Lunch at the Ferry Building...again!

Whenever the weather is nice, I've decided that I'm going to hop on Bart with Mia and head into the city. I love the city and miss living there but I'm happy that Mia loves it there as much as I do...so city, watch out, these two girls are heading out there more often!

Another reason I love the city is that I get to visit with my friend Emily. Mia has not seen Auntie Em in awhile, but she has a good memory and remembers that Auntie Em is fun and nice, so she gets a big hug and cute picture.

My girl being cute.

We were at the Ferry Building again for lunch. On Monday at Lulu Petite (yum) and today at Hog Island Oyster (double yum).

Lombard Street and the Ferry Building

We took Auntie FF into the city today to pick-up some things from her doctor's office. Since it was such a gorgeous day, we took full advantage of it. Somehow, no matter where we are, Auntie FF comes up with the best ideas. We took Mia down Lombard Street twice. She loved it! She calls it the curvy street. Then we headed to the Ferry Building for lunch. I just love that place. After lunch we took in some sun and the beautiful view.

A curtsey for the camera.

Silly Mia.

Back into the Ferry Building for dessert. I love this picture and I'm bummed Mia turned out blurry.

The best sorbet we've every had!

After the city, we went back to Castro Valley and Mia got silly with Auntie FF's beanie. The girl finds fun in everything.

Chinese NYE Dinner

Not that we need an occassion to get together, but today was a special day...Chinese New Year's Eve. We headed to my parents for what was sure to be a feast. In addition to all the traditional NYE food that we have, my dad shows me one of the treats...


Here are the kids after begging them to take a picture together. Why do kids hate getting their pictures taken? Or is it just that they don't like to listen. Mun Mun had to be bribed with a cookie to get in the picture. I could honestly see MM going into a job interview and saying..."Will work for food." No joke!!!!

And of course, a silly photo of them. I love that Baby even has a silly face!

Our girls. I really should have put Mia on the bottom and MM on top. The girl's head is sooo large, especially compared to Mia's tiny head.

Jalen read a story to the other kids. So cute!

Baby loves to dance and loves an audience even more. He stood on top of the coffee table and put on a show for us. We were chanting "Go, Baby, go Baby..." and he loved it.

Karate Girl

Mia started taking karate lessons. She seems to be a enjoying it and she is listening well and doing what the teacher tells her. I really wonder if kids just don't listen to their moms! I swear, she is an angel to everyone but me. All I hear is...Mia is such a sweet girl...Mia has the best manners...Mia is such a good listener and so well behaved. And on and on...I'm thinking, yeah, she is all those things at certain times or after a battle, but man, can she be a handful or two at home! I'll just be happy that she doesn't embarrass her momma in public...that's all that matters, right? ;p

Back to the karate, here she is...



Mia doesn't have a karate outfit only because she doesn't want one. If she continues to like karate, I hope she'll be willing to wear the outfit for the next class. Aren't the four year olds cute in it?

Sharing a historic moment with my daughter

I was asked a few times..."Why do you want to go to the Oakland Coliseum to watch the inauguration, especially with Mia and the large crowds?" It is a historic moment, WHY wouldn't I want to be surrounded by happy and proud people? While staying at home might have been easier and less exhausting (the kids were asleep at 10:30pm and awake at 6:30am!), it was a moment that, although Mia may not fully understand or even remember, I want her to look back on these pictures and say...that was an important day and I was with my mom and thousands of others to celebrate. Whoever thought this would happen in our lifetime? I'm just thrilled that Mia gets to benefit from the breakthrough of this barrier.

One of my new favorite pictures of us.

Kids for Obama! Mia, Ethan and Elizabeth.

Can you tell that Ethan is happy with his button?

Obama Girl!

Ellen and Manny standing proud.

This turned out to be a cool photo, even though Mia was trying to poke me with her flag!

Look at all these people...all happy and excited. If we can keep up this engery, we can be the change that is needed to turn things around!

Obama Girls

I overheard Mia telling her princess figurines that "You're Obama girls, okay?" Definite proud mommy moment. =)

Heading to the Cho's to spend the night so we can get up early to watch the inauguration at the Oakland Coliseum. Whooohooooo!

