The Dignity Vietnam Memorial Visits Whittier

Yesterday we went to visit the traveling wall that has been in Whittier this week. My dad served in Vietnam. Thankfully his name is not on that long list of over 58,000 Americans who died or are missing in action. He was shot, though, and is considered disabled. Out of respect for his entire platoon who all perished in Nam and for the thousands who have and currently serve, we took our boys. This 3/4 traveling replica is 8 feet high and 240 feet long. When we visited D.C. two years ago, we saw the actual Vietnam Veterans Memorial, but this replica is just as impressive and heartbreaking. If you look closely at the second picture, you can see our family's reflection. It moves me because I think to myself because Daddy's name is not on that wall, we are in it.

March 30, 2010 - Parnell Park Easter Eggstravaganza (103 Weeks)

Parnell Park had a very nice fair this Saturday. For only $3 a child, there were pony rides, jumpers, egg hunts by age, face painting, game booths, Easter bunny picture opportunities, and more. After taking our picture with the Easter bunny, we made a bee line to the pony ride. Sadly, Anthony wanted no part of it. Little Daniel stepped up and tried it. Maybe had we been able to get on with him, he would have had fun. However, he was riding solo and began to cry after a couple of minutes. Being clearly miserable, we took him off. The pony fiasco made us late for the 2 and under egg hunt by a couple of minutes, so we missed our chance to see them hunt for candy. On the upside, they did enjoy the park's playground. The boys also loved the jumper! They did not want to get out when time was up, and we had to fish them out literally kicking and screaming. I was hoping to get them to the booths, but it was clearly nap time. So, we cut it short. La Mirada has one next week, perhaps we'll give that one a whirl. Mommy and Daddy get an "A" for effort!!!!
I almost forgot to tell you that my step-sister delivered sweet Emma Abigail at 12:05 a.m. on Wednesday. Mommy and baby are doing well. Pictures to follow soon:)
Twin Stuff: Anthony figured out how to jump. We were all in the kitchen and out of nowhere he just jumped. He was quite amused by this. So, naturally mommy jumped. Then Mommy told Daddy to jump. I'm sure we were quite the site! Little Daniel hasn't got it quite yet, but he stomped his foot while we jumped. Daddy put up their basketball hoop and the boys have been enjoying putting the ball in the hoop. *If you're wondering why the boys are fully clothed in the bath tub picture, it is because they like their bath time so much that they can't wait to get in. Mommy turned around to get bath toys and here is what our little monkeys did!
P.S. Thank you, Kerry, for their basketball hoop. :)

March 23, 2010 - First Playdate and Rainbow Cupcakes (102 Weeks)

Auntie Leah and Cousins Mikey and Lelani came over on Saturday to make rainbow cupcakes. Although the idea was cute, do not delude yourself to think this was your easy breezy pour-your-batter-into-cupcake-holders kind of recipe. It required dividing the batter into equal portions and adding food color to each bowl to get ROYGBV. Then you muster up your patience and layer the cupcake holders with each color of the rainbow. Not as easy as it may sound with 2 almost two year olds, a four year old, three year old, and a dog. After having our Starbucks, Leah being Leah took charge and got the Herculean task started. She started layering, and I followed with the next layer while simultaneously holding a twin and giving out banana chunks. My quick Anthony swiped the blue bowl from the counter and started eating the batter that was apparently tasty from the big "MMMMM" he let out. Anthony proceeded to cover himself in the batter. Normal parents would be horrified by the mess before them, but Auntie Leah and I got our cameras and took pictures. The mess was already there, what was another couple of minutes? The cup cakes did not turn out like the picture perfect ones shown on the website. They did not have the color blue and looked more tie dye than rainbow, but they were yummy. The boys had their first play date, and I had a mommy date with my social butterfly friend, Leah.
Twin Stuff: Little Daniel in his sleep clearly said "Yeah, yes, yeah." To make sure I wasn't dreaming, I had to ask Daniel if he had heard it too. Daddy had also heard him :) This was huge for us because he doesn't seem to say as many words as Anthony. It is probably no big deal. I'm not comparing;I just notice a distinct difference in vocabulary size.

Belated Birthday Presents Rock!

We all love birthday gifts. Call me a dork, but I LOVE belated gifts because they are unexpected and make it seem like your magical day all over again. My very dear friend, Mich, had the coolest shoe-shaped cookies sent to me from New York. They tasted even sweeter since they were from my hometown. A second package was awaiting me at home;it was my birthday gift to self. My beautiful necklace finally arrived after about a month, but it was worth the wait. When I saw it, I immediately knew it had to be mine. A professional photographer I am definitely not by any means, but I sure am a picture taker. It definitely reflects ME!!!!!

March 16, 2010 - Universal Studios Salutes Educators (101 Weeks)

There are so many awesome perks that come along with teaching. Yeah, there is the obvious of June, July, and August (hee,hee) but who would think that Universal Studios would "salute" the educators for the month of March? Not too shabby a deal. I got in free, as did the boys, and we paid half price for Daniel. We returned the kind gesture by having a nice lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in City Walk. Bellies full, we entered the park and did the studio tour. The boys knocked out on the bus. Anthony awoke to a sprinkle of water from the earthquake segment. Daniel slept right through it all. We got to take a picture with Shrek and Fiona, and see the Shrek show. Little Daniel did not enjoy that show at all. He is not ready for the theatre and surround sound. Anthony, on the other hand, wore his 4D glasses for a bit and enjoyed the short movie with Dad as mom comforted his brother in the back. The poor thing just cried and pointed to the exit doors :(
Twin Stuff: Both Daniel and Anthony used a straw for the first time. Slurping at the Hard Rock :)

March 9, 2010 - Night at the Roxbury A La Anthony (100 Weeks)

Do you remember that silly 90's movie Night at the Roxbury? The only thing that stands out to me about it was this silly head bob that Wil Ferrell and Chris Kattan do to the song What is Love? For some strange reason Anthony, who has not seen the movie, does a close version of this when certain songs come on the Nick Jr. channel.
P.S. The 41st birthday came this week. This lucky gal had flowers sent to her by her mommy and from 2 BFF's at work. Dear husband assembled a scrapbooking station for me in the garage. Now if only he could wiggle his nose and work some real magic to find me the time to do this loved hobby.
Twin Stuff: Anthony says, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Daniel runs in place and does this silly attempt at dancing when I say, "My name is Daniel and I like to dance." He gets this from his show "Yo Gabba Gabba."

March 2, 2010 - Los Angeles Zoo Outing (99 Weeks)

It is kind of bizarre that I've been in California for 19 years, and I have never been to the Los Angeles Zoo. After a very rainy Saturday,this family took advantage of Sunday's clear, blue sky and headed to the zoo. I figured the boys are at an age where they might appreciate seeing the many animals. There are many animals at the zoo, but they tended to be quite far back. So, the interest level on the boys part was not high. Daniel and I enjoyed seeing the animals. I particularly loved seeing the meerkats. Despite the boys not being too into it, it was a great opportunity to get out for a ride and get some exercise. There sure was a lot of walking and instances of carrying twins. A certain set of kids did not want to stay in the stroller and walked quite a bit,too. The upside to that is they both knocked out on the way home. Anthony continued sleeping until the next day along with mommy. Our night owl, Daniel, got his second wind and stayed up with Dad.
FYI: They have a 1 year pass for $75 for a family of four. We bought it, since we figured it might be a neat thing to do during the summer.