That's what happened to all my Halloween decorations in the front yard.
In case you haven't heard, we're having a Severe Wind Alert in Orange County. Where I live in Anaheim Hills we are getting hurricane gusts of up to 85 mph.
Kael's scary skeleton dude and his tombstone didn't have a fighting chance. As we drove away this morning, I expected to never see him ever again (the skeleton dude) so imagine my surprise (and delight) when I saw him lying face down tangled in the bushes across the street, 3 houses down. Poor guy. I got out of the car, pushed my way against the crazy wind, rescued him and tossed him in the garage. As for his tombstone... it's still AWOL. Maybe it got blown to Oz.
A few of our neighbors have trees that were uprooted and toppled over so I guess losing the tombstone wasn't so bad.
Ever 10 minutes or so we'll get a good gust that makes the house go *shoosh* and I feel like Dorothy... waiting for the house to get blown away.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Disneyland - The Happiest Place on Earth??
Not on Friday night it wasn't.
We didn't have school Friday due to Parent-Teacher conferences so Shana and I decided to visit Dland. I wanted to go late morning, stay a couple of hours and head home for naps. However, in a moment of weakness I was convinced by Shana to go in the afternoon (post-nap) and stay for dinner. I called Truong and got him to meet us there after work.
The kids wake up, I pack up our stuff, Shana leaves to pick up her mom (Hammy) and we agree to meet at Downtown Disney (DTD). First off, it's 5:30pm and there's a buttload of traffic. I take the inside streets so it's not too bad. Truong however calls me from the road and he's in a piss-poor mood. I guess if I were stuck in traffic for 40 minutes and only got halfway to my destination when it should only take 20 minutes, I'd be in a pissy mood too. So he's forgiven. Second, I finally get to DTD and it looks like half of Orange County is there. Parking is a joke. I drive around and around, stalk a few people and finally find parking after what what seemed like an eternity. I try to school my face into a pleasant, encouraging expression, hoping to get the family whose parking spot I'm taking to move faster but it's really hard to keep the look of disbelief from taking over as I watch the dad back straight out, move forward, back straight out again, move forward. Repeat some more for a 5 point turn in a little CR-V. In my head I'm screaming: TURN THE WHEEL, YOU IDIOT!!!
I unload the kids and start speed walking to meet Shana and her crew. DTD is a zoo. No, it's worse than that. DTD is like the mall the day after Thanksgiving, with 50-80% off sales, and it's payday. It was utter insanity. And into this insanity walked me with my E3 double and Shana and Hammy with a stroller each. We start moving towards the Gates of Disneyland and I get a phone call from Truong. He's even more pissed off than he was before: he made it to DTD but the parking lot's full and they aren't letting anyone in. He ends up valet parking the car -- I don't even bother to ask how much that was. I decide to turn around to meet Truong so I tell Shana to march on, we'll catch up, Godspeed.
The Mai's finally make it to the Gates and we get in line to get into DLand. Kael decides that he's hungry. Truong and I just look at each other and through that special ESP connection we have through years of knowing each other and sharing trenches in child-rearing, we tell him that we're eating inside Dland and to please wait. The kid is 4 years old and only 32 pounds - if I could, I'd feed him lard on a spoon to pack on some pounds. The fact that we didn't rush off to feed him is testimony of how determined we were to get into the damn park.
We finally get into the park and with a quick phone call to Shana, it was decided that Buzz Lightyear was going to be the first ride. But something strange is happening in the park. Why isn't anyone moving?? Oh crap. The parade's on and they've closed all avenues in the park. Can anything go our way tonight??
Through it all, I manage to remember that we're doing this for the kids. Malia's eyes are as huge as dinner plates. She's in a light-induced stupor, dazzled by everything that flashes and blinks, whirls and twirls. We stop and take the kids out of the stroller so they can enjoy the top third of the floats. Unfortunately for them, even on our shoulders, they are still quite vertically challenged.
Then, miracle of all miracles, Dland crew members open up the back of the park to allow park goers on Main Street the opportunity to get to Tomorrowland, and vice versa. We quickly hurry out -- only to discover that Shana's somehow managed to be at the exact opposite place she should be and missed the magic exit. But by this time, it was a sort of "every family for themselves" kind of thinking - and we kept on moving. We make it on the Buzz ride... and that was it. We had a hard time getting anywhere -- people were packed wall to wall. It was 7:45pm and the kids' hadn't had dinner, all the restaurants in Dland had at least a 90 minute wait, and quite honestly, we had had enough of people. It was totally ridiculous. So we headed back out, fought our way to the parking lot and ended up eating dinner at Chick-fil-a, on the way home. The kids had a nice time there on the indoor playground, and bonus: there was parking right in front. For free.
