Two E's & Me: Overseas Edition Part 2

This is part is known as P.D. = post-Daddy.  We are minus Mr.H for 5 weeks until he comes to get us.  Here's what we've been up to:

Camp Pau-Pau
Yi-mah is back to school, 2.5 weeks before M&L!  Add the E's into the mix, and it's Camp Pau-Pau.  We usually start the morning with homework.  MissE practices her letters and numbers, and is also learning Chinese.

MissE also drew a picture of Pau-Pau on her tracing sheet

Yi-yi's Baking Class
I'm famous for my cupcakes at home, so I taught M & MissE how to make a basic vanilla cupcake (no boxes!) and my new favorite frosting.  After lunch, we decorated and ate them!

Baking cupcakes

Eden enjoying cupcakes too!

Retirement & Daycare?
On another day, Gung-Gung said we needed to hang a sign outside the house 'Retirement Home & Daycare'! MissO joined us to watch Finding Nemo while her parents had a group date, making it 5 little people.

Swimming Lessons
MissE has swim lessons twice a week for 4 weeks. Lucky for her, she is the only student do every class is a private lesson!

Elementary backstroke: monkey, airplane, soldier!  That takes me back to 1996!

The Little Gym
Both E's are in classes at The Little Gym, Mr.E is a Bird and MissE is a Funny Bug/ Wonder Kid.  Mr.E has never been in a class like this before so it took a class or 2 to warm up to the environment but he is enjoying exploring the equipment. He especially loves free play time when Miss Priscilla turns on music and bubble time.

MissE loved the class immediately, chatting with the other little girls and giving everything a try (high beams, balance beams, etc).  MissE loved the class so much, she asked to do the longer class which is 4 hours of gymnastics, arts & crafts, and story time. Of course I let her!

Wonderkids

Gold Medal
MissE had a 1-on-1 with Mr.Steven to earn her white belt to be a Mighty Monkey. I wanted to start taekwondo for her as soon as she could so I was happy when this program at Gold Gym accepted 3-4 year olds. This program is well worth the money! Not only is it teaching her to discipline and concentration, she is expending a lot of energy. I love hearing questions answered with "yes, Sir!" and MissE loves showing off her newly learned kicks. Plus she looks so cute in her uniform.

My Mighty Monkey

1-on-1 with Mr.Steven, axe kick to break a board!

Raise Your Hand!
The Mighty Monkey program is a good segway to our new 'raise your hand' policy. MissE loves to talk. And while I encourage to talk to expand her vocabulary, learn correct sentence structure and interact with people, she talks non-stop. It's impossible for anyone else to have a conversation and well, it's driving us all crazy!
One day MissE was asking when she can go back to (pre-) school. I remembered that she has to raise her hand to talk at school so we are also implementing that. So far so good... Kind of.

Look Out Weekend!
Palo Alto Junior Museum
Any museum that is free, is great! We really enjoyed the small zoo with raccoons, bats, and bob cats to name a few.

Eden getting up close and personal with the 2 raccoons

Cousins

Fort Funston & SF Street Food Fest
One our first weekend minus Mr.H, we headed to Fort Funston for a beach run with Charlie the Labradoodle.  MissE LOVES Charlie because he's furry and floppy, and well looks like a stuffed toy!  Typical SF beach weather, it was freezing!
We had lunch at SF Street Food Fest which was fantastic!  It was 4 blocks (and some) of booths.  It was hard to choose but we did well. Happy bellies!

Kella's Soulful Kitchen BBQ chicken sliders, Endless Summer funnel cake,
and Kung Fu Taco mushroom taco 

While I have been all about trying new foods lately, I stopped at Don Bugito... although part of me is curious.

Marlin Park
Okay, technically not the weekend, but we spent one Friday here.  It's such a fun park because there is a play gym, swings, beach and lawn.  We just moved from zone to zone throughout the day.  Both E's enjoyed playing with Mr.O & Miss.P.
We ended the day with a treat at Snowee (shaved ice).  YUM!

Here lizard, lizard!

Passionfruit Snowee

Until next time...

Two E's and Me: Overseas Edition Part 1

Greetings from California! After 4 weeks and only 1 blog post, I am officially behind! And I sure have a lot to write about from playing tourist to foodie photos to date nights to a magical Disney adventure!  Mr.H has returned Down Under and with both E's snoozing (hopefully!), I will have more time to write, as a few of our "day-ventures" are worthy of their own posts.  In the meantime, here's a recap:

Meeting Gung- Gung
Mr.E loves his Gung-Gung.  They laugh, sing Chinese rhymes and look at the airplanes outside together.  Mr.E screams in excitement when he sees him.

