Team ABC - Washington DC - March 2-3, 2013

Team ABC leaves for the big - TX - this next weekend!  So we went down to have one last "hoorah!" before they left.  

*sniff*  

It has been a real treat to have them so close by, but we can absolutely understand why their move to Texas is at a good time for their career and family life!

On Saturday, we woke up and left the house at 11:00am for Harpers Ferry, WV!  Holla, Brandi!

It.was.cold.  For some reason, I thought the forecast of a high of 45 and sunny was going to be great weather.

We explored the cute colonial village, had lunch, and then started on a hike.  I told Michael to tell Mrs. DeColli:

"My Uncle Bill took us on a journey up a mountain in a snow storm at Harpers Ferry."

It was so cold, I couldn't even take pictures.  But it was fun!  We saw big fat snow.  Going sideways.  :) 

At the end, Bill took pictures of our families with the grand Potomac behind us:

{insert picture later here}

I loved the color of the river that day.  It was this gorgeous neutral blue/grey color.  I love the neutrals that we see in winter. 

On the way back, we ate dinner in Georgetown at the Tacklebox.  Great grilled fish and vegetables!  Michael had Munchkin all set up for us to play.  

Afterwards we celebrated Carson's 8 month old birthday with a delicious fruit tarte that we ate for him:

Brian fell promptly asleep around 9:30 - as he does almost every visit to Team ABC in DC.  AK joked that she should have a bed of nails for him to sleep in so he would stay up and hang out.  :)

On Sunday, we got out of the house maybe by 11am again.  :)  We took Michael on the metro (seriously EXPENSIVE metro) and headed to the White House.  Michael informed us that only George Washington didn't get to live in the White House.  I wonder if that's true!

Prepare yourself for lots of soccer pictures.  Here's the first - almost to the White House with our soccer ball:

Carson was TOO adorable for words - what a cute little guy!

And SO happy!  

Michael spent the morning playing soccer in front of the White House and then doing headers:

Our Happy Lil' Guy:

Then, we commenced family pictures in front of the White House!

Here, Bill and Brian yelled at me for not including the White house in my picture - but hey everyone is happy!

Carson cracked us up by blowing zerberts, raspberries and spitting all over creation here.  You gotta blow up the pictures to see:

Yes - that's about every man's response to family pictures!!  :)  It was so cute and reminded me so much of when Michael did the same under the Arc de Triomphe for our family vacation there in 2007!

Cousins!  There is a huge age difference and Michael takes about one day to warm up to Carson!  But when he does, Michael is really cute and helpful with him:

A very nice and happy guy took our picture for us!

Bill is also very nice and happy and took this picture for us!

Team ABC!

I'm thinking Team ABC with no location attached to them is probably for the best!  I am so amazed at their flexibility in their locations!

AND then - the party ended as we had to get the White House police to get our soccer ball back from the enclosed area.  They had to get a key to do it.  Blow up the picture to see if you can see the ball:

They said they would get it back for us if we stopped playing and went somewhere else.  

So we went to the Mall and Washington Monument where the government couldn't tell us what to do.

And so begins KICKBALL:

Moms got in on the action.  Carson was home base!  :)

I know I heard all of your audible gasps at the sight of me actually in a picture!  :)  Thanks to Aunt AK for taking a picture of me for me!!  :)

Uncle Bill winds up and pitches:

I call this Michael's matrix picture:

 Happy Family Picture:

Back to the house to warm up.  We took one of the longest metro rides ever for the shortest distance probably.  AK had delicious fruits/cheeses/pasta salads/desserts set out for us!  We finished up our visit playing another rousing game of Munchkin.

We had a really fun weekend relaxing and hanging out!  We will miss them but wish them well on their next journey in their history!

Chinese New Year - February 8 - 10, 2013

This year, I felt very convicted to really celebrate Chinese New Year because Michael is now getting old enough to remember!!

Since Chinese New Year fell on the weekend this year, it was super easy to find things to do in Philly!

We checked out the Chinatown Flower Market:

It was seriously 6-7 booths long.  That's it.  I'm not sure how many booths constitute a "market."

Michael complained that he was cold during the walk, but when I asked him: "Are you dying from it?  Or are you just uncomfortable?"  He told me uncomfortable, and I told him that's ok.

