Story Drama

No, I'm not planning on telling a dramatic story about our day. Story Drama is the class that Vincent takes at the Children's Theatre once a week. Today was his last class of the season, so parents/caretakers were invited to watch the second half of the class to see what it is that goes on when they're behind closed doors.

Vincent is definitely one of the more talkative kids there. And, he almost seems like he's off in his own little world, but ever so slightly. He participates with the group, but will sometimes blurt out something that doesn't seem to have anything to do with Story Drama. I suspect that to him it does. I feel like he's imagining other things in his mind, along with what they're learning. It felt like he's just a touch behind in doing stuff, as if he was daydreaming, and had to suddenly snap out of it.

But, honestly, it was pretty hard for me to pay 100% attention on the class because I was busy trying to keep Tyler happy.

Overall, my boys were on the wild side today. We went to the meet friends at the Gymnastic Academy after drama. I couldn't keep up with them, especially since they'd run the opposite direction the whole time. At least they burned lots of energy. They were both so hungry on the ride home, I had to keep passing food back to them. And, when we got home, Vincent announced to me, "I'm still hungry!"

Both boys took a long nap. It took Vincent a while to fall asleep, but I ended up having to wake them both at 4:45pm. I would've done it sooner, but I fell asleep, too! I needed it because I woke up at 5am for some strange reason.

Tonight, I was totally uninspired to make dinner. Okay, unmotivated. David was coming home a little later, so I opted out of cooking. I was just gonna go to the ale house, but he suggested the Italian restaurant next door to it. Well, okay! I'd forgotten how spendy that place is. But, the kids ate their meal and were well behaved, and I got to eat good food that I didn't make.

Sadly, they didn't eat as much pizza as I had hoped. It's just not Tutta Bella, I guess.

And, this was taken in the morning, before drama class. Vincent was "reading" to Tyler. It was super cute. They sat and did that for about 10-15 minutes. At one point, Stella was up there with them. Must've been a really good story.



Live To Dance!

Tyler loves dancing. He wants to be just like the rest of us in the family and play the Kinect, Dance Central. I think he got the lowest score I've yet to see, but he was so happy and cute doing it.

Vincent had a go at it, too.

And, in other news...We went to our friend, Robin's, house this morning for a playdate. I truly thing Tyler was the wildest there, but I could be wrong. I was lucky to leave him there for 10 minutes while I went to pick Vincent up from school around the corner. It's really sad to say, but this may have been Tyler first real playdate with his own friends. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. I'm sorry, Ty Ty.

Tonight, I cooked dinner for someone in the neighborhood who just had their first baby. I made this ground pork with soy sauce dish that I grew up with. I also gave them some brown rice, roasted asparagus, and salad fixins with my own balsamic vinaigrette. We had the same thing for dinner. The kids loved it. Vincent didn't just eat it, but he kept commenting on how delicious it was. He even ate another little bowl before bedtime.

What The?

Today was mostly like another regular day in our life. There was just one major thing that was out of the ordinary for us.

About 30 minutes after we put the boys to bed, we heard screaming from up in their room. There was some fussing earlier that David checked on, but turned out to be Tyler kind of messing around. This time, though, it was screaming.

We rushed upstairs to find Tyler standing up and holding something. I was afraid he threw up, so I turned on the lights and he was NAKED. It was his pajamas he was holding in his hands. Oh, and with his diaper, too. What the? All the while, Vincent's sitting up in his bed asking, "Why's Tyler naked?" and giggling. We tried to let Ty sit on the toilet, but then he just started crying really hard. We finally just gave him a group hug, put his diaper and pjs back on, and tried to ease him back to sleep. There was some more crying a few minutes later, Vincent came downstairs to complain, and then it was quiet.

In general, we feel like we're in the terrible 2s with our little Ty Ty. It's different than with Vincent. Slightly less intense in some ways, and slightly more in others. For example, he lays down on the floor when he's upset or doesn't want to do something. He also screams.

Deep breath in. And, exhale.

Doughnuts

Last week, Tyler and I stopped at Top Pot Doughnuts (they really do spell it that way) while we waited for our car to be washed at Elephant, while we waited for Vincent during his drama class. I got them each a plain cake. Tyler calls them "bagels." I keep correcting him cuz what will happen when we really go for a bagel and he's expecting a donut?!

Anyway, today, I got them another doughnut from Top Pot. Different location, different flavor, and they split one. Today's was plain blueberry cake. Somehow, it feels like it's okay for me to give them these because they don't have frosting on them. And, blueberries? C'mon, antioxidants, Baby! It was just a snack. They still ate their lunches on both of those days. Healthy one, too.

I love these shots I got of Ty after we left the shop. He wouldn't get in the car, so I took his picture. This first one he looks very Chinese and like Vincent.

This afternoon, David and Vincent had their first Nerf soccer practice together. David's co-coaching Vincent's team. Vincent's been really excited about it. It's a little tricky going with Tyler, though. Since David's out there with the kids, Ty wanted to join them and kept running out to talk to David. Vincent kept coming over and shouting, "Tyler, you can't play!" Poor Ty. He cried a few times and threw himself down on the gym floor. Maybe he and I won't be going to practices. I'll take pictures next week to share.

Little Stinkers

That's how I would describe my children today. Actually, Vincent more so than Tyler, but they were both little stinkers.