Here's a video from earlier in the day. We definitely have "Obama Kids"...well, except for one...I think it's just her being shy rather than being, dare I say, a Republican!

Academy of Science

It was so busy at the Academy today. But we still had a great time even though we didn't get to see the rain forest and had to manuver through massive crowds with three walking kids and one in a stroller. I found out later in the evening that Tina & kids and Panda & kid were there today too, but with all the people there, we didn't run into either of them...darn!

On the walkway over the aquarium tanks.

The kids studied that map and told me where to go to find the penguins.

They like the lil' sea eels in the tank.

Getting a lesson from a docent at the touch pool.

Outside enjoying the amazing sun and getting some fresh air.

Baby can twist his tongue!

Mia is doing an apple juice commercial.

Watch out people, the kung fu crew is in town...and then of course, Baby had to join in.

Loving kids...

We are hoping the weather will be nice later this week so we can go back to enjoy the rain forest and maybe even throw in a cable car ride afterwards!

Feeding ducks at Lake Chabot

When the weather is this nice in January, you need to take advantage of it. So, we decided to head to Lake Chabot to feed the ducks. Virginia got us all excited about how many ducks we would be able to attract, but the poor kids got about three ducks the entire time. We suspect that the ducks were full since we were there in the late afternoon. One duck even turned his nose to our bread and would only eat the wheat thins!

No pictures with ducks, but some of the kids. Mia and Mun Mun doing the classic "Mun Mun Cheese-Face".

Check out the slant on this dock. I am shocked that one of the kids didn't slide down...okay, I'm really surprised that I didn't fall in!

The cute kids from behind.

Mia with her great aunt Helen.

Heart = Love

Mia left for school this morning and I didn't see her until after dinner since lil' Yi-Yi brought her to gung gung & pao pao's for dinner and I opted to hang out in Danville to catch-up with some friends. When Mia got home, she told me about the "treasures" she found at school today (sparkly confetti the teachers put in the sandbox) and how she needs to put them in a baggie since they're just thrown in her tote bag. So, as she is putting her treasures in a baggie, I'm doing stuff around the house and she comes running towards me..."Mommy, I found a heart treasure! It's for you cuz I want to give you love."...Awwww...that's my girl.

We decided to put in on the ledge of my bathroom mirror so I can see it every day.

Time to cut that hair!

Okay, we all know that Mia's hair doesn't really grow. For those of you who didn't know...no, I wasn't cutting her hair monthly, it's just naturally short! I was resisting the urge to cut it because Mia wants long hair and I just kept thinking, it'll grow, it'll grow. But as you can see from the pic on the left, it wasn't growing and is in need of a trim. I decide to go for some bangs and hopefully with the trim and evening it up, it'll grow faster...is that an old wives tale? It's short, but cute as always!

Nice winter day!

We took advantage of the gorgeous weather today and went to the zoo. I really wanted a lazy pj day at home, but I'm so glad Mia talked me into going. It was beautiful and nice to get some fresh air. It was also a treat to have Mia all to myself. We are normally around family, which is great, don't get me wrong but it's nice to not have to compete for my daughter's attention cuz you know I will lose to ANY kid who is much, much more fun than mommy.

Check out that shining sun and all those kids enjoying it!

I just love watching my girl...she was just going back and forth, back and forth. The simple things that kids love!

Big grin!

Such a nut...this pose came about because I asked her, "Do you want to go to the elephants or zebras next?" She strikes this pose and says, "hmmmmm....".

Happy Birthday to Mia's Great Grandmother!

Mia's great grandmother turned 85! She had her kids, grandkids and great grandkids surrounding her. What more can you ask for? (Well, she'd prolly like to win the lotto, but wouldn't we all!?!)

Wai Wai and Karmi



Wai Wai just joined a tee ball team...guess what team he's on?


So sweet, there were no more seats left in front of the DVD player, so Jalen let Mun Mun sit on his lap.


Mun Mun's expressions during a "bad" part of Kung Fu Panda. The eyes say it all!


My parents surrounded by love. I hope this is my future!