Kite Flying At The Park

Rachel noticed the windy day outsite and asked about flying her kite. She was really great about sharing and teaching her brothers the finer points of kite flying.

Cool Wheels - Part 2

After an earlier blog half joking about all the fancy upgrades you could get for a wagon these days, we found out about this nifty add-on canopy. Turns out you can even add on a trailer, padded seats, cooler storage, etc. No DVD rear entertainment system yet but I'm sure it's coming. If you're interested, here's the site for Radio Flyer (it's like buying a car...there are a ton of makes, models, and accessories).

The Trip Home

We flew home on Virgin America and it was great. Everything from the easy check-in to the cool purple lighting on the plane.

The guy sitting next to me was Virgin America's network field engineer for their in flight entertainment system. He and the flight attendants were great and ordered up a premium movie for Rachel (The Bee Movie) for free.

All in all it was a great trip.

Future Sniper?

Here's Rachel at the Frontierland shooting gallery. Check out the concentration.

Focus...breathe...

Shooting from behind cover...

Mulholland Madness

Rachel's favorite roller coaster in the whole world is the Mulholland Madness ride at California Adventure. When we came last year it was pretty empty and raining so we ended up riding this thing like 10 times in a row. On the trip down, she kept telling me this was the ride she wanted to do first.

A few quick thoughts on traveling with only one child:

• IT IS SO EASY!
• Not having a stroller makes zipping around Disneyland a piece of cake
• Finding seats in restaurants and parade routes...no problem
• You don't have to constantly keep your head on a swivel since there's only one kid to watch
  
• Did I say it was easy?

Disneyland!

As a special treat for turning 5 and a salute to the good 'ol days of being an only child, I took Rachel on a 4 day Father/Daughter trip to Disneyland (actually, we're still here...I'm writing this while Rachel is passed out from the big day we had yesterday).

We told her about the trip on her birthday and she kept a mental countdown going in her head until the big day. In this photo, mommy just dropped us off and Rachel is totally psyched about getting on the plane.

"Come on Dad....stop taking pictures and let's get on the plane!"

Like most 5 year old girls, Rachel is totally into the Princess thing. She normally doesn't like to pose for photos but couldn't resist this opportunity to get a photo in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle.

Yours Is Better...

This is the ongoing dilemma in our house. No matter what toy any kid has, a toy (even if it's the EXACT same toy) looks more attractive in the hands of a sibling. Look closely at their eyes.

Usually, the end result is screaming and brawling...but we're used to that.

Priceless

The expression says it all.

Ants in the Pants

Is it too much to ask for 22 month olds to sit still and eat a snack?  Yeah, I guess so.  

It's Not What You Think...

At first glance, you might think this is one of those "Aw how cute...they're dancing" photos. That couldn't be farther from the truth.

You may need to click on the photo to enlarge it but if you look carefully you'll notice they're both looking in the same direction (and they both have the same expression). If you know the layout of our house, they're standing in the second floor hallway, looking through the banister, and down towards first floor entry area. This is a favorite spot for all of our kids because objects can be thrown from this choice location which can draw "ooohs, aahhhs, giggles, and howling laughter" from siblings based on blast damage, crashing sound effects, and level of reactionary screaming from mom and dad.

Anyway, if you haven't figured it out already, they're both thinking the same thing: "Hey...I can launch my brother through the banister and see what kind of sound he makes when he hits the deck!" There's no follow up picture because this was one of those parental premonition moments when I snapped the photo, realized exactly what was about to happen, dropped the camera, and proceeded to tackle both guys as they were wrestling each other towards the banister....just another day in the Hsiung house.

A Day at the Zoo

As part of our patriotic effort to stimulate the economy and after months of research and shopping around for the best price, we took the plunge and bought a digital SLR camera. It's been working out great and it's given both Yvonne and I a chance to brush up on our rusty photography skills (both of us did quite a lot of photography stuff in high school and college). One of the best advantages to an SLR is the ability to set your depth of field (aka: making the background blurry to help frame and focus on your subject).