It seemed like the day was going to be a fun one, since we had decided to take the boys to the indoor pool. There was some wrangling to be done before we could get out the door, but we made it there in one piece. Unfortunately, so did everyone else. The "leisure" swim opened at 10:05am, we got there at 10:30am, and it was full. The next swim time was at noon. There was no way we'd be able to entertain the boys enough to wait that long. Vincent, the stinker, made a big fuss about leaving. I mean, I don't blame him, but it was still unpleasant to listen to.

Next, we tried Swanson's Nursery. That's actually a really cool place. But, it was raining, and Vincent, the stinker, complained the whole time about not wanting to be there. Tyler enjoyed running around between the displays of plants, even in the rain. We lasted about 30 minutes, if that.

By then, it was close to lunch time. We decided to try finding somewhere fun to eat in Ballard. We drove around, checked the wait at Portage Bay Cafe (too long), drove around some more. We were about to settle on Ivar's (yeah, fun, huh?), when I remembered there's a McDonald's straight ahead. Vincent had seen a different one earlier and fussed about going there, though we didn't. He also wasn't very excited about the idea of Ivar's (neither was I, to tell you the truth). We figured we had dragged the boys all over town disappointing time already, we may as well give them something we knew they'd like (that's sad to admit).

Lo and behold, this McDonald's had a HUGE playscape. They were thrilled. We stayed there for about an hour and a half, I think. They didn't even finish eating their food. Vincent made a friend, instantly. Tyler didn't want to climb in too far at first. Once Vinent's new friend had to leave, Vincent began to play with Tyler. He was able to get Tyler up to the top, but couldn't get him down the very long corkscrew slide.

I was able to snap one shot before my camera battery died.

Both boys continued to be little stinkers the rest of the day, all the way until we put them to bed. I won't bore you with the details, you'll just have to take my word for it.

And Then There Were Four (OR The Big Hair Cut Day)

Yup, PopPop and Nana headed home dark and early this morning. David took them to the airport and was back and sleeping before the kids woke up.

There was no class at Seattle Central today, so I took Tyler with Vincent to Chinese school. Ty and I wandered around Crossroads mall for a couple of hours. He still doesn't like those coin operated rides. We stopped at Starbucks for a coffee and snack. Tyler tried one of these portable veggie/fruit things for the first time. It was a hit.


After school, we picked up David and had lunch at Smith. The boys split an English muffin with bacon, egg, and cheese. Vincent ate his whole half, which doesn't sound like much, but it is for him. Tyler picked out and all the inside, of course. He also ate about a sack of potatoes worth of french fries. Smith does make good fries.

We all passed out this afternoon for naps. Afterwards, I forced the boys to get their heads buzzed. WHY? There have been two separate incidences of head lice in each of the boys' schools in the past few weeks. Totally gives me the heebie jeebies. Vincent protested his cut, but gave in. Tyler saw Vincent get it done first, so when it was his turn, he just climbed up on the stool and lickety split, it was done.

TA DA!! (This was about the best I could get out of them)

 

Why, yes, Tyler is naked. And, we bribed them with candy to get the cuts done. Personally, I think they look super cute.

After dinner, we went to Target, where they acted like crazy wild animals. When David and I finally got them home to bed, we discussed that somehow, it doesn't even bother either of us anymore that they act that crazy when we're at Target. Like Target is a safe haven.

The boys played around in these tubs, and since they were so wild, eventually, someone did fall out, get hurt, and make a huge fiasco. Again, David and I were unfazed.

What To Say?

I think this would be one of those posts that's a bunch of stuff that probably means little to anyone but those who were involved. It was a good, but uneventful day.

Today's the final full day David's parents are in town. They'll be leaving on a super early flight tomorrow morning. We didn't do anything major. Vincent went to preschool. PopPop and Nana took Tyler to Lowes and to the gymnastics place down south for some tumbling around, but Tyler didn't last the full hour. I took the bus to pick up Vincent, but we got picked up since they were on their way back about the same time.

Back at the house, we all ate lunch, then the boys (including PopPop) took naps. Nana went for her first jog since she had the flu recently. I don't know what I did, to be perfectly honest. Oh, I remember! I sat in a little patch of sunshine and sorted through mail, falling asleep halfway through for a few minutes. Then, Alice and I just sat in the dining room and chatted until the boys got up.

Don worked on fixing our bedroom door (it doesn't shut properly), while Alice and I took the boys outside and all four of us dug around in the dirt, weeding and making a mess of ourselves.

I made us a dinner of grilled flat iron steaks (David grilled) with chimichurri sauce, steamed broccoli, roasted sweet potato strips, and some whole wheat pasta. It was a simple but delicious meal. We ate almost all the food!

We decided to do movie night after dinner, as a treat for PopPop and Nana's last night here. Tyler didn't last long, but at the end of the movie, Vincent was still energetic enough to dance around to the ending credits music. That kid's funny.

Sickness Continues

Both kids were a little sick when we left for SF. Tyler ended up with a fever yesterday, but was totally fine this morning. My father-in-law, on the other hand, didn't feel so good. And, I'm feeling some soreness in my throat. BUT!! For the first time in ages, I didn't need a coat to go outside today. And, I got the car washed at Pink Elephant. It feels so luxurious to have the inside of your car cleaned for you.

