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| I was able to go on a field trip with Jad to Happy Hollow.. so fun for all the 2nd graders :) They loved the little mini coaster |
So a couple of months ago, a friend of mine got tickets to BTS to their concert at Stanford. She bought extra because she wasn't sure what dates she could make with our work schedule so then she had extra tickets. While Amy or Sora aren't huge kpop fans, they knew that this was going to be a big concert and Amy thought this would be a chance to be the cool mom and enjoy some mother-daughter time so we bought the tickets from her. Yes, they were expensive but we figured worth it for the experience. I have only ever been to one concert (U2 360 tour with Amy) and that was a lot of fun and memorable. They prepared by listen to BTS songs on repeat and watching the specials on Netflix :p Sora's friend from school, Olivia, also went with her along with her dad. There were all these logistics between parking, lightstick pickup, carpooling but in the end, they went to the concert and it was a lot of fun. Sora said it was 500 out of 10 (though maybe she's just being her dramatic self :) What a good first concert experience for her!
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| They walked down to the stage before things started. They weren't this close but still not too far away |
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| Amy, Sora, Olivia and Ken. Olivia's mom was going to go originally but she had to go out of town for work so he went instead. What a good dad :) |
The 2nd-6th grade Science Olympiad also comes at the end of the year. The person who usual coordinates wasn't able to do it this year so there was a fear that it wouldn't even happen for our school but, of course, Amy stepped up and volunteered to lead it. Luckily, Victoria, Jestine and Joni also volunteered and they all helped to run the event coordinating 4 teams of about 50 elementary school kids to the competition. It was a lot of work but they did a wonderful job coordinating the high school student coaches, leading teams (Amy led the ecology teams), scheduling practice sessions, assigning teams and everything else. The competition was very stiff this year and I learned that most of the schools in Milpitas are majority South Asian (in fact, many other teams were >90% South Asian). Last year, Noble took 2nd place, I think but this year we only place in a couple categories. Notably, Sora + Olivia took 1st in the Ecology and Sora + Emily also in 3rd in Rocks and Minerals). That girl is a smarty pants though I think it's her dedication/OCD that really puts her over the top when it comes to studying. Jad and Colton were also in the Straw tower competition and they did really well coming in 12th (I think) out of like 30 teams. Considering they are 2nd graders competing against 3rd-6th graders, that was pretty good.
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| Here they are practicing/playing at building a strong tower |
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| Me too! I did a great job and my tower would have won. Admittedly, I do have 40 years of experience on these kids though :p |
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| The whole group on the competition day. Most kids said they had a good time and would do it again so that's a win! |
Kai also finished up his end of year concert at Piedmont Middle. He did well even though he doesn't love violin. I think this next year will be his last with regular lessons as we let him decide more of what he wants to do (as long as it's not sitting around reading/gaming all day :) He's supposed to pass some sort of aptitude test first though so he'll work on that this year with Jackie (who is really really nice to him for a student that doesn't really practice much).
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| A picture of Kai smiling with friends |
Amy's mom's birthday was in May. She is doing well with her lung cancer treatments, keeping up with meds and follow up appts regularly along with tests and scans. She is staying busy but of course, is lonely too. I can't imagine what it must be like to be without a spouse after being together for more than 50 years. Amy is trying to go over at least once a week and we're keeping up with Sunday family dinners. David is over there a couple times a week as well though he isn't sleeping over as much now. Unfortunately, Matt is farther away and has his own family and little one to take care of or else I'm sure he'd be here too.
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| Happy birthday, Mrs. Huang! (I still call her that because I can't really think of anyone else except my own mom when I say mom. I think she doesn't mind because there is some measure of respect there but also doesn't like that I don't call her mom either. I can see how it could make someone feel.) |
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| Also went with Jad to the Oakland Zoo.. lots of fun, they were super ADHD and ran from place to place.. I was like, "do you guys want to actually see any animals or just run around?" haha |
Jad and Sora finished their Spring Dance class and had a showcase. Sora (bring older and more coordinated than the other kids) did great and Tarhata put her in the right back because she didn't want her to overshadow the others, I think. Jad was in the left back so he could follow the others if he got lost. They both did great and I think it helped with their body control and coordination. Sora is planning on doing performing arts / theater club in middle school next year but maybe Jad will do more dance in the fall.
