Last Day With A-ma

Yes, sadly, my mom had to go back to L.A. this afternoon. But, the boys and I enjoyed a nice morning outing with her.

Originally, I was going to take us all to KidsQuest, but she had requested to go "see the place where they throw the fish," (spoken in Taiwanese). Pike Place Market, of course. Since she rarely makes any requests to go places when she's here, I wanted to make sure she got to go.

We scored a great parking spot just up the hill from the action. But, WHOAH! I was a bit in shock with the price of parking. Nonetheless, it was worth it, especially when it started to rain, and we weren't parked several blocks away. And, lucky us, the guys threw some fish while we were there! The boys were pretty thrilled (and confused) with that. I failed to get a copy of the pictures on my mom's camera with Rachel the Pig, and Sasquatch.

One of the other things that caught Vincent's interest was the market renovations at and around Jack's Fish Spot. At one point, we actually stopped to watch what the construction guys were doing. One was bending a pipe with a contraption, which raised several questions from Vincent.

After the market, we ate lunch at Old Spaghetti Factory, in the trolly car, of course. My mom had never been there before. The boys did really well there. Tyler barely ate, but was happy. Vincent ordered spinach tortellini with alfredo sauce, which he really liked. And, a train drove by on the track next to the restaurant!

Audrey watched the boys this afternoon/evening so that I could take Ma to the airport. David and I also had a date. We ate at The Tin Table, which we were both pleasantly surprised by how tasty it was. I didn't know much about it, except that we had a coupon for a free appetizer. Why not? The service felt a little weird, so I was worried, but then the food turned out to be quite yummy. We had the steamed mussels to start. David had the steak frites and I had their risotto special. David's steak was hanger, and I was really amazed with how tender, and not chewy it was. For dessert, we had a scoop of ice cream each at Molly Moon's downstairs. Another coupon. It was alright, but not my favorite.

After we got home, David and Vincent went to the store to get milk. Tyler and I stayed home and played tea party. The kids received a new tea set from my mom. They're both super into it. Here's Tyler helping a chipmunk get a drink.

Memorial Day Weekend 2011 - Monday

We had it set that would go to Northwest Trek this holiday weekend. But, it wasn't feelin' it this morning. Yet, somehow I convinced everyone, including myself, to go to Pt. Defiance Zoo, about as far as NWTrek. But, it was totally worth it.

The weather was really pleasant all day. The zoo was busy, but not so crowded that we couldn't enjoy the exhibits. And, both kids were able to have a good time. Even Tyler was able to enjoy the kids' play area a little, which made him so happy.

Vincent wanted to climb up this thing, but had some trouble. I had talked him though it, and I'm so proud of him for getting up.

 Tyler was elated that he could go down this long slide.

 Tyler squealed a bunch when he saw the carousel. He doesn't look happy in this picture, but he did enjoy it once it started. He wanted to go on it, again.

 One of the first things we saw when we arrived was this male peacock with his feathers all out. Vincent remembered it from our last visit, 2 years ago.



Memorial Day Weekend 2011 - Sunday

It's been a nice holiday weekend so far.

This morning, we all went to Paul and Gabi's for brunch with their family. It turned out to be a nice day, which was awesome for hanging out in their super garden. They also have a trampoline, which was a hit, but certainly not the favorite item of the day. That would be the home-made rocket launcher. Vincent L.U.V. loved it.

Tyler got a chance to bounce, gently, too.

As did David. "More bounce, to the ounce."

The popular rocket launcher. Vincent patiently awaits for Gabi to finish pumping it up.

 He rushed off to retrieve it after we all saw where it landed.

When it was time to leave, we were looking for Tyler and found him in the kids' room, like this.



While the boys napped in the afternoon, David and I went out for some gardening stuff, and found this new pastry shop in the valley. So cute! I had this super yummy pain au chocolat while he had this cauliflower gratin. While we finished up, the owner came over and gave David a croissant, too. Double yum! And, to top it off, when I was complimenting her on the space, she asked if I baked, to which I said, "Um, well, I went to culinary school, but mostly do savory..." She asked because she wanted to send me home with these

Yes, this would be 15 pounds worth of whole wheat flour. The kind I buy, too. Can we say, "PIZZAS!"?