Hello, again!
We had the opportunity to have 2 lunches hosted by my sister to see friends again and The Shiu's.  We had 2 years of little people to meet!

Hannah, Amelia, Miranda, Eloise, Eden, Logan & Olivia

The Shiu's

We flew all the way from Australia to attend Miss P's 3rd birthday party!  It was great fun, especially seeing a few Bearcats again!

Let's go Mateo!

Splish Splash Pool Fun!
We were thrilled to leave behind the Australian Winter for Summer!  It means pool time every other day!

Around Town
Mr.H and I have certain places we have to visit eat when we are here.  One of them is Sam's Chowder House in Half Moon Bay.  It was one of the first places we went and we made a half day of it, spending a few hours playing at the beach.

Sam's Chowder House

Miramar Beach

I love going to Farmer's Markets, so one Saturday morning before brunch, we strolled around a fantastic one: Mountain View's Farmer's Markets.

I love these vibrant red tomatoes!

Baby mixed green salad with edible flowers!

Purple cauliflower

Date Nights
Mr.H and I had 2 date nights in 4 weeks... that's as many as we get in a year!
Date night 1*:San Francisco Giants v. New York Mets
We enjoy watching baseball as much as we enjoy eating at AT&T Park!  I also made us grab Cracker Jacks on the way into the park.  Cracker Jack reminds me of $1 days at Oakland A's games!  We dined on Gilroy Garlic Fries, a hot dog, a San Francisco cheesesteak (chicken & mushrooms), and a Ghiradelli sundae.  The Giants lost but it was a great night out for us anyway!
*This was only the 2nd time someone else has put Mr.E to bed- he did fine!

Date night 2: Double date
Our second date night was a double date with Mr. & Mrs. Martin.  Mrs.M is one my oldest (not oldest in age!) and dearest friends. We had a fantastic meal at Donato Enoteca recommended by Mr.M.  I was feeling adventurous and tried Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia e Bottarga (spaghetti with squid ink sauce).  DELIZIOSO!

Mr.E is 13 months

Multitasking: standing and reading!

Mr.E is 13 months.  He is a little boy now, or so it seems!  He is free-standing all the time and has done a few steps between furniture.  He loves going for assisted walks, in fact you have to sneak outside!  And climbing!  Everything can be climbed on, in the world according to Mr.E.

He is enjoying his time with his Pau-Pau and Gung-Gung, and cousins, especially L.  He screams in excitement and immediately lunges for him to shower him in wet kisses.

Eden & Cousin L

He is eating well, who wouldn't with Gung-Gung's cooking?!  He has added 2 teeth (upper left and right).  And babbles non-stop.  Some words are clear, like "hi", "more" and "duck".  Unfortunately Mr.E is a screamer.  He's very loud too.  I know it's because he is trying to communicate but oh my ears!  We are trying to re-teach sign language for more food versus screaming murder at us.

Most importantly, he is sleeping very well again, in turn so are we!

MissE says the darnedest things: overseas edition
Channeling Homer Simpson
Returning from a day out, Mr.H asked me to stop to grab and a coffee and a donut. From the back of the car MissE pipes up: "Did someone say donut???"

Call Me Maybe
Okay I am almost as sick of hearing this song as I am hearing about the Fifty Shades trilogy (BTW, read it, kind of entertaining but horribly written and overrated!) but MissE loves this song (it's her new Firework). She was singing it one afternoon:
MissE: And all the other boys, try to chase me
Gung-gung: The boys were chasing you? Where?
Me: Dad, she's singing a song.

He's IN the computer
Me: Eloise, are you going to miss daddy when he is gone?
MissE: Yes... but it's okay, I will see him IN the computer.

5 Weeks & Counting
As I mentioned, Mr.H returned Down Under after spending 4 weeks with us.  MissE did not understand what was happening until we were saying goodbye at the airport and was in a mess of tears, asking to go home too.  (For the record, I did ask her and try to explain the situation as much as possible but she is 3).  It took careful diversion but she is okay now.  We are making a calendar so she can count down to when daddy will be back and we will also mark down Skype calls too.

Until next time...

MissE's Magical Disney Adventure!

It's a right of passage for a child to get to go to Disneyland, particularly if you live close enough to it!  So we had a short visit to Mickey Mouse in mind from the start of planning our trip to the USA but we weren't sure if we should bring Pau-Pau to help entertain Eden or leave him.  In the end, we decided it wouldn't be fair to Mr.E to be trapped in a stroller most of the day and left him in the loving care of Pau-Pau and Gung-Gung.  And a very lucky MissE was treated to a magical adventure to Disneyland!