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| Sora is second from the left and Jad is on the far right of the group. Great work, kids! |
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| The Connicks hosted a party to taste New Riff Bourbon which turned into a karaoke party hosted by the Ngos... lots of fun! Kids really got into it :) |
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| We also had a chance to go up to SF to meet with Kristin and Rich (finally!) after months of delay. We saw their new place in the outer sunset which, of course, looks awesome and we got to catch up over sushi dinner at this place near their house. |
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| We just saw Willie (because his brother, Benji, was in Japan on a school exchange trip!).. really nice kid. Musically talented and very well mannered. Great job, Shimammons! |
Sora really hit the trifecta (or should I say hat trick with all the World Cup fever going around now? :) .. she won 1st place in her Science Olympiad event and then her yearbook design (which she did with Emily) was chosen for the cover and then she was also picked to speak at her 5th grade promotion ceremony. People were like, "you've done a great job raising her" but we mostly say that we did the same thing with Kai and he didn't really want to do any of those things so it's mostly the kids themselves :p
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| They made a very cool cute design showing the coming together of Toyon's Tiger mascot and Noble's Knight mascot. Anonymously chosen by the PTA so our friends on there did not influence the choice :D |
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| Graduation time! We got her the flower lei and friends got her the money and candy ones |
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| Congrats, Sora! On to middle school! |
Jad still loves his soccer and had tournament at the beginning of summer. They went 1-1-1 and it's clear that he's gotten better over the past year. This coming fall the competitive soccer league is reshuffling all their players into school year so his team will change but some friends will stay and I'm sure he'll make new ones easily.
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| Finally got to wear some pink during a game |
Summer has been slow and mostly quiet. We're relaxing for the first few weeks because of our big trip in July so mostly the kids have been at home relaxing. There is a lot of reading, playing video games and watching movies. We are going through Lord of the Rings because we're going to New Zealand and will visit the Hobbiton set. Also watching Superman (w/ Henry Cavill) movies because we're done with Marvel for now. Both these series are a bit dark/violent and I worry that Jad is getting overexposed but we always tell him that it's fantasy so maybe that helps a bit. When it gets too serious, we've been watching Culinary Class Wars as well. Love those Asian game shows :)
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| David joined Amy and the kids for a visit to the USS Hornet up in Alameda and then they went to eat Native American food.. was ok :) |
The dad in our church small group got together before our summer break and met up at Big Al's, a place with bowling, TV's, beers, arcade games, etc. Mostly we were there for the $2 Tuesday specials and to watch the Columbia vs Congo soccer game. Chinh was being silly and cheering for Congo loudly on purpose and we got some dirty looks from the many Columbia fans there. Glad we didn't get beat up :)
The next night the women got together, even if not all of them could make it with summer travels and all. They went to a much more civilized dinner at Han Sang Tofu and enjoyed a chance to chat without kids or husbands :) I babysat some of kids at home but it was pretty easy
There was a fire on the hill behind our house. It was quite dramatic as it was in the evening and Amy saw it while driving home after dinner (above). It wasn't super close but a reminder that we're near some very dry hills.
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| View from our street |
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| Very dramatic with the helicopters dropping water |
The kids have had friends over or visited others the past couple of weeks. Kai has been able to see old friends like Ethan, Brian and Abhai and they still have fun together even as they all slowly age out of this childhood time into the teenage years.
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| Still enjoys Smash Bros with Ethan |
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| Sora went ice skating with Emily |
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| We also went hiking with the Yeh, Tal and Wally+Rachel up in Alum Rock park. Good times :) |
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| 2nd graders are the silliest |
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| Amy has also made the kids come along for many chores out and kept them busy at home |
That's all, folks! I'll leave this time with this picture of Jad and his friends after a couple of hours of soccer practice. There is something magic about long summer evenings and innocent friendships. Probably not another post until we return from our summer trip. Take care, everyone!
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