Lastly, David and I got to see a movie at the theater, again. Second week in a row. Bridesmaids. Funny enough for the dude, and girly enough for the chick. 

Memorial Day Weekend 2011 - Saturday

David took the boys to Seattle Central this morning so that I could get a little quiet time. My mom and I just hung out around the house. I think I got to take a shower, which is always a bonus in my day.

Even bigger bonus, David and I went out on a little date this evening. We met up with friends for Tom's birthday at the Ballroom for pizza. Whoah, those are some huge slices of pizza. I was full on my slice...which was about the size of 3 (maybe even 4) normal slices, now that I think about it. I was truly so full when I finished, and I rarely get full. Everyone headed back to Tom's for karaoke afterwards, but we had to be home before the singing began. Bummer! Not.

The boys stayed with A-ma, of course. They got to watch two movies! Here they are enjoying one.

Don't Stop Believing...in Tyler

Heck, no, will a broken leg keep Tyler down!

As a little treat, my mom and I went shopping at Macy's this morning. Ooh, and they are having a sale (of course). I scored a super deal on a lovely new purse. But, Tyler got the best treat of all...playing.

I took him to the Kids' Cove, and he had a ball. He was really movin' with that cast. He walked on it, scooted on his butt, climbed. He even went down a slide. He tried to climb on the bigger boats, but I wouldn't let him.

Tonight, as a treat to the boys, A-ma and I took them for a ride on the light rail down near the airport. There's a McDonald's with a play area one stop before SeaTac. David was arriving home just before 7pm, so we thought they could eat, play, and get a special Daddy surprise. And, once again, Tyler was set on having a great time. He wanted so much to "Go upstairs," in the structure. I eventually let my mom go up with him. Of course, Vincent had a blast, too. They both liked the snowboarding game they have there, too.

Ty's ready to go down the slide...and climb up for more.

I wasn't going to let the kids get a toy tonight, but Vincent loves pandas, and they had Kung Fu Panda...I'm a sucker.

Tyler enjoys the ride home with some food.

Check out what David brought back from San Francisco for me!

Yummy, spicy-goodness.



Meatballs, Sticky Rice, and NO ANTICS!

Yes, my friends, you read correctly. No antics from my jokesters at bedtime tonight. Zero, zilch, none. (I just knocked on wood, since I'm there's still time between now and morning)

Tyler took about a 5-10 minute nap in the car on our way down to Federal Way this morning, and that was it. Although he didn't act tired at bedtime, I guess he was. Or, he suddenly felt tons of empathy for me, and decided to just go to bed. Vincent took about a 30 minute nap on the way back from Federal Way. Though I had lost patience with him while getting the kids to bed, I didn't get angry and he was really sweet, despite the fact that I didn't read them any books. I promised I'd go back and check on him before I go to bed, which seemed to comfort him a lot.

Having the boys go to bed so easily allowed my mom and I to make bamboo wrapped sticky rice. She makes them about every other time she visits, or brings a batch already made. This time, I asked her specifically to teach me to make them. And, I asked her to teach me to make these Taiwanese "meatballs." We tried to make the meatballs yesterday, but she accidentally packed the wrong ingredient to make the outer skin, and she actually forgot the process. It was a bit of a disaster.

After a brief trip to Uwajimaya, we had the correct ingredients to try again. So, that's what we did for dinner. The boys watched T.V. and we made meatballs.

While I put the boys to bed, Ma started getting ready for the sticky rice. She cooked up a storm (for the filling). Soon we were all set, with a drink in each of our hands, for some folding, filling, folding some more, then tying action.

The fixins, clockwise from the top: bamboo leaves, par-cooked brown sticky rice, sauteed sliced pork and tofu, sauteed shitake mushrooms, sauteed little shrimp.

My first package; it's the one in front.

And, here is our 2nd bundle of joy!

We steamed up the first one, not pictured, and most definitely had to try one out...even at 10:30pm. Could use a little more time to get the rice stickier, but it sure was yummy.

And, in other news...Vincent had his last drama class of the season. We are unsure if he'll do any summer camps, or if he'll return in the fall. I would definitely try to make it happen if it works out for us. He seems to really enjoy the classes. Although, I'm not so sure he's actually as into the acting aspect as he is into the structured playtime aspect. Nonetheless, it's been a positive experience for him.

