The Kids in Pictures

I don't feel like writing much so here's some pictures. Besides they say a picture says a thousand words so enjoy!

Nadia in her swing.



Mekayla joins in the action.



Mekayla playing in her water fountain/pool thingy. Hmm... I don't think it officially has a name.





Hmm... This gymini is a fun place to hang out.



This was very sweet. Mekayla put the blanket on Nadia then sat down beside her to watch Playhouse Disney.



The sandbox with the crazy expensive sand.



Bath time in the Hamilton home is always more fun with bubbles.



And of course, we couldn't leave Norbert out.

So Totally Loving These...

Okay, so I found the prettiest set of dishes on Crate and Barrel's website the other day. Incidentally Crate and Barrel has got to be one of my most favorite-est stores for dinnerware, cups, kitchenware, etc. Anyway, I just had to mention these since I'll probably never be able to afford to own them and because I just love, love them and the way they look and they are so classy and etc etc. So, I'll put some pictures here that way when they are all gone and sold out and sitting pretty in someone else's home, I'll get to come back here and look at them and reminisce.

Oh and Carter, I know what you're going to say... "Hmm... There's a lot of flowers on them." Yeah but the plates are round and the flowers are blue, not multicolored or fuschia. You like blue. And I still don't understand why you are so opposed to square dinner plates.

A New Caped Crusader in Town

We have a new superhero in town.... Her name is Super Mekayla. For the last 2 or 3 nights after her bath, Daddy will dry her down and then put her hooded towel on the top of her head. Then for the next 5 minutes, she will run butt naked around the house, cape flapping boldly behind her, shouting, "To the rescue!" Tonight, she even had the right hand raised to the sky Superman gestures. We got a bit of it on video. She seems to get all bashful and refuses to participate when the camera or video camera comes out so we've got some truely rare footage folks.

Putting on her diaper and PJs has become a great challenge for the caped crusader and her exhausted parents who tirelessly chase her around the house before an accident happens. However, tonight, through a stroke of genius on mommy's part, Super Mekayla did not have to put on her PJs but donned a Super Suit instead (diapers are non-negotiable superhero items for a 2 year old, I'm afraid). They were even in red, white and blue superhero colors.

This is a new and interesting phase in her life and we are totally enjoying it (as exhausting as it can be sometimes). Her last bath towel was a puppy dog one and she proceeded to run around the house in her towel panting and woofing like a puppy. She was even giving out slobbery puppy kisses. Incidentally, our new "puppy" arrived the night after Molly came over to spend the day.

Mooncakes and Lanterns

My mooncakes are here!!! Airflown from Malaysia.... Yummm. I opened my front door today and saw the big box of stuff from my mom including mooncakes sitting on the doorstep. Thanks mom!!! I know what I'm having for dessert tonight. I love mooncakes and perhaps the fact that you can only get them once a year makes them all the more special. BTW no, they are not the same as moonpies. So here's yummy foodie pictures of my mooncakes:

One of the boxes came with the cutest mooncake knife ever so I thought I'd show it here.

Mekayla's comments: "More cake. More cake. Yummy cake."

I remember as a kid, we'd celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival and you always knew it was coming because there would be mooncakes in the stores and lanterns for sale. I used to think the best part were the lanterns (us kids would call it the Lantern Festival - what did we know?) but now it's the mooncakes. The lanterns would be made in various animal shapes. For some reason, I always wanted a nice big dragon (pre-Christian days of course). A pretty goldfish was also nice. They would be made of a wire frame wrapped with cellophane of various colors for the different body parts and detailed with paint (i.e. a goldfish would be made of orange cellophane and the scales, eyes and mouth would be painted on). In the center of the lantern would be a little candle holder where you could place a lit birthday candle. The top of the lantern would be attached to a wooden or bamboo stick by string.

So, on the night of the festival, dressed in our PJs (don't ask me why - I guess coz it was at night and late?), we would get our lanterns, have our parents carefully insert and light the candle, and carry it around the yard/neighborhood with the other kids. We'd compare lanterns and be really happy until..... your lantern burst into flames... Yes, people, our lanterns would sometimes burst into flames. You see, the cellophane used to make the lanterns is highly flammable. And the lanterns are not very sturdy. So, it was highly probably for the lantern to tip (as it bobbed around at the end of the stick) or the candle to fall over (if not probably inserted) resulting in this big lantern fireball that would completely freak any kid out, sending them into fits of traumatic screams and tears. These lanterns did not win any safety awards and would certainly never be allowed in the U.S. today.

If your lantern was spared so far, you'd feel sorry for the victim, console them briefly, go call a parent to deal with the fire and tears, then continue having fun with your lantern and the other kids, thankful that it did not happen to you... Yet... If you had the misfortune of having your lantern blow up in your face, then your lantern days were pretty much over till next year. You'd go home crying, feeling sorry for yourself and your pretty lantern that was. On the brighter side, there was always mooncake to eat when you got home.

As I got older, they came out with plastic battery-operated lanterns. But they never were the same as their hazardous, combustible counterparts. Even if they did last longer, they didn't come in as many pretty colors or shapes. So, no fun there.

I look back on this with fond memories (even though I've had a few combust on me in my days) and I hope that someday my girls get to experience this part of their culture. However, I must say that now, as a parent, the thought of a lantern igniting in their hands sends shivers down my spine. Perhaps I'll get Po Po (grandma) to send a couple of those battery-operated ones over.

Good Directions

This happened on Saturday while we were painting the fence. One of the places we considered taking Mekayla was Chuck E. Cheese. So, Carter asked Rayden if he knew where one was and how to get there. Here's the directions he got (I added the parts in parenthesis for clarification):

"So you know where Costco is? Well you take the road in front of Costco (Blossom Hill Road)... Not the road beside it (Almaden Expressway) but the road in front of it (Blossom Hill Road). Then you keep going and then the road splits in two. There you take the upper split (the right-hand split a.k.a. Kooser Road) and then you go some more and there is Chuck E. Cheese."

Now, I tell this not to make fun of these directions (even though I did find them amusing) but to applaud the sheer genius and simplicity of it. I think the most beautiful part of these directions is that my husband, who is probably the most directionally challenged person I know, followed along perfectly and understood the directions completely and was at this point, able to take us from the house to Chuck E. Cheese and back without getting lost or using the GPS. Hooray!

Alas, we decided to go to The Jungle Island instead which was a whole separate misadventure (see my Saturday post). Funny enough, on Sunday, Rayden informed us that The Jungle is a whole lot better than The Jungle Island... I tell you, we should listen to Rayden more in the future.