Bay Harbor, Maine

Ryan decided to take the rest of August off from work so that we could take a road trip to Maine.  We had a pit stop in Boston but made it to Bay Harbor, Maine.  We visited Acadia National Park and hiked around Jordan Pond and hiked Bubble Mountain. Then we had a lovely dinner at Jordan Pond House  and then ended the day at the top of Cadillac Mountain.  It's the highest point along the Atlantic Coast and if you watch the sunrise you can be the first person seeing the sun!  We figure we wouldn't make the early morning sunrise so we settled for the sunset...and it was beautiful!

Brandon and Ava

Brandon and Ava have had the best time here in Turks and Caicos. They are good little buddies. We tried so many times to get photos of them together, but one would cooperate and the other wouldn't. So, here is one where at least they are both looking. There was a perfect photo of both laughing but alas, the flash didn't go off and it's too dark. Still in search of the perfect photo of the two of them ...but til then...

Turks and Caicos - a Happy Mother's day indeed!

We got this family photo yesterday before dinner since we were all spic and span after a day at the beach and pool. This may have been one of the few family photos where we were all looking at the camera! If all goes well, I'll blog about this trip - haha - however, if life gets too busy, let me say that we are in Turks and Caicos because Ryan has a month long garden leave as he waits to start his new job. We leave tomorrow after a week long of beautiful weather and gorgeous beaches! Luckily, my sister, Helen was able to join us as you can tell from the next photo. This is Grace Bay in Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean. All I can say is it was less than a three hour non stop flight, no time zone difference, two bedroom suite with laundry and kitchen (and of course maid service!). It was about as vacation as it could have been with two little ones and no nanny. (though Helen sure helped when she arrived half way through).

We are loving it - and are so sad to leave tomorrow. As Brandon asked me why we are leaving already, I had to ask myself that very question....hmmmm...?!

It's been a wonderful Mother's day. Ryan made a great breakfast of scrambled omelette, cinnamon rolls, toast and grapefruit. And we spent the next 4-5 hours at the beach making sand castles and playing in the water.

Sotong Goreng

Yeah. So it's been on of those days, or weeks, or maybe even months?

Ryan's working late, again.

I'm missing out another girl's outing, again.

It's 9 p.m. and I haven't eaten, again.

I'm tired, I'm hungry and well, I just ordered Sotong Goreng. I'm waiting for it to come on this cold, snowy night. (and yes, I feel badly that the delivery guy has to come out in this weather!)

I mostly feel guilty (not bc of the food ordered this late - well - a little) but, because I was so grumpy all day long with my little kiddos.

Has Brandon hit his terrible 3s? Yes, with great gusto!

It's Clash of the Titans, because he swings from SOOOOOOO infuriating to SOOOOOOO darn cute in a matter of seconds. I'm the poor helpless sailor crushed between the smashing rocks while my sweet monster child controls the storm clouds. Or is it the other way around? Am I Medusa showing her ugly reptile heads while my poor little Brandon helplessly turns to stone from my hardened glare?

I know the answer, and the only solace I can come up with tonight, is Sotong Goreng.

Ava's first day of having her very own stroller

Ava loves pushing a baby stroller. Until today, she has had to share time with Brandon's stroller, which means whenever he isn't using it. I'd love to say he lets her use it whenever she wants it, but, well, he doesn't and she pretty much always wants it.

This one is from a few weeks ago in Newport, RI in the parking lot of a restaurant called the Mooring, after celebrating Ryan's birthday with a nice dinner out with two wiggly kids. (Does that sound like a celebration?)

This pic is from last night at PS 87, yes it's almost dark. She's using Brandon's stroller.

Ava's new pink stroller! It's a hit! She walked and walked and walked. She can't steer very well so she walks until she hits something like a wall or bench. I have to turn around and she is off like a rocket. Unfortunately, we also happened to pick a playground that was also hosting the PS 199 parent picnic. It was crazy with scooters and kids zooming around. Luckily she never got hit by one. She logged in her miles with the new stroller. Brandon thought it was pretty cool that Ava had her own and was strolling around with him!

First day of Book Buddies Preschool

Brandon had his first day of Book Buddies Preschool today. He's been pretty excited about the prospect of going to school for three reasons:

1) Riding a yellow school bus to school

2) Liz goes to school

3) Eli is at Book Buddies.

I guess 2 out of 3 isn't bad. Since he loves the subway, it wasn't too hard to convince him that riding the subway to school was way cooler than a bus. He probably didn't agree with the argument, but still loves himself a good subway ride. Liz is at NYU so not in his class nor does she ride a yellow school bus to school. I am glad, at least, that Eli is at book buddies!

This is the proverbial picture at your front door. Honestly, he's excited. I don't know what the deal is with his expression/smile.

When we got to the front of the building where Book Buddies is held, he had an attack of shyness and would not look up for the picture. It might have been the sun in his eyes, too?

This is in front of the door of Book Buddies. Notice his cute backpack. When he got out of the stroller, he had to make sure he had his backpack for school.

We were the first ones there, which was a good thing. Brandon had a chance to relax and get comfortable with the surroundings.

The first day was only an hour and all the moms were there.

Brandon loved these pegs during activity time. Of course, the first thing he noticed was that there were not any orange pegs. But he piled his pegs up impressively high!

Reading time

Free Play

Crossing the street to show parents the outdoor play area.

