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Puerto Rico

2012-01-28T08:44:00.001-07:00

Bill's division (DeusM) went to Puerto Rico for their annual meetings. Nice right? Most of the folks at DeusM are in East coast New York region and were happy to escape the cold. He went one day early to do a nature tour that included repelling from a waterfall.

Unfortunately Bill's uncle Ben passed away after two-three weeks of unexplained sickness, rapidly going downhill with a stroke and finally a diagnosis of cancer in the lungs, pancreas and bones. He passed quickly and peacefully a day after returning home. It reminds us to appreciate every minute we have with our love ones and live with no regrets.

Bill changed his plans on his way back to visit the family following Ben's memorial. I'm glad he was able to be with them.

Year of the Dragon

2012-01-28T08:25:00.001-07:00

Bill and I were traveling during the Chinese New Year passage, which is not that big a deal to us. My parents took the kids to a party at our friend Yalin's place. My parents knows Yalin's in-laws and Mom, so they had people to talk to. Yalin and her other friends were puzzled at us traveling for work during Chinese new year, to them it is like being away on Christmas eve.

Audrey and Mason each got 3 red envelopes with cash. In the past, I would just deposit the money in their accounts, these days Mason is very aware and has already starting making plans to buy new toys with his new found riches.

It is the year of the Dragon. I hear a lucky year to have babies. That is great info, but we are happy to be done in that front.

Vegas weekend

2012-01-18T19:55:00.001-07:00

13 of Diana's girlfriends joined her in Vegas for her bachelorette weekend. Her bridesmaids and I had been planning it for a few months, with conference calls and meeting notes few pages long. Everyone had a fun time and most importantly, Diana had a great weekend. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but here are some pictures we can share!

I personally did not gamble much aside from losing $100 on the horrible Broncos game. We stayed at the Palazzo, which was decked out for Chinese new year.

I will be going back this Sunday for a conference, while Bill goes to Puerto Rico for work. My parents will be watching the kids alone! Pray for them.

Tebowing

2012-01-08T21:12:00.001-07:00

Just when we thought the Broncos was sure to lose, they pull through. What a great game. Here is our homage to Tebow for some great passes and a great win!

Bye bye pacy

2012-01-07T15:09:00.001-07:00

The day after I wrote the new year's blog, mentioning that I hoped Audrey would give up her pacy in 2012, she gave us the pacy! We were sitting at dinner and Mason was telling her she was a big girl an big girls didn't need pacifiers. That was not the first time Mason has said that to her and it was not prompted by us. Audrey took her pacy and handed it to Bill saying "I'm a big girl now and I don't need the pacy anymore". We asked her "we can throw the pacy away?" and she said "yes, bye bye pacy, throw away". Mason jumped up ready to take the pacy to the trash. I stopped him an his the pacy instead, hoping for the best, but anticipating Audrey would change her mind later.
We are happy to report that it's been 5 days and although she has asked for the pacy, she has made it without it! I think we are finally done with that!! I will keep the pacy as a keepsake to show it to her when she grows up!
I also finally got to clean up a lot of the baby stuff around the house. Most notably the diaper bag that we have use for the past 4 1/2 years (which we haven't used for the past few months, but remained around) is finally packed in a donation box!

Yay to our big girl!

The dentist

2012-01-07T14:55:00.001-07:00

Audrey had her first dentist visit this past Wednesday and Mason his second visit. This pediatric dentist office has been around for 2-3 decades and is well setup for the little ones. There is a huge castle in the waiting room - need I say more?

Mason and Audrey had side by side chairs. While Mason got his teeth cleaned, Audrey's appointment was more an introduction to the equipment, seeing how they count and clean teeth demo on a doll. Both did great.
Mason has a geminated and fused tooth with a pocket in the back of the tooth that is impossible to clean. He has a little cavity on that tooth and having that tooth filled would keep maintenance simpler - we go back in early February.

Good Bye to 2011, Happy New 2012!

2011-12-31T21:06:00.002-07:00

Looking back, 2011 was a good year of unexpected changes and new adventures. Bill started a new job in the same company (UBM) but under a different division (DeusM). He really likes his new job and the new opportunities it brings. I started a new job with Interthinx (a division of Verisk Analytics) that I am really enjoying, after FICO's layoff in Feb and my exactly 12 weeks of "paid" break. We both started working at our new positions on the same day (May 16th) and both of us from home!

Kids are now one year older, taller, bigger, stronger, smarter, more talkative, playing better together but still working on sharing... Mason played Fall Soccer, went skiing and indoor skydiving. Both kids had 4 months of swim lessons, which they will continue next Spring. Audrey is growing up to be a fearless child, very assertive, independent and living up to the term "terrible 2s"! At least she's been out of diapers.

We got to see family several times this year, both visiting and being visited by grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. We went to Portland, Atlanta and Hawaii for vacations. And Gong Gong and Bu Bu moved to a new condo only 1 mile away.

We don't know what 2012 will bring, but we hope and pray for:

new adventures and seeing new places (Bill and Mason are planning a trip to China);
make memories with family and friends (starting with my cousin's wedding in LA in early March and hoping to see grandparents several times);
new milestones the kids will reach (we are applying now for Kindergarten programs that Mason will start in Aug/Sep; and hopefully 2012 will be the year Audrey gives up her pacy!);
continue with old and start new activities for the kids (skiing, swimming, Spring soccer, hopefully starting the piano);
have Bill and I continue to be committed to our physical fitness, working out with our personal trainer, yoga and going to the boot camps;
advance our careers with the right balance between work and family;
health for kids, us, all our family and friends
be thankful for what we have and always remember those who need help

Happy New Year!

Christmas with Yaya and Mimi

2011-12-27T12:11:00.001-07:00

The kids loved being with Yaya and Mimi.

Devices galore

2011-12-25T22:14:00.001-07:00

Bill's sister posted this hilarious christmas card with the whole family on their mobile devices.

On Christmas day, Mason was playing with his leapPad and Audrey with her MobiGo, Bill with his iPhone, and I was also on my phone (used to take this picture). We didn't have to stage this, although Bill did gesture "1 second" on purpose.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T15:16:00.001-07:00

We are thankful for all the gifts Santa and the family brought the kids this year. Christmas is really about them these days, and even limiting to one gift per grandparents, they get lots of toys!

Audrey got a gigantic doll house (mansion) from Santa, a mobi game console (Yaya and Mimi), tangled DVD and dolls (Nai Nai and GP Jack) princess dresses (Mom and Dad), new tea set (auntie Heather and Jamie) and a cute cape (auntie Shawn). The gigantic doll house from Santa was partly financed by Gong Gong and Bubu and assembled with elves (Mom and Dad) in about 3 hours.

Mason got his Optimus prime transformer and batman cartoon DVD from Santa, new leapPad from Yaya and Mimi (one of the hardest toys to find this season thanks to Mimi's perseverance), talking ball-shooting firetruck (from Nai Nai and GP Jack), a ninja and darth Vader costumes (Mom and Dad), teaching Globe (Gobg Gong and BuBu), and remote control car (Auntie Jamie and Heather) and spiderman pjs (auntie Shawn).

Bill and I decided to ask for contributions to a new set of sheets we want to get, and we jointly bought an Apple TV, and donated the money we would have spend on each other. Still we got great sweaters from Mimi and Yaya, and Bill cheated by giving me accessories for my iphone. We have a gift exchange matrix that rotates between the siblings, so this year Bill got a candy jar with old time candies from Sandra Rogers and I got a relaxation bath set from Heidi.

More pictures from Hawaii

2011-12-15T20:12:00.002-07:00

Luau

2011-12-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

A picture from our luau. It was so windy that the table cloth came up from one of the tables next to us. I didn't expect it to be cold, but it was due to the wind, so Bill had to go back to get us jackets. The kids fell asleep by the time the performances started, so we stayed only for half of it.

Hawaii

2011-12-13T15:28:00.001-07:00

Sometime in January this year I had to call Hilton regarding a separate reservation and they offered a vacation package to Hawaii at a significant discount to listen to their sale's pitch on their timeshares. I'd normally hang up the phone if called about something like that, but I called them on something unrelated and the customer representative had been quite helpful. I was also online and able to do some quick research on their property in Hawaii. 4 nights at Hilton Waikoloa, 2 luau tickets, a free car rental, and $200 towards your next Hilton stay for approximately $600? Great deal, SOLD!

We booked our dates in June, after I started my new job. November and December are great months to go to Hawaii. It is freezing in CO by then and a cheap season to go. We upgraded to condo at the Hilton King's Land down the street from the Hilton Waikoloa hotel. They are a couple of years old, 2 bed/2 bath, full kitchen, their own pools and on the golf course. My parents, who have never been to Hawaii, decided to join us and spend the first couple of days in Honolulu on a tour of Pearl Harbor (70th anniversary). We also upgraded to a minivan and got car seats (they are much worse than the ones we have, but based on limited driving we planned to do on the island, I wasn't looking forward to lugging our own car seats around). We got all our 4 tickets on United on miles. Incredibly the tickets were only 40K miles each vs. the $800 they were going for online. We figured that including meals, upgrades and the original $600, we spent around $2K!! Not back for a vacation in Hawaii.

The last time Bill and I were in Hawaii was for our honeymoon in Maui. Neither one of us had been to the Big Island. It was great, specially the 80-degree weather since it was -8F when we left Denver Tuesday morning.

We enjoyed the beach, all the amenities at the Hilton Waikoloa, drove the Hilo and did some sightseeing along the way. Bill went SCUBA diving. We enjoyed the lagoon area where we took out kayaks, peddle boats and went snorkling. There are many different fish in the lagoon, but the highlight are the sea turtles. Audrey loves the beach. She can play for hours on the sand. As waves approached, she would run towards the water and Mason would run back to the beach. Can you guess if she is like me or Bill in that regard?

The kids woke up between 4:30 and 5:30 AM each morning, but we were all in bed early every night too. The meal times were all messed up, but we just went with the flow of things (Hawaiian style). The sales pitch was not bad, in fact done very professionally and not pushy. They had some great promotions with up front points, but after running our vacation numbers, viewing the resell market and looking at other accommodations in the same area, we decided not to buy. Although I would say if I were retired or had more time to travel in low seasons, the Hilton vacation timeshares has good repuation and value, and you can get great deals from sellers strapped for cash right now.

The only glitch is that our flight back to SFO on Saturday night was cancelled. They had a mechanical problem. By the time we got rebooked for the next day (direct flight from Honolulu to Denver), got a taxi back to the hotel and check-in (1 hour line), it was around 1:30 AM. But Hawaii is not the worst place to get stranded in. Mason slept through the whole thing and woke up at 5:30 AM asking "Where am I? Am I on the airplane?".

We enjoyed the pool and beach (picture below from the beach in front of King Kamehameha Hotel) took a nice nap before our 7 PM flight to Honolulu and back in Denver by 8:30 AM Monday morning. Kids went back to school (they had slept well on the flight) and we got right back to work.

Now, I need to catch up and get Christmas shopping done and Christmas cards out. :-)

Can't wait for our next trip to Hawaii!!

More pictures to come...

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-11-28T10:03:00.001-07:00

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with my parents, Heather and Jamie. Auntie Heather and Jamie built a gingerbread train and a gingerbread house with the kids. I cooked a small turkey (10 lbs), which cooked quicker than I expected and came out a little dry. But a good gravy fixes anything. :-)

There was no Black Friday shopping for us. Bill took Mason to Loveland for his first ski lesson. It was a great deal for full-day lesson, rentals and lunch.

Audrey and I went to Pearl St in Boulder, which wasn't busy since those shops don't really have Black Friday sales. We got to visit with Santa.

On Saturday, we caugh up our friends Jen and Winston Price and their sons (Ethan 7 and Cayden 5). We love hanging out with the Prices, but live 45-minutes from them and we both have busy schedules. We went bowling with the kids and talked the day away.

On Sunday, Bill took Mason to the pool to try out his new snorkel (great deal I found on craigslist just in time for our trip to Hawaii). Audrey was a little sick, so I took her shopping (limited to 1 store to buy both kids new shoes). Their gigantic feet (Mason in size 12 and Audrey in size 9) keep growing!
We got all our Christmas decorations done, except for the hanging lights on the house. I am still not ready for how quickly Christmas is approaching. We will be in Hawaii for 5 days in early December, which will make Christmas approach even quicker. I am trying to get as much of the Christmas shopping done online as possible.

Casa Bonita

2011-11-21T17:00:00.003-07:00

We celebrated Josie's 5th birthday at Casa Bonita on Saturday. Her birthday was Sunday and she was having a tea party just with her girlfriends. But she wanted to celebrate with Mason and Audrey as well. Casa Bonita is a famous Mexican restaurant in Denver known for the entertainment, divers (yes there is a pool and diving shows) and for it cheesiness, but not known for its food.

