Catching Up

It's been awhile since the last blog entry, so let's catch up.  Bella had a fever for a couple days, Mommy was thankful Po Po and Gung Gung came over to watch her, so Mommy could go to work.

After a few days, Bella was back to her normal self and made silly faces with Gung Gung.

Her appetite was better.  Her favorite food is broccolini. She finished the entire bowl.

Katelyn went to her first martial arts birthday party.  Initially she said, she didn't want to go to the party because she didn't want to fight anyone and hurt someone.  At the party, she learned what martial arts was really about.  She liked kicking the bag.

She had a great time with her school friends.

Daddy took all the girls to a seafood restaurant the night before Mother's Day.  These two are the reason for the occasion.  These girls constantly keep Mommy on her feet and Mommy has never been so tired, but they are totally worth it!

Daddy's side of the family got together for Mother's day lunch. 

Bella wanted to hold baby Ava.

 Daddy brought a cake to Tao Po's house in honor of Mother's Day.

Taz was over too.  He's so friendly with the kids.

Mommy opened her gifts.  Katelyn painted a flower pot and provided some seeds to plant a sunflower.  At her after school program, she made a hand print key chain.  Bella gave a framed picture to hang up.

Katelyn Turns 6!

Katelyn wanted to have a gymnastics party and invited her preschool and kindergarten friends.  She had so much fun jumping on the trampoline.

Bella did a good job keeping up with the older kids.  She was pretty fearless and fast on the obstacle course.

A group photo with the new 6 year old.

After working up a sweat, it was time for lunch and cake.

Ashley wasn't able to make it to the gym party, so later that afternoon the girls headed to her house for a playdate.  Mocha Mochi, the puppy was at the house.  He chased the girls in the backyard and kept biting on this racket.

At Katelyn's 6 year old check-up, she was really nervous while waiting for Dr. M to come in.  She was relieved to hear there were no shots during this appointment and finally smiled.

 She had a hearing test.  She raised her hand each time she heard a beep.

The pediatrician was surprised by her weight gain.  Now that she brings her own lunch and snacks to school, she is definitely eating more.  She's actually willing to try more foods now and has become less picky.  Her weight now is 43 pounds and in the 40th percentile.

Mommy organized a reunion with Katelyn's preschool friends from the Panda's classroom.  Some of the past preschooler's had older siblings who were a Panda too and they came to the reunion.  Mommy invited the teachers as well to the reunion.  Only Teacher Espie was able to make it.  Teacher Espie said this picture reflected the older Pandas, last year's Panda class and the future Panda class (referring to Bella).

Katelyn's school had a multi cultural night.  Alana came over for a play date before heading to the event.

The children dressed up in attire from their ethnic background and culture.  Grandma had given Katelyn a Vietnamese dress called an ao dai, so Katelyn finally had a chance to wear it.

The kindergartens sang It's a Small World.  The night consisted of different ethnic dance performances.  At the end of the night, the kids got on stage and waved the flags of different countries.   Bella wanted to participate.  She took the job of raising the flag pretty serious.  The event ended up being a dance party that lasted way past the children's bedtime.

Bring Your Sons and Daughters To Work Day

Daddy picked up Katelyn early from her after school program to come to Sons and Daughter's day at work.   He brought her to Mommy's building and Katelyn met Mommy's coworker.  Katelyn was the newest member of the team.

Auntie Nicole and Auntie Aileen had some fun with her and let her write on the wall of the breakout room.

Katelyn stopped off at the gelato bar before heading to the science activities.

The first thing was to dress up in a lab coat and glasses.  Safety first!

She shot a ball through the air to knock down a castle.  This was a lesson was about energy and how it is stored in the string and transferred to launch the ball in the air.

Here she learned how magnets attract to one another,

She also learned about pressure and its effect on objects.  She stomped on a pad filled with air which then launched the rocket into the air.  She discovered the harder she stomped (more pressure) then the higher the rocker went.

In a similar experiment, she learned about transferring energy to different objects. A catapult launched a dodge ball in the air and the goal was to knock down the bricks.  It was Katelyn's turn to catch the ball after another child aimed the catapult.

Her favorite thing was making slime.  She liked the texture of it.  She was happy to run into one of her old classmates from preschool.

Katelyn's friend, Alana taught her how to tie a shoe lace.  She asked to practice on Daddy's shoes and has requested to buy shoes with shoe laces.

When Mommy picked Bella up from school, she said, "Mommy I drew this pictured of you and me because I love you. " What a sweet girl!  She definitely knows the way to Mommy's heart.

Celebrating Earth Day At Muir Woods

Katelyn and Bella love going to the magical playground in Palo Alto.  They have a great time going down this bumpy slide together.  Most kids like to sit on it with a piece of cardboard, but they didn't seem to mind the bumps and ridges on their bottoms.

Another favorite is this enclosed swing.

Bella looks so little compared to her older sister in it.

A kind stranger offered to take a family picture for us.

The girls took a trip to Muir Woods for the first time.  The day they went it happened to be Earth Day and National Park Week so all the park attendees got in for free!

Katelyn wanted to carry the map and follow the trail.

They found a tree stump which showed how old the tree was by the number of rings it had.

The girls wanted to run up these stairs.  Mommy had to tell them to slow down and be careful.

On the top, they found this tree whose stump had been cut off and the tree had a big hole.  Bella was surprised to find the tree looking the way it did.

Katelyn asked if she could take a picture with Mommy with the tall redwoods.  It was a fun day enjoying nature and admiring the very large trees!