Random Brain Dump

We spent two nights at my sister in-law’s on a short trip to LA after Christmas. On the last night, Suzanne was out late seeing an old friend. I was putting the girls to bed when they asked for a story as they often do. At home, sometime instead of reading books I would tell them stories– some true accounts and some I make up. So, I was looking around at the new surrounding for things to work into my story (I usually make things up as I go) when I saw a ceiling fan. That gave me an idea.

So I made up this story of a boy who woke up and discovered himself all sweaty on a sweltering summer day. He got ready for school, but grew increasingly uncomfortable in the hot morning. He kept complaining about the heat to his mother and didn’t want to go to school. His endless whining throughout breakfast gave her an idea. She gave him a shoe box and told him that it was magic! This magical thing in the box will instantly make him cool and comfortable. But there’s one condition: he cannot open it until he gets to class. Otherwise, the magic will not work. The boy got excited, grabbed the box and sprinted out the house. Along the way, he bragged about the magic box that will make him cool to every friend he encountered.

By the time he got to school the entire class knew about the magic box. As the boy sat down in class, anticipation built and all eyes were on him. The boy excitedly put the magic box on his desk, took a deep breath, surveyed the entire class and then calmly removed the cover. His eye bugged out, mouth gasped as he reached in the magic box with his hand and grabbed its magical content: a paper fan which his mother made and inscribed with crayons “I love you, mom!” The boy raised the fan to show all his friends in pure delight. The collective excitement of the students exploded in a thunderous applause.

The end…

Katelyn and Allison were cracking up as I finished the story– just the feedback I was looking for. Allison then excitedly jumped out of her bed, made a fist with her hand, put it on the middle of her forehead and excitedly said to me: “Daddy, when you were telling the story I see everything in my head!”

Well… with a response like that, I guess that story was magical to me too.

We took the girls to see Santa at the History Park this past weekend. They got to meet with Santa, did some art projects, rode a trolley as well as a handcar and posed for snapshots by their old dad. The highlight for the kids was when Santa arrived in this old fire truck. Santa was basically mobbed by the kids as soon as he stepped out of the truck!

It was the first time I’ve been to the place. The park houses and preserves quite a few Victorian buildings. It has a running cable car and a barn that contains countless historical artifacts from the gold rush era. There was this old cable car operator that was nice enough to indulge me and posed for a few pictures. Overall, it was a much more enjoyable alternative than going to the malls, at least for me anyway. Plus, the place was a goldmine of photo opps… 🙂

The girls had a few days off for Veteran’s day so I took a day off work and we headed down to visit my mom & my sister. We also paid Mickey Mouse a visit. We spent the morning in Tomorrowland which makes Andre happy. He was a great sport as we spent the afternoon in Fantasyland doing girly rides.

Unlike our visit a few years ago when the girls were younger, the kids and even grandma managed to stay the entire day– catching the parade before we called it a day. The new Finding Nemo and updated Pirates of The Caribbean were everybody’s favorites. Katelyn loved Peter Pan’s Flight; Allison’s favorite was Adventures of Winnie The Pooh while Andre’s favorite was Autopia. The new Pixie Hollow was a disappointment for Andre: an hour-long wait for snapshots with Tinker Bell. 😮

Einstein is an African Grey parrot with a 200+ vocabulary; here giving a very entertaining routine in TED 2006. Highlighting it with singing happy birthday to Al Gore. Seeing Einstein makes me miss Bongo, my African grey… 🙁

This is cool if you have children like me. The full Wikipedia for Schools selection has been made available on a DVD. It’s a free and community-based alternative to Microsoft Encarta and the likes. Very cool…

K&A may be a bit too young for this, but I’ll make them a copy and check it out.

At 9:47AM this morning, Allison turns exactly 5 years old. She’s such a happy and lovely child. She makes up for her petite in size with her stubbornness. She loves to color, draw and dress up as princesses. She knows how to melt your heart and has her daddy wrapped around her tiny fingers.