Truong has made a Family Decree that we are no longer EVER going to Disneyland after 4pm. Ever. I don't think I can argue with that one.
We didn't have school Friday due to Parent-Teacher conferences so Shana and I decided to visit Dland. I wanted to go late morning, stay a couple of hours and head home for naps. However, in a moment of weakness I was convinced by Shana to go in the afternoon (post-nap) and stay for dinner. I called Truong and got him to meet us there after work.
The kids wake up, I pack up our stuff, Shana leaves to pick up her mom (Hammy) and we agree to meet at Downtown Disney (DTD). First off, it's 5:30pm and there's a buttload of traffic. I take the inside streets so it's not too bad. Truong however calls me from the road and he's in a piss-poor mood. I guess if I were stuck in traffic for 40 minutes and only got halfway to my destination when it should only take 20 minutes, I'd be in a pissy mood too. So he's forgiven. Second, I finally get to DTD and it looks like half of Orange County is there. Parking is a joke. I drive around and around, stalk a few people and finally find parking after what what seemed like an eternity. I try to school my face into a pleasant, encouraging expression, hoping to get the family whose parking spot I'm taking to move faster but it's really hard to keep the look of disbelief from taking over as I watch the dad back straight out, move forward, back straight out again, move forward. Repeat some more for a 5 point turn in a little CR-V. In my head I'm screaming: TURN THE WHEEL, YOU IDIOT!!!
I unload the kids and start speed walking to meet Shana and her crew. DTD is a zoo. No, it's worse than that. DTD is like the mall the day after Thanksgiving, with 50-80% off sales, and it's payday. It was utter insanity. And into this insanity walked me with my E3 double and Shana and Hammy with a stroller each. We start moving towards the Gates of Disneyland and I get a phone call from Truong. He's even more pissed off than he was before: he made it to DTD but the parking lot's full and they aren't letting anyone in. He ends up valet parking the car -- I don't even bother to ask how much that was. I decide to turn around to meet Truong so I tell Shana to march on, we'll catch up, Godspeed.
The Mai's finally make it to the Gates and we get in line to get into DLand. Kael decides that he's hungry. Truong and I just look at each other and through that special ESP connection we have through years of knowing each other and sharing trenches in child-rearing, we tell him that we're eating inside Dland and to please wait. The kid is 4 years old and only 32 pounds - if I could, I'd feed him lard on a spoon to pack on some pounds. The fact that we didn't rush off to feed him is testimony of how determined we were to get into the damn park.
We finally get into the park and with a quick phone call to Shana, it was decided that Buzz Lightyear was going to be the first ride. But something strange is happening in the park. Why isn't anyone moving?? Oh crap. The parade's on and they've closed all avenues in the park. Can anything go our way tonight??
Through it all, I manage to remember that we're doing this for the kids. Malia's eyes are as huge as dinner plates. She's in a light-induced stupor, dazzled by everything that flashes and blinks, whirls and twirls. We stop and take the kids out of the stroller so they can enjoy the top third of the floats. Unfortunately for them, even on our shoulders, they are still quite vertically challenged.
Then, miracle of all miracles, Dland crew members open up the back of the park to allow park goers on Main Street the opportunity to get to Tomorrowland, and vice versa. We quickly hurry out -- only to discover that Shana's somehow managed to be at the exact opposite place she should be and missed the magic exit. But by this time, it was a sort of "every family for themselves" kind of thinking - and we kept on moving. We make it on the Buzz ride... and that was it. We had a hard time getting anywhere -- people were packed wall to wall. It was 7:45pm and the kids' hadn't had dinner, all the restaurants in Dland had at least a 90 minute wait, and quite honestly, we had had enough of people. It was totally ridiculous. So we headed back out, fought our way to the parking lot and ended up eating dinner at Chick-fil-a, on the way home. The kids had a nice time there on the indoor playground, and bonus: there was parking right in front. For free.
Truong has made a Family Decree that we are no longer EVER going to Disneyland after 4pm. Ever. I don't think I can argue with that one.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
It's snot funny.
It was inevitable. Malia is totally and completely sick. She started out with the congestion. Then it moved on to a runny nose. Now she's got the fever. Plus I think her runny nose has intensified. I've never seen so much snot come out of one so tiny. I sit and wait with tissue in hand for a good sneeze to get all that gunk out. And she never fails me. I'm usually not one to get grossed out by my kids' snot but Malia is really pushing the envelope.
