Tuesday, October 27, 2009

sea world halloween spooktacular

the kids are getting spoiled this year with all the halloween activities. we thought we would get the most out of our fun cards and take the kids trick or treating at Sea World last sunday. they actually give more candy than Disneyland, including healthy treats like bananas & natural peanut butter and cool stuff like the new crayola markers, but of course Disneyland has way more visitors.


the kids did some cookie decorating. well, at least malia did. micah just sat there and ate the m&m's while daddy decorated his cookie.

everyone loves the sesame street bay of play. micah wanted to go on the big kid's stuff with malia but he's still too short. he'll catch up soon. he's already catching up to her weight.

of course we couldn't leave until they touched the stingrays. and we got there at feeding time, so most of the stingrays were close to the edge.

lastly, who are these people? it doesn't matter, malia will take pictures with them anyway.

Monday, October 26, 2009

kalel

it's about time that micah know his middle name, kalel. i know it's my fault for nicknaming him micah jackson. so yesterday, i thought i'd call him kalel to see how he would react. malia was on the computer and he was trying to get his face as close to the monitor, trying to climb on the desk.

our conversation (micah says his name with an N)-
me: get down please kalel
micah: (gets down and points to himself) it's nicah
me: okay, but you're kalel too
micah: (points to himself again) it's nicah
me: okay micah kalel
micah: it's nicah

at least he didn't say he was micah jackson. later on, micah grabbed a superman toy and said, "it's nicah." funny boy. i just want to squeeze him all day.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

our disneyland trip

after more than a year, we were able to take our long awaited trip back to disneyland! we decided to celebrate m&m's birthdays there this year. after malia got out of school on friday, we headed up to attend mickey's trick or treat party at california adventure. m&m's cousins, jonah and joelle, met us there. we were late due to traffic and micah was screaming in the car, so i was already tired when we got there. plus i was so mad at myself because i forgot one of malia's costumes. we were all supposed to be jedi's for the trick or treat party. and i had spent so much time putting it together. so we ended up going as 3 jedi's and a mermaid. malia didn't mind. it was our first time to do the trick or treat party, so we were all in awe at the decor and the fun. micah couldn't believe he saw woody, but was reluctant to take a picture because he was scared of the green army men. it was pretty warm that night, so i ended up taking off my costume and giving my tunic to malia when she got cold. micah fell asleep at 10pm, but we still collected candy for him. we didn't get to do everything, but it was still so much fun. we are only going again in the future if we are early enough to beat all the traffic.

on saturday, we headed to disneyland. malia went as ariel again, and micah as a pirate. first on our list was 'breakfast with minnie'. we love character dining because of the photo ops. we don't get to do too many character pictures throughout the park because we move so slow with the kids so character dining is perfect. and the food is good too.

micah only goes to certain characters. and of course, he won't pose with them. but he's happy to give hugs. he was smitten with minnie. so i absolutely love these pictures.

we waited a long time to visit the fairies in pixie hollow. but it was worth it. a cast member had malia convinced that she was sprinkled with pixie dust to shrink down to the same size as tink.

micah had a few meltdowns because of the heat yesterday. and he had a fit in the store until he got his new buzz lightyear toy. (gotta love the terrible 2's.) his favorite rides were small world and the parking lot tram. he fell asleep right before shopping time, great timing!
hopefully it won't be as crowded the next time we visit. malia said we should go back in 2 weeks. sure if we lived closer. the drive isn't as easy for me as it used to be, especially if someone is crying and screaming in the back seat.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

field trip with micah

micah's preschool went on a field trip to sea world yesterday. micah did great, no meltdowns. i didn't really get the chance (and micah didn't give me the chance) to take very many pictures, so that was the best shot i got. he's not fond of posing like malia is. it was nice to spend the day with him looking at the seals, fish, sharks and penguins. you can't do a whole lot in a group with 30 kids. he fell asleep during the shamu show so we called it a day. it was fun, but i'm not sure if i can do the other field trips, i was exhausted.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

disney princesses on ice

it really should have been called disney's cinderella with some princesses on ice because the whole 2nd half of the show was about cinderella. there's nothing wrong with that, we love cinderella. we just didn't expect the mulan segment to be only 5 minutes long in the 2 hour show. nonetheless, malia and i had a wonderful time last night. she could hardly stay still in her seat. she kept turning to me with her hand over her mouth in disbelief when the princesses were coming out. as if she had never been to disneyland and seen them in person. she knows all of the princess stories, but still grabbed on to me when the villains came out and looked at me with hope in her eyes that the princesses would be okay. malia even noticed little details like the castle moving behind the scenes and workers bringing props to the sides of the rink. we had really good seats thanks to the adventos. and i was so upset with myself because i had forgotten to put the memory card back in my camera, so i couldn't take pictures. this is the best shot i got with my not so great phone:
as much as i like the princesses, there's just something so special about mickey and minnie. and it was nice that they began and ended the show. the costumes were so creative, the skating was wonderful, the special effects were fantastic. disney really is magic. my favorite malia quote for the night was, "mama, i saw her underwear."

Sunday, October 4, 2009

auntie mel's wedding


yesterday was melissa's wedding. i have known her since she was born. our families used to be neighbors. my mom considered her mom one of her best friends. so they are family to us. malia was excited when mel asked her last year to be a flower girl at her wedding. so when i told her on friday that we were going to the rehearsal, she couldn't believe it was already time for her walk down the aisle.

the wedding ceremony was at the immaculata. malia did a great job, but she tends to walk faster when she's excited. plus the other 2 flower girls are only 2 years old, so she helped one of them walk down the aisle. when we were getting ready in the morning, i was thinking to myself that it's harder to get girls ready for occasions like this. boys are easy, black pants and a nice top. girls need their hair done, the perfect dress, jewelry, tights, and matching shoes. not to mention a different outfit for the car ride because the dress will get wrinkled in the car seat. and it's a challenge for me because i'm not very girly. but it's worth it, for pictures like these:


the reception was at the manchester grand hyatt downtown. it was gorgeous. it's details like the elaborate tablecloths, crystals hanging from the flowers of the centerpieces, the photo booth, the plate of 3 desserts before the wedding cake and the godiva chocolate giveaways that made it such a memorable reception. mel did a surprise number for her groom, and the bridal party did a skit on how mel and kenny first met 13 years ago.

some photo booth shots
malia described the day as 'fancy'. she said, "all the girls looked pretty but auntie mel was the beautifulest one of all."

Thursday, October 1, 2009

first day of preschool


it all came too quickly, but micah started preschool today at Spectrum Preschool in bonita. he's the baby at school since he just turned 2 yesterday. it was also picture day, so his day started off by taking pictures. the photographer was wonderful with the kids. micah even held his pose and smiled. i can't even get him to do that. then it was off to his classroom, called 'the pond.' he went straight for the toys but i could tell he was trying to stay near me at the same time. he tried to follow me when i told him i was leaving, but his teacher distracted him. i'm so glad we went there last week, so she's not a complete stranger to him. of course i worried about him all day and wasn't too productive at work. roel picked him up during naptime. the teachers told roel that micah cried a little just before lunch, but it was because he was tired. but other than that he was fine. when i got home, there were papers waiting for me. one was about field trips, one of which i am already scheduled to go on as a parent volunteer. another was about a fundraiser, which was to bring in my vons receipt that had a code for the school to receive 10% of what i spent. wow, no effort fundraiser? love it! and of course my favorite was this certificate:

when i asked micah if he wanted to go to school tomorrow, he said no. it was the same with malia. it took her a week to get used to school and now she loves it. at least the first day of school jitters are gone (for me). we'll see how he does after a week.