We also drove down to Federal Way, as mentioned earlier, to visit Stanley and Halina. The boys were both super happy to see them, and more loving towards them than ever. It has really made a difference for them to see each other more often, and everyone is happy with the results.



Oh, The Terrible Twos...Again.

When Vincent was about to turn 2 years old, I feared for my sanity. And, yeah, it was a bumpy, rattly road to age, well, now. No, that's not fair to him. Though, his "terrible twos" started early and ended late, I can honestly say that they have passed, and the road did gradually get smoother. He still challenges us daily, but he's a dream now, by comparison.

Of course, two years later, it's Tyler's turn. Now, with Ty, I was sort of blind-sided. Before he turned two, I wasn't afraid. In fact, I was a little in shock with how easy-going he was. And, like the way he suddenly slept through the night a few days after he turned one, soon after his second birthday, he quickly became ferocious. Tonight, at bedtime,  I actually felt some anxiety for the first time in about a year and a half. What kind of antics was he going to pull on me this time?

Ahhh, he took his sleepsack off (yes, he still wears one of those), threw his NuNu and his favorite teddy bear out of his crib, and needed a new diaper. Um, no, you don't, Kiddo. He wanted the sleepsack back on, which I didn't do, and I told him his diaper's clean. I did give him back his lovies, kissed him goodnight (again), and tucked him in. No more antics after that.

At least, there was this short moment tonight, before the credit card people called me to tell me my card was compromised, when we were all sitting in the living room, doing our own thing but enjoying each other's company. And, the boys did get along well together this afternoon while playing games on A-ma's iPod.

Whatcha think of Ty's outfit? Doesn't he look huge, with Vincent's legs folded up?

Ooh, and my Mama snapped these cute photos of Tyler and Lexie at school this morning. Ty wanted to sit in the boat, and I asked Lexie if she'd like to sit with him, and she quickly replied, "Yeah." So cute.





My Mommy Is Here!

We picked up A-ma at the airport this morning. The kids were happy to see her, and super happy to help her unpack. At breakfast, I said to Vincent something about how A-ma will probably bring them some surprises when she gets here. Vincent's response was, "Yeah, she brings us things to eat." Yup, she sure does, and she sure did! I feel like I've been eating all day. Wait, I have. There was this one snack she brought that I ate all to myself while the kids napped.

She's totally different from Nana in this department. Nana will bring out surprises to the boys a little at a time. They love that because each new thing is such a treat. My mom comes out in full force, and they love to see what keeps popping out of her suitcase. It's a bit of flurry in those 10 minutes, but it's usually only me that's overwhelmed by it. Today, I sort of took a step back at the beginning, and that helped. I've learned to embrace this moment of chaos and just let everyone enjoy it. Vincent kept commenting in Mandarin, "It's a big mess!"

We settled down for lunch and then a nap. After naptime, we headed out to Bellevue to the new Uwajimaya to pick up some Asian provisions for the week. The kids enjoyed looking at the live seafood and being scared. From Uwajimaya, we headed to Factoria Mall for Genki Sushi. We were having a late dinner so the boys were extra antsy, but once all our food made it to our table, it was good times. The boys ate potstickers, avocado roll for Ty and string bean roll for Vince, some udon and ramen, fried tofu, and fried chicken. Ooh, and they had those little yogurt drinks. BTW, they come 2 per plate for $1, and we bought 2 packs of 4 each at Uwajimaya for 49 cents each. Hmmmm. Vincent grabbed those off the belt before I could say anything, so we had to take them. It's a good thing for him, cuz I would have probably said, "No Way, Foo!"

Tyler kept picking stuff he didn't want to eat off his plate and passing it to my mom. Poor A-ma, that's usually my job.

Here's my Ma. Doesn't she look great?

Here's Tylie passing some soggy nori to A-ma.

Here's my champion eater.

And, my other champ, with a great set of teeth!

Unfortunately, for Mommy, bedtime didn't go so well. I believe the boys finally fell asleep around 10pm, maybe later. All I have to say is that book, "Go The Fuck To Sleep" was truly written by Me. I don't like publicity, so I had someone else take all the credit for it. Sort of like Milli Vanilli.



