4/30 Beck's 4th Birthday

On Beck's birthday, I brought to his class homemade mini-muffins that Maile and Beck helped make the day before and mini pullback trains for favors. The kids liked the muffins, and they loved the trains. There were 6 different colored trains, and Beck gave his best buddies the blue ones.

Beck's teacher made him the birthday hat with Thomas stickers and cotton for the steam. 

Beck being sung to by his classmates.

After I picked up the kids from school, including Hannah, we had a small celebration at home. Hansel's aunt had dropped off a birthday cake while I was picking up the kids. 

Beck opened one gift after Hannah left. Check out the wrapping paper. Only the best for our kids.

For dinner Beck wanted to go to Fresh Choice. Below is a photo of Mathis pretending a cantaloupe rind is a phone. The boy in the red shirt in the background is a 1st grade classmate of Maile's. Maile's school has mixed grades (i.e., K/1, 2/3, and 4/5). It was the 3rd time we had gone to Fresh Choice and seen one of her 1st grade male classmates (a different one each time).

4/25 Family Day at Stanford

On 4/25 Cantor Arts Museum at Stanford had a family day celebrating Chinese culture. We got there just in time to see some of the Lion Dance that opened the festivities. They had a half a dozen activities set up for kids thoughout the museum. The kids did a few of them and then we went outside to get out from the crowd. We bought lunch from the tent cafe in the Rodin Sculpture Garden since they had a veggie option and responsible prices.

We then walked around the campus a bit. We hung out at the fountain in front of Memorial Auditorium (aka MemAud) and then the kids went up Hoover Tower (aka HooTow) with Hansel while I waited below with a sleeping Mathis. While going to Stanford, I never made it up HooTow. Now my kids have gone up there before me.   

Hansel took the above shot of Mathis from the top of Hoover Tower.

4/24 Happy Hollow

Happy Hollow Farm and Zoo in San Jose was closed for about a year and reopened in March. We went there a few years back when the Eastcoast Lynns were visiting. It was cute and fun and just the right size for Maile back then. We decided to take the kids to Happy Hollow on 4/24.

When we got to the entrance, which strangely enough was in the back, I was checking out the membership line. Hansel wisely said we should check it out first before buying a membership. Boy, was that a good call. The park is nice but definitely on the young side, almost too young for Maile. Maile wasn't that interested in the rides except for the one she could ride with Mathis and the Danny the Dragon ride. Beck rode most of the rides. He still likes the small cars.

We should have gone on the Danny the Dragon ride when we first got there because by the time we made our way over, the line took at least 1/2 hr. The ride was not very excited. It was really slow and the scenes we passed by were random props they kept from the old park and some of which didn't go together. At least the kids liked it.

The zoo part was good. They had two areas -- a wildlife area and a farm animal area. I took the below photo quickly with my phone. Probably not a good idea since Hansel was somewhere else with Maile and Beck, so there was noone to catch Mathis should he fall.

4/18 Oh, A Hiking We Will Go

Hansel was planning to do a morning run at the Palo Alto Foothills park, so he suggested I meet him there with the kids for lunch and a short hike. We asked the Yaus if they wanted to join us. We had lunch at this picnic area with a small dried up creek. The kids had fun playing around the creek bed. We then set off on our short hike. Just the right steepness for the kids. We used a soft backpack to carry Mathis something we hadn't used since Maile was a baby. Al had the pleasure of carrying Zachary most of the way.

We reached the top where there was a nice view of the bay area and some really big houses. There were telescopes set up where you could look to see San Mateo, Oakland, so on. We took some photos and then headed down. We took a different path down, one that went to the small lake by the entrance. Al took Zachary down the way we came up to get their car, and Hansel ran back to our car after we got to the lake.

Aloha, Hawaii! - Part II

For the rest of our trip, we spent a lot of time on the beach, walked further into Waikiki to shop and eat, and watched the Hilton luau from our room and up close. Hansel did take the kids to the pool with the water slides once, but they liked the beach more.

Mathis getting down and dirty. For some reason, we didn't dress him in swimwear that day.

