June and recent updates

[Note: I wrote this post at the beginning of July and I'm publishing it just now, so the time references probably don't make any sense. :P]

It's been so busy lately that it's been difficult to keep up with this blog. I will (eventually) finish my blog posts about our So Cal trip in April and last week's camping trip, but those will need to wait until I have a little more time to sit down and write.

June was filled with a number of transitions: Kai graduated from preschool and Sora advanced from Ladybug to Butterfly. Although Kai graduated, he's still attending Agape through the summer, so it's not much of a transition yet.. still, it felt like a milestone to see my little big kid wearing a cap and gown. At bedtime yesterday I asked Kai if he was excited for kindergarten and starting a new school, and he replied that he was "a little shy to start at a new school." A few of his classmates from Agape will also be attending Noble, so I hope that will help facilitate the transition.

My preschool grad <3

Emily is one of Kai's good friends from school

How about graduating from drooling, Jad?

Sora moved over to Butterfly to join Kai's class for the summer. For me, it's been awesome since there is only one location to drop off in the morning now. This will be the last time that they'll ever be in the same school classroom together. I made cupcakes to help Sora celebrate her "graduation" from Ladybug. With Kai in the class, her transition to Butterfly has been seamless.

Jad stayed for a little bit of circle time on one of Sora's last days at Ladybug. Sora was so proud and excited!

Silly Sora :P

With Teachers Frida and Jovita

Sora's first day at Butterfly

We also welcomed Grandma Udom back from Portland in the beginning of June. The kids have been enjoying spending time with their Grandma and having a spare set of arms is always helpful these days!

Crawfish boil!

As I mentioned before we returned from a camping trip just over a week ago. I'll write about that in a separate post since there's the usual glut of pictures from when we travel. But we've been keeping busy through the summer. We hung out with Viet and Lin (and their respective kids) for Taco Tuesday a few weeks ago, and saw them again this past weekend to celebrate Marco's birthday.

Taco Tuesday aways ends with everyone running around and climbing

"C'mon Uncle Viet, you know you want a third kid." (Uncle Viet looks skeptical :P)

We also got an annual membership to Happy Hollow since our membership to the Children's Discovery Museum expired and since our kids are more interested in rides than before. Kai rode all of the rides, including the roller coaster! No longer my fearless girl, Sora was interested, but chickened out last minute on some of the bigger kid rides.

Who's driving this thing??

Though the rides are fun, the kids still love climbing around a good playground

We had an early Father's Day dinner at Outback Steakhouse with my parents and on Sunday, I got the kids out of Nik's hair for a little while to work on a craft project.

Father's Day craft time! (the gift was primarily taking care of the kids while Nik got some rest)

Kai had a stomach bug at the beginning of July and passed it onto the rest of the family (Nik still hasn't recovered completely and it's now nearly the end of July) and Sora's sleep is still touch and go, so that's probably part of the reason as to why it's taken me so long to complete this post. It's been a fun and busy summer (Joe and the family just visited and took Grandma Udom back up to Portland, and the kids just completed a two week swim camp), I will try to post more by the end of the this week to catch this blog up to current events.

Sick Kai.. no picture of the rest of the sick family, but it was pretty miserable :(

First tooth and doing a 360

Jad officially has a tooth coming up! I could see the bottom two just below Jad's gumline about a week ago, but now you can feel one of them pushing up. Finally! Jad has been wearing bibs for teething-related drool for weeks now. He is also on the move and when you put him on his belly, he pushes up and can turn himself 360 degrees. It's been challenging to keep up with this blog, but I just wanted to write a quick post about Jad's recent milestones. :)

Bedtime stories. Jad is so curious about everything around him and loves Kai-Kai and Sora

An action packed long weekend

We started off the long weekend with an early wake up. We were supposed to meet at the Chien's for the fruit picking caravan at 7:30, but seeing as how we normally have difficulty getting to school by 9, we knew it would be a struggle. We quickly packed breakfast to-go, but gave up on meeting up with the caravan. We got the kids dressed, washed up, and loaded into the van, and drove off to Brentwood. When we arrived around 9, we immediately saw our church friends' wisdom in leaving early.. the little farm roads were jam packed with would-be fruit pickers and traffic was horrible. We started off at Nunn Better Farms, and while the first couple of rows of trees had been picked clean, we were able to find some choice cherries further into the orchard. The kids had a lot of fun picking cherries and though you technically aren't allowed to climb the trees, Nik gave the kids a boost to pick the ripe cherries up top.

A sweet treat after a hard day's work.

We then moved onto Bacchini Farms where the kids enjoying picking blackberries. We ended up purchasing a dollar's worth of blackberries, though another dollar's worth ended up in Sora's tummy. We had a pizza lunch with our church friends, Jad charmed little girls while Kai and Sora ate powdered cheese. -_-

Evidence of the crime

Jad is ever the charmer

After lunch, we visited Ngoc and Lee Jae for even more eating. We enjoyed BBQ while the kids explored the expansive backyard and ran amok in the playroom.

On Sunday, we celebrated my Mom's birthday with dinner at Koi Palace. It was great to see Uncle Matt, who had come up from SD for Mom's birthday.

The next day was Memorial Day, we drove up to SF to help celebrate Benji and Willie's birthdays. It was a sunny and surprisingly warm day in the city--I was prepared with long layers and jackets, which we didn't need at all. It was awesome to catch up with Kristin and Rich, the kids loved the homemade Harry Potter themed golden snitch cake which was filled with jellybeans. We also met up with Siavosh and Karen at the park, and our kids played together in the playground. Our visit to SF was capped off by a visit to PPQ and Polly Ann Ice Cream (which was super-crowded since it was such a warm day).

Kamron ducked right when I took this shot.. ahh, toddlers :P

Kai and Sora can be unexpectedly cute when they're not fighting

So happy to be on the merry-go-round

On the other hand, my silly son

Probably spoiled by living in the Eastside, but PPQ's pho doesn't cut it these days 

We then drove home and ended the day with a neighborhood water balloon fight. Not a bad way to end a long weekend, if you ask me. :)

Happy 5th birthday, Kai (and Happy Mother's Day)

Just over five years ago, Nik and I went to the hospital and left as parents. Incidentally and perhaps fittingly, it just so happened to be Mother's Day weekend.

It's hard for me to believe that Kai is already five years old and that he'll be attending kindergarten in the fall. These past five years have been the most stressful and exhausting of my life, but they have also been the most rewarding and transformative. Parenting doesn't come naturally to Nik or me, and we're still learning, but we love our children and are grateful for them every day; they have taught us to be more patient, to give more grace, and to treasure the simple joys of life.

We celebrated Kai's birthday at our home with a bounce house and kiddie pool. For at least a week, we did a little bit every day to prep for the party. Even so, it still felt like a sprint to the finish. Over 80 people had RSVP'ed, so we were expected a full house, though it didn't feel too crowded with everyone spread between the front and back yards and the house. Overall, I think the party was a success and most importantly, Kai was happy. :)

Party prep

How many kids can we fit in this kiddie pool?

The aftermath

Nik and I were exhausted after Kai's birthday party and we're still in the process of cleaning up. But the next day we celebrated Mother's Day and Kai's actual birthday by going out to dinner with my family and Auntie Lil. It was a bit hectic to go out for dinner on Mother's Day, but the kids did okay by watching the tablet and luckily, Jad fell asleep in the carrier.

Daddy's exhausted after a long weekend

Happy birthday to my big boy! <3

I still have yet to post about our So Cal/San Diego trip, but now that Kai's birthday party is over, maybe I can finally get around to posting about it. :P