The hardest is when we're in the car and she sneezes. There's nothing I can do except drive faster and hope the mess isn't too bad. But when Kael starts hollering "Mom! Malia's making bubbles of snot!" there's really no hope.
On Monday when this happened on the toll road I reached back and handed her a tissue. There was literally a curtain of snot from her nose down past her chin and running onto her chest. I know, it's gross. So I hand her a tissue and tell her to wipe. She knows the basic concept of wiping (from wiping her mouth at the dinner table) and I figured at this point any kind of wiping was good, right? She starts wiping and she gets some on the tissue, but most goes on her hands. And her cheek. And then her hair. Think "There's Something About Mary" but with snot. She tries to wipe her hands with the tissue and instead it gets stuck on her hands. Apparently snot makes for good glue. She tries to get rid of the tissue but it's really on there good, and she ends up with snot glued tissue torn in half on both her hands. She starts waving her hands around. What she's really doing now is drying the snot, with the tissue still glued to her hands. She starts trying to pull the tissue off but only manages to shred the tissue into a bunch of little pieces. All still stuck to her hands. She starts to get really mad and is frantically waving her hands in the air trying desperately to get rid of the little pieces and ends up looking like a chicken trying to take flight.
At that point, I had to laugh. It was really funny. Gross, but funny. She eventually gave up and for the rest of the car ride home, her snot glued tissue covered hands rested quietly in her lap. The second I opened her door at home, she raised her hands and said "Wash, wash!"
Now when she sneezes in the car, she refuses a tissue and would rather sit there making snot bubbles then try to clean it up. Lovely. That's my dainty little girl.
The hardest is when we're in the car and she sneezes. There's nothing I can do except drive faster and hope the mess isn't too bad. But when Kael starts hollering "Mom! Malia's making bubbles of snot!" there's really no hope.
On Monday when this happened on the toll road I reached back and handed her a tissue. There was literally a curtain of snot from her nose down past her chin and running onto her chest. I know, it's gross. So I hand her a tissue and tell her to wipe. She knows the basic concept of wiping (from wiping her mouth at the dinner table) and I figured at this point any kind of wiping was good, right? She starts wiping and she gets some on the tissue, but most goes on her hands. And her cheek. And then her hair. Think "There's Something About Mary" but with snot. She tries to wipe her hands with the tissue and instead it gets stuck on her hands. Apparently snot makes for good glue. She tries to get rid of the tissue but it's really on there good, and she ends up with snot glued tissue torn in half on both her hands. She starts waving her hands around. What she's really doing now is drying the snot, with the tissue still glued to her hands. She starts trying to pull the tissue off but only manages to shred the tissue into a bunch of little pieces. All still stuck to her hands. She starts to get really mad and is frantically waving her hands in the air trying desperately to get rid of the little pieces and ends up looking like a chicken trying to take flight.
At that point, I had to laugh. It was really funny. Gross, but funny. She eventually gave up and for the rest of the car ride home, her snot glued tissue covered hands rested quietly in her lap. The second I opened her door at home, she raised her hands and said "Wash, wash!"
Now when she sneezes in the car, she refuses a tissue and would rather sit there making snot bubbles then try to clean it up. Lovely. That's my dainty little girl.
He loves her. He really loves her.
Last Friday was Share Day "D" at school so Kael had to bring in something beginning with the letter D. He has 2 dogs he sleeps with but I wasn't going to let him drag them all over school, to be touched by 11 other (very nice but potentially germ infested) kids to be brought back home and snuggled to sleep with. I've got my own germs to eradicate -- I don't need more.
Anyway, we decided to bring a dinosaur to school. It was a dinosaur that he received from the Baez family for his birthday. It's a pretty cool dino - you press a button on its back and it actually walks, complete with head sway, tail swing and stomping noise. It also gives out a scary dinosaur roar. I have to admit I like it too and will press the button just to watch it lumber across the floor.
For some reason, Malia (the fearless child Dad calls Godzilla) is totally freaked out by this dinosaur. The first time it walked, she wigged out and ran away with a look of sheer fright on her face. It's gotten better now as she's gotten used to having it around. First she ran away. Then she hid behind me. Then she stayed to look but the instant it looked like it was walking towards her, she'd freak. Then (this is my favorite) she stopped walking away from it and instead would take toys to chuck it at the dinosaur (from a distance but still... at least she's getting over her wariness of it). She's still not enamored with it by any means and she still keeps her distance but now they can at least be in the same vicinity. I didn't pay much attention before, but now that I'm playing back incidences in my head, I've noticed that Kael will activate the dinosaur and purposefully point it in her direction just to get some giggles.