After Vincent's drama class, and a quick lunch, I had to see my dentist about a chipped filling. Vincent was being a bit clingy, it's expected since it was my first day back home, and didn't want me to go. When I told him I had to, he asked to go with me. I made him agree that he would not do anything while there; no playing, no talking, just sitting and watching them work on my teeth. He still wanted to go. I eventually gave in and said he could go with me. Though he didn't just sit there, he was very good. They let him watch Nickalodeon, and gave him a "prize" for being so good. At one point, he seemed a bit in shock at seeing me with all this stuff in my mouth, but I gave him a thumbs up, and he that seemed enough for him.

Journey to Nopalito - SF Day 3

David got up early and went down to the Ferry Building and got us breakfast sandwiches, as per my request, from Cowgirl Creamery's Sidekick, which is basically their cafe. We both got a "Ham and Tam" Bambini. Basically, it has ham and Cowgirl's Mt. Tam triple cream cheese with whole grain mustard, on an Acme Bread Company bun. We had free coffee from our hotel lobby, again. It's good coffee.

After David left for work, I went down to the hotel's (awful) gym and spent 30 minutes on the treadmill. Sheesh, it was so hot in there, I felt like passing out after 10 minutes. But, I made it. Then, I went back to the room and spent the next 3 hours working on our 2009 family photo album. I've been working on that thing for the last year, and I'm still only on October. Anyway, that's what I did until I realized it's almost time to check out. So, I showered, finished packing, and checked out.

Since it was about lunch time, my plan was to get on the #21 and back to Hayes Valley, where we had dinner at Nopa the other night, and try out Nopalito, Chef Lawrences other restaurant. It was a bit of a journey.

-Go to the bank and get cash for the bus. Can't remember my pin code because I hardly use that debit card, so I had to stand in the long line to withdrawl cash and make change

-Wait for the bus, which I must've just missed because it was a long wait, and it was late.

-Ride the slow bus down to Haye Valley

-Walk around trying to find the restaurant

Okay, okay, now that I'm typing all this, it wasn't that big of an ordeal. Nonetheless, it was worth it. At 2:30pm, I sat down and ordered my delicious food. I had their Panucho de Pollo al Pibil and the Taco de Pescado al Pastor.

I would've ordered more food, but I was meeting David at 5pm for dinner. Yes, a mere 2 1/2 hours later.

We had already planned to eat at the Imperial Tea Court or http://www.imperialtea.com/ for their afternoon tea service. They had a tea and dim sum special for $17. I ordered their Lychee Blossom tea and David had one of their Oolong teas. Our dim sum pieces were smaller than the norm you get at a dim sum restaurant, but they were tasty.

Here's proof that we were really there...

After tea and dim sum, we had gelato and then bought a thing of cheese to take home. We had all these plans of getting more stuff at the ferry building, but didn't find what we wanted other than the cheese.

We took the Bart to the airport, which was fairly painless. Our flight got delayed about an hour, so we got back to Seattle pretty close to midnight. I sat next to a, um, not so nice man. He seemed alright on the flight, but when we arrive at SeaTac, he was huffin' and puffin' about having to wait for another plane to pull away from our gate before we could park. When we finally got to the gate, he made a big stink about me getting up and standing in the aisle so that he can get up, even though there was clearly no room for me, and definitely no room for him. Why should I get up off my seat, just so I could stand and wait? When I told him that I had nausea from the turbulance on our decent and would rather sit, he responded with "That's not my problem." Ooh, wee! Now I certainly wasn't going to get up. After a few minutes, I did get up, squeezed into the aisle, and stood there. He got up, and stood in our row. My comment to him, "There, now did that make a difference?" Ha!

So we made it home. The kids were sound asleep.

SF Day 2

Got up soon after David left for work, and headed downstairs for my free cup of coffee. Came up to the room and chilled out, surfing the net until hunger set in. Yesterday, there were several places I wanted to eat breakfast at, but I got there too late today. Instead, I had an early lunch at Out The Door. I had their vegetarian sticky rice in a lotus wrap and their steamed pork bun. YUM. I was able to score a set at their food bar.

I walked around the ferry building (yes, again), and bought a few things. The farmers' market was happening, and I bought a little something there. I also bought a book for the boys and some chocolate at Scharffen Berger. I visisted the Railway Museum in the same building at our hotel. So neat to see the old pictures of San Francisco. Then, I dropped off all my stuff and got on the F Line to the wharf.

Whaoh. Things had already changed quite a bit when I was last down there, but we were only there long enough to eat an In N Out burger. This time, I came in from a different direction, and was amazed by how gentrified it had become. Yes, it was already a big tourist trap, but it's now on crack. And, Boudin. Yikes! I stopped at one of those fish stands in the Fisherman's Grotto and got a basket of calamari and fries and an Anchor Steam beer, stood at their counter, ate it, while chatting with an older gentleman from Norfolk, VA. After that, I walked around the wharf area little more, considered getting on a cable car, but then decided to get back on the F Line to our hotel.

Back at the hotel, I took a nice soak in the tub, then fell asleep on the bed until just before David returned.

We had dinner at, you guessed it, the ferry building. Oh yeah, I was there after the wharf, too, to pick up a bottle of wine. We ate at Il Cane Rosso, where David has dinner at at least once each time he's in town. It was tasty. We had a spinach salad with bacon, blue cheese and walnuts, then a spit roast pork with braised cabbage and roasted Brussels sprouts. For dessert, we had creme brulee.