Bill and I had both heard of Casa Bonita, but never been there. It is perfect for a 5 year old's birthday. We had a great time watching the divers, playing the arcade, and exploring the gigantic restaurant.

T-Rex

2011-11-21T16:55:00.004-07:00

We took the kids to see the T-Rex exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. It was a great exhibit, with very life-like animatronic dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period. The kids were very afraid of approaching the T-Rex.

We did take pictures in front of the green screen with the T-Rex superimposed.

Big girl bed

2011-11-16T12:01:00.003-07:00

Audrey still pretty content with her crib and hadn't tried or figured out how to get out on her own. However, we were ready for her to have a big girl setup. Now that she is potty trained, a twin bed allows her to get out without our help. We had already purchased a twin mattress for the cousin's trip in July, and don't plan to get her a bed frame for another few months. Chamois sheets and blanket from PBK complete the setup. She loves her new bed!

Old Pictures

2011-11-16T11:47:00.002-07:00

My parents brought back from China some old family pictures.

Here is my Grandfather and Grandmother on my Father's side and his siblings. R to L on the back row: uncle Peter (Diana's Dad), my late Aunt (only girl), uncle David (LA) and my 2nd oldest uncle (HK); R to L front row: uncle William (NY), Grandmother with uncle Frank (LA) on lap, Grandfather and my Dad in front of him.

My Mom, My Great Grandfather (Ta Ta), and I. Dear Lord, what were they feeding me?

My Grandmother on my Mom's side in her 20s in Shanghai.

London

2011-11-16T11:29:00.005-07:00

I had client meetings and an European user conference for one of my products in London last week. I know, what a bummer having to spend a week in London. :-) I was joined by two colleagues from the States and two from the UK. Great meetings, very sucessfull user group, went to great eateries, drank like a fish, and stayed at a great hotel centrally located at Picaddily Circus with all the ammenities. I can't complain. I only wish Bill could have gone with me or if I had more time to explore the city.

Halloween

2011-11-04T15:49:00.004-07:00

The kids had a lot of fun trick-or-treating this year. They each got a basket full of candy that could last them weeks. We normally give them a couple of pieces during the first week, then confiscate the rest and they won't even remember.

We got about 120 trick-or-treaters this year, down from 135+ from last year. We went through 4 gigantic candy bags. Mason and Audrey enjoyed giving the candy out and seeing the different costumes. The worst costume goes to the lady in the 50s, not dressed up, but with her safeway bag in hand asking for candy! What is up with that?

First Snow of the Season

2011-10-26T15:23:00.003-07:00

On Monday we have a high of 79F, and today we woke up to snow!

The fall colors were so beautiful. These trees are now covered in snow. I went outside at 6:30 AM this morning to shake our poor trees. Bill did it twice more during the morning. I hope all the branches make it.

Pumpkin carving

2011-10-25T15:15:00.004-07:00

Pumpkin carving seems to start with the whole family excited to dig in and carve. I got out the tools and lined the table with newspaper to start our messy pursuit. After a couple of minutes playing with the tools, we lost Audrey's attention. She was back in the den playing with her toys.

Mason was still excited and kept asking "Can we carve the pumpkins yet?"
"No dear, Daddy needs to cut the top off, let's select a pattern"
Mason pick out the pattern of a face and a bat for my pumpkin.
"Can we carve the pumpkins yet?"
"Not yet, we need to get the seeds out"
He helped get all the seeds out, which I didn't save since I really don't know what to do with them.
"Can we carve the pumpkin?"
"Nope, now we need to transfer the pattern"
Once that was done, Bill helped Mason get carving going. Good thing that pattern was easy. Once that pumpkin was done, he was done with the pumpkin carving.

Bill and I finished two more pumpkins in the kitchen, as the kids played in the den. The pumpkin carving tool broke on the 4Th pumpkin, signaling the end of pumpkin carving for the evening. Audrey got to "draw" on her little one. Here are the results.

Potty Trained!

2011-10-25T15:09:00.003-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Audrey was too stubborn to use the potty. But once she started transitioning to the older class (2 1/2 yr-old class), she started using the potty literately overnight. She had about 2-3 accidents in total over the last 2 weeks. I can't believe how easy it has been. No more diapers!

Ok, now she still asks for her pacy! We restrict it to bedtime now and "special" moments. At least that doesn't cost us anything. Well, free for now until she needs braces I am sure. One battle at a time!

A Week's Free Tuition

2011-10-25T14:49:00.005-07:00

Every year, Gateway Academy has a Fall Festival. This year, they also had raffles for various prizes with all proceeds going to Susan G. Komen Foundation. There were many gift certificates to restaurants, studios, massages, and the grand prize was a week's free tuition. We dropped 4 entries in the free tuition raffle at $5 each and another couple of dollars in massage and photography. The chances of winning the grand prize was low, since most families had their eyes on that bag as well. But surprisingly, we won!!

I could hardly believe it. I was also distracted talking to the teachers, as they started the raffle drawing. Our name was the first one out of the first bag, and I didn't even know what we had won.

We left the Fall Festival delighted, thinking we won a free week's tuition for one of the kids. We found out today that our credit was for both kids, which in our case is around $400! A free week's tuition for the family! I can't complain at the 20 to 1 return on investment.

Gong Gong and Bu Bu in China

2011-10-10T16:06:00.004-07:00

Gong Gong and Bu Bu left for China again. They will be there until early November. It is a lot more manageable being just us and the kids these days. My parents don't come over everyday any more, but it is nice to have their help while I am traveling. Having an extra driver to pick up or drop off the kids at school, help planning and cooking meals, or getting kids ready in the mornings and for bed is very nice. But we will manage, or should I say, Bill will manage since I have a business trip next week and he will be on his own for 4 days.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-10T15:47:00.006-07:00

We went to Anderson Farms for their annual Fall Festival with Eric and his son Gavyn this past Sunday. We've been there two years ago, and decided to go back this year, as it is one of the best Fall Festivals in Colorado. Most of the attractions and rides are free with the entrance fee. The weather on Sunday was cool (50-60) but dry and not windy, and it wasn't crowded. Most rides had no lines. It was perfect!

And here is the video of the pumpkin launcher!

Potty Training

2011-10-10T15:39:00.005-07:00

About 6 months ago, when Audrey was just 2, she was very interested in the potty. She would consistently go in the potty a couple of times a day, but then after a couple of weeks it stopped. We couldn't put her on the potty and wasn't bribed easily with stickers or candy. At school, the teachers would have slightly better rate of success, but it was still not very consistent. After a month or two of pull-ups, I went back to buying diapers for her. Out of sudden last week, she came home having remained dry all day and done all her business on the potty! She's kept it up and is doing well, although she won't go #2 on the potty (we will cross that bridge later). She wakes up dry from naps and overnight, but we've kept her on pull-ups just to make sure she is ready this time. She must know that to move up to her next class, she needs to be potty trained!

Susan G Komen

2011-09-30T14:09:00.002-07:00

The kids' school had everyone come in pink to support Susan G Komen for the Cure. Pink is an everyday event for Audrey, but Mason has no pink. Luckily, I found a t-shirt my parents brought for Audrey from London that is still too large for her, but perfect for Mason.

Lots of Travel

2011-09-30T13:42:00.003-07:00

The previous founder and CEO of my group in Santa Fe has left. That was always expected since he sold the company more than a year ago to Interthinx (who I work for). Now, the real work of integration begins, planning for 2012, and visiting our clients. As a result, I've had to travel more. If I were younger or had no kids, I wouldn't mind it as much. But these days, I much rather stay put at home.

I've had 2 trips in the last 3 weeks: Santa Fe and San Francisco last week. I got to see Yvette/Scott and Yvonne in SF, which was nice. Next week I will be in the headquarters in LA, and I get to meet up with Diana and Karen. Future trips include: Miami for a conference, London first week in Nov for a user group, and maybe HK/Shanghai/Singapore the week before London (I won't even tell extended family and only see Diana in HK), and somewhere in there I will squeeze another trip to Santa Fe. Oofda.

My parents are going to Shanghai for a month in October, returning early November. That means Bill will be flying solo during my trips. These days it is easier, but it is still a lot of preparation and work.

Side blog -
On my way back from SF Tuesday, a man passed out right in front of me in SFO. He was on the walking sidewalk, I was walking to my gate in the opposite direction. There was no one in front or behind him, he just passed out and fell over. He didn't answer to our calls of "Are you OK?" A woman behind me (looked like an United employee) ran to stop the moving sidewalk. I jumped over to help. For the last 3-4 years, I've taken CPR and AED training at FICO to help out in case of an emergency in the office. I never thought the emergency would come in this form. The man looked like he was in his late 40s, not overweight, but not in shape either. His eyes were open with a blank look, no pulse, faint breathing. I wasn't prepared to touch a complete stranger and one who seem to be dying, but I started CPR as I yelled for help. We were in the middle of the United gates in SFO, luckily a fairly busy place. A doctor in one of the gates near by came to help, he was calm (calmer than me) and continued the chest compressions and got an AED. The man still had no pulse after the first shock. 911 took forever (more than 10 minutes) which you would figure shouldn't take that long in a busy airport like SFO. By then I was a bystander and they asked us to evacuate. I proceeded to my gate shaking, thinking of this man's fate and of who he was, thinking of what I could have done more, thinking of what it would have happened if he passed out in a less busy place, thinking what if it was me or someone I loved, and wanting to be home with my family. I went back after 15 minutes, they were still there and the man still looked unconscious, but his chest was moving (breathing) and they were inserting an IV. I pray that he made it!

Octoberfest

2011-09-21T10:37:00.003-07:00

My parents brought back these outfits from Germany last year. They haven't really had the occasion to wear the outfits and will soon outgrown them. So, we put them for pictures and as a homage to Octoberfest.

Fall Soccer

2011-09-19T10:33:00.005-07:00

This Spring, I thought of signing Mason up for Soccer. I called about a month before the start of Spring soccer, but it was already too late. Silly me, I didn't realize how quickly Soccer spots filled up. I quickly made a note on when Fall Soccer sign up started, and I must have been the first one to turn in Mason's application. :-)

Mason had his first game on Sep 10th. He is in a U5 (under 5) boys team of 6 players called the Coyotes. Coach Dean originally signed up to help as an assistant coach, but got the coaching job because they were short of volunteers. His son Tristan plays in our team. They play every Saturday for about an hour (30 minutes of practice and 30 minutes of game), 3x3 configuration, and a chaos of kids running around with coaches following them to give them direction. There is no score keeping, other than Bill does keep score on his iPhone (hehe). What is the point of playing if you don't know who won, right?

Mason is very excited about playing Soccer. Most importantly, he is having a lot of fun. All the boys in his team get along well. We told him the 3 rules: 1) have fun; 2) no hands; 3) no crying. There is plenty of crying in adult soccer, and we don't want to propagate that.

It became clear after the first game who the high scorer would be. This boy named Ethan on our team is an amazing player, scoring 9 out of the 10 goals in the first game. Perhaps because he has played soccer a couple of season now and has older brothers who also play. If he has the ball, he runs, dribbles and won't stop until the ball in in the goal! Pretty amazing as he can kick into a relatively small goal from 15 feet away.

Ethan was late for the second game, missing most of the practice. Bill asked the coach half worried and half joking "where is Ethan?". But he showed up, scoring 7 of the 8 goals our team had!

Here is a video of Mason almost scoring a goal. He is getting better every week.

10 years of 9/11

2011-09-11T10:31:00.001-07:00

Memories from Bill -
10 years ago today, I was in San Jose with Cecilia. We were awakened by a frantic call from her mother (living in Brazil at the time) saying that the US was under attack.

She was unable to articulate what had happened, we just knew that we had to turn on the news. As the TV came on, all we saw was a city that was smoking. We didn't recognize it. Cecilia had gleaned that her mother said something about Washinton DC, but we still couldn't place the skyline.

Then they repeated the images of the 2 planes flying into the towers. Then the towers collapsing. Cecilia burst into tears. I was in shock as the gravity of what had happened started to sink in. As those images repeated, I got more sad and more angry. Who would do such a thing? Why would they? I understood the US was not popular, but these were thousands of innocent people. Seeing people in middle east celebrating angered me more.

We went to the store to stock up on things. People were solemn, muted. It was general shock, and anticipation of what might happen next.

I imagine hearing about Pearl Harbor was like this, but we had it in real time. It made it surreal and frighteningly, horrifingly real and the same time.

It brought us together as a country, unlike where we are today. It made things like politics and budgets inconsequential.

It is a day I will never forget. I pray for peace.

