Lucas is reading!

Here's a video clip of Lucas, at 4 years and 5 months old, reading his book.  We are very proud of him!

Kauai

Ah, Kauai.  Just the name evokes paradise.  We recently vacationed in the Garden Isle for a week with the kids and the moms and we all had a great time.  It's our favorite Hawaiian island because it's laid back and mellow, precisely why we went on vacation in the first place.

Thanks to a healthy collection of Starpoints, we essentially stayed gratis at the Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas at the north shore.  The room has a kitchenette and laundry, two must haves when traveling with children.  Other amenities include a wonderful children's pool with a slide that Lucas enjoyed very much, as well as Weber gas grills sprinkled throughout the property, which we used one day to grill fresh fish.

While the north shore of Kauai is about an hour away from the hustle and bustle of Lihue, we enjoyed staying there because it is more lush and green than the drier south shore.  The beaches are also calmer in the summer months.  And that's really what it's all about  - enjoying the warm summer days on the beach.  The great thing about Kauai weather wise is that while the temperature stayed consistent around 85 degrees, the ocean breeze is always there to help cool things down.

We rented a trusty minivan to take us to other places on the island: Waimea Canyon (the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific"), Ke'e Beach, Poipu Beach, Anini Beach, Tunnels Beach, Wailua River, Koloa, Kokee, Haena, and other locations.  

Lediya and I also had a day to ourselves, thanks to the grandmas.  We had shave ice in Hanalei then snorkelled at Tunnels Beach where we swam with a huge school of angelfish.  After that, we had dinner at the Hanalei Dolphin Seafood Restaurant.  One of the best seafood meals we've had - rainbow poke "martini" and fried calamari for appetizer, grilled ahi steak for the main course, and three flavor ice cream for dessert. Yum!

19 Months Old

Leila turned 19 months old this past weekend.  Lots of milestones to report since the last update.  For starters, she's beginning to say words such as airplane ("ahbeen"), ball, no, more ("mooore"), apple (she calls tomatoes apples too).  She also is starting to know her animals and sounds (cows, dogs, and horses).  She knows what she wants and will ask for it ("wawa" for water). 

 

Leila, unlike her brother Lucas, likes to eat fruits and vegetables.  She eats bananas, apples, watermelon, cantaloupe, mandarin oranges, peas, tofu, carrot, potato, yams.  She likes eating rice porridge and chicken noodle soup.  She's not much of a meat eater but will eat eggs, cheese, and yogurt. 

 

She still uses her infant pacifier which is concerning since she cannot fall asleep without it.  I've tried orthotic-type pacifiers but she's rejected them all.  We are worried that the infant pacifier will misalign her teeth.  Our goal is to get her to stop using that pacifier as well as wean her from her bottle (totally opposite from Lucas - he stopped using the pacifier at 6 months old and quit the bottle soon after that).

 

All in all, she's growing up fast!  She is a healthy and happy baby!

Yosemite National Park

We just returned from a short four day vacation at Yosemite National Park.  It was a getaway celebration for our 7 year wedding anniversary, and it was also the kids' first time at Yosemite.  My parents came with us as well.

For accommodations, we stayed at Yosemite West (aka Yosemite Scenic Wonders), which is a private development of homes and cabins inside the park.  It is located off Highway 41 about twenty minutes north of Wawona.  The cabin we rented, nestled among the pine trees on the mountain, has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, as well as a kitchen and a barbecue grill.  We prepared all of our meals there.  From the cabin, it's another twenty minutes to Yosemite Valley.  It was an ideal base for exploring the park.  There is no Internet, cell, or TV reception but it's

Since we had the kids our activities were relegated to short easy hikes and lots of downtime.  We hiked the Mariposa Grove, Lower Yosemite Falls, Glacier Point, and Bridalveil Falls.  For downtime, we picnicked and relaxed by the Merced River at two beaches: Sentinel Beach and Cathedral Beach.  The kids loved playing in the sand and in the very cold water (which was a relief from the 88 degree temperature).

For Lucas, the highlight for him was officially becoming a Junior Ranger.  He had to complete several tasks (identifying at least four animals that he's seen, doing a short hike, listening to a Ranger-led talk, and taking an "oath" to help protect the national park).  For his hard work he received a Junior Ranger badge.  Good job Lucas!