My First Day in SF

After I walked David to his building (across the street), I headed over to the ferry building. It's neat to see the shops getting ready to open up. It's like a fancy, cleaner Pike Place Market. Such neat shops and restaurants. I had a cheese roll from Acme Bread Company, then came back to the hotel to get ready for a workout. That was a delicious roll, by the way. My head is sort of spinning from all the places I want to eat at.

I came back to the hotel and worked out in the gym. Okay, what is up with hotel workout rooms? It's like a total after thought when they're building the place. Can we get a window?

After the workout, I made an appointment for a massage, got showered, and went to look for some lunch. I wandered, and found Focaccia. I just got a small salad, but was able to build my own. It's sort of like the one I get from Il Forniao at Pacific Place in Seattle. Tasty, and healthy. I took my salad, cookie and coffee back to the hotel and ate it on the roof top terrace. There was sunshine, and a wonderful view of the water, Bay Bridge and Ferry Building. I ate, then read a book for about an hour, until the sun was no longer directly on me. It was pretty windy up there, but just in time for my massage. Ahhhhh.

By the time I was done with the massage, it was about time for David to get back.

We had a dinner reservation for 9pm at NOPA, but decided to head down early and see if we can get in before that. The number 21 was right outside our hotel and took us right to the restaurant. Easy, breezey. We got off one stop sooner to check out Alamo Square. What a neat park, up on a hill with big trees. It's like a mini forest in the city. And, lucky us, we were able to score 2 seats at the chef's bar! We had such a yummy dinner. I'm so full right now. I would tell you what we ate, but I need to go rest and rub my belly now.

San Francisco

Yes, we made it. It was a little touch and go, but we're here. Please don't judge us, when I tell you why we weren't sure if we'd actually make it. The truth is, we have left our two small children in Seattle, with one set of awesome grandparents, but they are ill.

Vincent woke up in the middle of the night screaming from a nightmare. He was also running a fever of 103. We ended up having him sleep in his toddler blow up bed on our bedroom floor, but he had a tough time getting back to sleep (as did we). This morning, his fever had gone down, but it was still a fever. Tyler also woke with a fever of 100. By naptime, Ty's had gone away, but Vincent was still running one. But, both boys were really happy all day. In fact, they were quite sweet. And, David's parents felt that they would manage the sick children just fine without us. If needed, I could come home early. So, we left.

And, here were are. San Francisco. We're staying at Hotel Vitale. Ooh la la. This is one of the places David can choose to stay when he's here for work, but he's been staying at a slightly more affordable place. It's his first time here. It's right across the street from his building.

When we got to our room, it was a handicap room. It seemed alright, but something about it just felt awkward. So, we called the front desk and switched. Maybe it's the placement of the furniture, but this room feels better. Call me crazy!

We went down to the hotel restaurant, Americano, for a snack and drinks. It was really tasty. We had a trio or appetizers: Artichoke & Brussels sprouts fritti, Heritage pork meatballs al forno, and mozzerella & grilled bread with tomatoes.

Oh, what will I do tomorrow?

House Guests

David's parents are in town! Aside from when my mom was here to help us move into the house, and when our friend was housesitting while we were in L.A., these are our first house guests. It's so nice to have the extra space so that we don't feel like we're all on top of each other. And, my father-in-law has already helped to hang up two of the things I've been wanting to get done. David would have done it, but he wanted to make sure it gets done correctly. He said he even learned some tips from good ol' Dad.

We mainly just hung around near the house today, getting the grandparents acclimated to the new neighborhood. We checked out the schoolyard, then the playground and community center. Then, they played in the backyard while David and I prepared dinner.

After dinner, we drove to Capitol Hill for Old School Frozen Custard. Yum.

Drumstick

At dinner tonight, we decided to give Tyler his own chicken drumstick to see what he'd do with it. He dived right into it, picking the meat off the bone first, then eating.



Shamrock Luncheon

Vincent's school had their annual Shamrock Luncheon today. Lucky for us, it's held at the community center down the street from us! Each class did a little dance performance. Vincent's Tigers class danced with scarves, which I have a video for, but it's super long, and I'm unable to upload it. If I figure out a way to get it online, I'll be sure to post it.

Tyler just wanted to be part of the gang, too. He kept trying to go sit with Vincent's class. It was very cute. Of course, Vincent didn't want his baby brother there. It's awesome to see him interacting with his friends and having such a fun time.

I had the pleasure of having my friend's daughter come sit on my lap for part of the performances. She and Tyler were hugging a bunch, too.



Since we were talking about food...

Chili is my new bestfriend. It's so easy, especially when you take shortcuts like I do. This week, I made my chili with turkey breakfast sausage. It's already seasoned for me. And, I chopped up my mirepoix in a food processor, making it super fast, and super tiny, so the kids don't even know they're getting veggies! I also use diced, canned tomatoes, and chicken stock out of a box. I did add some ground cumin and dried thyme to my chili today, but that's about it. Oh, and a can of kidney beans. Forget about it! Oh so many ways to vary this preparation. Different sausage. Add some chopped mushrooms. Maybe some wine. Hey, how about that Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes?! Or, refrigerator clean out? I've even used salsa. Sure, no two chili's are the same. So what?!

