Mono Lake - Day 3

Why is it they're never running toward us?

On our way home we stopped at a huge park next to Mono Lake. The kids loved running around.

More photos of our trip can be found here.

Mono Lake - Day 2

We started off day 2 with a little hiking. The kids loved running around.

Rachel got into her "big sister" role by guiding her brothers around the rock formations.

We didn't expect to find snow in the middle of June but sure enough, there were quite a few patches of snow for the kids to play in.

Rachel even got to do a little snow sledding. Ok, it's no sled but this shower curtain liner worked great. This happens to be the same $2.00 liner that Yvonne originally bought for our rain-soaked Disneyland trip to cover the stroller.

This was one of the places we stopped to fish and play around. If you look really carefully (clicking on the picture will probably make it easier) along the water's edge, you'll see Rachel, Grandpa, and the pontoon boat they used to cross the lake. Rachel had a great time playing in the water and snow at the same time.

Here's a closeup of their fishing spot. Rachel caught 3 trout all by herself. This included casting, setting the hook, and reeling the fish in.

Mono Lake Vacation - Day 1

We're spending the week in Mono Lake. The kids spent day one fishing with grandpa and playing in the ice cold high sierra water

Uh Oh Milk!

Ok...the photo has nothing to do with this blog post. It was taken this morning at the San Mateo Japanese Garden in Central Park. During the soon-to-be-described incident, I didn't have time to grab a camera but I figured a photo is better than nothing...

So the other morning I got up after hearing the boys screaming for Daddy and "Chocolate Milk!" They're talking a lot now which makes for some pretty fun times. They're at the stage now where they pretty much provide a running commentary on anything they see.

Daniel had just taken in a huge swig of chocolate milk and he was showing off his puffed out cheeks to Nathan. Both were giggling when time slowed down as I looked at Daniel's expression change from happy to worried. In that split second I knew exactly what was on Daniel's mind...he was about to sneeze and he couldn't do anything to stop it. Before I could react, Daniel shot a stream of milk onto Nathan and then onto the floor. It was eerily quiet for a few seconds before Nathan pointed at his milk-soaked pajamas and the floor saying, "Uh-oh milk..." Yeah, that's an understatement.

Hug or Shove?

You be the judge...is this an affectionate pat of support on the back? Or, is it a deliberate shove to send your brother flying across the asphalt?

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...