Here and Back Again

How it came to be
When we first created our blog, Dan asked me to record all of our travels, day trips, getaways, vacations and it all started with that. We added our family activities, updates and stuff about our kids. He recently asked me again to include things about our kids a little more so the first part of this blog is...
Our kids
DINOSAUR LOVERS
Our kids LOVE dinosaurs. I'm constantly being eaten by dinosaurs. Tyrannosaurus (we nicknamed him Ticklelasaurus Rex) is most popular following Triceratops, then Apatosaurus, Archeopteryx, Iguanodon, Allosaurus, etc...They are obsessed with anything related to dinosaurs. Shows like Dinosaur Train, books about dinosaurs, coloring and drawing dinosaurs are common activities we're involved with during any particular day. Besides playing dress up, my kids love cars, trucks and robots. Lately it's been robots. Growing up I didn't play with barbies or dolls. I made cars, houses out of sticks and leaves, and played with bugs, and shooting birds and setting beehives on fire. I think my kids might have somehow picked up something from me. And I'm not a tomboy in anyway. I love clothes and I'm big into the latest fashion trends. I love that my kids are like me in that sense.
Here and back again. Spring was here last year and now it's back with all of its wondrous colors. These were taken with the iphone on our walk. Not too bad of quality for a phone.

Kerry Park and Sand Point Beach
Warm enough for park hopping and beaches again. My kids especially love the pebble beaches. They love to stand there and throw rocks in the water and occasionally get greeted by some ducks and then feed them bread. But speaking of beaches, one morning we received a call from the kids great grandmother telling us to stay away from the beaches that morning. Confused by the message I called her back and she informed me of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. My heart broke as I went online and saw images and video clips of the damage done in that great country. How panicked the whole country must've felt. How scary it all was. Our hearts and prayers go out to everyone in Japan. They are an amazing and prosperous and blessed people who really are an example to us all of what civilization should be. A poet wrote a beautiful poem describing the beautiful manner in which they all behaved as aide was given to them. They are a people with a tremendous amount of respect for humanity.



My kind of relaxing!
Here and back again. On a nice sunny day when we were walking around, I spotted this cyclo and was brought back to memories of riding the xich lo in Saigon. Of course we had to stop and get a ride.


I'm of course not the only one that loves to see my kids play with dinosaurs and is into robots. Dan is ecstatic about getting Reena into robotics. He found out that QwestField in Seattle was holding a regional robotics competition and he took Reena to go see it. There was a lot of down time waiting for the robots to get lined up and Dan thought Reena was bored. He asked her what she thinks of it and her first response was "Daddy, when are we going to build our robot". He was ecstatic about her wanting to build a robot so this last week he and Reena have been researching and looking into robotics. I was part of the Girls' High Robotics Team when I was in High School but really don't remember much of anything. Reena and her daddy and Uncle Mike who will be staying with us this summer will work on their robot. They have much to learn before building me a robot that will do all of my chores. I wish.
Game Day at Science Center
Anyone care for a game of tic-tac-toe or chess? I can see the 2 sisters 60 years from now sitting down and playing an extensive game of chess and having a good time together.


My goal before leaving Redmond is to hit all the fun mom and pop shops. This was our first stop and we got pizza bagels and cinnamon twist bagels. Yum!

We got a pony. Not a real pony, though the girls do want to learn horseback riding. We inherited this pony from the House of Hope. They were given this and thought that it would be a great prop for my photography studio and gave it to me. They think the kids at the shelter would destroy it in a day so it would have better use at our house. First prop.


There and Back Again
So there you have it. Our 2 weeks of fun. Now back to what I started with, the kids. Just in case you forgot. This is our first daughter. She's a ballerina and a swimmer. She's going to kindergarten this year and is an excellent reader. She says some really funny things, like "daddy, are you doing the dishes because you should be." We love her.

This one is Debers. Her name is really Debrie but we call her Brie and she calls herself Debers. She's the cutest little annoyance we ever did meet. She loves "paint color" referring to nail polish, and anything that involves competition. If you want her to go to the potty, just make it a competition. If you want her to pick up toys, just make it a competition. Her favorite phrases nowadays are "I got it," "I won't," "hold me," "hug me," and "THISSA ONE." Yes, she's become a very autonomous girl, independent of anyone's help, like reading a book to herself. She can count to 15 all on her own. Need I say more about autonomy?
Her daddy went to Target one day and came home with 2 sets of pj's. He was so excited to have her wear this and she does look so dang cute with it.
Brie looking like a model walking down the runaway...in pj's. This is Brie when she's not a dinosaur going "rhrhrhrhrhrh" and chasing you around the house.

Here and back again. My birthday is in a week. I want to make sure I still have it in me to be a fun girly girl again so I had a movie, pizza, popcorn, pool, pj's party with my primary class kids who happened to be all girls. Of course they suggested it and I just happened to agree. We had a blast though and will do this again. They taught me how to have fun. If you ever want to have fun, ask the 8 year old girls. They know what FUN is.

Here's a bit from my RE business

Real Estate Column
I read this in my Real Estate reading. "In the past, most homes were single-family dwellings bought by married couples with small children. Today, many real estate buyers are single men and women, childless professional couples, unmarried couples, and domestic partners." What has happened to our world?! My analysis - there are going to be a lot of unhappy old people when my generation is old.

There's already a lot of unhappy people. I brought the whole family out last Wednesday to visit the homeless and bring music to brighten their day. Dan is enjoying some rock punk music here with James Jackson who was famous at one point but became homeless. He found us and we are helping him get home to some distant relatives in Texas. His only home for now.

Let's Be Happy!! Stay tuned for the Star Wars Exhibition Experience and March Madness, which we're rooting for our "The one free man" to win.