Miscellaneous September Happenings

After 7 years of repeated, hand-me-down Halloween costumes (Lightning McQueen race car driver, soccer player) the kids finally had a specific request for Halloween...Ninjas. Hallelujah! I practically ran over to the computer to order a couple of ninja costumes on Amazon. My thrifty instinct told me to make the costumes or look at Goodwill, but those thoughts were tossed aside in a matter of moments. I calculate I have saved hundreds of dollars in not having to buy literally ONE costume over the course of my kids' lives.

So Olin's arrived to his liking. He has asked to put it on every night. I told him no last night, but he had it on for dinner the prior night when Gong Gong came over. Lee lee's was the wrong costume so his new one arrives tomorrow.

Ninja eating potstickers

My friends Alaina and Heather and I are celebrating our fall birthdays with an afternoon of wine tasting in Prosser. Definitely a perk to the kids being in school full days.

Whenever Leelee needs just a sip of water he does this and I laugh every time. He's got pretty good aim. Very little spillage.

Library Field Trip + Gong Gong Emerges from Retirement!

Gong Gong got called in by his old company, Energy NW, to do contract work. So we get to see him for 3 weeks! It has been really nice to meet up for dinners and run around his fun hotel a little bit.

Pool at Homewood Suites. The kids got chalk all over the pool table. They loved re-chalking between every play.

Interesting form

I chaperoned the library field trip for 1st and 2nd graders. We walked 1+ miles to the library at a fairly slow pace. We spent 1.5 hours at the library and then ate lunch at the park. We then took the bus back.  4.5 hours later I was really tired. hehehe.

Christian takes a science class right after his piano lesson on Tuesdays. Conveniently, Onnie's husband teaches science classes so he just stays at the same house and does piano followed by science! He LOVES science class. When I reviewed the list of possible topics and asked him to pick which ones interested him, he was interested in about 80% of the topics.

Seattle! Cho Dang tofu in Federal Way. Dae ordered this cold buckwheat noodle/acorn soup for me....it was one of the best dishes I've ever had in my life. I need to order that every time. We look really tired here because we were - we ate dinner around 8:30pm. Leelee is all smiles though!

Artsy shot by Olin at Pike Place Market

Walrus teeth courtesy of honey sticks

Mesmerized by rambutan fruit spikiness

The racks of Nordstrom Rack

Kids love the Lambos. Parked outside our hotel.

Last note: Christian has now gotten 100% on all three of their spelling tests they've had thus far. I am proud of him! He gets excited to practice his spelling and he's good at it and he takes it seriously. Surprisingly, he doesn't seem to get nervous about stuff like that (piano recitals, tests, etc.). I'm glad for that.

Pendleton Round-Up and Sausage Fest Weekend

3rd Annual year for the Robertson/Bian/Lees and the Round-Up! We learn a little more about ideal seat location each time, and we always visit the Pioneer Park for the kids and Pendleton Woolen Mills store for non-essential but fun wool items.  Ev already purchased Round-Up tickets for 2017!

Opening

Ev and the Woolen Mills. This time I abstained from buying anything!

Tee-pee outside of the Pendleton store.

The kids were asking for curly fries and shave ice so we gave them both.

Granny's Buffet upon arrival of Robertsons. The boys were so excited to see their cousins.  Granny's, however, did not treat us right this time - both Ev and I developed stomachaches while we were still there. And Dae was disappointed in the quality of the food, as he feels once Old Country Buffet took over it went downhill (we are buffet connoisseurs after all!).

ASE soccer. The snack set-up is so funny. There's a huge pile and last week after the game they just released the kids after a countdown. It was total madness so this time they released the kids in waves. Much better.

Olin always stands back, is never in a rush or a panic to get to the goods.

Sausage fest! These orange vamp teeth.

Dragon launcher

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Rocket prize from Sausage fest. Such a simple toy. He loved it, even though it has steadily deflated over the past 24 hours. :)

Sundays and Mondays

We've had a nice couple of family-filled days. Today, Monday, was the first time both kids have been in school full day and neither Dae or I work! So we went out to lunch and saw a movie and then picked up the kids. It was a real treat. We saw "The Light Between Oceans". Dae was pretty much falling asleep, or at least wished he was. I loved it!