Hansel went out alone one morning and took some photos. Below is my favorite.

 Below the kids are doing one of their favorite activities with their grandma -- collecting seashells.

Below are shots from Hansel's "photo shoot" with the kids. It was during one of Mathis' naps.

We went to the International Marketplace twice -- to get a gift for Winnie and Dave's new baby and to get souvenirs for the kids compliments of Hansel's mom. Maile got a dancing hula girl and Beck a pullback train. Not exactly a Hawaiian souvenir, but the kid's got to have his train. Hansel and Hansel's mom and the kids also made it to Hilo Hattie not to buy stuff but to ride the free trolley.

Our suite was next to a convention center, and on the roof of the center is where they had the Hilton Starlight luau. Every evening the kids, mostly Maile, would watch some of the luau. We planned to go to the luau but only after sitting in on a sales pitch, where we'd get 2 free tickets for the luau. We didn't sign up for the pitch just for the tickets, we actually wanted to check out the Grand Waikikian, the newest timeshare tower there. It was nicer but not fabulous. The upgrades seemed a little chintzy. The "wood" floors were some kind of resin material, the appliances were black not stainless steel, and the cabinets, even though they were wood vs laminate, looked like something you could pull off the shelf at Home Depot (not that I'm knocking HD, I shop there). The bedrooms and bathrooms were nicer, but the living space was smaller. And for us a bigger living area is more important. Below are some shots from our suite and around the Hilton village.

 There are no seat cushions on the couch because we were using them as a bed for one of the kids.

Yes, the village had penguins. Not sure what they were looking at.

So, we finally made it to the luau the night before we left. Unfortunately, both Beck and Mathis did not nap that afternoon, so they were very cranky. The show was entertaining and the food was decent. And there were some pre-show activities, like getting Sharpie tattoos and playing with Hawaiian instruments.

Last but not least we met up with Roger one night while Hansel's mom stayed back with the kids. Our first time seeing him with a shaved head. I was the odd person out next to Rog and Hansel. Unfortunately, no photo of the two baldies.

It was a great trip. And now that we know the kids' spring breaks fall during the slow period, it'll probably become an annual trip.

4/12 Aloha, Hawaii! - Part I

Maile and Beck both had Spring Break the same week, the week of 4/12. So we made plans to go to Oahu that week and stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. We asked Hansel's mom if she wanted to come. Even with a trip to Hong Kong earlier in the month, she decided to come.

The plan was she was going to fly into SF Sunday night and then we all would head to the airport Monday morning. She had a stop in Denver, where there was a delay and where they made my MIL check her tiny pullman. They said they were going to check it all the way through to Oahu, which she had a bad feeling about. With her delay she didn't get into SFO until 3am, where she spent the rest of the night/morning. So, we met up with her at the airport.

The flight was okay. Mathis slept less than an hour, and was really restless the last couple of hours. It was a hard flight for me. On the other hand, Maile and Beck did well. Thankfully, they are at a manageable age. Looking forward to when Mathis gets to that age, and I'll try to enjoy the ride getting there.

At baggage claim, we learned that my MIL's bag didn't make it to Oahu (my MIL was not surprised) and hadn't even been logged in the system. The airline took down her info and said they would try to track down her luggage and get it to her the next day. We were weary but hopeful. (My MIL actually did get her bag the next afternoon to our surprise.)

In our cab ride, the driver mentioned that that week was the start of the slow season since the majority of schools' spring breaks had already happened. We were glad to hear that.

We got to the Hilton Hawaiian village early enough to make it down to the beach. The kids chose the beach over the resort's pool with the water slides and the lagoon. We weren't sure how Mathis would react to the beach, but he loved it.

Yes, Mathis is in footie pajamas in Hawaii, playing with his welcome lei. He's wearing what he wore on the plane. Didn't change him til we got to our room

I was also in communication that day with Dave about Winnie being in the hospital to have their baby girl. Sabrina Allison was born on her due date and 1 year and 2 days after Dave and Winnie were married on Oahu (http://hanselandlisa.blogspot.com/2009/04/410-dave-and-winnies-wedding-day.html).