Lake Lanier

2011-09-07T20:37:00.005-07:00

For the second part of our trip, we went up to Gainesville to visit Yaya and Mimi. Again we did a lot of swimming (Mason is becoming more confident in the water), went on boat rides and drove around in the golf cart. Yaya and Mimi also took the kids to Ink (an interactive kids town). The airplane (a real decommissioned airplane) was the coolest thing there. Yaya took the kids to the dock to feed a few very large catfish that have been hanging out there (they've been getting frequent feedings from the residents).

Shawn and Lena came up for a couple of nights. They went with Bill mountain biking on Saturday, and I went shopping at the outlets with them on Sunday. They also cooked us some delicious food!

Shawn, Bill and Lena also went waterskiing in the afternoon, after mountain biking for 2 hours in the morning! It was Lena's first time waterskiing in 20+ years. She got up on her 2nd try and was able to get over the wake on her 3rd try. Very impressive! Here is a video of Bill waterskiing.

The only bummer of the trip was Bill getting an ear infection. We've been swimming almost daily, plus his dive in the aquarium tank. He was in a great deal of pain and running a fever on the last day. His Dad started him on some ear drops and antibiotics and we hope he will get better soon. I like to joke that he got something in his ear during the dive, and has a fish growing in there or fish poop.

We left on Monday morning just as it started to rain from whatever it was left out of hurricane Lee. Good timing! Both kids slept for part of the plane ride. What a great trip!

Trip to Atlanta

2011-09-06T08:48:00.010-07:00

We just got back from a lovely week in Atlanta/Gainesville GA. Our annual trip is normally earlier in the Summer, but due to my work changes this year, we had to move our trip to end of August. It turned out to be a great time to travel (less busy as many kids are back at school).

Audrey hadn’t been in a plane since I took her to LA in early Feb. Although she is fully into her terrible twos, she is a better traveler. The plane to ATL had a monitor and free TV on each seat, so we were able to tune into Nickelodeon. She eventually fell asleep for the last hour. Doesn’t she look comfy?

We spent the first few days in Atlanta with Nai Nai and GrandPa Jack. Aside from Mason’s stomach ache the first night (he ended up throwing up in the middle of the night), which we attributed to swallowing some swimming pool water, the rest of the stay was great.
We went swimming every day. Our friend Maress and her two girls (Hannah 6 and Elise 3) came for a visit. Here are a couple of pictures of the kids together.

Helen and Jack had scheduled a photo session with Hector for all of us. The previews on his digital camera looked gorgeous; I can’t wait to see all the pictures! We will share when they are available.

The highlight was going to the Georgia Aquarium and seeing the dolphin show. It was my third or fourth trip to that aquarium, and it is still spectacular. The kids loved seeing the dauphins and all the fish.

At the end of our visit, I wanted to go by the Ocean Voyage tank one more time (the big tank with the whale sharks, manta rays, other rays and sharks, gigantic groupers). As we got to the front of the big glass, they were having an unscheduled feeding of the fish. The presenter described the feeding, the fish and tank, and as she was wrapping up she asked if there were any SCUBA divers in the audience. Bill raised his hand. She told him the aquarium offers SCUBA diving in the Ocean Voyage tank and to see the SCUBA crew. Bill went to ask, as he was curious of the price, but it turns out they had some last minute discounts and he could do it with a group that day, in 15 minutes at 3 pm! The experience would last 2 ½ hours and he wouldn’t enter the tank until 4 pm. It wasn’t an experience we could pass up, but the kids weren’t going to last for another 2 hours. Audrey was already passed her nap time. So, I took the kids home as Bill got ready for his dive.

It isn’t hard to watch the kids alone. But the hardest part was to get to the car because they had closed the closest access from the parking structure to the aquarium, and we had to walk in the heat carrying Audrey and making sure Mason kept walking behind me (I realized Bill has the parking ticket 1/3 of the way to the parking lot, so I had to call him and go all the way back to pick up the ticket and start all over). Helen was able to go back to aquarium and catch Bill diving. We will share the video from the dive once we upload that to YouTube.

Bike Dads and Zoo Moms

2011-08-22T10:00:00.004-07:00

Bill still has his motorcycle, although he has barely riden it since Audrey was born. A few weeks ago, he had the bike tuned up. I suggested he schedule a weekend ride with Cory (one of his last friends who still owns a motorcycle). I scheduled a Zoo trip with Cory's wife Mary and the kids (Ivy almost 3 and Macy 9 months). It was a great time had by all.

25 for the 12th time

2011-08-22T09:55:00.005-07:00

I had a great birthday this week. Started last Friday with a date night and a Josh Groban concert. The age group at the concert was definitely older. The concert was great, and Josh Groban was funny and very interactive with his audience (running around everywhere in the Pepsi center).

I had planned to take an easy workday, but that didn't happen as planned. We had a nice dinner at home followed by chocolate cake.

On Friday, we had another date night to go see the Help. Highly recommended book and movie!

Swim Float Swim

2011-08-11T17:18:00.003-07:00

Another video of Mason swimming

It may seem I only have a pictures and videos of Mason, I am not favoring one child. Audrey has her class first, since she is only in for 10 minutes. She is less patient when she has to wait 20 minutes for her turn. As she is swimming, I am normally getting Mason ready in the bathroom. And Audrey gets very distracted when I am shooting pictures or videos of her, so I try not to do it, so she can focus on her lesson. Here are a couple of pictures of Audrey at the end of her lesson.

Diving for rings

2011-08-05T14:30:00.003-07:00

Another video from swim lessons, this time Mason dives for rings at the deep side of the pool (per his request).

Dragon Boat Festival with the Torres

2011-08-02T11:57:00.004-07:00

We went to the annual Dragon Boat Festival at Sloan Lake this weekend. As expected, it was hot! The lack of shaddy trees is definitely a downside of this park. They should have more tents setup just for people to sit down, eat and escape the sun. We met up with Cristy and Juan Carlos, and their son Santiago. Here is a picture of the kids enjoying the shade.

Swim Lessons Update

2011-08-02T11:50:00.003-07:00

We just started week 5 of the 8-week swim lesson session with Swim Otters. Mason is getting 50 minutes of lessons per week and Audrey is getting 30 minutes. Audrey is doing well, but not as willing or focused as Mason. She is able to float and will put her head under the water to swim. Mason is advancing faster with his longer lessons. He can jump in, go to a float, swim to the wall, retreave rings from the bottom of the pool. The the last couple of lessons, he wants to go deeper and swim farther. He is a video of him at the end of last week.

40 hours in NYC

2011-07-20T10:48:00.003-07:00

My cousin Diana is getting married next March and I am the matron of honor. She has been assignment to Hong Kong, but back to NYC to move her stuff back to LA by end of July. Her fiancee (John) is in LA, and she hopes to work out a remote office deal with Citi. Two of her bridesmaids live in NYC (although one was out of town this past weekend) and Joyce had previously planner her trip to be NYC this past weekend. I decided to go for a short trip, a total of 40 hours in NYC and 28 waken hours. I arrived very late on Friday night and left on Sunday late afternoon. Although it was not the best weekend, because my parents went with my uncles/aunts to Yellowstone for the week and Bill would be alone caring for the kids, it was a rare opportunity to get us together before the wedding. The kids are older and easier to manage with one parent.

I stayed with my friend Julia, who I know for 25 years since we were in 6th grade. She has moved back to NYC a little over a year ago. It was great seeing her and catching up, we had some long talks about life, work and relationships. She has been seeing a new guy for about 4 months, and things seems to be headed the right direction. I also needed her help to take some documents back to Brazil for my name change, and I don't trust sending via mail or FedEx. Luckly, her sister is coming from Brazil next week and will be able to take it back after her visit is over.

Saturday was packed with wedding planning. We selected our bridesmaids dresses at J Crew Bridal, it was quick and easy. Then went to three places to look for wedding dresses for Diana. We ended the day with two dresses that would be great, one is $500 and the other $1,200 (excluding any tayloring fees). They are both beautiful. She will show them to her Mom before making a final decision.

We ended Saturday at Mario Batali's Eataly, where we had dinner at the seafoot restaurant and dessert/coffee in another part of the store. It was amazing!

On Sunday, Julia came out with us and we had Dim Sum in Chinatown followed by some shopping in Soho.

Somehow, I didn't take any pictures the whole weekend! It must have been the heat. But, it was great seeing Diana, Joyce and Julia, and meeting Diana's bridesmaid Helen. I can't wait for the bachelorette weekend in San Diego, when we will be all together again.

Mason's 4th year check up

2011-07-15T17:29:00.004-07:00

We took Mason to get his 4th year check up today. It's been a couple of weeks since his birthday, but it's been busy, so we couldn't fit it in until today. The 4th year check up, along with the usual weight and height measurements, come with an eye exam, ear exam, blood pressure and BMI calculation. Mason did great in all.

Height: 42.75 inches (97%ile)
Weight: 40.5 lbs (90%ile)
BMI: 15 (50%ile)

No shots this time, but he had some Molluscum bumps he had to have frozen, and that was not pleasant!

PS: I'm blogging from the plane on my way to NYC to meet up with Diana and her bridesmaids to shop for dresses. Wi-fi on the plane rocks! Specially since Bill connected with me to do Face Time, and I got to video conference with Bill and the kids. Worth the $5! Amazing what is possible these days. (One day when Mason or Audrey reads this, they probably won't have an appreciation for what feat it is to be connected while flying.)

Swim Lessons

2011-07-08T20:46:00.005-07:00

Mason and Audrey have started swim lessons at Swim Otters. It is a swim school close to our house that specializes in teaching kids ages 6 months to 12 yrs water safety and swimming skills. They are private lessons, so parents don't need to get in the pool. The lessons are relatively short due to the kids' attention span, 10 minutes for Audrey and 20 minutes for Mason, but they are 3 times a week for 8 weeks! The lessons are Mon, Tue and Thu at 4:30, so I need to leave at 4 or earlier to pick them up from school, take them to the pool, get them dressed and ready. I committed to Bill that I will take the kids to swim lessons, unless I am out of town for work or for the last lessons where they want a parent in the pool to coach us on how to work with them.

A few main reasons compelled me to spend a small fortune and taking up the commitment of taking them to lessons 3 times a week:

1) Probably the main reason is that I don't swim. As a kid (about 8) I had a near drowning experience in the pool of my apartment complex while playing with some other kids. One of their parents saved me and I was too terrified to tell my parents or enter the water again. When my parents asked me to go to swim lessons, I told them I wasn't interested. As an adult, I am more comfortable in the water, even went snorkeling in Hawaii in our honeymoon at Molokini, but I still don't swim. I want both of my kids to be strong swimmers like Bill (who swims, grew up spending his Summers at Lake Rabun, water skis and scuba dives).

2) We have access to the pool at my parent's place, and we often vacation at a place near a pool or lake. I don't want to have to carry their floaties everywhere we go. Mason was happy to wear his floaty until he saw the older kids swim around without them. At the end of the day at the pool, he got out and wanted me to take his floaty off. I did thinking he was done, but he went back into the water because he wanted to try to swim without it. He sank, as Bill carefully watched and pulled him out. I asked him if he wanted to learn to swim like the bigger kids, and he said yes.

3) I have no doubt that Bill would be able to teach the kids how to swim, but we don't have the time. Also Mason is at the age he listens to teachers/coaches better than us. We have tried the rec center group lessons when he was 2, he didn't get much out of them. At this point, Bill doesn't have the time to go into a pool 3 times a week, and it would need to be him alone doing it.

And finally, Audrey probably would still be happy wearing her floaty. But, once she starts seeing Mason swim without them, I think she would want to follow as well. Since we are taking one to lessons, might as well take 2 at the same time.

So, here we go. Their swim coach's name is Mr. Brendan. He is very nice to the kids. So far, both are doing great, although Mason is more excited and focused, according to Brendan, probably a week away from floating on his own. When Audrey is in the pool, she is looking for me and suffering from separation anxiety. Next week, I will try to leave the pool area and see how she does. Updates to follow.

Fun packed 4th of July (Part 3)

2011-07-08T15:32:00.010-07:00

On Tuesday, we went to Elitch Gardens (the big theme park in Denver that used to be a Six Flags park). We dropped off Audrey at school because there are not many rides for her at her age and she would need a nap during our time there. The older kids went to the big thrill rides as Bill and I took Mason to the kids section, with smaller rides.

The mini roller coaster still throws the kids around, giving them the thrill of the bigger rides. We couldn't go on with him, so we were not sure how we would react. He watched the other kids and seem excited, but I was fearing tears would breakout when it came his turn. The ride goes around 3 times, each with a break in the middle to give the kids a chance to get down. As it came to his turn, he choose to sit in the front! I grabbed on to Bill as I nervously encouraged Mason and told him to have fun, but after the first drop and corner, I exhaled as I saw the biggest smile on his face. As you can see from the video, he love it. He went on that ride 5 times by the end of the day.