As an aside, I would say all members of the family (including myself) have been very moody lately. I blame the beginning-of-school-year cold that the kids have, and lack of good sleep which seems to be chronic for all members of the family. At least for me... I unfortunately need enormous amounts of good quality sleep.

Sunday Monopoly. We did a major family room clean-up in order to clear off this game table. They accumulate toys, junk and crafts so quickly. 

Camo PJ's and some Sunday TV. Leelee likes "Outrageous Acts of Science" and Olin likes "Doc McStuffins" and "Special Agent OSO". He still loves Octonauts but there have not been any new episodes in a long time. Yesterday I overheard them negotiating which shows to watch and when Leelee said science show Olin goes "I hate outrageous acts of science!". Then Leelee calmly goes "Well I hate all your shows, too, so it's fair and square". Then they fell in to an agreeable silence and loaded up their shows. ha!

This is how excited we were about Date Monday @ Anthony's.

We tried out a new sushi place called Shogun (near Battelle) and Leelee could not get enough udon broth. Just like Puo Puo - loves his soups.

Proof of test. Leelee about bit my head off when I started to fold his test to put it in my purse. So I carefully unfolded it and placed it on Dae's dashboard and now I have no idea where it is....

Olin's first real Birthday Party

It's the birthday that never ends for our Olin! Today was his actual birthday party. Since we're not major party throwers, each boy has now gotten a grand total of one real birthday party.  He invited all of his favorite people (speaking of, he says his best friends right now are Adrienne, AJ, Claira, Toni, and Didi. I find it so funny that most of these people are old girls, except Didi who always makes the list).

I love parties at Garland's gym because they always make the birthday boy feel really special and they allow us to bring in our own food (Costa Vida catering, my favorite).  Both boys'  parties have been no-gift parties by our request, because our kids do not need more toys. Anyway, today Olin turned to me in the middle of lunch and said "Mom! Why did you say no presents? Because I want presents!" So apparently one of the little tykes at the party spilled the beans about the no gifts because I know he certainly didn't read it himself on the invite and we certainly didn't tell him in advance! Poor guy. I'm sure he'll get over it. I told him something about his friends coming to celebrate being enough of a gift...

Getting some shut-eye the night before the party

Hilarious photo I found on Dae's phone just now. This was our Hotwire'd Seattle hotel last weekend. Clearly kids were VERY excited about our room!

ASE soccer game this morning. This is a photo of Christian, but it was Olin's first ASE game and he, like Christian, did not like it. hahaha! He said it was too much 'hard work'. Which it is. Welcome to real life, boys!

Being launched. This first launch-off was really far. Olin did not like it that far so she toned it down for subsequent launches.

Blast-off

Cake! When you say "cake" kids come running like crazy. These kids make me laugh. One kid came around and specifically asked when cake was because he had "already been done with his lunch for 5 minutes". Another girl tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I would give her 50 cents to buy Doritos in the vending machine. ??? I said no.

School Work

Leelee had his first real test! In the form of a spelling test at school. He was so excited about having a test and preparing for it.

List of words. He took the test today and got 16/16. This past week he thoroughly enjoyed having me test him on his spelling words (Just like I used to badger my dad to quiz me on spelling words). When we first started, services = "srves". and paint was "pante". It is quite a novelty for him to study and test since these Montessori kids get zero homework. He learns a ton in school, but in such a different way than I did. They try to instill a passion for learning at the younger ages to set the foundation for testing and all that at an older age. So, no homework, no "worksheets", nontraditional. Of course, I don't know what to make out of the lack of testing, but for now I am going with the flow. I figure the kids are smart, and we care, so I guess they're going to be fine.

He brought home his regular folder of school work with these fundamental needs. I thought, how cute! Until I saw the small gun in the lower left (!). I asked him about the gun and he said one of our needs was 'protection'. It's a stretch, but I guess that's the same as shelter, or something like that. He had a picture of a shoe but the adhesive came off the back.

Look at this illustration of our RV trip. It is scarily accurate. 

Close up of going-to-bed. Look at horizontal kid laying on top of the truck. Again, extremely accurate. I think it's funny he diligently drew a sun on the first 4 illustrations and then promptly stopped once it was 'diner' and 'going to bed'. Accuracy is paramount for this guy!