I'm not usually one for shortcuts, but this one is really forgiveable.

You know what's not forgiveable? Introducing my boys to the new "My Little Pony" cartoon. WHAT! was I thinking?

Tonight, at dinner, when we were talking about how David will get to Vincent's soccer practice from work and then from there home, Vincent commented:

"Daddy, how about I ride my bike while you push me, and you walk with your bike next to you."

Woops!

Kinda funny. I just wrote this whole thing about meal planning, thinking that I was posting it to this blog. Turns out, it went to our Family Meal blog by accident. It guess it's better than a non-food related post going on there instead.

Anyway, read about it!

http://ourfamilymeal.blogspot.com/2011/03/meal-planning.html

As for our day, we went to the gym, where I got a work out, then we went to the gymnastics academy, where the kids got a work out. Exercise, we love it!

The Playground!

We got to play outside the afternoon, and nobody got wet! It rained like crazy last night, about 1 inch. Apparently, that's a lot. It caused a minor leak in our basement. Gosh, I've been talking about rain quite a bit lately. Will it ever stop? It's an "el Nino" year, right?

Anyway, it did stop a bit this today. Long enough for a bit of sunshine to come through our sliding glass door for Stella to bask in, and for me to take the kids out for some much needed playground time. They were so happy, and didn't even put up a fight when it was time to leave.

We ate Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches for dessert. Tyler got a whole one to himself, and for several minutes, he didn't know what to make of it. He eventually got it.



And, after dinner tonight, we walked to the library. While walking there, the boys raced. Here they are getting on their marks.

St. Paddy's Day Dash

I wasn't sure if I'd actually run it, but I did. Why not, you ask? Two reasons: 1) rain, and 2) daylight savings. But, I guess now that we've just bought a house in his rainy city, I need to just embrace it. When in Rome...

I don't think I would have done so well, though, without my friend, Andrea. The plan was to run with a group of friends, even though we were in different "waves." At the last minute, I decided that I would just go ahead, since their wave seemed to be much later than mine. Honestly, I don't know, I think I just got super antsy and if I waited any longer, I would have chickened out completely and just parked myself in a coffee house until they finished. So, I started to take off, and Andrea went with me. She left her husband to run with the baby in the stroller, which is what he was going to do anyway. And, he ran with other friends, too. It's not like she just ditched him completely. Lucky for me, though, she helped keep my going. I would've started walking by mile 1.5 if she didn't keep encouraging me. And, at the very end, we sprinted to the finish. I'm so proud of her, because I feel like she ran really well. Sure, that means I did, too, but I was definitely working to keep up with her.

As for her husband and baby, they made it to the finish, too. Jon even took Eva out of the stroller for a while and she walked along the route, super proud of herself. They win my "parents of the week" status for getting out there in the rain and running with their baby!

Yes, I took this while running. That's hard core.

Ooh, my time! 40 minutes, 13 seconds with a 10.36 minute/mile pace. That's about a minute faster than I usually run on the treadmill, so I'd say that's pretty good.

Rain

Yes, it's no surprise, we live in Seattle. But, it sucks to get caught in it.

After Chinese school, Vincent and I drove to meet David and Tyler for lunch at Eltana. As I was looking for parking, I saw David on the street corner, across from the bagel shop, pushing Tyler in the stroller, with 3 grocery bags (they were in charge of snacks today), no umbrella, and looking very wet. Needless to say, he wasn't in the best mood. Especially, since Tyler had been climbing all over him, whining, earlier while they were in class. To top it off, while we were in line to order, a guy informs the line that they are running very low on bagels. WHAT?! We didn't wait. Instead, we went to Boom Noodle. Probably the best service I've had from them to date, which is saying a lot, because the service is always just so-so and we've been there often.

Anyway, I did get this photo texted to me from David. Cute.

Vincent had a good day at Chinese school, even though he wouldn't let me leave at drop off. He was so excited when he got there, he ran into class ahead of me. But, something changed and he got very clingy. Don't know what. While he was in class, my friend and I went to Crossroads mall and walked briskly around. I was planning to walk around the block outside the school, but RAIN...

This evening, we went to dinner at Tutta Bella pizza with a bunch of friends for Scott's birthday. He also just got engaged to Corrie, so we celebrated that, too!!! The kids are more pizza than I've ever seen them eat before. Tyler LOVED watching them make pizzas and kept asking me to take him back to see. Future chef?

Leisurely Lunch

That's exactly the way Vincent likes his meals. Relaxed. Slow paced. Lots of conversation. And, that's exactly how we had our lunch this afternoon. I believe we dined for about 1.5 hours. I can't complain, it was a yummy meal.

We went to Cafe Presse. When I picked him up from preschool, I was drinking a cup of coffee, and he said, "Mommy, you know what I want? Hot cho-co-late. Can we please have that for lunch?" Well, no, but I was happy to get it for him as a dessert, since he asked so politely. I didn't just want to eat at a coffee shop, even if the one nearby does have sandwiches. It's not a guarentee they'll have one I like. So, I decided that we'd go get the best hot chocolate in town, at Cafe Presse. And, I'd be able to get food that I like.