The trip was concluded by having the Grand Buffet brunch at the famous Ahwahnee Hotel on our anniversary date.  The dining room is absolutely amazing with its views outside its 2 story tall windows.  The food was top notch as well, with prime rib, an omelet station, pastries, shrimp, oysters, bacon, sausage, etc.  It was well worth it. 

Everyone had a good time and we also had our National Parks passports stamped.  Lucas liked stamping his own book and Leila now has her own book as well.  I would recommend getting these passports as it's a great way to collect memories of trips to our national parks.

7 Year Wedding Anniversary

For our seventh wedding anniversary Lediya and I took the kids to Yosemite National Park.  We've always loved going to national parks and we want to instill that love of nature into the children.  It was in the year 2000 that we last went to Yosemite together.  Back then, it was just the two of us, recently graduated from UCLA.  Now 11 years later we have two beautiful children who enjoyed the park as much as we did.  


The photo was taken at the lobby of the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemit,e where we ate at the famous Sunday Grand Brunch Buffet.  Lucas actually took the photograph, not bad huh?


Here's to many more years together!

NOOK Color

I wanted to see first hand what the fuss over tablets is about, seeing that tablets can't do nearly what a laptop/netbook can do (or so I thought).  I already use an HTC EVO 4G with a 4.3" screen so I really didn't see the need for a tablet.  Well, my inner gadget nerd got the best of me when I spotted a deal for a Barnes & Noble NOOK Color tablet for $199 (heck, I even considered a used iPad from craigslist but sellers were still asking $400 for them, no way!).   So I pulled the trigger and thought, ok, let's see what the big deal is with these things.

Well, after playing with it for a few months I can honestly say that I now see why these things are popular:

• Instant-on and instant web surfing
• Easy to handle
• More portable and lighter than a laptop or netbook
• Apps
• eBooks

I have since learned that the NOOK Color is a great introduction to tablets because it is very "hacker" friendly.  Within minutes I was able to "root" the Android-powered device and install a custom ROM (CyanogenMod 7 with Android 2.3).  Armed with that ROM, I am able to download apps and games from the Android Market.  So in addition to the NOOK Color  being an e-reader it is now also a fully functioning tablet.  It's 7" IPS screen is a delight to use.  I also was able to make Netflix work on the device, so I can use it as a streaming video player.  I also use the preschool apps and interactive books for Lucas.  However, I use the device mainly as an e-reader, and I am able to access my Amazon Kindle, B&N, and Google Books libraries on the device.  I am also able to "borrow" eBooks from my local library.

In conclusion, to anyone thinking about getting a tablet, go for it.  It is a useful all around device for media consumption.  I rarely leave home without my NOOK Color nowadays, it's that versatile. 

Leila is Walking!

Here's a short clip of her very first steps, April 8, 2011.

4 Years Old

Lucas turned four years old this week!  We celebrated his birthday with a two-part party at our home.  The first part, from 11 am to 2 pm, was with his school friends.  His friends Isabella, Max, Maddux, Joaquin, and Nathaniel attended and had a great time decorating cupcakes, coloring superheroes, and playing in the Spiderman jumphouse!  


The second part was with family from 2 pm until 5 pm.  That was fun too, and we had lots of food.  It was topped off by a choco-mocha crunch Spiderman cake from Red Ribbon.  Yum.  Can't believe our boy is 4 years old!  

15 Months Old

Leila is 15 months old!  What are her milestones?  Well, her favorite word is "no."  Leila do you want to eat this? "No."  Leila let's go sleep now.  "No."  Leila want to go take a bath?  "No."  She likes to eat mandarin oranges, soup and rice with tofu, eggs, cheese, and goldfish crackers.  She still drinks her milk like there's no tomorrow and still loves her pacifier.  We're trying to get her to walk more too but she's not there yet.  Our cutie is now 15 months old, hard to believe!

14 Months Old

Leila is 14 months old today! Our little princess is getting big - she's now in size 5 diapers and 18 month clothes. While she isn't quite walking yet, she is able to take a step or two from the sofa to the table. Her favorite activity is bath time and she can stay in there for hours if we let her. Leila is also fearless as she loves climbing up onto things like the sofa, Lucas' bed, her drawers, etc. She likes to eat her Gogurt, Cheerios cereal, rice, tofu, and porridge. And of course drinking her milk, lots of it. She says the word ball whenever she sees anything round and she loves to watch her Baby Einstein videos (except for Baby Bach, because the little mouse in there scares her). She's growing so fast and we are hoping she'd walk soon!