Credit Card Fraud
The day before was not a good day. After checking us in for our early flight on Sunday, I was trying to arrange our shuttle pick-up when my credit card was being declined. I thought it was strange so I checked my statement online and BAM! $1200+ charges to HP! I spent most of the morning trying to stop payments and close my account before any additional charges could be made. At the end of the day I did what I could but unfortunately had very little access money due to the claims I had filed. Not a great thing to happen before a trip!
I rarely shop online because I am paranoid about credit card fraud (it seems to happen to me every year!) and now I am even more paranoid about letting my credit card leave my sight!

Who Needs Sleep when Mickey is waiting for us!
With very little sleep due to the stress of my credit card, Eloise waking up during the night out of excitement, flight anxiety (not due to flying but worrying about making our flight in time, if I packed everything, etc) and worrying about Eden (don't forget I've never left him for more than 8 hours before!), we made it!

Daddy & Eloise ready for our Disney California Adventure!

Disney California Adventure
We headed straight for Disney California Adventure: despite the heat, from lots of character greetings, rides, dinner with the Princesses, and World of Colour, it was a fantastic day and night!  MissE was most excited to meet Woody & Jesse (from Toy Story) and her favourite ride was Toy Story Midway Mania!  Unfortunately, we didn't get to ride Radiator Springs Racers (in the new Cars Land).  Fastpasses were gone early in the day and 2.5-3 hour wait with a 3 year old is not my idea of a good time.  Luckily, MissE is not that interested in Cars so she didn't mind (although I did!)  Mr.H and I took turns riding the rollercoasters in both parks (California Screamin', Matterhorn Bobsleds, Indiana Jones Adventure) by going as a Single Rider.  The entrance was so secretative but we got on each ride right away.  It was excellent!  She also loved the Disney Junior-Live on Stage! (puppet show with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Jake & the Neverland Pirates) and Disney's Aladdin- A Musical Spectacular.  Both were entertaining and best of all, it was so wonderful to sit in A/C!

Eloise & Woody (Toy Story)

Eloise & Jesse (Toy Story)

Ariel's Grotto and World of Color
Before the World of Color (amazing!), we had dinner at Ariel's Grotto: Ariel's Disney Princess Celebration.  MissE picked out not 1 but 2 Princess dresses (Yippee for Costco!) for our Disney adventure.  Tonight, she wore Merida's dress (Brave) minus the very itchy wig.  She was so excited to see the Princesses (Ariel, Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty), especially Mulan, although every day a new Princess is her favorite.  Mr.H and I thought the food was pretty darn good and also treated ourselves to cocktails (not driving!).

Eloise & Ariel (The Little Mermaid)

Eloise & Mulan

Dessert: chocolate chip cookies, mini cupcakes, chocolate lava cake
 with a white chocolate Ariel and white chocolate shell filled with fresh berries.

Unfortunately, MissE's "little rest" before the World of Color turned into her sleeping straight through it.  It was a fantastic show!

The World of Color

Being a Princess for the day is hard work!

MissE eventually woke up during our night visit to Cars Land but because she had been up since 5:30am that morning, and it was now 10pm, she lost it!  She gave it the old college try for one more ride but in the end, we called it a day and headed to the hotel for a good nights sleep before Disneyland.

Cars Land at night

Disneyland

Everyone has this photo: at Disneyland Main gate

Where do I even begin?  We had a full day at Disneyland!  We started the morning riding all the rides at Fantasyland from Peter Pan to Dumbo the Flying Elephant to Mad Tea Party.  Funnily enough, I finally went on Snow White's Scary Adventures.  My sister was (is?) petrified of this ride so in 33 years, I had never ridden on it.  MissE did not like it either.  Want an apple? Then we checked out Star Tours- The Adventure Continues.  We were not expecting MissE's reaction!  She flipped out!  I didn't realise that 3D would be so upsetting to her and that it was her first time in a "simulator".  She screamed that she didn't want to go upside down anymore.  Oops.  Space Mountain was definitely out. Thank goodness, promises of Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and Splash Mountain put a smile on her face.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant

Despite her terrified face, she LOVED it!

She declared Splash Mountain ("where Mama got soaked") as the best ride!  She asked to go again and again.

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
This is something I wanted MissE to experience, probably more than she did but in the end, she loved it.  Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is every little princess' dream come true.  The little princess is given a fairy godmother (or 2) who does her hair and make-up, provides a sprinkle of fairy dust and makes her feel like Cinderella.  I loved watching MissE.  She was amazed by the process (and attention!) and had so much fun!  (Of course, I got suckered into pay for an 'add-on' photo package of MissE on a Cinderella set but it was worth it!)

