Halloween fun (part 1)

We have been going to yan-yan's house for a halloween get-together for the last two years.  It was definitely more fun this year because we now have 4 kids under one roof!

The proud big sisters:

My cute little duckie:

N: "Yan-yan, do you want to play with this yellow ball?  I will share with you!"

Y:  "But it's mine!?"

Adrian: "YOU!"

The two boys seemed to really like to put things in their mouth!  Adrian was "eating" his bib, while Nate was chomping down on his spoon.

All 4 kids in action.

Before we left their house, I suggested to take a picture of all 4 kids in costume.  It was actually really hilarious seeing the 4 in costume.  And to top it off, the girls really made an effort to hold down the boys.  Yan-yan was a bit more gentle with Adrian, but Ali was giving Nate a head-lock so he couldn't crawl away. LOL

I know it wasn't good.  You can hardly see their faces, but this was my best shot.  A&A, got better ones?  Thanks again for hosting!  Looking forward to next year's!  (And it's our turn to host!)

 

Pumpkin Patch with 2 kids

Last year, I was only a few weeks away from my due date, so I thought it would be wise to stay away from the muddy pumpkin patch.  It wasn't much fun for daddy either as Ali was crying all the way from school to the patch when she was on the bus (she really wanted mommy to go).  This year, I made it up to her by embarking on the annual pumpkin patch field trip with both kids.  And man, it was SO tiring!

The "before" pic, mommy was still able to smile.

Ali getting super excited going on a field trip with her friends.

Polly pumpkin is her favorite pumpkin.  Who doesn't like a dancing pumpkin anyways?

My little girl carrying her bag of pumpkins with her buddy, Sophia.  The kids had a lot of fun!

The teachers seemed to be more excited about picking corn from the field than picking out the pumpkins.

Ali driving the pumpkin tractor.

Hubby thought I was overly ambitious with the backpack and using the baby carrier at the same time.  Well, I did it!  I was able to carry my backpack, carried Nate in the baby carrier in the front, hold on to Ali's hand as well as carrying a bag of pumpkins!  Not too bad, right?  Nate was mildly entertained in the first half of the trip.  He really didn't like to be trapped in the baby carrier.  He was so tired and cranky (skipped a nap) on the bus.  Thank goodness, mommy was smart enough to pack some snacks for both kids!  Mission accomplished.  

 

Dinner with the owner of CX

We routinely told our kids a whole bunch of crap....(no we don't, actually my hubby does that sometimes) and one of things we told her was that Auntie Winnie works for Cathay (which is true) and she works for the publication and promotion department (which is also true).  Daddy then went on saying that she is the one who is responsible for all the toys/gift bags for kids on the flight (that is NOT true).  Ali firmly believed it and  all in a sudden, Auntie Winnie (almost) has the same status as Santa Claus.

Can you tell Ali really enjoyed Auntie Winnie's company??  

Nate is super excited to take a picture with Auntie Winnie too!

Group picture!!

 

Thank you Aunt Winnie and Uncle Brian for visiting!  You guys really have spoiled the kids rotten!  Thanks for all the cool toys and cute lunch bag!  Come visit us again soon!

Hey Maddy!

Kau Kau and Yee Kau Mo (Uncle Paul and Pretty Sue) brought Maddy back to Vancouver to meet family and friends (just like us a few weeks ago).  Maddy only stayed with us for 2 nights, but the kids had a lot of fun together.  After taking 50 pictures, I got one that all 3 looked at the camera at the same time!!  Woo hoo!!!  Yay for digital camera!

We are toyland according to Sue kau mo.  One of the cool toys that Maddy got to try is....you guessed it, Jolly Jumper!  Every baby's favourite!!!  Maddy is no exception.  She was a bit scared at first, but she really enjoyed it after a few tries!

Nate looked a bit jealous, so we let him take a turn too.  Still fun even though he is almost one!  (Wow, it rhymes!)  Do you notice that Maddy is as big as Nate (actually weighs heavier than Nate!).  Oh my bony baby!  Nate, you need to pack on a few more pounds for mama, okay?????  Pretty please??!!!!!

Kau kau clearly has a preference...and its not Nate!  He spent so much time with Ali - talking to her, playing with her, teasing her.  But not so much with Nate.  So being a good mom and a good sister (haha), I forced him to take pictures with him.  

We had dim sum with Sue's family.  It was nice seeing you guys again!!!  Come back and visit more (so we don't have to go to HK!!) ;P

A: "Tell your mommy and daddy to bring you back to Vancouver soon, okay?"

M: "Okay, Ali bew geh!  I love you!!"

1st trip to HK (Part 3)

We spent the second half of the trip seeing our friends & family and doing some shopping as well.  It was easier to do all that after we moved to kau kau's place.  We were finally in the city, yay!!!

One of the reasons to fly back to HK despite all the things that worried us was to introduce Ali and Nate to our relatives.  And whenever we met up with someone, we feast.  Yup, eat, eat, eat all day.  One of the most satisfying meals was the "pun choy".  Never heard of it, well, here is a picture for ya!

Basically, they put a whole bunch of food (prawns, chicken, mushrooms, roast pork, fish balls, etc.) and they filled it up in a huge tray.  It is so so big that it can feed 20 people.  We did have some veges on the side, but we still couldn't finish the tray.  And the best of all, it tasted so good!!!

