Getting to know extended family (part 2)

Back in March, several weeks after we came back from China, Elvin's parents paid us a visit from California.  They were coming to see their grandkids, and were especially interested in meeting Xiao Yu for the first time.

When they arrived, they said 'hi' to all the kids.  Gabriel showed off his watch that (at that time) he wore 24/7.  He acquired it in China and was very attached to it because it was green.  It also happened to have a Hello Kitty on it, much to Elvin's dismay.

They also gave the girls comic books from Brazil.  Elvin used to read these as a kid.

They enjoyed watching the kids play piano.  Eliana performed a couple of her songs.  Karina also pretended to play songs off of the music sheet.  She is interested right now in learning how to play the piano because she sees her big sister playing.

One of the activities we did that weekend was to go to Toys R Us.  This was because Gabey needed a new bike since the push tricycle that we had for him would now go to Xiao Yu.

The kids found the drivable cars section, which is next to the bicycle section, and wanted to test drive some of the cars.  Gabriel go into this one, because it's orange--his second favorite color.

The girls of course ooooh-ed and aaah-ed over this car.

We had Gabey try out the classic Radio Flyer tricycle and it seemed to fit him just right.  Xiao Yu, of course, wanted to try out bikes too.

Xiao Yu had to take a nap soon so we fed him lots of snacks.  He loves pretzels.

He did not like as much this baby food-in-a-pouch.  It was some sort of banana-mango combination.  

Afterwards we went out for pizza sans Xiao Yu and Mommy.  Xiao Yu headed home to take a nap.

We each got personal pizzas.  The one for Gabey was half olives.  He absolutely looooves olives and the other day asked for his dessert to be a bowl of olives and mushrooms.

After he woke up, Xiao Yu also got to eat some pizza  too.  

And he saw Daddy drinking carbonated water.  He REALLY REALLY wanted to drink it despite Elvin telling him "no."  So it seems harmless enough to let him learn the hard way.  Here is his reaction when he had some...

And we've noticed that Xiao Yu doesn't necessarily learn from his mistakes.  After not liking the first sip, he apparently thinks that the 2nd sip will taste better, but it doesn't...

Each kid got to pick a toy from Toys R Us.  Karina picked out this Play Doh set where you press down on the lever and it serves up soft serve ice cream which you can press into a bowl or a cone.  This toy has gotten hours and hours of play time in our household.

Here is the ice cream cone that Gabriel made.

This is Karina's multi-flavored ice cream cone.

And here is Eliana's.  

Gabriel's gift was the trike.  Yeh-yeh assembled it while Gabriel watched on and occasionally assisted.

And he really liked his new tricycle!  This was his first time steering by himself so it took a little bit of getting used to for him.  Also, previously he had refused to wear helmets (he hates wearing hats or anything else on his head) but we convinced him that from now on he needs to wear helmets.  We even bought a new one for him.  But since he has a ginormous head, we bought one that is "youth size", meaning a size that normally a teenager would wear.  That's our Gabey!

And we had fun going to the park to try out our bikes!

A couple of months later, Elvin's parents returned for a visit.  This time we visited OMSI, which is the local science and technology museum for kids.

They had this cool exhibit with a bunch of small animals including rats.  One of the activities was to take bits of food for the rats, and then wrap them up in card box or stuff them into paper towel tubes so that the rats would have to "work" to get to their food.  This keeps them from getting bored in their cages.

Here is Karina sprinkling carrots, apples, flax seed and meal worms onto an eggs carton lid.

The kids weren't afraid of touching the meal worms which were very much still alive.

Then the worker would use string to tie up the contraptions into the rat cage.  He would hang them from the ceiling to make it more challenging for the rats.  They were very hungry and got to the food in about 1 minute.

The museum also had this wind turbine that blew air upwards.  You could take these paper cone cups (that are usually found by water coolers) and cut slits into them to bend the ends into helicopter propellers.  Then if you let go of the cups in the wind just at the right moment, they would fly up in the air!

At that time, Gabey was really into his construction hat, so wore it in the van.

And fell asleep in it.  His head got really sweaty.

After lunch, we visited a clothing store where Nai-nai got the kids some clothes.  They got to try stuff on using the changing room.

This was a first for all the kids!

Once back at home, Xiao Yu was up from his nap and got some pushes on the swing from Yeh-yeh.

Yeh-yeh explored the backyard together with the boys.

In the backyard, Elvin has a collard green plant from last year which has grown quite tall and now had bolted (gone to seed) with the warming weather.  The kids like to rips off stalks filled with the yellow flowers.

And just before leaving for California, Gabriel gave Nai-nai a stalk of collard green flowers as a parting gift.  He is a sweet boy!

Playing the harp...

Last year, Elvin and Eliana attended a concert by a master harpist.  Ever since, Eliana has been fascinated by the harp and claims that she wants to learn how to play the harp.  We are not sure we want to head in that direction.