Mason is about an inch or two taller than the minimum 42 inches in most bigger rides, but we were unsure how he would react. He seemed interested in the Dragonwing ride, which he called the "Batman" ride because of the wings. It is pretty much a large swing that just goes around, but it gets up very high. Ben took Mason on it (you can see their size difference).

Cotton candy on the way home - Mason choose cotton candy over ice cream.

The cousins went home on Tuesday night after dinner. We all had such a great time! They are all delightful young men and young woman. They were all great with Mason and Audrey. We missed Nikki (Tommy's sister) who is in college at Carleton and is working at a Summer camp. The other cousins, Julia, Laura and Alec (Sandra and Shef's kids) live in NZ, and we would need to win the lotto before we could fly all of them over for a weekend trip.

Mason got up on Wednesday a little depressed, I think from missing all his cousins, his roommate Candler and for having to go back to school. We will have to plan another trip for them or for us soon.

Fun packed 4th of July (Part 2)

2011-07-08T14:31:00.011-07:00

On Sunday we went to Washington Park on our way to auntie Heather's (where Nai Nai and Grandpa Jack were staying). At the park, we rented a 6-person bike and all the kids went around the park twice (which took almost a full hour). Bill and I sat and enjoyed sitting under a shaddy tree. After a kick run to the famous Bonnie Brae Ice Cream shop, we drove down to Heathers.

I had made reservations to Skyventures (indoor skydiving) for all the kids over 3 (including Mason), Bill and Nai Nai. We gave Mason the option to watch and go if he wanted, and he did it! Each person went on two "flights" of a minute each. Here is a video of Mason's first flight.

We had a wonderful and delicious dinner - thank you Grandpa Jack! Cousin Edward (the oldest of the cousins) is graduating from CU Boulder later this year and is working in Boulder for the Summer. He and his girlfriend Tasha came by and lit up some fireworks (little legal ones allowed in Colorado).

We had no plans for Monday, other than to see fireworks. So in the morning, we decided to take the kids to Mt. Evans. Once of the only 14ers in Colorado you can drive up to and hike the last 1/4 mile. Bill and I hiked up a few years ago (before kids) with Sasha. It was a hard hike over rocks, with many false peaks, and at the end, you hike the same last 1/4 mile with the folks getting out of their cars (not as rewarding when you hiked the whole thing). The drive was longer than I remembered, but thank goodness for the minivan and the DVD player, both which paid for itself this weekend taking all 8 of us everywhere and entertaining us on long rides.

We stopped for Beau Jo's Pizza in Idaho Springs after Mt. Evans, thinking it would take us maybe an hour to get home. We didn't anticipate it taking us more than 3 hours instead. A semitruck packed with fruit had rolled over closing all lanes of Eastbound I-70 the main highway down the mountain for most of the day. We saw signs of the closure, but went as far as we could until being turned back. All other small highways down the mountain were also very congested! And thanks to AT&T we had no connection to call or see which other ways we could take. Thankfully, Tommy's Verizon phone had reception and we called auntie Heather to guide us to a better way home. Don't believe the commercials, AT&T's network sucks! I was exhausted when I got home. But the cousins were still excited to go see fireworks at night. I stayed behind and put our kids to bed (Mason is not a big fan of fireworks yet).

Fun packed 4th of July (Part 1)

2011-07-07T08:28:00.011-07:00

For the long weekend, we invited Mason and Audrey's cousins (Tommy 16 - Heidi and Greg's son, Ben 16, Haylie 14, Candler 11 - Holly and John's kids) from Vancouver Washington to come visit. We had a full house and a fun-packed weekend!

Haylie slept in Audrey's room. Audrey sleeps very well these days and would wake up around 7:30 AM and say to Haylie "diaper change". Candler slept in Mason's room on his tundle bed. Mason couldn't be happier to have Candler read him bedtime stories. Ben and Tommy were in the guest room on their own beds.

They arrived on Friday afternoon and we all went to pick up the kids from school. Mason was anticipating his cousins' arrival and warmed up right away. Audrey was shy and looked out the window the whole car ride home, but she eventually warmed up after an hour. We had a BBQ Friday night with Kathryn (Ben, Haylie and Candler's aunt) before she left town on vacation.

On Saturday, we went to the pool at my parents' place. It didn't take long until a game of Marco Polo started. In the afternoon, Bill took the kids to see Cars 2 and met up with Nai Nai/Grammie Helen as Audrey and I napped.

What is Sasha?

2011-06-29T20:53:00.004-07:00

We adopted Sasha from Mile High Humane Society on June 5th 2004. At the time, the vet thought she was about 4 years old, although we think she might have been more like 2 or 3. She has been and continues to be the best dog we could have asked for. Audrey seems closer to Sasha than Mason, perhaps because from the beginning BuBu was afraid Sasha would hurt Mason and kept him away. I would like to believe both of them love Sasha, although neither one likes to be licked and Audrey doesn't like finding Sasha's hair on her pacy.

Before kids, she had the energy to hike 14ers with us, ran next to Bill on a long bike rides. After the kids came, she has been very gentle with them and has never taken any of the kid toys (she definitely knows her toys from the kid toys). I can count two accidents from the whole time we've had her, and only because she didn't have access to a doggie door. She runs outside when she hears a baby cry (I would too if I could) and we would often find her hanging out outside on the snow in sub-zero temps. But she knows when it is dinner time, and places herself strategically under the table, near the kids. If food is dropped, it doesn't even reach the floor before she snags it away. Perhaps her one vice is her human food begging, a behavior we created, no doubt. She does shed 12 months out of the year, and is the main reason we have a cleaning crew and a Dyson vacuum. And she does walk you vs. you walking her - we've always thought of attaching a sled to her. She has a mean enough bark to greet the unwanted solicitors, but behind the mean bark, is a gentleness waiting to be petted.

We have always wondered what breeds are in Sasha. From the beginning, both us and vets thought she was a Husky mix, especially because of the nonstop shedding and the pulling. We wondered about Chow because of her blue tongue, but she has none of the aggressive behavior of Chows. Our previous vets even said Shiba Inu or Cattle dog. In recent years, we have heard of blood and saliva DNA tests. During our last annual vet check up, I decided to get her blood drawn for the Wisdom Panel test.

Surprising results came back just a week later. Surprising because in all her mixed breeds, Husky is nowhere to be found. The two main breeds are Chow Chow Mix and Collie Mix. Among the mix breeds, the highest match is Tibetan Mastiff, followed by English Cocker Spaniel, German Shepherd, Giant Schnauzer and Irish Red and White Setter!! She is truly one of a kind and very unique.

Mason turns 4!

2011-06-29T18:08:00.006-07:00

Mason turned 4 on June 27th. We have a birthday party for him the Saturday before at My Gym, just like last year. We love My Gym because we have the whole place for ourselves, the owners have great activities for the kids, all the play equipment is very well suited for 4 year olds and the parents can just sit back and relax as the kids play. And after 2 hours at My Gym, the kids are truly exhausted!

This year the theme was Star Wars. More specifically Lego Star Wars, although for the favors and decorations, we used anything Star Wars we could find. We got an awesome Darth Vader with a light-saber candle. Mason has been playing Lego Star Wars on the Wii since Christmas and is able to play and finish levels by himself! He is Bill's son :-) He has watched 5 out of the 6 Star Wars movies, we are not letting him see episode 3 yet, as it is a little scary.

Audrey woke up with a fever on the day of the party. She looked very tired, so my Mom stayed with her at home. Other than missing Mei Mei, the party was great! 12 kids from school and our friend's kids Gavyn and Josie.

On Monday, we took more Star Wars cupcakes to school to share with his classmates. He just started his new Preschool 4 class and is once again reunited with lots of kids that moved up before him. The one friend in Preschool 3 he misses most is Kali (the girl he plans to marry, as he informed us. Kali's Mom said that marrying Mason is her master plan too.)

Father's Day at Washington Park

2011-06-19T20:39:00.004-07:00

Bill went to the kids school of Friday for Father's Day lunch (Audrey's at 11 and Mason's at 11:30). There were pictures taken at both, but so far only Mason's arrived.

On Father's day, we decided to go to Wash Park. It is a great park South of downtown. Although we have been a few times, it was our first time with the kids. We rented a 4-person paddle boat on the small Smith Lake. We lasted almost a full hour on the paddle boat (I thought I was going to give up after the first 10 minutes) feeding the geese, snacked on oranges, and went all around. We played in the playground for another hour before heading home. What a great time!

Andy's Wedding

2011-06-19T20:16:00.003-07:00

Our friend Andy got married to Elizabeth on June 4th. He had a small ceremony with family on Saturday, and a wonderful get together with all his friends on Sunday. It was right next to a great park and playground area, so the kids got to run around and play all night. Because we left in a hurry after the afternoon naps, I forgot our camera. We are hoping Andy's photographer got some good shots and will have them available soon. Bill did catch some videos of the kids dancing. Mason was not shy to show his moves on the dance floor, we got several comments throughout the night.

Elizabeth seems very nice, although we haven't had a lot of chance to get to know her. Out of the 2 years they've dated, they've had enough challenges coordinating their own dating schedules due to their kids. Andy and Elizabeth have moved into their new house in Golden, with 4 kids (Andy's Sarah 13, David 11, and Elizabeth's Clayton 11, Zoe 9), 1 dog, and 4 cats! Bill and I treated them to Peter Gabriel at the Red Rocks last weekend. It was a fun time, although Peter Gabriel's music can be a bit depressing and strange to me. But the Red Rocks is always beautiful.

Pool Time

2011-06-19T19:55:00.005-07:00

As the Summer approaches and the weather gets warmer, we are enjoying the close proximity to my parent's condo and pool. Their pool's water is always warm and it is not very busy (2 out of the 3 times there, we were the only ones there). Of all the flotation devices we have purchased the kids of all shapes, sizes and prices, these Puddle Jumpers that Bill picked up during our trip to Georgia last year, are by far the best in safety, design, and comfort. The kids love them, as they can be independent in the water (with us near by, but not holding on to them). Audrey seems to be more fearless than Mason is almost everything, including in the water.

Yaya and Mimi come to visit

2011-06-02T10:03:00.004-07:00

We haven’t seen Yaya and Mimi since Thanksgiving. It’s been too long. We talked about going to Atlanta in April or May late last year, but after the job changes we had to adjust our vacation plans.

Before Brantley and Sandra's visit, while I was in Santa Fe I woke up with a fever and very sore throat. I immediately thought of strep and the two birthday parties over the weekend, and went to the urgent care the next morning. It was strep! I don’t ever remember having strep before. I got my meds, worked in isolation for half a day, and spent the rest of the day in my hotel room in and out of consciousness. The next morning, I was feeling better and back at work. I called home to give Bill my progress, and also ask if anyone at home had symptoms. I feared that Audrey or Mason would also get sick, but they seemed all healthy. That is until I came home on Thursday night, and Audrey woke up at 1 AM with a high fever. Mason wasn’t feverish, but had unusual spots on his face, so I took both to the urgent care the next morning.

It turns out that the spots of Mason’s face were from Roseola, a harmless virus. But, he did have a sinus infection. So, he was going to be on antibiotics, which would also kill strep if he was exposed. Since Audrey still had a fever, was exposed to me and I had a confirmed case of strep, the doctor decided to give her antibiotics too. All this before 9 AM before Yaya and Mimi arrived. Oh boy!
Bill started to feel sympathetic/real fever, aches and pains. After Brantley arrived, he called in some antibiotics for Bill as well. We were all on meds and feeling half miserable on Friday, so passed on dinner plans. Brantley, Sandra and Heather had a lovely dinner at Hideaway steakhouse (very fancy and delicious steakhouse that opened just across the street from us).

Lucky we were all better by Saturday. We spent Saturday at the Museum of Nature and Science and toured their Pirates exhibit. Mason wasn’t too happy going through it, especially through the “pirate ship” area where you got onto the fake boat. Since that was the only way out, Bill had to carry thing through, which he did kicking and screaming. All better once we were out and he got to go to the Space Odyssey, his favorite part of the museum.

On Sunday, Heather came up and we drove all together to Estes Park. Brantley, Bill and Heather went on a horseback ride. Sandra and I took the kids for a stroll in town. In the madness of packing the car, we forgot the get jackets for the kids. So Mimi got the kids new Estes Park sweatshirts.

Audrey stayed crankier than usual through the weekend and not eating too well. Having just gone through strep, I knew how she felt. In addition, we suspect she has some molars coming in, and was running a low grade fever during the week again.
We hope to plan a trip to Atlanta in late August / early September to visit again. We need to coordinate some dates at work and with Nai Nai and Grandpa Jack before we settle the dates.