Vincent didn't seem to like anything I read to him, until I said, "steak." I was a little surprised, especially since he answered so quickly and with such certainty that that's what he wanted. Steak Frites it is! I ordered myself a Salad Verte, and us a plate of dates, sheep's cheese and pistachios. Vincent didn't like the dates, but loved the rest of that plate, so it became his starter. He also ate some of the hazelnuts off my salad. So, when he only ate about half an ounce of hanger steak, I wasn't too concerned. What I wasn't thrilled with was that our steak was pretty tough, so I had to cut his portion into about 20 miniscule pieces in order for him to eat it. It still took him F-O-R-E-V-E-R to eat. He also didn't eat as many fries as I thought he would, but tried aioli and loved it.

So introspective about his cheese, nuts, and bread.

Finally, he finished his steak, and we had their Chocolat Chaud.

One luscious dessert.

Gymnastics

Tyler and I went to the Science Center this morning while Vincent was in drama class. While there, I did one of those coin things where you drop it in a slot and it swirls around this big round cone shaped drum, getting faster and faster towards the smaller middle. We had two pennies going, when halfway down, a group of 7(??) year old boys came by and stopped our pennies. Yeah! WTF? I was shocked and burst out to them, "Hey! That was rude!" Their teachers, or chaperones, about college aged, came and asked what happened. I felt embarrassed for my outburst, but they totally ruined the fun for Tyler. So, I told them what happened, and they got sat down and scolded.

The remainder of our short visit was much calmer. We looked at the boa constrictors, and watched a volunteer put a new bowl of water into the case. We looked at the sea stars in the touch tank. We played in the tots area, where Tyler enjoyed "flying" a helicoptor.

Then, he showed me how he can spray water while sucking his thumb. Boy's got skills.



After the Science Center and drama class, I had originally planned to take the boys to Costco, but made a last minute change of plans. My friend, Jen, had called early and said he was taking her older boy to the Gymnastics Academy. I figured they'd have more fun there than sitting in a shopping cart at Costco. So, we drove through McDonald's (yup, you read correctly), got a couple of Happy Meals, with girls' toys, and they ate them in the car while I drove.

What a fantastic time they both had! Tyler was completely elated. Over stimulated, too. Vincent was thrilled and ran around with a few of his friends that were there. I couldn't get my camera out because I needed to stick with the boys and they were off like a shot the moment they got the chance. Vincent said he wants to "go back there with Daddy." I loved seeing the pure joy on those boys' faces.

They enjoyed the rest of their Happy Meals on the ride home. They seemed to be too much on a high from all the fun that they didn't fall asleep, even though Ty usually does if he's in the car around that time. But, they did both take a nap this afternoon. Success.

a torrential downpour

Soaked! The kids and I got soaked this afternoon when I picked Vincent up from preschool. It was crazy. It really was a torrential downpour for about 5 minutes. Half of that time, I was walking up a steep hill with Tyler in my arms to get to the school. Then, we took cover while waiting for Vincent. Though it didn't stop raining, it wasn't as intense by the time he came out to meet us. But, we still continued to get soaked as we walked back to the restaurant where our friends were waiting for us.

Now, the sun is out. But, I'm done. We're gonna whole up here at home the rest of the day.

**After Tyler woke from his nap, he cried off and on (mostly on) until David came home from work. I seriously think he wasn't ready to get up from his nap, but a garbage truck had come by, which I think woke him up. The only way he would stop crying is if I would hold him in my arms. At least I could console you, but I also needed to make dinner. It wasn't even much that I was making, but he only wanted me to focus my attention on him.

At one point, I thought that I'd give him (and Vincent) gummi bears to perk him up. I gave him a couple, then asked him to give one to Vincent. On his way to Vincent, he ate it. I saw that he was still chewing on something and there was no longer a gummi in his hand. So, I asked him if he ate Vincent's gummi bear. Rather than nod, or say "yes," he cried. And, cried. I guess, I outted him. But, I wasn't upset. I simply wanted to know so that I could give him another to try again. Apparently, he was guilt ridden, or something. So, I asked him again. When he finally fessed up (and cried), I gave him a Swedish fish and asked him to give that to Vincent. He tried to eat it, but I stopped him and reminded him it is for Vincent. He cried, but reluctantly went over and gave it to him. When he came back to me, I gave him one, too. Then, we did this with a couple more gummi bears. It was all so funny to me (though I didn't laugh), but very dramatic for Tyler. The extra gummis seemed to perk him up slightly, but he soon went back to weeping in my arms. Sigh. Just one of those moments (2.5 hours worth of a moment).

During Tyler's moment, Vincent was in a great mood. He was super understanding that I needed to make sure Tyler was okay. He asked my why Ty was so sad, to which I said that I didn't know. I kept checking in on him to make sure he was still happy, which he was.

All was better after David came home, since there were two of us to trade off holding him. After dinner, we walked to the ale house for dessert (and beers for the parents). Actually, David walked over with Tyler first, and I stayed with Vincent while he s-l-o-w-l-y at his tiny bowl of chicken noodle soup.

Score!

This morning, the boys had their 6 month dentist check up. At age 2, there's not a whole lot they do for Tyler. His check up took about 15 minutes. Doctor counted his teeth, felt the gums where his last 4 molars would erupt, poked some teeth, and gave him a flouride treatment. He said that those molars should be coming through soon. It seems like he's been teething with those for like 6 months. He still drools a bit and he's always jamming objects (like the handles of utensils) back there. I hope when they do finally come in, he will stopped putting stuff in his mouth so much.

