Laundry helpers

I have two little house elves that help me with laundry duty. One loves to take out the clothes out of the dryer, the other is learning how to fold the tshirts. Soon I can take a nap while they do the chores.




Lukas folding his tshirts. He is pretty good doing that.

Naked Chef

It's hot outside. It's not too bad inside our house but Lukas prefers to wear no shirt these days. It's fine by me.

Today he helped me to cut mushrooms for our spaghetti sauce tonight. My Naked Chef in action:

Shopping

We went for a quick shop today to get Lukas new soccer shoes. The soccer camp is starting in few weeks and he needs the right equipment. We got him some nice good looking shoes but no photo yet. First when the whole outfit is complete.

Matilda was incognito... Trying to fool the paparazzi.

Fearless Matilda

She is proving it once more while watching Uncle Tai making fried crabs for dinner. Her curiosity is stronger then anything else. She must have gotten that from Mommy. :D

Not so happy days

I usually post only happy and exciting stories that happen to our lives but today I just want to tell you all that Lukas and Matilda have caught a tummy bug and are badly sick. Lukas has thrown up for 48 hours by now, we are lucky that he has held the food down this morning.

Little Matilda started early this morning and it's horrible to watch that little body wrangle with pain and discomfort. I am sorry to see her like this.

Anyway, I know this all will pass, the washer and dryer will stop washing and drying, but seeing my kids like this is hard.

I promise next post will be more fun!

Morning Happiness

My personal barrista makes this latte for me every morning.

Trip to the Oakland Zoo

Today we went to the Oakland Zoo for a walk and lunch. It was pretty hot so we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. I changed the route a little to avoid the hot spots. We started with the elephants and ended with the bears which we usually visit the other way around. This caused some distraction with Lukas but he still enjoyed the walk.

I took some cool pictures for my photo blog so please make sure to check it out next week.

You can touch the goats if you like. But my kids don't like it.

You can climb on the huge frogs.

Matilda reading the map in case we get lost.

Snack time.

Practice

Lukas' favorite activity (after playing outside with his friends and with his Transformers) is writing and drawing. He is getting better and better in both and every day he draws pictures of us, himself, our house, Transformers and whatever else comes to his mind.

To avoid Matilda crawling all over his desk - which she does with such intensity as she would know what to do - I have bought another little table from Craigslist. For 5 bucks both kids have now their own table.

The "new" used desk was actually bought for Matilda but of course, the blue desk that Lukas uses, is so much cooler. So Lukas uses hers and she uses his.

Whatever works kids, whatever works.

Coldplay

Last night we went to see Coldplay at Shoreline in Mountain View. It was a great concert. The night was warm and since it was sold out, the place was packed to the top. Even on the lawn it was hard to find a spot. But we managed and enjoyed 2 hours of live performance.

Check out Chris' homage to Michael Jackson. Billie Jean.

Matilda's first rollercoaster adventure!

We knew that Matilda is fearless and she proved it once more when we went to Great America and put her on the little rollercoaster's. Here is the proof how much fun she had.



All smiles!

Dentist

Today Lukas gave me a great surprise! He had his first dentist appointment ever and he did very well. He went with the nurse leaving me behind in the waiting room and came out 1 hour later in a great mood, cleaned teeth and all X-rayed. The doctor was telling me what a social and calm boy he is.

And I was so worried about this visit.

My little boy is really not a little boy any longer. He is taking on challenges and experiences that I had to share with him in the past and now I don't need to. This is a good thing. I want him to be independent and secure and believe in himself.

Matilda's appointment is in January. Let's see how that goes.

Celebration

Quite spontaneous, we managed to get out yesterday and enjoyed a massage and a dinner for two. Grandma was kind enough to watch the kids and we had 3 hours to ourselves.

We had a couple massage which means you are in the same room but each gets his/her own massage. I could hear Patrick snore and had to laugh.

Afterwards we went to an Italian place which I will not name by name because it was mediocre. The food was decent but nothing that “wow”ed us. But just hanging out with Patrick alone was wonderful and made up for the food.

5 years!

5 years ago, on a super hot day in Las Vegas, we got married! In a small circle of friends and family we promised to love each other in good and in bad days. We are happy, full of joy and thankful for having each other. I couldn't ask for more.

Matilda - 18 months old

Today Matilda turned 18 months old. To commemorate this big event, here are few things you should know about her:

1) She likes to sleep.
2) She likes to eat.
3) She likes to play.
4) She loves her big brother.
5) She eats olives and anything else we give her.
6) She likes to wear pants.
7) She got her first bandaid on Tuesday. She fell and scratched her knee.
8) She can say Mommy (it sounds like Moooommmmyyyyy) with such sweetness that I melt every time she says it.
9) She sucks her thumb before falling asleep.
10) She is curious and adventurous and fearless.
11) She climbs on the kitchen chair and proceeds from there onto the table.
12) She likes to sit in Lukas’ car seat. Now Lukas has to sit in her pink car seat.
13) She can get super mad when you take away a toy from her but she will also just give it to you when she feels like it.
14) She likes dogs and then she doesn’t like them when they get too close.
15) She loves to eat the sand at the playground.
16) She likes the Black Eyed Peas and Soulja boy (no kidding!).
17) She has the cutest smile and laugh. Deep from the stomach.
18) She makes us happy every minute of every day.
19) Ok, one more from Daddy: She loves her Daddy.

Good taste

I am happy to report that our little Matilda (who btw will turn 18 months old tomorrow!) is liking olives! Yup, you heard it right. She tried one the other day, spit it out at first, shook her little body, and then continued eating it. And asking for more. My little gourmet.

Independence Day Celebration

We hope you had a wonderful 4th July weekend. We enjoyed a day of laziness and yummyness with family.

Fireworks were allowed at Uncle Raymond's house and they were loud and smelly. The kids didn't enjoy them much. We watched them from the back of our car and that was the biggest fun.

Trip to Great America

I wanted to wait with this post til tomorrow but my fingers are itching to post the cool pictures that we took at Great America today. What a fun day it was!

After arriving at the park, Lukas and Patrick went on the Merry Go Around (sp?) twice. After checking out many other rides, Lukas found his favorite: rollercoaster!! He went on the water coaster twice (I could handle it only once), 3 times on a fast rollercoaster with Patrick, and twice more on a smaller one. I was sick just looking at him but he kept saying "one more time". He has no fear.

Matilda went on a ride too!

The water park was the next favorite attraction and we spent few hours there. Matilda walked through the shallow water admiring Lukas' swimming skills.

Overall, we had a great time. And we drove only 10 minutes to get to that place. Nothing can beat that. Lukas didn't even had a chance to ask "Are we there yet?". Mission accomplished.