First 2 weeks at new job

2011-06-02T10:01:00.002-07:00

I spent my first two weeks at the new job getting settled. I was in Santa Fe a couple of days both weeks, getting my laptop, meeting the people, and getting some training. I am getting to know the Albuquerque airport and drive to Santa Fe well. It is not a bad place to visit. My favorite part is that there is a Trader Joe’s in Santa Fe (there are no Trader Joe’s in CO!). But I am glad to be working from home all this week, before I head out again next week to LA.

My home office setup in the sitting area in our master is working great. It is efficient, clean, minimal, the way I like it! We got a second phone line put in, and I love my new Polycom phone.

It is great that Bill is working from home too. We need to find more common breaks to do lunch or workout, which so far hasn’t happened.

Birthday Parties

2011-06-02T09:53:00.002-07:00

Mason has many friends at school that have been together for the past 2-3 years. They have all moved up together through the different classes and their birthdays are all around May. Last weekend, we had two birthday parties. One was for one of his best buddies, Jackson, who was sick the day before with confirmed strep. But he was on antibiotics for 24 hours, so the party was on. The theme was Godzilla, as you can see by the blue/black cake that gave all the kids black tongues. My Dad freaked out the next day when he saw Mason’s blue poop :-) I guess that is another side affect.

Mason doesn't move up to Pre-4 until end of June. He really misses his friends.

New job

2011-05-16T09:10:00.004-07:00

After exactly 12 weeks, I am rejoining the workforce today! I've joined a company called Interthinx, a division of Verisk Analytics. Verisk is a public company with various divisions mostly around risk management and insurance, and Interthinx is a fast growing division that serves to the mortgage fraud and risk market. To start, I will be working mostly with a group they acquired a year ago in Santa Fe, NM that has analytic tools to help banks set their capital provisions. I will be a Director of Product Management from my remote home office in Denver, but expect some travel to NM in the beginning months. I am excited and hope this is the right place for me in the next many years to come.

In the end, the change was a blessing in disguise. As I got a 12-week paid "vacation" and ended up with a 9% higher salary. Although I must admit the 12-weeks was filled with emotional ups and downs of the job searching process. I am so glad that is over!

State of Colorado lucked out, since they never had to pay me unemployment (I had 12-weeks of severance), unlike my Californian laid off co-workers that got concurrent unemployment payouts during their severance (no wonder CA is bankrupt?). I got to finish many house projects. And during that time found and closed on a 2 bed/2 bath condo for my parents 1 mile away from our house. We are working on the final preparations before they move in this Wed.

Coincidentally, Bill is also starting his long awaited new position with DeusM (a division of CMP Media) today. Same company, but a deserved promotion and most importantly, a new supervisor! As he starts his new job, he will also be working from home. That will be interesting having both of us home. He will be using our office, and I am setting my office in our bedroom nook and see how that works out.

Weather in CO

2011-05-16T08:13:00.001-07:00

Just as it started to feel like Spring/Summer, it got cold again with some light snow and rain! Here are two pictures Bill took last week from Boulder, just 24 hours apart.

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T09:45:00.004-07:00

The weekend started with a lot of housework planned for the new condo. We scheduled one of the kid's teachers to come watch the kids for 4 hours (Ms. Sheri and her 15-yr old daughter Morgan). The kids love Ms. Sheri and Momo. Right after they got here, Audrey turned to me and said "Bye". So, off to Home Depot we went. It took us an hour and a half to buy all the stuff we needed, minus the shower door which we didn't find any to our liking at HD. The guy at HD said he got his at Lowes! We spent the rest of the time installing things at the condo (bathroom hardware, blinds, etc). We have a contractor coming this week for the bigger stuff.

We were so tired after we were done, that I didn't want to put my Dad and Bill through going to store for our Mother's Day lunch. Instead, we changed plans and decided to go to the Westin 5 minutes from our house for their Mother's Day brunch. They still had spots, but unfortunately only at 2 PM.

Mother's Day was lovely! The weather was just perfect. My Dad and Bill went to Lowes to order the shower door, and brought back some breakfast. We took the kids on an easy stroll across the street to have haircuts. Lunch at the Westin was delicious, and we stuffed ourselves. I think I had more dessert than savory food! The only down side of the day was my allergies. I only had the regular 24-hr Claritin and that doesn't work as well as Claritin D. I was congested with itchy eyes most of the day.

Once again we forgot to take pictures, but posting two pictures of the kids enjoying popsicles from a week back. How I love being their Mom!

Easter bunny ate my tulips

2011-05-05T21:09:00.009-07:00

As it turns out, we did get a visit from the Easter bunny. It left little brown "eggs" in the backyard (not chocolate), and ate most of the tulip blossoms under one of the trees! The Easter bunny must have been very lucky, getting in our backyard and hanging out for lunch is not a small feat, since Sasha is normally vigilant. Sasha doesn't care about most other dogs or animals, with the exception of the bunnies and squirrels.

I think I good a picture of this bunny on Easter weekend hanging out around our house. At that point, I thought it was cute. Now I know, its tummy was full from my flowers!

And here are the tulips that the Easter bunny ate:

The tulips in the front yard and under the other tree are doing great.

Sasha guarding the yard (a little too late for these tulips):

Eggstravaganza

2011-04-27T12:30:00.005-07:00

We had a lovely Easter weekend. Our church has moved into its new building, just across the street from the old one, but a lot more room. Parking is still a challenge, even when arriving 20 minutes earlier!

The kids have been having Easter celebrations at school and getting eggs all week. When did the Easter Bunny and gifts get so big? The kids probably got as much candy as Halloween, which I confiscated. What is the tradition behind the Easter bunny? How does it get into the house? Why does the bunny leave gifts or hide the eggs? Although I prepared more than 2 dozen eggs for school, treats for their parties, and decorated baskets, I refused to buy Easter gifts for the kids on top of that.

For the egghunt, we wanted to check out Broomfield's annual Eggstravaganza. It sounded good until the weather turned cold. It was snowing the morning of the egg hunt, so the event moved indoors. It was fun for the kids, but thank goodness over in a few chaotic minutes. Check out the video:

Mason got more eggs than his basket could hold!

I made bunny chocolate chip pancakes for the kids and chorizo and egg tacos with fresh guac for brunch.

White Fence Farm

2011-04-19T12:26:00.006-07:00

A couple of weekend ago, we went to White Fence Farm. A "farm" / restaurant in Lakewood (30 minutes from us). My friend Mel had told me about it, and how great it is for the kids, so decided to check it out. The food was good - famous for their fried chicken. The kids enjoyed the playground, tree house, the animals (Mason didn't want to pet the farm animals), and we took a picture with each family member in their respective Chinese signs (Bill the Horse, Mason the Pig and Audrey the Cow). I am a Tiger, so no picture for me. :-)

When the weather gets warmer, we will have to go back for the carriage rides.

ABCs

2011-04-19T12:19:00.002-07:00

Audrey's birthday celebrations

2011-04-11T10:46:00.002-07:00

Here are pictures from Audrey's birthday celebration on Wednesday (her actual birthday), opening gifts and her party Saturday. It's been a great week.

Here is a video - she is still doesn't like the lit candle.

Audrey turns 2!

2011-04-06T12:19:00.005-07:00

Hard to believe, but our little girl is 2!! We will know her stats tomorrow and post upcoming pictures of her birthday party this Saturday.

4/7 - Updated stats from Audrey's well visit:
Weight: 27 lbs 2 oz - 60%ile
Height: 35.5 inches - 90%ile

New Kitchen

2011-03-31T11:42:00.002-07:00

Audrey is turning 2 next week! We ordered a toy kitchen from Amazon that I have been eyeing since Christmas. It arrived in only 2 days with Bill's free Amazon prime shipping, so it is a few days early. After opening the box, and getting all the 30+ pieces out, the last piece was broken. Luckily it is just the back board of one of the cabinets, so I was able to assemble the rest and the new part should arrive in a week. Feeling empowered by the play set deck building experience, I decided to assemble the kitchen by myself. Here is the before and after. Took nearly an hour and a half, but it is done! I covered it up and kept the kids away until Daddy came home from work. It was a hit! Although Audrey was really trying to figure out how to get real water out of the faucet.

Under Contract

2011-03-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks searching through 50+ condos/townhomes for my parents in the 5 mile radius from our house, we finally found one and we are under contract! The place is a 2 bedroom / 2 bath room / 1 car attached garage / 1,317 sq ft / 2004 condo just over 1 mile from us, 4 minutes by car or 25-minutes walk from our house. It backs to open space, has a pool and gym in the community (great for our kids!), and it is in great condition. We should close in 3 weeks! More pictures to follow later.

Weekend Project

2011-03-28T13:08:00.004-07:00

The floor boards on our playset, which we got used two years ago, was badly in need of some work. We had a couple of splinter incidents from the cracking wood boards. The sun and weather in Colorado gives any playset a beating, and this one since it was used to start with, had a lot more wear. We consider sanding and staining the boards, but at the end decided to switch the floor boards, bench and table. Instead of wood, we decided to use a Trex material that would not ever need to be maintained again. We ended up also switching the 2x4 supporting boards underneath, and the structure is stronger than ever. Bill and I spent most of our Sunday on this project, from 4 trips to Lowes (buying boards, getting new incorrect bolts, exchanging for the right bolts, and getting one last board cut to the right size). Our neighbor lent us his power drill, so both Bill and I could work together each with our own power tool, instead of me watching him and giving him my unwanted opinions of how to proceed. I love power tools!! Here are some pictures. We are so happy with the results. This playset will last forever!

Gavyn's Birthday Party

2011-03-23T08:16:00.002-07:00

We went to Eric and Lisa's son Gavyn's birthday party this past Saturday. Although he may look 4 and wears 4-5T clothes, Gavyn was only turning 3!

The party was at a ranch, complete with pony rides, feeding farm animals and a hay ride. It was unique and lots of fun.

Their Rides

2011-03-16T08:57:00.002-07:00

Here is a video of Mason and Audrey enjoying their rides in the basement. Mason was testing his new bike. Audrey was going around her battery powered vehicle (Xmas gift from aunt Heather and Jamie). She was able, for the first time, to make the vehicle go on her own with steering help.

Lego Star Wars on Wii

2011-03-09T16:42:00.003-07:00

Lego Star Wars on the Wii is Mason's new favorite pass time. He can play for hours (not that we let him play for that long) and he is great at it. He actually knows how to use both Wii controllers and what each button on the two controls do.

Two night ago, I was in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner and turned the Wii on for him.
I told him "Daddy is not here and I don't know how to help you, so if you whine, I will turn it off"
"Ok Mommy"
I returned after 20 minutes, he was still playing, so I told him "We need to go upstairs soon, to get ready for bed"
"OK, but I want to finish this level".
I didn't think he could finish a level
"You have 5 more minutes, whether you finish or not".
Two minutes later, I hear the Star Wars theme song and he had completed the level!! What?!?! Seriously?

The Force is strong in this one!

Sibling love

2011-03-09T16:39:00.003-07:00

Mason and Audrey really seem to care for one another (at least for now). It is cool to see and a new experience for me (only child).

Bike day

2011-03-09T16:34:00.002-07:00

There is an upcoming bike day at the kids school. Both Audrey's class (she is already in Toddler 2 although she turns 2 next month), and Mason's class will have a bike event. We felt that Mason is outgrowing his little tricycle, which is perfect for Audrey (she doesn't know how to pedal yet, but the trike can be pushed). I went to Target and picked up Mason a little bike today, and assembled it! It took me longer than the advertised 20 minutes to assemble (it would probably have taken Bill 10 minutes), but still pretty proud of myself.

No job, but still busy

2011-03-09T16:13:00.004-07:00

Somehow, even without a job, I find a way to fill all the hours in a day. I've made a list of projects and things to do while unemployed, that includes:

Working out and walking Sasha every day - I've made it to gym 3 times only during the week, and have only taken Sasha for two walks. :-( Our scale needed a new battery (not your usual common battery), so it was down for a week. As I suspected, I gained 5 lbs while without a working scale!

Cleaning the basement and separate what we will donate, throw away, try to get rid off in a garage sale, or recycle (lots of electronic trash) - I would like to finish our basement some day, a place for the kids to play, an additional office (Bill will be working from home starting in May and if I find a job that is remote office, I will need a space), an additional guest bedroom/bathroom and theater area. The basement project is on hold until I secure a new job, but organization of the junk we have been throwing down there was needed now. Happy to report that with my parent's help we have done a lot of cleaning already and I have a date marked down for the free electronic recycling in April in Denver.

Finding a condo/townhouse for my parents, helping them with their move - My parents' lease comes to an end in early March, and we have decided it makes a lot of sense for them to buy a maintenance free condo or townhouse near us. There is so much in the market right now, a perfect time to buy. The trouble is there is too much, and we are going nuts looking for the perfect place in terms of distance to us, age, layout, price, etc. The search continues! For now, they have moved back with us.