As for Vincent, his appointment took a little longer. It was the first one where I wasn't right next to him for the whole thing. They just took him right in, and showed me to a different room for Tyler. He did such a great job! He was hesitant about me not being there, but was quickly comforted by knowing I'll be back to check on him. And, when they tried to take his x-ray, he worked his very hardest at biting down on that awful piece of film they put in your mouth, but couldn't quit get it. They'll try again in 6 months.

After the dentist, we drove down to Federal Way to visit Lucy's parents. Halina made us a delicious lunch, which the kids ate pretty well, and then they each had a Push-Up.

One thing I wanted to do while down there was go to Macy's. Halina accompanied us, which allowed me to get what I was looking for: the Estee Lauder gift with purchase. I bought a new face wash and some makeup remover towellets, along with a little black dress and a Glee t-shirt. Yes, I'm that dorky about Glee. C'mon, it was 4 bucks! So, yeah, SCORE! I got the free gift, which I don't normally care for, but this one was really good. And, when I was torn about which eye shadow palette I wanted, she gave me both. Double score. AND, the lady must've loved us, because she threw in a second gift pack for Halina. Triple score.

Shop House

Have I told you how I'm sort of obsessed with Licorous these days? Love their $1 tacos on Tuesday nights, did their sparkling wine tasting for Valentine's Day, and tonight, we experienced Shop House.

Thank you, Clay and Robin, for coming out to dinner with us and sharing a sampling of EVERYTHING! But, really, you can with 4 adults. And, really, you should. So delicious. So fun. And, for those of you extra adventurous out there, you can bring your kids. Sorry, no high chairs or booster seats. Granted, the children there tonight were part of the Licorous/Lark families, and, I'm just guessing, have been there before. They were so well behaved, and after seeing them there, I'm not sure I would brave bringing my crazy offsprings. At least now, you know that the option is there.

FYI, parents out there, http://www.seekingsitters.com/. It has changed our life.

I'm so satisfied with our dinner tonight that I can't really remember what else we did today.

Pampered

First thing this morning, I got a mani-pedi! David had made me an appointment on Friday afternoon. He gained some celebrity status, being the "husband who made his wife an appointment," as the lady doing my toes told me. I don't usually get manicures, but I don't think I can ever get just a pedicure from Madison Avenue Nails again because the combo is such a great price and feels oh-so-good.

Afterwards, I met up with my guys in the International District. They were on foot, and rode the bus downtown to see David's new office, then the light rail to the I.D. We had lunch at Gourmet Noodle Bowl. I first discovered this place last summer with a couple other Chinese moms. We were meeting at the library next door once a week for Mandarin storytime. We're always hungry afterwards, and this place looked interesting. Plus, it was empty and we had 4 wiggley children with us that would need lots of space and to eat quickly. Oh man! This place is the real deal Taiwanese food. And, HUGE portions. We over ordered that first time, and we over ordered today. Everything sounds yummy to me. Well, maybe not the pig diagphram, or some intestine stuff. I'm an adventurous eater, but NO THANKS.

And, when they bring you the check, they bring DumDums for the kids. My kids LUV them lollipops.

 

While I made dinner tonight (braised chicken legs with Chinese herbs with leftover noodles from lunch, and curried garnet yam fries), the boys played outside while David mowed the lawn. It was a jolly good time!

Lastly, "Open Season 2", not good.

The Calm...

Well, sort of. We still had a busy day today, but no major issues or blow ups.

I took Vincent to Chinese school on the eastside. During his class time, I went to return a book at Barnes and Noble, and spent about an hour just looking at their bargain books. I didn't buy a thing, but it was so nice to actually have the time to stop and look at the books in detail. And, I was so intrigued by all the kits they had.

After class, Vincent and I headed to downtown Seattle to Fado, so that I could sign up for next week's St. Paddy's Day Dash. I got my chip, my number and my t-shirt. All set to go. Now, I just have to pray I can actually run it! We then ate lunch there. We shared a plate of sliders. He had one, but before he even had a bite of the first one, he tried to claim the second. Then, he sat there looking and poking his first one, but not eating it. I think it was too tall. I split the burger patty in half to make it thinner, which he was thankful for, but then proceeded to take about 45 minutes to eat HALF of the slider. Slider. As in mini burger. Boy, oh boy, my Vincent. At least, we had a really nice time together.

Yes, that is him, eating his burger. And, I love the reverse camera feature on my iPhone.

Since Vincent and I were already halfway there, we decided to drive south a little more to Costco to fill up on gas. Wooohooo! What a long line!

Tyler and David went to class this morning, too. After class, they went across the street to Genki Sushi for $1 conveyor belt items. It's a weekend special through the March.

Ooh, and tonight's dinner on the meal planning! Baked salmon, farro with mushrooms and roasted sunchokes, and baby greens salad with grapefruit segments. I didn't get a picture, but it was so super yummy. The farro was truly fantastic, if I do say so myself. After dinner, we treated ourselves to some Old School Frozen Custard. It's been so long. And, since Tyler's now two, we let him have his very own scoop in a cup. He loved it, as did all of us.

And, though I know I'm biased because he's my flesh and blood, isn't this kid such a good looking one?