These photos were from a day at the San Francisco Zoo for Rachel's 5th birthday.

Roller Coaster?

You'd think these photos were taken while on a roller coaster but the truth of the matter is we were at the San Francisco Zoo today celebrating Rachel's 5th birthday and these photos were taken while walking through a tunnel. The kids got a kick out of the echoes so they kept screaming and laughing about it.

DUI

Drinking and driving...

Mr. Fix It

We ordered a new breakfast nook for our kitchen area. While I was trying to decipher the VERY poorly written instructions to put everything together, Nathan took it upon himself to skip the directions and just start putting things together.

In The Future...

In about 25 years, when Rachel goes out on her first date, this is what I imagine things would look like if her "date" brings her home a minute past her 6pm curfew:

Some training we had last week....Ideally suited for boyfriends who aren't clear on the concept of curfews.

Fighting Styles

Our twins are identical but spend a few minutes with them and you'll soon notice a host of differences.  Daniel LOVES to eat.  Nathan eats because he has to.  Daniel is a lefty and prefers to kick balls while Nathan, a righty, prefers to throw them (more on this in a minute).  

And then there's the fighting styles:  Nathan prefers to use hand held weapons of opportunity to attack his opponents while Daniel prefers taking his opponents (like siblings) to the ground with a unique combo style of Sumo wrestling, UFC ground fighting, and the old backup...the bite.

A look back at the past couple weeks puts the two in a dead tie.  Nathan a few bruises to match the knots on Daniel's head.  Nathan has a wicked overhand throw and it's fairly accurate.  He's nailed Daniel a couple times with balls, wooden blocks, etc....from across the room.  I think Daniel's getting paranoid because he'll start crying or dive for cover behind me as soon as he sees Nathan picking something up.  I thought it was funny until I took one in the head.

Air Rachel

Rachel has always enjoyed sports and being active but she never took any interest in the toy basketball hoop we had in the back yard. Today, out of nowhere, she started palming the ball and went airborne with multiple slam dunks.

And one last one of Rachel driving to the hoop over Daniel

Bumps and Bruises

It's been a bad couple weeks for bumps and bruises.  This video shows how quickly a little fun and games turns into a bump on the head.  

In the span on one week, Nathan got bit on the arm (and I'll give you one guess who that culprit was...let's just say that judging by the tiny bite marks left behind you don't have to be a forensic odontologist to figure out the prime suspect).  Then, while at the park, Nathan picked up a little too much speed on the asphalt and ended up face planting when he tripped.  To complete the abused child "look", he took a spill on the stairs had got a nice bruise to match the park bump.  

Dr. Hsiung?

Every time one of the twins gets a bump, scratch, or bruise (which is quite often), Rachel is always the first to say, "Let me see!  Let me see!"  No matter what, she wants to get there first to try her 4 1/2 years old version of advanced first aid.  This involves a few gentle pats on the back along with the obligatory, "Awwww...you'll be ok" (complete with concerned look on her face).  

Yesterday I was laying on the floor with Daniel and Rachel when all of a sudden...WHACK...something or someone smacked my right eye.  I look up (with my remaining good eye) to see Mr. Poker Face holding a toy violin bow.  I'm seeing stars and holding my eye in pain as I hear Rachel "Let me see...let me see...oh, it's ok...you'll be okay.  It's not bleeding or anything...just let me cover your eye with my hand..."  Well thank you Dr. Hsiung...that does absolutely nothing for the pain but it's pretty funny.  Do me a favor and study hard so you can be a doctor and help pay back all the debt your parents are going to accrue from sending all you kids to college.

Child Labor

I get a kick out of comparing Rachel's photos with her brother's photos of the same age.  I came across this one the other day.  Maybe this broom/vacuum thing is genetic?