Motivating the kids with promises of bags of animal crackers at their destination.

Brandon would only hold Eli's or Lillian's hands and since Eli only wanted to hold his mom's today, Lillian's it was. To be fair, he doesn't really know the other kids but I hope he likes them all really soon!

Lillian and Brandon discovering green moss on the tree. No, not a part of the school lesson, just discovering on their own.

At the end of Book Buddies, what a big boy he is. I think it was a successful first day of school. As we were going to bed tonight, he said, "school, one more!"

ONE YEAR OLD!

Ava Youmee

We love this little girl. Our family has been so blessed since she entered into our lives a year ago. We can't imagine life without her. From the moment Brandon wakes up, he is asking about her, "baby Ava awake?" Her enchanting smile and personality have us spellbound as we wait for yet another moment with Baby Ava.

Ava had her one year check up today. She was a happy camper until the shots. Obviously, all these pics were before the shots. After she got the shots she cried for a few moments - added one final wail as if to remind me of what she endured and she moved on.

Ava weighed in at 21 lb 8 oz (a little above average) and 30 1/4 inches (70th percentile)

One year accomplishments:

Walks, runs, dances (does an awesome shimmy), points, waves bye, kisses, tackles, zurberts, drives toy cars and trains, babbles, buzzes her lips with her fingers, tries to sing, copies Brandon, defends against Brandon. She loves to play on the piano, hold something in her hand while she walks (usually Brandon's orange croc), but really likes any shoe or a purse (even ones larger than she is), chases Brandon or Brandon chases her, launches herself on the love sac, loves to climb, wants to feed herself, undress herself for the bath, LOVES the bath, ride on the scooter (she balances on it and we pull it around), push the baby stroller. She can box out Brandon when trying to get at a toy. They chase each other from one end of the apartment to the other. She likes "popcorn popping" and "itsy bitsy spider." She loves the beach and sand and if you dig a hole for her climb in she'll be occupied for a long time.

Personality: INDEPENDENT! Social, happy, aggressive, loving, huggy sometimes, too busy to stop most of the time. She is LOUD and can roar like a tRex! She is fearless except dogs startle her. She loves food and lots of it. Favorite foods are tofu and rice and seaweed and broccoli. Loves electronics, particularly iphones and cameras. She loves to get in the stroller and loves to leave the house and head out for an adventure. She squeals when she hears the door open and Ryan walks in from work.

Looking back:

She was an easy baby, slept easily, ate well, was happy and self sufficient, just rolled with it. LOVES her family, lights up whenever she sees Brandon, mom or dad. She took her first steps at 10 1/2 months in Colorado. She crawled a little, but by 11 months she was walking everywhere. The 2nd day after she started walking completely on her own, she sprinted after Brandon.

My mom and aunt and cousins were in town a couple weeks before Ava's real birthday so we celebrated with the family. My parents bought Ava a traditional Korean hambok. We kept tradition by having her pick from several items (such as a pencil, money, rice, etc) and she chose the $100 bill which indicates that she will have a rich life and she started down the road to riches by getting to keep the $100 bill from my aunt. Second thing she picked was a compass which indicates she will be well-traveled, like the rest of her family.

Brandon was excited to participate and he ran to find his 1st year traditional outfit. Unfortunately, a good portion of it was purple and he refuses to wear pink and purple these days so he put on the hat and the vest mixing in a chinese outfit underneath it. (Ryan brought it back when he was single for his future kid.) Ava liked the hat, can you tell?

Since we already celebrated with family, we decided we would bring treats to a playdate so Ava would have a chance to be sung to and for a candle to be lit. Guess who blew out her candle?

I think she could tell it was for her!

What a pretty birthday girl!

Ava enjoyed the rest of the playdate

At the end of the night she was happy and clean and almost one! (her bday was actually still a week away)

The best photo I had from her actual birthday on August 28th.

sipping is so easy

Ava is so funny. She is 8 months old and loves to drink water from a straw water bottle. She started off by grabbing Brandon's orange one and I noticed that she was actually sucking on the straw and drinking the water! I finally went out and got her own pink one and she loves loves loves it. As each day goes by, she gets better and better and tonight she looks like a veteran. How is she growing up so fast?

ORANGE Shoes AGAIN!

Brandon needs new sandals. His blue sandals are too small. His orange crocs are just about there too. The next size up in crocs is too big and besides they don't carry the neon orange one anymore. This evening we went to do a quick look see and we came away with these orange keens. It was not my choice. He absolutely REFUSED to try on the one I picked out. It started off with him NOT wanting to give up his orange crocs. Then when he saw these oranges ones, he refused to try any other ones on.

I did not want to get any keens for him. When we tried them on last year, his feet were way too fat for them and to squeeze them in and out was such a pain. Luckily, this year's pair - comes with a velcro tab on top (his size was the last size to have it, after which it has a draw string like the adult counterpart) and his feet have lost some of it's marshmallow quality that prevented us from ever buying slimmer shoes before. So, it's actually an easy shoe to take on and off -AND - Brandon refused any other.

When we left, they gave him an orange balloon. Obviously, Tip Toe shoe sales guy figured out the color trend with this 2 and a half year old boy. We put the old orange crocs in a plastic bag with his orange balloon attached that he had to carry on his subway adventure with dad, where they took the B, F, V and 1 train before heading home for the night.