Pre-Princess Makeover

Eloise with her Fairy Godmothers

My little Cinderella

Where dreams come true...

Princess by Force
A quick note: MissE is not a girly-girl.  She likes her purple and her toe nails painted, but isn't too into dolls, princesses or Barbie.  Pre-Disneyland, I wanted her to get the most out of our trip so we started showing her Disney movies and she started to get to know the princesses and like them!  Post-Disneyland and being princess-by-force, she loves her princesses but has still retained her anti-girly-girl.  She chose a set of princesses as her "present" which she plays with, but ninja-style.  Yes, her princesses fight like ninjas.

Dressed as Cinderella, we visited the Royal Walk to see Princess Tiana (The Princess & the Frog), Princess Ariel (The Little Mermaid) and Princess Belle (The Beauty & the Beast).

Belle: Hi Princess!
MissE: Hi
Belle: I love your dress.  Did you borrow it from Cinderella?
MissE: No.
Belle: Then you and Cinderella must shop at the same place!
MissE: We got this at Costco.

No visit to Disneyland is complete without meeting Mickey Mouse!  She was so excited.  It was one of the best moments, Mickey giving her kisses and her giggling, shyly (I know, MissE shy???) calling him "Silly".

We finished the late afternoon with the classic rides: It's a Small World (love!), Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion (my favorite).  Funnily enough, MissE was not at all scared of Haunted Mansion.  Go figure!

It's a Small World

Australia (Nemo & Dory)

Fantasmic! & Fireworks Spectacular
The night ended with a repeat performance by MissE, she slept through Fantasmic! and the fireworks.  I love Fantasmic! and though I've seen it a handful of times, I insist on seeing it every time.  I loved the fireworks over Sleeping Beauty's Castle, it was a magical way to end our 2 days.

Fireworks Spectacular

It was a very brief Disney adventure and we wish we had more time to see SoCal friends, but Mr.E was missing us (and us, him)!

See you real soon, Mickey! (When Eden is old enough to come too!) 

Kids Should Come with Warning Labels

Mr.E's warning label would be: Does Not Travel Well.
Hello from California!

It's not like we haven't done this trip with a young child before. MissE's first big adventure was at 4.5 months; we traveled SYD-SFO-LHR- Paris (via Eurostar- SAN. Her second was at 18 months and we can't remember the flight so it was obviously a non- issue. Mr.E is an entirely different story. We took turns at the rear of the plane, trying to rock him asleep. I had moments where I was sitting in the toilet with him to spare our fellow passengers. Desperate times lead to desperate measures at 4 hours to go, I doubled a drowsiness medication and he finally slept for maybe 2 hours.

Once in the comfort of a travel cot in Pau-pau and Gung-gung's house, he slept for a few hours so we relaxed and thought, no problem!  The joke was on us!

The ONLY time Mr.E slept in the travel cot

Week 1: Naps are non-existent and bedtime is a traumatic ordeal... For us and him! He refused to sleep in the travel cot (screaming and crying for an hour plus) and we even trekked across the Golden Gate to borrow a proper crib but it just sits empty. He was only sleeping in the car or in our arms then on the floor next to our bed. Even MissE, noticing what tough time her brother was giving us, told me that next time, we should leave Sabi and Mr.E with Uncle R, and Auntie L will take good care of him to make sure Cousin C doesn't play too rough.

Week 2: Mr.E is adjusted to the time but then a tooth (upper right) decided to make its appearance and we were thrown into disarray again! While he was at least sleeping, albeit on the floor still, now he was waking during the night. Thank goodness for 24 hour pharmacies because off we went at 10pm to CVS for Ibuprofen and Bonjela, and we had a sleeping baby!

BUT (you knew there was going to be a but!) now Eden realized he was sleeping on the floor which means FREEDOM! Bedtime now means exploring time: crawling over us repeatedly, checking for monsters under the bed, putting toys away in the garbage bin and turning the TV on and off. He would do this until he passed out somewhere on the floor. So fed up, a few nights ago we decided to go the controlled crying route to get him back into a cot! While I have nerves of steel, Pau-Pau and Gung- gung were asked to watch TV with the volume on loud, daddy was sent into the shower then also to the opposite side of the house to watch TV, loudly. 45 minutes and silence. Repeat for the next 3 nights, and voila!  Eden is now sleeping in a cot again!  It only took 3 weeks!

* Post-script: Knowing a not-so-great traveller (Miss M) whose parents did not travel with her between ages 1 and 3, after being traumatized with 2 trips (my graduation in Washington, DC and then a few weeks later to Vancouver), we are really hoping this will not be the case with Mr.E!  We want to be able to come back next year!