Do our own taxes - we have used an accountant for the past many years, but I decided to tackle our taxes this year with a little help from the H&R Block online software.

Straighten out my legal name in Brazil - I am a dual Brazilian and US citizen. Given that their economy is doing great, I would like to extend my citizenship to Mason and Audrey. But, I had some legal issues since my Brazilian passport name legally doesn't have "Cecilia" and my US name does, and that needs to be fixed first, since the kids birth certificates have my full name. To get my name changed, I will need to get a lawyer in Brazil and it may take time. I am still trying to figure out all the documents that are needed, the Brazilian legal system is very bureaucratic. Luckily, I have a few friends who are lawyers and judges in Brazil and can point me in the right direction. This is one of the main reasons I haven't changed my last name to Burns, I don't want to have yet another legal name in the mix.

Oh yeah, find a new job is in the list somewhere. I've had 4 or 5 phone interviews, all from leads passed on from my connections. I feel fortunate to be pretty well connected. I will share more on the job leads once they are further along.

It almost feels busier than when I had a full time job!

The end of 8 great years at FICO

2011-02-22T08:30:00.003-07:00

Last week FICO had another RIF (reduction in force), the 6th RIF in the past 2 years, and I was impacted. In spite of the initial shock (I knew there was a big reorg and RIF coming, but didn't expect to be on the list), I am feeling ok. There are always the ups and downs through this emotional process. I liked my job, but since late last year, I was feeling it was time to move on. The office in Colorado was getting smaller (only 8 to 10 people would go in at any given day) and the morale was low. They had been pushing people to move to the core office locations, which in the US would be San Diego or San Rafael. I had no desire to move back to California, and told them very clearly so. I knew that my answer would put my job at risk, but still thought I was relatively safe since I managed a lot of revenue through my products. I was no longer feeling challenged, fatigued by the many re-orgs that have happened in the past few years and a very young tenure executive management team. But I was too comfortable and too lazy to look for a new job. This is the Universe giving me a kick in my behind to move on. Message received!

I got the call early on Wednesday morning (a suspicious call my boss had setup the night before). I was shocked, but as I pinged my colleagues letting them know I was being RIF'ed, many of them responded with "me too!". 200+ positions and 9% of the workforce was cut. May of the people who also got RIFed had very long tenures with the company (one guy had over 25 years!). Looking back, I was grateful for the early morning meeting, as some people didn't hear until the late afternoon. The list of people FICO choose to let go is truly remarkable, and I am in good company.

The RIF was an effort to raise stocks, which went up by 10% to $27 the next day. Still a far cry of the early years when the stock was in the $50s. The CEO sent a message to everyone explaining that we need to do "cost reengineering", our rivals were growing faster than us as the economy rebounded, but we were still committed to innovation. I stared in the irony of letting so many long tenures go with so much of FICO's experience who are likely to land with a rival, and the talk of innovation just as the whole Research department was dismantled. But hey, they must have a reason in there somewhere... do you sense a little anger? OK, I still have a little anger left.

This is my second RIF in my career. The first was the dotcom where Bill and I met, and I knew the RIF was coming as we were running out of funds, and it was different as I was in the last rounds of lay offs. That was the event that pushed me to move to Colorado and start my life with Bill - no regrets! I am certain this will be a positive change too!

I am very well connected through all my ex-colleagues from FICO, clients, vendors, speaking engagements and papers I've published over the past 8 years. In fact, by the end of Wed, someone had already sent my name for a position. I didn't even have an updated resume yet. By Thursday, I had another connection send me a job lead (interviewing on the phone today). Truly felt the love by all my ex-colleagues, some also RIFed with me, their messages of support and kind words, and recommendations above and beyond what I had expected.

I am lucky to be in a better spot financially too. Bill works at a company that loves him, all our insurance is on his medical (better than FICOs in the past few years), and we have good savings. In addition, they gave me 3 months of severance, which isn't bad. I don't feel the time and financial pressure to find something right away, and can take some time off for R&R and to consider what I want to do next. There is a danger of me enjoying the time off too much and making permanent plans to be a couch potato, smashing Bill's dreams of an early retirement. But I am sure the Chinese side of me will kick in and make me look and take a new job soon enough (Bill sighs in relieve).

So, for the new few weeks to months, I have a list of projects I have been putting off - from cleaning out the hundreds of boxes in the basement, to getting my kids proper Brazilian citizenship papers, to daily walks with Sasha and visits to the gym! Let's see how much of it I can actually get done.

More pictures from girls' weekend

2011-02-14T11:30:00.002-07:00

Here are some more pictures from Yvonne:

Girls' trip

2011-02-08T10:59:00.002-07:00

I took Audrey to LA for my girl's trip. We plan to trip to spend time with Karen and meet her 9-month old son (Brandon), who none of us had met before. Diana came out from NYC, Karen Lee and Yvonne from San Francisco, and Vicki from San Diego. Since my parents aren't back yet, I didn't want to leave Bill to take care of two kids. And my girlfriends, except for Diana, hadn't met Audrey before.

I was a little anxious about travelling with her by myself. I wasn't only worried about her mood on the flights, but also the logistics of everything I needed to carry and my goal was not to check in any bags. But after being home with both kids sick, I was feeling invisible. I could deal with anything, and one kid would be easy!

We ended up with one duffel, one diaper bag, and the light stroller. No bags to check in, but lots to carry until we are on the plane. It was easy to pack light, since Karen has a baby and all the equipment, I only had to bring some diapers, clothes, and her favorite blanket/stuff animals. Going through security wasn't hard, I can fold and unfold the stroller with one hand. The lady in front of me was painfully slower, with her one bag and one computer. My arms were getting tired having to wait for her. The guy behind me took pity on the single mom with toddler and offered to help me with the stroller. Getting on and off the plane carrying 2 bags and a toddler is challenging. The bags are not heavy, but the aisles are too narrow for them to fit through without a struggle.

The flight out to LA was packed, so Audrey sat on my lap the whole time. Surprisingly, she fell asleep before the flight took off, and slept for more than half of the flight. Even after waking up, she was happy to eat some crackers and drink her milk. She didn't make a sound. After the flight was over, the person in front turned around and said "I didn't even know there was a baby there". The best complement ever!

The flight back wasn't so quiet. People around definitely heard Audrey. She had two small meltdowns precipitated by the fact she was very tired, in between she did sleep a little (30-45 minutes maybe). But she had her own seat as the flight was relatively empty, since it was right at the time of the Super Bowl. A very nice young lady sat on the aisle seat, and played with Audrey while she was awake. Overall not a bad flight at all.

Yvonne and Karen L who arrived 30 minutes earlier, rented a car with a car seat, and picked Audrey and I up. It was perfect. They also dropped us off on the way out.

The weather was awesome, in the mid 70s! We had 2 1/2 days of chatting, meeting Brandon, going to Pasadena for brunch, ice-cream, shopping, and lots and lots of eating! We love being together. We don't get to do it often enough, but hopefully we can still make time for our girl trips.

2 sick kids, 1 parent, high of 0ºF

2011-02-02T13:23:00.007-07:00

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Since our Portland trip, Bill left for 3 days to Boston, followed by 3 days for me in San Diego, and another 3 days for Bill in LA. All work trips that ended up back to back. Bill and I got the hang of being single parents while the other travelled, with well planned mornings, bed-time routines and meals. That was easy compared to the these past few days.

An hour after Bill leaves on Sunday morning for the airport, Audrey gets a fever. Mason follows his coughing and congestion with a mild fever of his own Sunday afternoon. It soon became clear I would spend Monday at home with the kids. Two Star Wars movies, many Doras, Diegos, Yo Gabba Gabbas, dress-up, LEGO and many games later, I felt like super Mom by Monday night. They were still working through their bugs, but fed and happy and full of energy when Tylenol and ibuprofen kicked in. I even went out to clear the snow from the driveway when Ms Shauna came by for an hour (originally she was to watch the kids while I had my one client meeting I couldn't cancel, but the meeting was moved). Bill has been clever to schedule his last two trips right before the snow arrives, so I get stuck with the snow removal duty.

I wasn't looking forward to Tuesday! The high outside was going to be 0ºF. Both kids were still sick. Most schools cancelled classes on Tuesday, and I was hoping that Gateway would also close. That would free up Ms. Shauna to come and watch the kids. But, Gateway was one of the few schools/daycare that did open on Tuesday. To add to the day, Mason woke up at midnight wanting to sleep in my room. I let him, which started the long night of needing to go to the bathroom, rolling around, wanting his pillow, wanting to sleep in his own room again, coming back because he was scared to sleep alone, which ended at me putting him back in his room a final time at 4 AM! Audrey, who slept through the night was ready to start her day at 6:30AM. I wasn't!

I was so exhausted by 8 AM. As I watched Audrey and Mason dance and play, I decided to take them to school in the freezing cold weather. After all, school was open and they seem back to normal. I bundled them up and off we went into the -6ºF outdoors. There was very little snow, the roads were clear and it wasn't a difficult drive. Unfortunately, Audrey was still contagious (we are pretty sure she had Hand Foot Mouth disease) and they would only take her 24 hours after her fever breaks. But, having to take care of one kid is easier and would allow me to take a nap during her nap. Mason wasn't happy about going back to school while Audrey got to stay home, but sorry buddy, he could have stayed home if he didn't kept Mommy up most of the night. I was back at 70% after a long nap in the afternoon.

All the while, I texted Bill updates of the kids fevers, our activities, and how I was doing. My updates grew in desperation as Tuesday started. He was able to come back earlier on Tuesday, arriving at 7 PM instead of midnight, helping me get the kids through a bath and ready for bed. Thanks Bill!

Video of kids dancing on Tuesday right before Bill came home:

Bill is back, Mason is at school (we are keeping Audrey at home for one more day), I am back at work, it has warmed up to 7ºF outside, and I have Friday off. This are looking up! I'm taking Audrey to LA to see my friend Karen and her baby Brandon, and my other girlfriends will be there too.

I am so looking forward to my parents being back. They are coming back from China on Feb 14th. We appreciated their help before, but after a taste of being by ourselves, we REALLY appreciate having them around to help with the kids, specially during our work trips and when the kids are sick!

Trip to Portland

2011-01-24T11:17:00.005-07:00

We made our annual trip to Portland to see Bill's sisters (Heidi and Holly) and their families. They are technically in Vancouver WA, just across the river from Portland. It was an easy trip from Denver for several reasons:

- Both Bill and I, and Bill's sister (who work in education) have MLK off. It is not a busy holiday weekend like others.

- Southwest flies direct to Portland from Denver, and tickets are usually only $150-180 per person with free bags!

- It is a short 2 1/2 hour flight and Portland is an easy and efficient airport, which are considerations when travelling with 2 little ones.

- They live only 15 minutes from the airport. We normally rent a car ($85 for a weekend on Avis and my discounts), but this time Greg picked us up and dropped off their car for us to use.

- There are a number of lodging choices in Vancouver, close to their house. This time we stayed at a 1-bedroom at Homewood Suites (so we could talk and watch TV after the kids went to bed) only 5 minutes from their homes.

Note: By "their homes" I mean Heidi and their twin sister Holly live in what we call the "Rhodes-Bolte compound". Their houses' backyards back to each other. They have a door on the fence that allows them to walk through. :-)

Mason and Audrey enjoyed playing with their younger cousins: Ben (16), Tommy (16), Haylie (13), and Candler (10). We didn't get to see Nikki, as she is in college at Carleton (MN). We enjoyed having the older cousins play with Mason and Audrey, and giving us time to visit with the adutls. We even left them to babysit as we went to Tommy's soccer game (in the rain) and to a movie (The King's Speech is a must see!).

Mason's new love is Legos! He just couldn't have enough of Tommy and Candler's Legos. Each night, Mason and Audrey were fully worn out, falling asleep on the short drive to the hotel.

We spent most of the time indoors (it rained most of our time there). I think I saw the sun for the first time in 3 days at the airport on our way back. We thought of going out on Saturday, but Bill was fixing Holly's iPhone, which turned out to be an iPhone upgrade, which led to a iTunes upgrade that couldn't work without a Mac OS upgrade, which couldn't be done on their 4-year old Mac Mini!! Bill searched online for an answer and finally gave up and called tech support. After talking to two different Mac support people, he realized that the iPhone couldn't be downgraded (which is stupid, but part of Steve Job's plan to dominate the world) and the Mac Mini couldn't be upgraded without more memory. Luckly, our friend Cristy, who works for Apple and her husband Alan, who is a Mac geek, live in Portland. We had plans to meet them for dinner on Sunday while in town. After explaning the situation, Alan jumped to the rescue, went to Best Buy to get more memory for the machine, drove over for a house-call to upgrade the hardward and Mac OS. (We offer to go to their house, but they insisted in coming over) The computer is now much faster and it ended up costing only $67! But it was dinner by the time it was done. The kids didn't mind, as they just carried on playing all day.