Nate with his "yee por".  Yee por was so delighted to finally meet the kids!

My mom and my aunt's family:

One of Ali's favourite desserts is the mango tapioca dessert.  Kai mama gave me a recipe for it, but it was not as good as the original one in "Moon Kee".  Gosh, it's so damn good!!!

The highlight of the trip for Ali and Nate gotta be the playdate at Trevor goh goh's house.  Auntie Emily first spoiled Ali with "high tea".  Look at Nate!  Third wheel!!!  LOL

Nate had a great time crawling around and playing with Trevor's toys.  Ali had a blast hanging out with Trevor - ride ons, slides, sand table, etc!  It was awesome!!!  Thanks for such a wonderful playdate!

One of my high school friends took us to a really cool private club.  The place is amazing.  It has a 3 level play area and the place is HUGE!!!  Lots of cool play structures and neat toys to entertain the kids.  Both Ali and Nate had a wonderful time.  The buffet there was really good too.  We casually asked about the cost to join the club.  Apparently, it costs half a million Canadian for the initiation fee!!  Oh my gosh!!!  People are so wealthy!  Or that, we are just too poor.

Zoe, Ali and Helen:

Nate fully enjoyed crawling around the padded area, while mommy enjoyed the view of the marina.

After we finished eating at the Marina Club, Ali really wanted to go home to nap.  5 minutes into our cab ride, both kids just passed out.  Instead of going home (still had to take a subway and then a shuttle bus), we decided to let the kids sleep in the mall...in our arms.  Many people walked by and gave us the "WTF" look. Ummm....what do you want, people??  Look at the kids!!!  Don't judge us!

And of course there is my niece, Maddy!  She looks so much like my brother when she is upset and so much like her mom when she smiles!  I can't believe how chubby she is!  Om, om, om!  Can't stop biting her thunder thighs!!

Dai dai somehow managed to find the best-tasting "baos" (buns) for us.  And I am not kidding.  They are the best Chinese buns we have ever had.  Ali loves it!  (Actually me too).  They were so good that we had them every morning for the entire time we were at por por's house.

Ali and Nate got to meet two of my best high school friends.  They are actually brother and sister and we hang out so much their parents know my family quite well too.  We haven't seen each other for a long time and it was nice to finally have our kids play together.  Jason took quite a liking to my girl.  Step back, Jason!!  Don't get too close to my girl!

Kau kau and Sue kau mo (uncle and aunt) really really spoiled Ali.  One of Ali's most recent obsession is Mc mug and Mcdull (piggy cartoons from HK).  She is so into it.  We looked high and low to find the merchandise but we couldn't find any.  Once kau kau found out, he searched some more and got her a whole bunch of mcmug stuff.  Ali is SO spoiled!

Ali and the babes!!  For some reason, it looked like she was about to crack a whip to the two babies....hahhaa.

This was the first time we celebrated the Moon festival in HK.  (We always go during Summer or Xmas time.)  And it was so much fun!  Both kids had never played with lanterns before.  They had a great time!

Coming back home was quite uneventful.  Just really sore arms and shoulders and back.  Nate was on me (awake/asleep) the whole 12 hour flight!  Re-sleep train was a MAJOR PAIN.  He was so used to nursing 3-4 times a night and held all the time and slept with us, that he threw a major tantrum when he got home.  He cried for 4 hours for the first night.  The second night, just a tad better and eventually slept through the night again by the end of the week.  Ali also threw a major tantrum when we were driving home.  She was so scared to use the public bathroom that she held her pee for the entire flight.  She wanted to go to potty so bad and the fact that she was so so tired that she had a serious meltdown in the car.  Although it was nice seeing everyone, but I think the next time we go back to HK will be when Nate turns 5!!!

1st trip to HK (Part 2)

Nate only slept for 3 hours the whole time, so naturally, he passed out when we got back to por por's house.    Instead of sleeping, my boy decided to flirt with all the flight attendants on the plane.  Ali, on the other hand, woke up at 2:30 am.  Poor daddy.  The next night got better, it was 4 am.  Don't get me wrong, Nate was up all the time.  But I also had my secret weapon - nursing him to sleep!!  Oh yeah baby!  I know it is not a good habit, but that's the only way to keep the noise level down and get some quality sleeping time.  Of course, Nate LOVED the nursing part (he does not like bottles one bit!) and nursing to sleep, wow, that's like a dream came true for my little man.  I had to pay dearly for this.  More on sleep training later.

Ali "helping" por por with the chores:

Por por lives pretty damn far.  Like REALLY far.  We seldom went out (especially the kids were still very jet-lagged).  One of the favourite things to do was to go biking by the seaside.  My mom bought this crazy tricycle (she couldn't do a 2-wheeled one) and Ali just loved it!

Like I said, my mom really lived really far away from the city.  From where she lived, there are quite a few fruit trees.  Bananas and papayas, yum!

And pomelo!  Have you ever seen a pomelo tree?  This is my very time!  So cool!

After taking some pictures, it's mommy's turn to pedal.  Man, this thing is hard to steer, I tell ya!

People also drove all the way out here to enjoy BBQ and taking the boats out.

When we were biking, it happened to be low tide.  We got a chance to bring Ali out to take a look at the water.

Kids were usually SOAKED by around 10 am.  So hot!  (And people kept on telling me it's a lot cooler already!  Huh?!)  Whenever we can, we tried to give them a few baths a day.