museum. Hansel said Maile was more interested in playing in the museum than the party, but I figure at least she's getting a chance to interact with her classmates outside of school.
More Random February Photos, Mostly of Mathis
I took this photo from the outside of our back kitchen door.
Mathis and Beck watching Maile play a game on the computer.
Mathis looking a little drunk from his black beans (no actual alcohol was used in the making of the beans).
Mathis climbing on me while I'm trying to take a photo.
On this day Mathis spent a long time stacking tupperware, and he'd get a big smile on his face when he'd finish stacking. Don't have a good photo of that. In those photos Mathis is out of focus.
Maile giving Mathis a ride on her shoulders.
Lisa's Birthday
We went out the night before and the night of my birthday. I don't remember where we went the day of my birthday, but the night before we went to PF Chang's. We always try to get to restaurants before 6p to avoid any wait. That day we discovered PF Chang's new happy hour menu. Certain items (including popular ones) are $3-$6 from 3-6p. Since our dinner was so cheap, we decided to partake in some dessert. That same night I think we also discovered PF Chang's reward/member program. If you join, you get 10% off your meals. I get excited by deals like these, but at the same time I on occasion pays credit card bills late and don't deposit checks for a long time.
2/20 King Lynn Family Photo
For some reason we don't take any family photos whenever my mother and brother are in town. So we made a point of taking one this past time. Here are some photos from that photo shoot.
Hansel getting the camera ready
Hansel getting the camera ready
Not quite centered
Ah, now we got it. (See the black button in Hansel's hand. That's the camera remote.)
Who Needs a Tree
Who needs a tree when you have an uncle. Maile and Beck had a great time with Ed while he was here. He took them to the library and the park. And he was a lot of fun to climb.
2/13 Beck's Lunar Year Year Lunch Party
Beck's school has one big fundraiser a year during the Lunar New Year. This year they had it at a big hall in Mountain View. Since my mom and brother were going to be in town, I bought tickets for all of us. I went earlier with Beck since students needed to get there by a certain time and because I volunteered to help.
I ended up helping sell tickets for what they called a Chinese auction. They had like 3 dozen boxes laid out for items that you could put a ticket in to win that item. They had things like a train trip with one of the teachers, an ice cream party, gift certificates, etc. The train trip was actually one of the most popular ones and was with Beck's teacher. He put a couple of tickets in that one but didn't win. Hansel put a ticket in for one of those inspirational prints that had a runner on it. He did it because there were no tickets in the box, so automatic win. But then he was going to pull it out when he found out how much each ticket was worth (which I think was $4). But I told him to leave it, so we would be guaranteed to get something.
They also had a regular auction for items that each class made. Beck's class made a garden box of herbs and a canvas painting. The items made by the preschool classes went for fair amounts, but some of the elementary class items went through the roof.
Each class did a performance. I didn't get really any great shots because I was too far, and we didn't bring the lens with the super zoom.
For lunch they had a Chinese buffet. That was, as one would expect, kind of chaotic. They asked everyone to first only get food for kids, but people, of course, are going to get food for themselves while they're up there. We didn't have to wait that long because we purposely sat by the buffet.
And to top it all off Martin Yan was there. He did a demonstration -- showed some fancy knife work and prepared a dish. He also autographed books that he had for sale. My brother and I got a book for our mom.
I ended up helping sell tickets for what they called a Chinese auction. They had like 3 dozen boxes laid out for items that you could put a ticket in to win that item. They had things like a train trip with one of the teachers, an ice cream party, gift certificates, etc. The train trip was actually one of the most popular ones and was with Beck's teacher. He put a couple of tickets in that one but didn't win. Hansel put a ticket in for one of those inspirational prints that had a runner on it. He did it because there were no tickets in the box, so automatic win. But then he was going to pull it out when he found out how much each ticket was worth (which I think was $4). But I told him to leave it, so we would be guaranteed to get something.
They also had a regular auction for items that each class made. Beck's class made a garden box of herbs and a canvas painting. The items made by the preschool classes went for fair amounts, but some of the elementary class items went through the roof.
Each class did a performance. I didn't get really any great shots because I was too far, and we didn't bring the lens with the super zoom.
Beck is in the blue.
For lunch they had a Chinese buffet. That was, as one would expect, kind of chaotic. They asked everyone to first only get food for kids, but people, of course, are going to get food for themselves while they're up there. We didn't have to wait that long because we purposely sat by the buffet.
And to top it all off Martin Yan was there. He did a demonstration -- showed some fancy knife work and prepared a dish. He also autographed books that he had for sale. My brother and I got a book for our mom.
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