Cousins at the Aquarium

We had a cousins outing to the Long Beach Aquarium in January.  It was a fun day to hang with the cousins.  We had Lauren on a toddler leash in case and that worked well in making sure she was within arms length at all times. 

Not quite sure that she knew she was suppose to be petting the sharks.  I think she just had fun putting her hands in the water.  And I think Ava was the official water taster.  She also tried touching the miniature tide pool they had. 

Her favorite part was sitting on this squid (??) and pushing the button to make the water squirt.  We are working on taking turns and sharing, so she practiced by letting Sophia share the ride. 

Another favorite was the parakeet exhibition.  Lauren got very excited when the birds came close.  At some point someone gave her nectar to feed the birds and she was loving it!

Waiting patiently with Ava for a bird to come by!

 

All in all it was a great day!  We definitely need to think about getting a yearly membership.

Front yard fun

 A fun day outside on the front yard with cousins.  Lauren and Kirra loved the bubbles they got in their Christmas stocking. And we loved having our cousins the Hermawans over with adorable baby Hadley. 

The kids also got to try out the new Christmas gifts.  A t-ball set and a new scooter.

What we did on winter break.

Parks, parks, and more parks

 Christmas tree at Seal Beach Pier

She tried the big girl swing and fell off.  Then she said, "I broke my head mama!"

 She loves to chase the squirrels up the tree.

 Finding dandelions and making wishes.

 She insists that this is the way to wear the headband. 

And her favorite activity.... collecting sticks

Christmas 2013

Better late than never.... finally the Christmas post!

We celebrated Christmas with having siblings and cousins come over for brunch to keep things simple.  We had the kids wearing similar shirts which at times made it difficult to tell who was where especially Kirra and Lauren. 

Although we limited gift giving to only one gift to a child from all the aunties and uncles collectively, by the time we add the Santa gifts and grandparent gifts we still had way too many gifts.  In fact, Lauren did not even open all her gifts on Christmas.  Rather we let her have a gift a day the days following.

 Tante Joanie got Lauren an asian cabbage patch kid named Rianna Dan.  (Dan is Lauren's chinese name)  But being the tomboy she is, Lauren is not quite sure about the doll.  I think she will like it later. (hopefully!)

 The favorite toy of the day was this car/plane.  It was Luke's present, but all the kids wanted to play with it. 

Lauren's big gift this year was a scooter, which she loves.  Could not wait for us to take it out of the box to try.  And Oma got all the girls matching fancy red dresses. 

After opening gifts everyone went outside to take a picture.  It sure is hard to get a picture of all the kids in one pose.  At one time we told the kids to do a "touchdown".  As Lauren watches football with Dan she knew that pose, Kirra on the other hand calls it a "touchup".  It was also another sunny Southern California day on Christmas, so we put up the jumper and the kids spent the afternoon jumping.  

Christmas Cousins

Merry Christmas 2013!