Soccer & Board Games

Today was Vincent's last game of the spring season. I wanted to go watch him play, but Tyler was sleeping, and by the time we got to the community center, the game was over. I don't have any pictures from this season - sorry, Buddy! And, David finished his first season coaching a team for one of his kids!! Super!

 

 

After the game, the team and families had a pizza party, but it went so quickly, and it was mostly just eating, and not really much mingling. I think all the kids wanted to get back outside to the playground. Everyone ate super quickly, except for Vincent. He still had most of his slice of pizza when all the kids and families were done and the tables and chairs were even put away. All that was left in the room was us, our table, and our chairs. We had to put them away ourselves when we were done. And, since Vincent bit his tongue while playing at the playground just prior to the pizza showing up, he complained he couldn't eat, so he didn't even finish his slice. Sigh. At least, he ate the apple sauce I brought.

 

Vincent was ready to go home, but Tyler wanted to stick around to watch the children play, so I walked him home first. When we got home, he asked if we could play our new Disneyland Monorail game. I picked it up at a yard sale on Friday. It's cool looking - retro.

Vincent and I have been playing some easy board games, including the monorail one. We've also played two made by Eeboo called, Gathering a Garden, and The Picnic Game. So cute and super easy for him to follow.

 

 

We gave Tyler a bath tonight. Well, sort of. He sits on the kitchen counter on a towel and we hose him off in the sink. He puts half his body in the sink, while the leg with a cast is on the counter. It's wrapped in plastic, but we want to be sure not to get any water in there. It's not an easy task and takes two people to complete. He doesn't enjoy it either. But, now he's fresh and clean.

Here he is, giving David a hug, before getting his "bath." Actually, he was clinging on to him so not to take one.

Pizza!!!

OMG, now that I'm sitting down and posting, I realize that I've had pizza 3 days in a row.  AND, I'm having it for dinner, again, tomorrow night. Whoah, it's a record for me.

Tonight's pizza was made by yours truly. I opted not to take pictures, as getting each pie in and out was keeping me busy enough.

I used a recipe from Cook's Illustrated magazine. It was super easy. The dough is made in a food processor, then chilled to proof for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days. The recipe came with a homemade sauce, too, which I made. If you want me to post the recipe, let me know, and I'll post it on the food blog.

The recipe was for two, 12-inch pizzas. Unfortunately, I have neither a pizza stone or a paddle, and had to make my pizzas smaller, with sheet trays. Not realizing I needed to do that until I had already rolled out my first pie, my pizzas wouldn't come out round. For the one I rolled out, I had to cut it in half, in order to fit on the inverted sheet tray I was using as a paddle. I had a larger sheet, inverted, on the top rack of my oven, staying screaming hot. I would slide the pie off one sheet try on to the other. For the second ball of dough, I tried cutting it in half first, then rolling it out, but it still came out an oblong shape.

Nonetheless, these pizzas were great. I still didn't quite feel like I was eating at Via Tribunali, which is my favorite pizza, but these were super tasty. Everyone enjoyed them, which is an A+ for us!



Denny's & My Night Out

Nana watched Tyler, again, this morning. David usually takes him to the community college, but the skipped class, so David could go with Vincent and I to Chinese school. We dropped Vincent off, chatted with a few friends, then headed for breakfast.

David wanted to take me to Chase's Pancake House, but when we got there, it was so crowded, we had to find something else. Denny's it is.

Honestly, it was good. I had a Grand Slam breakfast. I don't think I've ever actually ordered one fo those before. It's been a long time since I was last there, but now they let you build-your-own slam. I had bacon, sausage, eggs and an English muffin. I tell you, I sure enjoyed having my muffin toasted and buttered for me. I felt like one of my boys.

For dinner, Alice cooked dinner for David and the boys, while I went to a friend's house for "Girls Night In." We had homemade pizzas and a wonderful lemon, raspberry cake made by my friend, Jen. Yum, yum, yum.

On Stranger Tides

It's wonderful to have Nana here for so many reasons. One of them is babysitting. She watched Tyler in the morning so that I could have a coffee date with my friends. Then, after the kids went to bed, she watched both of them so that David and I could go see a movie.