Insomnia

Leelee has been suffering from what I think is insomnia for a little over a month. It's a combination of "I can't fall asleep" to waking up several times in the night, crying, and coming over. It's as if we have a newborn again! We've tried the following:

1) laying with him
2) telling him to read for 15 minutes and then try going back to sleep
3) Having him keep a small lamp on
4) Turning the clock the other way since he said he didn't like to see what time it was (just like a stressed adult)
5) Cool mist humidifier
6) Taking off his shirt if he's too hot
7) Allergy medication (we went to doctor and she said it might be allergies)
8) Waking him up "preventively" one time in the middle of the night. Dae tried this last night and he said it worked, so we shall see.

Part of me thinks it's anxiety-related since he worries about all sorts of things.

I'm beginning to dread going to sleep every night, just like I did when they were newborns.

Olin Turns 5!!!

Also featuring:

Didi Turns 8!

I turn 39!

Christine gets Married!

Kids attend their first Mariners' Game!

Sept. 2: Dae has this lovely arrangement sent to me for my bday!

Sept. 2: Sagebrush celebrates Olin's bday a day early since his birthday is on a Saturday

Sept. 2: Kelly treats me to a day of outings. A seriously hilarious and hand-picked combination of Grocery outlet, TJ Maxx, Goodwill, Roasters, Bookwalter, and HomeGoods. An excellent way to celebrate ringing in 39!

Sept. 2: JoJo makes Olin a horse for his birthday. She puts a lot of effort in to it and he loves it. 

Sept. 2: Dae gets me these really cool earrings for my birthday. There is only one in stock so we are patiently awaiting the other to drop. haha.

Sept. 2: The two bug lovers capture a bee in this jar. The lighting on this photo was cute.

Sept. 2: Kids play in 70 degree weather in slip and slide, and then proceed to take a group bath, below...

Sept. 2: Group bath. Leelee's face makes me laugh.

Sept. 2: Selfie stick! BR Cookie dough cake is my fave.

Sept. 2: Illuminated face. haha.

Sept. 3: Birthday boy awakens to presents! He does not seem to notice the balloons are recycled from the day before.

Sept. 3: First up: A singing squirrel card

Sept. 3: French toast breakfast

Sept. 3: Arcade in Bellevue Square followed by Din Tai Fung. They each got to turn in their tickets for prizes. Leelee got a make-your-own airplane. Olin got a very small bowling ball (marble) and pin set.

Sept. 3: BR Cake - chocolate chip mint! Celebrating Didi's birthday from August 29 and Olin's birthday today. Note Huskies gear - Huskies win big over Rutgers! Jeff is outside tending to Cookie's needs

Sept. 3: Human pyramid with Puops

Sept. 3: 58 years old, or 5 and 8

Sept. 3: Prom photo for Christine's Wedding

Sept. 3: Presents!

Sept. 3: Christine and Susu (our uncle)

Sept. 3: Christine and Tomas get married!

Sept. 3: They have a photo booth so we take full advantage per usual

Sept. 4: Panera breakfast. Unlimited coffee and tea. Plus my mom's sink was broken so no cooking at home this weekend.

Sept. 4

Sept. 5: First Mariner's Game! Kids get a certificate and a free meal. They also go around to all the ushers and collect baseball cards, which is fun. I think they got 13 or so each. We scalped tickets at the game, 300 level for $15 apiece, and promptly made ourselves comfy in the wide open 140 section!

Sept. 5: Dae lets them get cotton candy. 

Sept 5: Mariners vs. LA Angels (Anaheim angels? Not sure). There is a Mariners' first baseman from Korea named Dae-Ho Lee. Unfortunately he did not play this game, aside from a 9th inning appearance that the kids and I missed because we were in line for the running of the bases after the game. Dae managed to run in from the line and caught a few shots on camera.

Sept. 5: On the field after running the bases. Picked up a new Mariners' cap for myself. Nothing for the rest of the family. hehe.

Sept. 5

Sept. 3: Polaroid with Christine. She is very photogenic (and pretty)!

Sept. 3: "Serious face" Photo Booth

Sept. 6: Pike Place market and Ellenos Greek Yogurt. Sooooooo good. A coworker told me about it. I got Ginger Raspberry and Lemon Curd. Dae got Mixed berry. Kids got mango.

Sept. 6: The longest line I've seen for Piroshky. Dae is on the left in black shirt. You can barely see the Piroshky sign in red letters up ahead.