So back to Share Day... I picked up Kael and had him climb in the car (he's not buckled in yet). I go to the other side, take Malia out of the Ergo (a baby backpack because I can't carry her, grab Kael, hold his schoolwork and most likely carry his lunch box all at the same time) and strap her in. I then head back to the trunk to completely take off the Ergo and fold it up. While I'm doing this, I hear Malia yelling: "Nononono!!!" Then I hear Kael: "He's gonna get you! He's gonna eat you! ROOAARRRR!"
I walk over to Kael's door to strap him in and can you guess what I saw?
Kael with the dreaded dinosaur held inches away from Malia's face. He's turned it on so it's waving its head, making the scary roaring noise. Malia, trapped with a look of almost-fear on her face, like when you are in line for the roller coaster and you are kind of scared but know that you shouldn't be but can't help it. She's yelling "nononono!" and Kael's telling her it's going to eat her and she's literally trapped in the car seat, strapped in tight. She can't move to get away, she can only turn her head and he's tracking the dinosaur to wherever her face is, with a scary, mean chomping-eating-dinosaur look on his face. She wasn't crying, she was sort of pissed off, trying not to be scared.
It was straight from the "How to Torture Your Baby Sister" Handbook. A Classic. I knew in my heart of hearts that I should have stopped it, that I should not have laughed, that I should have rescued my youngest child from the torment of her big brother... but I didn't. I figured it was payback time for all the rotten things she's done to him. And let me tell you: the look of satisfaction on his face was hilarious. The boost of big brother self esteem in him was definitely worth the few minutes of torture Malia went through.
I just wonder when Kael will realize that females have a long memory.
Anyway, we decided to bring a dinosaur to school. It was a dinosaur that he received from the Baez family for his birthday. It's a pretty cool dino - you press a button on its back and it actually walks, complete with head sway, tail swing and stomping noise. It also gives out a scary dinosaur roar. I have to admit I like it too and will press the button just to watch it lumber across the floor.
For some reason, Malia (the fearless child Dad calls Godzilla) is totally freaked out by this dinosaur. The first time it walked, she wigged out and ran away with a look of sheer fright on her face. It's gotten better now as she's gotten used to having it around. First she ran away. Then she hid behind me. Then she stayed to look but the instant it looked like it was walking towards her, she'd freak. Then (this is my favorite) she stopped walking away from it and instead would take toys to chuck it at the dinosaur (from a distance but still... at least she's getting over her wariness of it). She's still not enamored with it by any means and she still keeps her distance but now they can at least be in the same vicinity. I didn't pay much attention before, but now that I'm playing back incidences in my head, I've noticed that Kael will activate the dinosaur and purposefully point it in her direction just to get some giggles.
So back to Share Day... I picked up Kael and had him climb in the car (he's not buckled in yet). I go to the other side, take Malia out of the Ergo (a baby backpack because I can't carry her, grab Kael, hold his schoolwork and most likely carry his lunch box all at the same time) and strap her in. I then head back to the trunk to completely take off the Ergo and fold it up. While I'm doing this, I hear Malia yelling: "Nononono!!!" Then I hear Kael: "He's gonna get you! He's gonna eat you! ROOAARRRR!"
I walk over to Kael's door to strap him in and can you guess what I saw?
Kael with the dreaded dinosaur held inches away from Malia's face. He's turned it on so it's waving its head, making the scary roaring noise. Malia, trapped with a look of almost-fear on her face, like when you are in line for the roller coaster and you are kind of scared but know that you shouldn't be but can't help it. She's yelling "nononono!" and Kael's telling her it's going to eat her and she's literally trapped in the car seat, strapped in tight. She can't move to get away, she can only turn her head and he's tracking the dinosaur to wherever her face is, with a scary, mean chomping-eating-dinosaur look on his face. She wasn't crying, she was sort of pissed off, trying not to be scared.
It was straight from the "How to Torture Your Baby Sister" Handbook. A Classic. I knew in my heart of hearts that I should have stopped it, that I should not have laughed, that I should have rescued my youngest child from the torment of her big brother... but I didn't. I figured it was payback time for all the rotten things she's done to him. And let me tell you: the look of satisfaction on his face was hilarious. The boost of big brother self esteem in him was definitely worth the few minutes of torture Malia went through.
I just wonder when Kael will realize that females have a long memory.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