It was opening night for Pirates of the Carribean. It's been ages since we've seen a movie, and even longer since we've seen one on the day it opens. David got suckered into getting the large popcorn for an extra dollar. I don't blame him, we can put down a pretty big bowl at home. The difference is that we don't put even half as much butter/oil or salt as they do, which makes is so much lighter, and we don't get over-salted. But, that movie theater stuff is yummy...just not size-large-yummy, I guess.

As for the movie? Yeah, go see it. It's entertaining.

Another Glorious Day

Overall, I'd say we had a really good day today.

Alice took the boys to Seattle Center so that Vincent could go to drama class, and she took Tyler to the Science Center. I went to the gym and ran 3 miles. I met back up with them just in time for Vincent's class to get out. Alice said that Tyler had a great time at the Science Center. That was a relief to hear, because I was worried that he wouldn't enjoy being there with the cast on. And, when we picked up Vincent, he seemed really happy as well.

We took the boys for a ride on the monorail. We had just missed it, so we had to wait. While waiting, Vincent somehow convinces me to let him do one of those squashed penny things. And, I had to let him get one for Tyler, too. I'm a sucker.

So, we rode the monorail to Westlake Center for lunch, then rushed back to Seattle Center because I was only parked in a 1 hour spot, and it had been way over an hour. No ticket, though! Sweet!

Dinner tonight, we had nachos and coleslaw. Vincent requested nachos a few nights ago, so when he saw that we were having it for dinner, he was so excited. We said that I made it especially for him, which perked him up. Although, he didn't eat very much of it. Oh well.

After dinner, we went for a walk through the arboretum. The azalea's and rodie's are in bloom, and are so beautiful and fragrant. There was a nice path for Vincent to do lots of racing with David and Nana.

We found a little pond tucked within some trees with ducks swimming.

The beautiful garden. Vincent's a goof-ball.

Once home, the boys had some milk before bedtime. Vincent was telling Nana all about his new sports bottle and how the outer sleeve comes off.

Have you heard about the book, "Go The Fuck To Sleep"? http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/21530437/980724038/name/GoToSleep.pdf
OMG, I just read it today. Hilarious. And, so true. That was me, tonight. Well, not so extreme, and there was no swearing on my part, though I was close. I remember Vincent at the age Tyler is now. He would come out of his room about 10-20 times a night for this or that. Ty's still in his crib, so he can't get out, but he's got the same tricks up his sleeves. Sheesh!

Farmers Markets!!!

It's that time of year again. We've already visited the Sunday market on Broadway recently, but on this glorious afternoon, Alice and I took the boys down to my favorite farmers' market of all...Columbia City. David took the lightrail down from work and met us there.

We walked around and decided what we'd like to eat, first. Then, we had to go to the bakery because their booth was out of pretzels. At the actual bakery, they had pretzel dogs. I asked Vincent if he wanted one. Of course. Smart boy. We got a couple of pretzel dogs and a pretzel bagel, then headed back to the market. We stopped by La Medusa to give Julia some hugs.

Dinner tonight was a picnic on the grass with a veggie quesadilla, cheese quesadilla, cheese tamale, and those pretzels. Vincent requested these apple/raspberry granitas that he remembered from previous years.

I loved how excited Vincent got about the market. I love that it's this part of our life that brings us all such delight. We sample the goods, we salivate at what we want to eat, we run into friends and socialize/play, and we always wish we brought way more money. Ooh, and tonight, we all had dessert...ice cream!

 Yes, that says, "Tyler is awesome." Thanks, Drea!



Nana is here!

We're getting back to back visits from both Grandmas.  What great moms we have, both are making trips out to help while Tyler has his is broken leg.  Tyler seems to be slightly happier today hopefully the trend continues.  Sorry for the short post been a long but good day.

Our Friend, The Fava Bean & Tyler Does A Little Walking

Tyler fell asleep during the short car ride from Vincent's school to our house. When I took him out, he sort of woke, and I asked if he wanted lunch or a nap. He wanted to nap. So, Vincent and I ate lunch by ourselves.

I finished before him, so I started cleaning vegetables. He asked me what I was doing, and rather than say, "Shucking fava beans," I took one over to him, and showed him what I was doing. We talked about the pod and how it is thick, tough, and inedible. Then, we looked at the bean inside, and talked about how it has thick layer of skin that we must discard as well. Finally, we got to the inside! We also compared it to other types of beans/peas and their edible or inedible parts. He was sort of interested in the whole thing. He even ate the edible part of the fava bean. And, for dinner, we had (store bought) chanterelle mushroom raviolis with browned butter fava beans. Yum.