Here are the pictures John, Bill and I took. Heidi has more that we will need to gather and post.

We had so much fun that we not only plan to do it again next year, but offered to fly the cousins to Colorado for a week this year.

Single Mom Day 3

2011-01-20T11:19:00.003-07:00

The morning after we returned from Portland (we will do a separate post on that trip after we gather the few pictures we took - the trip was great by the way), Bill left for Boston for work. It is my first time taking care of the both kids alone over a long period. So far, I am alive and well. Oh yeah, and so are the kids. :-)

It hasn't been bad, here are my observations:
- Mason is pretty much self-sufficient, although he wants me more when he sees me with Audrey;
- Audrey is also ok as long as I have an eye on her, allowing me short trips to the kitchen and around the house to get things done (although she is fast and a climber!)
- Mornings take coordination (getting 2 kids and yourself dressed can be a challenge), thankfully I woke up before the kids on both mornings so far (7 am) and got myself ready first.
- There is not much time to prepared dinner after they get back from school, so Chick-fil-a or simply baking a pizza is the easiest answer.
- Both kids sleep well. Audrey goes down first around 8 and Mason 30 minutes later after a few books and he usually wants me to "sleep with him for 2 minutes" (which is more like 10 minutes).
- The tiring part is the full time job and all the other stuff to get done (laundry, cleaning up, buying groceries, cooking, and like yesterday clearing out snow from our drive way). Good thing I can work from home and that they go to daycare/pre-school from 9-5.

Looking forward to Bill's return tomorrow (Friday). Next week, he gets to be a single Dad during my trip to San Diego.

_____
UPDATE (1/21):
The last day with the kids was great, and Bill is back - Yay! Here is a picture of the kids having fun during their bath last night.

Starting 2011 sick

2011-01-10T09:32:00.002-07:00

After the 10-day break at home, as we got ready to go back to busy work period, Mason came down with a fever Monday night and a nasty cough. Taking a sick day last week was difficult, so Bill and I worked from home and kept an eye on him. He was pretty content to be home in front of the TV, with something to drink and some snacks. The fever finally broke Wednesday night (Thursday morning), but Mason "milked" an additional day at home.

Mommy: "Mason, I think you are better and ready to go back to school"
Mason: "No, I am still sick" as he cough to prove his point

Inevatibly, he passed the bug to Audrey, who started to cough on Thursday and followed by fever Friday night. On Friday night, Audrey got up around midnight because of her congestion and went back to sleep at 1 AM. At 1:30 AM, Mason woke up complaining his ear hurt. After trying everything from ear drops, warm olive oil, Tylenol and Ibuprofen, he finally went back to sleep at 3:30 AM. Needless to say that Saturday was a recovery day for all of us (with a trip to urgent care to confirm that Mason had an ear infection). Bill got it too. I've so far have escaped it somehow! The kids are both feeling better and the last two nights have been back to normal (8:30-7). Also thankful that both kids are great when it comes to taking their meds and using the nose splay.

Potty

2011-01-01T22:13:00.002-07:00

Some way, some how, Audrey is very interested in the potty. Maybe as a result of watching Mason and wanting to do what he does. School has started exposing her to the potty, but they don't do it consistenly until they turn 2. She did go peepee once at school many weeks ago. This past week, being at home, she has called "potty" and gone several times (both number 1 and 2). Could this be?? Could we be diaper free before she turns 2 in April? Fingers crossed!

Christmas Break

2011-01-01T21:26:00.013-07:00

Both Bill and I had the week between Christmas and New Years off work. We decided to take the kids out of school for this week also. Ten days at home from Christmas eve to the Jan 3rd. I wouldn't exactly describe it as a "break", since watching the kids full time is as hard as working full time, but there's been great moments. We are thankful that both kids slept very well during the break and were not sick.

Bill's mom (Helen, Nai Nai) and Jack (Grandpa Jack) were here for Christmas. They stayed with us the first half of their trip, and with Bill's sister Heather in Highlands Ranch (45 minutes South from us) for the second half. We all had Christmas eve dinner at our house, went to Heather's Christmas afternoon, and made trips back and forth for the family to be together.

This is Mason's first year asking for a gift from Santa, being watched by our elf Ian, getting his Santa gift (Transformer costume), and getting in the spirit of the season. Audrey went along with Mason's excitment, but she was as happy with tearing the wrapping paper as the gifts inside. Santa brought her a tea set. Santa also brought pillow pets for both kids in their respective Chinese signs (pig for Mason and cow for Audrey).

Enjoyed the fact that the kids slept pass 7 AM. Audrey got up first around 7:15, and we decided to wake Mason up at 7:30, so we could get the gift opening started. But we know the late Christmas mornings are numbered.

The kids got everything they could have asked for and more.

Mason got a talking trash truck from Gong Gong and Bubu (he loves trash trucks, maybe there is a future in the sanitation field); a music box that plays "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and millions of stickers from Nai Nai and GrandPa Jack (who also sent us the elf on the shelf); a Leapster Explorer with games (Wolverine is his favorite) from Yaya and Mimi; Star Wars potato heads from Mommy and Daddy (We got Spud Trooper and Artoo-Potatoo, but Darth Tater is in high demand and going for $50+ on Amazon, too much $ for a potato head, even if it has the best name ever!); new books, legos; monkey hat/gloves from the Forsbergs; and lastely a battery operated motorcycle from aunt Heather and Jamie!!! He loves his motorcycle and can go around and around in the basement forever.

Audrey is not to be outdone by Mason - she got a shopping buggy and a set of grocery goodies for the cart from Mommy and Daddy (she tries to get in it, although she always fights me when I try to put her in the real shopping cart at grocery store); a set of veggies and fruit from Gong Gong and Bubu (hoping to inspire some vegetable eating, I think some of these veggies these kids have never seen before); a Leapster Jr and books, and a stroller from Yaya and Mimi; a music box that plays "You are my sunshine" and a doll (perfect for the stroller and buggy) from Nai Nai and Grandpa Jack; new books, pull toys; strawberry hat/gloves from the Forsbergs; and also lastly a battery operated 4-wheeler from aunt Heather and Jamie!!! It is the cutest thing, but as always, she prefers whatever Mason is playing with and tries to get onto his motorcycle instead.

Jeez, I wish I got that many gifts when I was their age! It was a good thing that Christmas was at the beginning of our break, giving plenty of time for the kids to enjoy their gifts this past week. Thanks to everyone for the wonderful gifts!!

To truly celebrate the season of giving, Bill and I stepped up our donations and tips this year. We feel very fortunate to be able to do so. We wanted to especially tip generously to Audrey and Mason's teachers. They are wonderful, some of them babysit for us on the side, and we know they don't make that much. Mason's teachers (Ms. Anna and Ms. Shauna) actually cried when they saw their tips. We are happy to contribute to their Christmas, but we were not expecting tears. I actually tried to avoid drop off and pick up because they kept tearing up every time they saw me.

And it always seems to be the case that the more we give, the more we get in return. I don't mean that only as a cheesy statement, but factually. The week after we gave thousands to various causes, I got an unexpected bonus from work that covered all we had given away; the week after we gave out the tips, we got checks in the mail that almost covered all the tips we had given out).

The break is almost over. It is back to work and back to school for the kids on Monday.

January will be a crazy month with a family trip to Portland, 2 work trips for Bill, 1 work trip for me, and trip to LA with my friends in the beginning of Feb. Gong Gong and Bubu are due back in mid Feb. You may not hear from us much until then.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-27T21:01:00.004-07:00

Our 2010 card

Museum of Nature and Science

2010-12-20T11:15:00.003-07:00

Christmas is almost here. Shopping is done (mostly done online). Christmas cards and packages are sent. Ready for Nai Nai and GrandPa Jack to arrive on Tuesday. Menu for meals this week is planned, but grocery shopping is still ahead. Christmas eve dinner with friends and family is planned, scheduled and confirmed. We are off from this Wednesday until beginning of January. Yay to all of that!

With some free time this Sunday, we decided to go to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We got a membership because it pays off in just 2 visits. The museum is right next to the Zoo, about 25 minutes from our house. We had the museum almost to ourselves, I guess people are still at the malls or preparing for the Holidays. Here are a couple of pictures.

Breakfast with Santa

2010-12-13T13:23:00.005-07:00

Before we signed up and won the visit from Santa from the Westminster Fire Dept, I had signed us up to have breakfast with Santa at the Denver Zoo. I wanted the kids to have time with Santa, without lining up at the mall. The lines last year were very long and they charge you for the pictures (you cannot take your own pictures)!

The breakfast with Santa was this past Saturday. The breakfast buffet was okay, it included chocolate chip pancakes, but Mason didn't eat much of them saying my was better. Good boy! He got to sit on Santa's lap, but Audrey was not interested in being too close to Santa.

We got to see and pet a snake, a baby alligator and a turtle in the room next to the breakfast area. Afterwards, we walked around the zoo. Because we were there before the zoo opened, and the cooler weather keeps the crowds away, we had many of the exhibits for ourselves. The animals were a lot more willing to come closer to the windows. It was a great time!

Here are a couple of pictures of the Longmont Christmas event that we went with Michele and Josie. Mason was running towards every dressed up Christmas character (Frosty, Gingerbread Boy and Girl, Trees, etc), while Josie would run in fear in the opposite direction. I got to say, the Gingerbread boy and girl were creepy looking.

Broccoli or french fries?

2010-12-08T10:47:00.004-07:00

Audrey WAS a great eater, she would try and eat anything you put in front of her, until the past 2-3 weeks. She definitely has her favorite foods and refuses to eat anything else these days. Her favorites are: fried chicken preferably from Chick-fil-a (yes, we have tried grilled and other chicken with no luck), white rice (if you try to mix anything in the rice, she will refuse, but she can eat a bowl full of rice), apples (both kids can eat honeycrisp apples like they are going out of style), tofu (soft tofu with no flavor, go figure), and broccoli!!

She LOVES broccoli. The other day she was in the midst of chewing a french fries when she saw the broccoli on her plate. She spit the french fries out to eat the broccoli instead! She finish all her broccoli and started eyeing the broccoli on Mason's plate, which he was happy to share with (give all of it away to) Mei Mei.

Our Elf Ian

2010-12-06T14:42:00.005-07:00

Nai Nai sent the kids the "Elf on the shelf". It is a Christmas tradition that I hadn't heard about before, but it is very neat. You name the elf, you place it on the shelf, and watches the kids to report back to Santa if they have been naughty or nice. Every night it flies to the North Pole and gives Santa his report. Every morning, it appears at a different spot in the house.

Mason quickly named our elf Ian. Ian has been watching us for two days now, and Mason is at this best behavior! We placed Ian on the mantle yesterday, but this morning Ian appeared on top of the TV shelf. So cool. I hope to continue the tradition for many years to come.

Christmas Season is here!

2010-12-06T14:33:00.007-07:00

How did the year go by so quickly? I am glad we didn't even fold our Christmas tree this year, we simply placed it in the basement. During the week of Thanksgiving, we set up the tree, Christmas decorations, got the largest poinsettia from Costco, and set up the lights outside of the house. Yaya and Mimi worked on the gingerbread house with the kids (mostly Mason, Audrey just ate a few of the candies). We also took the pictures for our Christmas card, which are ordered, but not here yet.

This year, we had another deadline. Get the get the lights up before Santa arrives, not on Dec 25th, but his pre-visit. City of Westminster firefighters have an annual tradition of Santa visiting 40 homes. It is a lottery drawing, since everyone who knows about it signs up. I just found out about it by looking for Christmas activities online, 2 days before their deadline. After a few days, we got an email from Santa (yes, he is online!) that we got selected!! Santa was coming to our house on Thu 12/2 between 6 and 8 PM. We could have up to 10 kids, so we invited our neighbors (Connor and Meghan), Gavyn (Eric and Lisa's kid) and Otto (Pete and Syl's kid).

Unfortunately, I had a work trip to San Francisco and missed Santa that night. Santa and Mrs. Claus came in a firetruck, and didn't arrive until 7:50 PM. But the wait was worth it! The kids had a great time!!