*Sigh*

Another sick child.

Tyler's had a fever since Tuesday afternoon. It seems to come and go, but by this morning, he still had a slight fever. My plan had been to drop both boys off at daycare this morning, since Vincent's school was going to a play that I didn't buy tickets for. I was going to have the whole day to myself. Sounded heavenly. Oh well, one day the boys will both be off to elementary school, and I'll have plenty of those. So, instead, kept them home and we went grocery shopping. We then rushed home for lunch and a quick nap, so that I could take Tyler to the doctor at 2:20pm.

It's a good thing I took him. His lungs sounded "crackly" to his doctor, so he had a chest x-ray done. No pneumonia. Whew!

And, I did have a little time to meal plan for the next few days. It's always interesting to me when I do this because I'm never quite sure if it'll go as planned. It's usually a loose plan that I put together and am pleasantly surprised if I can pull of most of the meals, even if I don't end up making them on the intended day. Whatcha think?

Tonight - leftover chili; made a pan of corn bread, one bunch of sauteed lacinato kale, and a baby greens salad.

Saturday - Mushroom farro risotto, baked salmon, and another baby greens salad

Sunday - Braised chicken legs with Chinese herbs

Monday - Not cooking; Panacea is making us chicken pot pies. YUM

Tuesday - breaded fish fillets (frozen, from Costco; fancy), potato salad, cippolini agrodolce

**This is where I start to lose steam in the planning...

Wednesday - some sort of pasta

Thursday - Date Night; kids will likely have mac n cheese

Friday - frozen pizza; unless I make it the grocery store and become reinspired

What Did I Tell Ya?

Vincent had drama class this morning. The story they were reading was, "How I Became a Pirate." He's been so into pirates recently, but when I asked him to tell me about his class after pick up, he said, "I don't want to talk about it right now." By bedtime, he still didn't really want to share. See what I meant in yesterday's post?

After drama class, I took the boys to The Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch. I thought they would get a kick out of eating in the trolley. They did, and were even more excited that two trains passed by outside while we were there. They split a grilled cheese, which Tyler didn't eat. Tyler did, however, have some of my noodles. They were super excited over the ice cream dessert. Vincent tried a bite of Tyler spumoni and said he didn't like it.

Tyler still has a fever today. I'm totally over this. I keep having to change our plans due to child illnesses. It's completely selfish of me, I know. I want to exercise, but they can't go to childcare if they're sick. So, they stay home with me, which means no exercise for me. My pants are slowly getting tighter each day since we went to L.A.

Extrovert?

All signs of Vincent's temperment point to him being an extrovert except for one thing: he doesn't like to talk about his day, or tell others about stuff he did in the past. According to a book I read, "Raising Your Spirited Child," one of the traits of an introverted child is that he may come home from school and want to be left alone, not wanting to talk about his day until after a little time to himself to recharge. The extrovert would be the opposite, ready to burst at the seems to tell Mom all about what he did at school, etc. It's interesting to me, and makes me wonder why he doesn't like to talk about the "past." Maybe he just loves to live life in the moment.

I say all this because today was Vincent's first day back at school since his break. He missed on Monday because of his bronchitis. When I dropped him off this morning, many grownups were asking him about his vacation in L.A. and about Disneyland. He clammed up and didn't want to talk about it. He was a little tired and quiet already this morning, and it can be overwhelming to have so many people asking you questions. But, at the end of the day, when I picked him up, his teacher said that he never really opened up about Disneyland or the trip. He did talk a little bit about his grandma and grandpa, but that was about it.

Tyler, on the other hand, already seems to like telling me, what he could, about his day. He doesn't say much, of course, but when he sees me, he'll nod his head and say things like, "Percy." Which is what he said when I came home from the dentist this morning. He was with David and apparently, they did watch Percy, the train, on T.V.

Tyler and I had our first real moment alone today for the first time in about 2 weeks. It felt good to just be with him and go at his pace. Then, Vincent and I had a little bit of time together, too, this afternoon. We read a couple of new books and just hung out quietly.

Tonight, I went to meet up with some girlfriends at a bar. Only, I didn't confirm that it was still on, and apparently, it wasn't. Yup, I was there all by my lonesome. But, it wasn't so bad, once I got over the initial feeling of looking like I was stood up, cuz really, I wasn't. The cocktail I had a super yummy, and I chatted with the bartender for a little bit. It was nice to sit there and listen to some grown up music and just be alone.

Miller Time

We were supposed to go to the gym today, but Vincent's cough was still pretty bad when he woke up that I decided we should do something in a more spacious area: Miller Community Center.

It's been a couple of months since we've been there. In fact, I think the last time was in 2010, maybe. The boys walked in there and without a moment to lose, they were playing, running, riding, and making trouble. We met our friends Brianna, Liam and Lexie there. Lexie, about 20 months old, saw me and came running over. Be still my heart, that darling little girl. She and Tyler ate a snack together while their big bros rode in a kiddie car around the gym.

After naptime, Tyler woke with a fever. Darn. Ooh, but I had both of them nap in the same room, and Vincent didn't wake when Tyler did. And, I actually got to do some cleaning up in the basement and garage. In fact, this very moment, our car is parked inside the garage! AHHHHHH (think angelic sounds).

Vincent and Liam on Valentine's Day