Argh, Blogger! This picture is supposed to be landscaped, but Blogger uploaded it flipped sideways, and I don't know how to fix it.



After naptime, the boys played with Play-Doh together.

After dinner, Tyler played with trains on the new track I set up. I stood him up on the side of the table. He eventually figured out how to pull himself up, then later walked around the table, holding on to the edges.





Beat The Bridge

I've been doing a good amount of running on the treadmill at the gym. I mean, not long distances, more like 3-4 miles. But, I wanted to do an outdoor organized run, just for fun. David suggested "Beat the Bridge." The start and finish take place at Husky Stadium, so it's right by our house. It's an 8K run, which would be longer than any run I've done so far (if you don't count the Vancouver half marathon that I didn't complete).

My friend, Andrea, whom I ran the St. Paddy's Day Dash with this year, signed up to run this race with me. Woohoo! And, so we set out at 8:15am today, IN THE RAIN, and yup, we beat the bridge! The bridge is about 2 miles from the start, and we had about 30 minutes to get there. I was pretty confident about it, but I've had a cold for the past week, and I haven't been exercising because of Tyler's injury. I guess I've been lifting weights...about 30 pounds of it, carrying that kid and his cast around. Plus, the rain. Oh, the fricken rain. And, rain it did, the whole time we walked to the start, the whole time we ran the race, and the whole time we walked back to our house.

Andrea and I ran pretty hard to start off. We ended up starting in Wave 1, but it was a little later than scheduled, and we had ants in our pants, and needed to go! Since we were running with more serious runners to start, I think that made us go at a little faster pace. With my cold, I was having some difficulty breathing, so I had to take a break and walk for a few minutes, somewhere around mile 1.5. Nonetheless, we made it over the University Bridge before they lifted it up. Andrea was ahead of me when she crossed the bridge, and waited for me to catch up. Then, we walked for a short while, and started back up. She ran the rest of the way, and I took little breaks to catch my breath as needed. In the end, she crossed the finish about 30 seconds or so ahead of me. I'm so proud of her for running so well today. And, I'm proud of myself for getting out there and finishing.

Here are my results:

Time - 53:48

Pace - 10:50

And, I believe I placed 3533. BUT, in my division of age 30-34, I was 289/378, and for my sex, I was 1729/2274. So, what I'm saying is, I did just about what I expected.

The happy runners

After the run, David rushed Vincent to a birthday party at the gymnastics academy while Tyler and I stayed back and chilled.

After the party, David and Vincent picked us up, and we drove out to Sultan to spend the afternoon/evening with the Hutyra/Nowewijski/Reeder clan for a bbq.

Whew! What a day!!



Adventure Walk

It was sunny out today, so David took Tyler on a walk through the arboretum and marshes near our house, while Vincent and I went to Chinese school. He said they had such a nice walk/stroller ride that he wanted to take Vincent in the afternoon during Tyler's nap. They had a great time!

Tyler enjoying the view of Husky Stadium from the foot bridge.

Vincent showing off his action villian toy.

Daddy treated him to a popsicle after their walk.



Green Cast!

Yup, that is the color cast that Tyler selected today. He was saying he wanted yellow yesterday, but this morning, before he left for the hospital, he said green. And, green it is.

While David and Tyler were at the hospital, Vincent and I walked to the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) to watch an adaptation of Sleeping Beauty, put on by Story Book Theater. Our school had the first 3 rows of one side of the auditorium, and there were seats for us up front, but Vincent didn't want to sit that close. Nor did he want the 2nd row. He opted for the 3rd, and only eventually moved to the 2nd because of his friends. Funny kid.

He loved the play. We haven't been able to go to plays this year because Tyler can't really sit through them. But, things worked for us this time. Vincent's favorite character was Prince Charming, and he loved that Prince Charming had a light saber and climbed over the seat next to him.

The rest of our day was pretty mellow. It was nice outside, but we spent the afternoon in the house. I snapped a couple of cute pictures after dinner.

David and Tyler

Vincent giving me a hug

Both boys riding in the big stroller for the first time in ages, on their way to the community center with Daddy.