Zoo Lights

2010-12-06T14:31:00.005-07:00

As Mimi and Yaya were in town, we went to the lights display at the Denver Zoo, called Zoo Lights. It normally starts in December, but zoo members get a preview during the Thanksgiving weekend, which is nice because there is less people there. We lasted for about 1 1/2 hours and saw half of the zoo. We were happy to leave a little earlier since it was getting colder and late for the kids.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-06T14:27:00.009-07:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Our friends, the Forsbergs, joined us for Thanksgiving dinner. Bill's Dad (Yaya) and Mimi were also here. Last year, we opted to go out for Thanksgiving - no shopping, cooking or cleaning. But this year, Jef, who is a chef a WholeFoods, offered to cook. He also did all the shopping and prep work!! The rest of us were happy to help chop, prepare, cook, plate and clean up. It was the yummiest Thanksgiving meal many of us ever had. We even shined the silver and used it for the 3rd time at this special occasion.

We have lots of yummy leftovers for the following days, even after splitting the leftovers 3 ways. Sandra made a delicious turkey soup with turnips, perfect for a cold day. I vote for the Forsbergs coming over every Thanksgiving!

Mason, the telephone

2010-11-24T09:49:00.001-07:00

Imagination is a wonderful thing! Mason picked up a banana from the fruit basket the other day, and pretended to be a telephone. He would make the ringing sound, pick the banana up from his head, and answer "hello?" I wish we had a video.

Josie's Birthday

2010-11-24T09:44:00.003-07:00

We went to Josie's 4th birthday last weekend. It was a costume dress-up / fairy tale party and lots of fun for the kids. Mason found the Spiderman costume, of course. Here are some pictures.

We look forward to being with the Forsbergs for Thanksgiving. Chef Jef is making the turkey and other dishes for us - yum!

Do girls have more to say?

2010-11-19T11:39:00.003-07:00

Looking back, it look Mason until close to 2 years to develop his vocabulary. Audrey, on the other hand, has been saying a number of words for the past 2 months. She probably has 25-50 words, including:

Mommy
Daddy
Mason
Sasha - used to refer to our dog Sasha, any dog, or animal,
Gong Gong and Bu Bu
pacey - not used at school, but at home she won't let it go
please
thank you - she is very polite :-)
shoes - one of her first words
socks
water
upstairs
outside
mine - oh yes, that one normally comes during a fight for something
bummer - she said that the other day as Mason dropped pizza on auntie Heather's white carpet. Ha!
penguin - her stuffed penguin is her favorite toy
ball
car
nose
eyes
ear
toes
hair
trash
cookie
candy - thanks to Halloween for this one

and repeats on command most of the time. Of course, she understands much more that she can say, but she seems to have a lot to say already!

Pictures from Heather

2010-11-16T14:41:00.003-07:00

Holly and Heidi were in town to visit Heather. Thanks Heather for taking and sharing these pictures.

Overtaken by toys

2010-11-15T15:04:00.005-07:00

I pride myself in being organized. I like to know where things are and find them easily (I hate losing stuff). On my list of top things that I dislike are: piles of paper, junk and clutter. So here are a few of my rules:

1) Rule number 1 - "Everything has its happy place" and that includes jackets, keys, dishes, toys, etc. If a new item comes to the house, it needs to have a "happy place" assigned and there is where it should go, even if it is the basement (where a lot of seasonal, should-be-thrown-out, old electronics for recycling items end up, good thing the basement is 1,200 sq ft).

2) If something is broken, it must be fixed (within a reasonable amount of time) or be thrown away. Keeping junk around that doesn't work just collects dust and takes space.

3) Limit the amount of decorative trinkets that serve no purpose at all and just takes up space. We have a fair number already (in my opinion), so as we receive them for gifts, we must choose another trinket to throw out or give away.

4) Piles of paper - either shred, throw away or file - this is a biggie between Bill and I. I hate his piles of paper that stay on his desk for months and years. His desk is 3 times bigger than mine, and he manages to have less clear space on it. He does clean them up when he seems I am getting irritated by them. I know he doesn't throw some of them away because it may contain personal information - we need a Shred-it service to come to our house!

5) If we haven't used something for over a year, we should consider getting rid of it. Like the air compressor or lawn mower in the garage.

Now the reality is we have 2 toddlers, and in addition to all our junk we have their stuff, including lot of toys. When I see any toy box advertising the large number of pieces inside as a selling point, I immediately think of those pieces ending everywhere in the house! Mason often comes to me to find stuff - "where is the little guy that drives the truck?", "where the captain for my boat?", "where is Woody's hat?"... you get the picture.

The rules above still apply to them and their toys:

1) Everything has its happy place - jackets, shoes, hats/gloves, and toys must be returned to its happy place at the end of the day

2) If a toy breaks, we will try to fix it or throw it out.

3) We need to limit the number of toys, before it overtakes the house. We have a swing/slide and a train set/table in our living room, and lots of toys in our family room. We have already given away a number of baby items, but it is an ongoing process. It will get to a point that for ever new toy, they will need to choose one to give away.

4) Piles of artwork from school. I love my kids, but does that mean I need to keep every piece of art they bring back from school? I have three bag fulls, but I think I will have to go through them and select only a few pieces to keep.

5) As the kids outgrows the toys, and don't play with them anymore, they will be donated or end up in our garage sale.

Bill's sisters Holly and Heidi were in town to visit Heather and Jamie. We went to see them on Saturday with the kids. At some point we mentioned "Lego Star Wars" and Heather immediately remembered a large chest case of legos, lincoln logs and k'nex they had from Edward (who is now 22 and at college). They were glad to let the Audrey and Mason borrow them for the next 10 years :-). Mason spent hours playing with the Legos on Sunday morning. I didn't hear anything from him other than the occasional help to assemble or take a lego piece apart. My favorite part is that the Legos came with a Brick Vac that picks up all the lego pieces easily! But still seeing the number of legos pieces and the size of some of them (some are really teeny tiny), I went straight to Target to get some containers to help sort all the kids toys out.

Here is the result of the clean up (as the kids went to their naps). I had to take a picture, since it won't look like this for long.

Fall and Fall Back

2010-11-09T09:56:00.005-07:00

The weather has been unusually warm this year. It was in the 80's last week. I had to look for shorts and t-shirts that I had already put away, we went to the parks, and grilled in our backyard. Our lawn is winterized, but you couldn't tell by the green and growing grass. The only hint of Fall is with the leaves on the ground. Where did the rest of Fall go?

For weeks now, we have been waiting for the end of Daylight savings. It is difficult enough to get up so early in the mornings with the kids (normally around 6:30 AM), it is even harder to get up when it is dark out! Without kids, Fall Back means you get to get sleep an extra hour on Sunday morning after the time switch happens. With little kids, Fall Back means you are getting up at 5:30 AM instead of 6:30 AM! It's taken 2-3 days to adjust, but the kids slept until 6:45 AM (Audrey) and 7:30 AM (Mason) this morning.

And Fall is back this week. The high today is supposed to be 51, 44 tomorrow, and 36 on Thursday. Making up for lost time...

Yo Gabba Gabba!

2010-11-09T09:46:00.005-07:00

Yo Gabba Gabba is one of Mason's favorite shows. It is normally his requested show before bedtime. A few months ago, I found out they were going to have a live show in town in the Broomfield Event Center (the same place he went to see Story Time Live - only 5-10 minutes from our house), so I got 2 tickets for last Sunday. Although Audrey likes to watch the show, she is not at the age to watch a full live show yet.

Mason had a great time and came home with a Brobee backpack, Brobee shirt and a Foofa shirt for Audrey. Yay!

The opening ceremony:

Biz's beat of the day... this was really funny because he would try to get the kids to repeat his beatbox sounds.

Halloween

2010-11-02T09:09:00.004-07:00

The kids had a great Halloween = lots of candy!

One mishap was Mason's friend Carly's Halloween party. I thought the party was on Sunday and recorded on our family calendar as Sunday 1-4 PM. We even drove all the way to Carly's house (they live in Brighton) and notice no cars in the drive way, at which point I checked the invitation again and it was on Saturday! :-( We stopped by Andy's house instead so we could visit and the kids played a while.

It was very nice out (mid 60s - unusually warm from Halloween in Colorado). Instead of the butterfly outfit, Audrey wore a cheerleading outfit from Yaya's alma mater during the day.

We went out as soon as it got dark (around 7 PM). Bill and I took turns taking the kids around our block. Bill and I decided to dress up as well to get in the spirit. We recycled two of our costumes from few years back.

Mason would ring the bell and say "trick or treat" and after getting the candy Audrey would say "thank you". The kids got so much candy from our loop of 15 houses. And we got over 135 trick or treaters!'

Catch up blog

2010-10-29T19:39:00.009-07:00

Okay, we haven't blogged in almost two weeks, so here is a catch up blog entry.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks adjusting to my parents being gone. That means we do what every parent does, but we aren't that used to it yet - get kids ready in the mornings, take turns taking them and picking them up from school, plan all the meals, shop and cook, do 4-5 loads of laundry a week, while keeping the kids from destroying the house and killing each other. And I had two trips to California for work in two consecutive weeks. I normally travel once or twice a quarter, but try to avoid it when my parents are not here to help, but I couldn't avoid these last minute trips this time.

Finally Bill and I had both scheduled vacation days for Monday and Tuesday. Bill has to use up all his vacation every year, as it doesn't roll forward. My company just decided to get rid of tracking vacations for directors levels and above, which will save them millions (that was not part of the memo). Instead, they tried to put lipstick on a pig and positioned as "you can work out a flexible vacation schedule with your supervisor", which they know that for directors and VPs means you will take less vacation and they don't have to allocate money for your unused vacation. So, we decided to use up our vacation!

It was supposed to be time for us to relax, go to a movie, maybe get a massage and catch up on some house projects (the tulips needed to be planted). But Audrey was up on our plans, so after a week of coughing and congestion, she came down with a fever Monday morning (perfect timing). It was not high (99-100), so we gave her tylenol and sent her to school (yes, we are not winning the best parents award). We did our house chores, planted the tulips, went for a nice lunch, and saw Red (great movie!). After we got home around 4 PM we got a call from school saying that Audrey was running a 101 fever and wasn't feeling very good.

Our Tuesday turned into a sick day for Bill and a work day for me after a visit to Dr. Steitz (ears, nose, lungs were clear, it is a virus). I knew we would need to take turns staying home until she felt better, and I had work I need to get done this week, so choose to work Tuesday so I could take a sick day Wed. It's been 4 days of high fevers (103-104) and constant Ibuprofen and Tylenol (sometimes together), and a lot of sleep and liquids. The fever finally broke Friday morning, but she was still very tired and cranky, so we kept her home.

First hint of normalcy came Friday night. She had her first meal of the week. She walked excited to the dining table and ate chicken, rice, broccoli, and was back to her happy self. We couldn't be happier!! Mason has been very good all week (there has been candy bribery somewhere in there). He is also happy to see Audrey feeling better, because as Daddy said "Happy Audrey = Happy Mommy = Happy Daddy = Happy Mason"

Before the sickness chaos, we had gone to the zoo one of the past weekends (taking advantage of our membership).

Audrey wanted to walk, and didn't want to hold our hand, but was happy to take Mason's hand.

The pride - It was a perfect time of the year to go to the zoo. The weather was just perfect (not too hot or cold), and it was not as crowded in the afternoon.

We carved the pumpkin

And the kids school had a Fall Festival. Here is a preview of the kids costumes this year: Mason the Dragon, and Audrey the Butterfly.

More fun Halloween stuff planned for this weekend!

Fall Festival at Botanic Gardens at Chatfield

2010-10-14T12:58:00.007-07:00

We took Mason and Audrey to the Botanic Gardens at Chatfield for the Fall Festival this past Sunday. Chatfield is about 45 minutes from us and close to Bill's sister Heather's house (Highlands Ranch). We stopped to see Heather for breakfast before meeting Jen, Winston and their sons at the pumpkin patch. It was drizzling when we got there, but the weather improved and stayed dry during our visit. The kids got to run around the kid-size corn maze, went for a pony ride, played in the jumping castles and laser tag (the wait was way to long), got to ride in the barrel train ride (I went with Audrey, because Bill was too tall to fit in the barrel) and finally picked their pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. We all got a tractor hay ride back to the parking lot.

Bill + 2

2010-10-14T08:26:00.007-07:00

I had a last minute work trip to San Diego this week (Mon-Tue), so left Bill all alone to take care of Mason and Audrey. Normally Bill has my parents' help during my business trips, but not this time since they are in China until Christmas. He did great as expected, so great that I have scheduled another work trip to San Francisco for next week (Tue-Wed)

My group has gone through another reorg and as a result these last minute trips have been popping up to meet the next team members, transfer knowledge from a few people that were unfortunately laid off, and other planning meetings for next year. My boss knows my parents are away and my situation, so he has been sensitive to make the trips optional and limit their duration.

During the one night I spent in SD, I was able to see Gerry (one of Bill's best friends), Alison and their son Ben (3). I didn't get a shot with Alison, but here is one of Ben and Jerry.

Oops, sorry... I meant Ben and Gerry :-)