In America, we are always comfortable.  We go from our climatized homes to our climatized cars to our climatized destinations.  Who needs a coat, really?

I was glad he had a chance to see that it is OK to be uncomfortable outside.  You won't die from it.  Well, unless you're the German army marching across Russia in WWII.

We then went to go Chinese New Year grocery shopping, which was super fun!  We bought all sorts of my favorite things from my youth!  I should have taken pictures!

Michael gobbled it ALL up.  If I cooked Asian food everyday, Michael would be the happiest camper there ever was.   

We also bought one of my absolute favorite games from Chinese New Year:

It's basically like roulette, but with animals.  You get 3 die and on each die, you will find all 6 of these characters.  You bet to see which ones will come out when the die are shaken and flung, and you get money if they do!

Asians love to gamble.  It starts at youth. :)

Michael LOVED it and thought it was super fun.  He loved his lucky money too!  I was super impressed with my mom who found Angry Birds lucky money envelopes.  How funny.

The next day, Sunday, we went BACK to philly for their dragon dance parade put on by the Philadelphia Suns:

Here's the blue and red dragons:

Michael had the best view:

Here's the dragon with the very loud firecrackers outside each shop.  The dragons went in and out of every shop to bid each owner a happy new year:

Michael LOVED it!!  Check out this super cute video of him talking during it:

And I just LOVED this red door with this antiquey light fixture.  It's one of those "props" that I love when doing family sessions:

Obviously, I didn't have the best angles.  What, you mean you don't like seeing a security camera in your images?  I like how Brian's hat stripe matches the door.

And here's a rare picture with Mommy!

Before heading back, we grabbed some Asian pastries.  Michael picked out this cream filled sweet yeast bun:

It was amazing.  Michael told me, "Mom, this is the best thing I have ever eaten."

And I don't doubt it.  It was really good!

All in all, Michael enjoyed every single second of it (except the walking in the cold).  And I'm so happy and proud.  You never know what your child will enjoy that you enjoyed growing up.  They are their own people, and you can't push what you like on them.

But this weekend, we had a fantastic time.  Michael loved celebrating Chinese New Year, and I can't wait to take him to Houston for it.

Chinese New Year is one of my absolute most favorite holidays.  It's up there with Christmas and Thanksgiving.  But what I love about it - is it is really relaxed and fun.  Christmas gets stressful with the gift giving.  Thanksgiving is busy with all the cooking.

Chinese New Year has some cooking, but really you go out to eat too.  There's no big meal to worry about - no gifts to purchase.  Youngsters get lucky money and it's so fun to watch them open their red envelopes.  You spend time watching dragon dances, eating, gambling, and laughing.  That's really it.  It is low stress/effort for maximum fun and relaxation.

:)

Oh and an FYI for myself to buy Banh cuon - see this man in PHilly:
Ding ho co. Inc
930 arch street,
Philadelphia, pa 19107
(215) 922-2929

One down...two to go!

Michael lost the first of his two front teeth this morning!

He said he was playing with his lips and it just fell out.  It's been grossly wobbly for about 2-3 days so this is a welcome change!  I think at some point, his teeth were sticking far out.  Like buck teeth.

I've been very excited for this day for a multitude of reasons.  One of which being those ugly capped fake front teeth are now gone!

Michael is all set for more responsible dental hygiene.  He's got a rotating toothbrush, and I monitor his toothbrushing to make sure every surface is brushed.  We'll start flossing too!

Here he is being silly:

 And hiding under a table from me and my camera:

I bribed him to take these pictures by saying I'd play Munchkin with him.  I'm pretty sure I got the better end of that bargain!

Love this silly little guy!!  Lately, he's been a bit more challenging than normal because he has been giving us attitude when he doesn't want to do something.  And it seems like that's just about anything I ask him to do.  Whine, flop on the floor, while saying, "I don't WANNA do it."

Some days, I'm patient enough to reword most tasks in such a way that there's no argument.  And some days - well - let's just say I fail at that.  :)

So - one front tooth down, one to go.  Seems like he's growing so quickly but then he still looks like my little baby to me.

Love,
P

P.S. - I have two blogposts ALREADY written.  I am just waiting for 1 video and 2 pictures to finish them and all I have to do is hit PUBLISH.  :)  So make sure to come back!