However, Elvin has a co-worker who is an avid harp player and owns several harps.  She invited the girls to come over and play a little bit.

Karina wanted to try it out and got to pluck some strings.  This is a smaller harp that is designed to sit on one's lap.  It was just the right size for Karina.

 She was content to pluck away.

Since Eliana already knows how to play the piano, Elvin's co-worker showed Eliana which string corresponded to the middle C, and proceeded to teach Eliana how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the harp.

It was a very special treat to play such beautiful (and expensive) instruments.  After about an hour, we had to go, but not before Karina stopped at a glass case and admired the co-worker's beautiful glass collection.

Trip to the Fire Station

Every year, our kid's preschool takes a field trip to the local fire station.  Elvin has gone in the past with Eliana as a chaperone and has enjoyed it so much that he wanted to go with Karina this year.  Elvin quite possibly enjoys it more than the kids, learning about all the tools, gear, and capabilities of the fire truck.

The first station is close to the preschool, so the kids walk.  A bunch of parents came along as chaperones.

 Once there, a fire fighter begins the trip with a short lesson on what to do if the fire alarm goes off ("Get out, stay out, and call 9-1-1.")

Then the kids got an explanation about the various things that are stowed away in the sides of the fire truck--the ax, jaws of life, and other cool equipment.

The kids got the privilege of sitting up in the driver's seat of the fire engine.  Karina thought it was pretty cool.  The bald guy is Ronnie and he is the captain at this fire station.

 The kids then got an intro to the fire station's ambulance.

The firemen paramedics brought out the gurney and let the kids touch it.

As a bonus, they also let the kids sit on the gurney while it was going up and down.  Unlike in the olden days, these modern gurneys are motorized when going up so that firemen don't throw out their backs trying to lift patients that are heavy.  Needless to say, Karina loved it.

 And they let the kids climb onto the ambulance and walk through it to the front.

As a finale, a fire fighter (who also happened to be the dad of one of the kids in Karina's class) put on his fire fighting gear.  Partly, he did this so he could show that fire fighters can get dressed really quickly (they are allowed one minute from when the alarm goes off to when they need to be sitting in a fire engine ready to go.)  And partly they did this so that kids wouldn't be afraid of fire fighters who are decked out in all their gear plus their oxygen tank.

And the clock started ticking!  They keep their boots inside their pants so that all they have to do is step into the boots and pull of the pants!

 Then the jacket goes on...

 And then the helmet and mask.

So that was the end of another exciting trip to the fire station, which was a highlight for both Karina and Elvin.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!  Our Mother's Day started, as it always has, with breakfast in bed.  On today's menu was scrambled eggs and bacon, with a glass of milk.  The flower on the serving tray was a touch of elegance at Eliana's suggestion.

Eliana carried the food while Daddy carried the glass of milk upstairs.  Karina helped to carry the glass very carefully into the room.

Mommy actually had already gotten out of bed, but got back in bed; so that she could officially be served her breakfast in bed.

As such is the life of a mom--when surrounded by hungry kids, inevitably half the food on your plate will be consumed by your offspring.

But Mommy had a good meal surrounded by her children.

After getting dressed, it was time to open presents.  From Gabriel, Mommy got a bag of powdered sugar donuts.  Gabriel picked them out.

Xiao Yu gave Mommy a roll of Rolo's.

From Karina, Mommy got a little craft that Karina made in pre-school.  It is a little flower with her in the middle.

In school, Eliana made a painting that is called the Tree of Life, because "mothers gave us life," explains Eliana.

Eliana also made a little hand print painting.  The poem says:
  My dirty little fingerprints
  I've left on every wall
  And on the dressers and table tops
  I've really marked them all
  But here is on that won't rub off,
  I'm giving it to you
  Because I'm thankful for a mother just like you!

The day before Mother's Day, the girls also wanted to make another gift for Mommy.  So they found some scrap cloth and started cutting away.  Karina wanted to make a skirt, but that was a little beyond her capabilities...

And she ended up making a heart for Mommy!

And Elvin is not sure what Eliana was working on...

It turned out to be a butterfly!  On it, Eliana wrote, "I love Mom".

Later on in the day, Emily's parents came over for dinner and so did Emily's brother's family.  They had shopped at the Nike Employee Store a couple of weeks back and picked up a new pair of sneakers for Xiao Yu.  If you remember, Xiao Yu for some reason, really likes footwear.  Cousin Millie helped put them on.

 Here he is admiring his new shoes.  They almost glow in the dark they are so bright.

As the afternoon wore on, Gabriel got more and more tired.  He no longer takes naps but today he was just pooped and fell asleep in Mommy's arms.  He slept for about 10 minutes until we could wake him up.

Then we sat down to eat.  We had yummy fajitas for dinner.

And angel food cake for dessert.  Xiao Yu had a big bowl of ice cream and strawberries.

And before leaving, the "kids" took an obligatory picture with Grandma.

 And our kids took a picture with Mommy.  We hope you had an enjoyable Mother's Day as well.