Happy birthday kiddo, I love you…

This past Saturday, I had a rare afternoon which I didn’t have to tend to the girls. I took advantage of it, grabbed my camera bag and headed out for a hike at Rancho San Antonio. The rain the night before cooled the afternoon but not enough, fortunately, to leave mud on the trails. The highlight was the view at vista point at “High Meadow” and my encounter with a pack of deers on my way back.

It was a nice way for some quality time alone and decompress…

Even at an early age, Allison exhibited stubbornness. She was born in 2003, the year of the goat/ram in lunar calendar. So we sometimes try to explain her stubbornness by attributing her as “stubborn as a goat”, an old saying.

So I was working on my photo book last night when Katelyn and Allison both came running and screaming into the computer room. Katelyn was especially upset and started swinging her arm out of frustration. Though not intentionally, she hit Allison. I promptly sent her to the corner. Intentionally or not, she violated rule #1 “no hitting.”

Later on, I sat down with both to understand what went on. Katelyn claimed Allison started it all by snatching a toy Katelyn was still playing with, without asking. I gave Allison a stern look and I can see her immediate panic in her eyes. Seeing the attention has shifted to her, she quickly sprung up for damage control.

Rex: “Allison, did you grab Katelyn’s toy without asking?”

Allison: “Daddy, but I’m learning…”

Rex: “But you know it’s not nice to grab things without asking!”

Allison: “But I’m learning…”

Rex: “You know it’s not nice, but why did you do it?”

Allison: “But Daddy, it’s the year of the goat! Remember?”
(we often joke that Allison is as stubborn as a goat…)

Priceless…

We returned to Maui this summer after our wedding there 8 years ago. It was mainly a family vacation but we scheduled it so we got to celebrate our anniversary on the island. It was a quiet celebration at Roy’s, one of our favorite Hawaiian fusion restaurants.

The girls are bigger now, so traveling with them is so much easier & less hassle. Also helps that we traveled a little lighter this time. Airlines these days charge hefty fees for additional or over-weight baggage.

The girls had blast, spending most of their time in the pools & beaches. We pretty much stayed put at the hotel most of the time. We didn’t even make it to Kea Lani (hotel where we stayed when we got married) as planned. 🙂 Katelyn got around the pool by herself this time, good to see those swimming lessons paying off. In fact, she’s pretty much like a fish. Allison too enjoyed it more since she’s much more comfortable in water.

We hooked up with a few friends. My buddy Vince flew over from Oahu; hanging out with him and his friend Vijack made us feel less touristy. We also hooked up with our friends, the Truongs, for a few days. Our hotels were close by, so the girls got to swim with the Truong boys. It was a shame our stays only overlap for a few days. One highlight of the trip is a sailing trip with Alex & Nicholas. The kids were super excited we spotted dolphins & turtles. It was a first snorkeling experience for our girls. It was a kick for them to see the fish & corals in the water.

Another highlight was a trip to Haleakala summit with Vince. Haleakala is a dormant volcano in Maui. We started out around 2AM up the windy road and made it to the 10,000 feet summit while it was still dark. Dozens of other tourists crowding at the the little shelter– it was very cold and windy. Dawn broke and we saw a glorious sunrise (my last memorable sunrise was at Bryce Canyon in Utah). Wow– sunrise above the cloud! Vince & I spent the next 4 hours snapping pictures, including some with us jumping up & down at the top of the world. That was great fun.

We also took the girls to a luau at the Sheraton, it was way overrated for me. But it was the first for the girls and they enjoyed it. They even went up the stage with Suzanne to do the hula.

As with other family trips, I found I was so busy having fun with the girls and I barely have time to shoot some real photos. In fact, I had all but one opportunity to shoot sunsets. So the night before we left, I spent 2 hours in the middle of the night shooting some night photography. It was cool to walk the emptied beach at night under the moon light. Plus I don’t have too many chances for night shooting.

Below is a few shots, check out more here @ Flickr or here @ Shutterfly.