Cade's first trip to Disneyland

We took Cade to Disneyland for the first time in October of last year.  Cade is not a stroller riding kind of toddler, so he was definitely running all over the place with excitement.  

Cars Land was amazing.  We didn't get to ride many of the rides because the wait times were ridiculous, but we enjoyed walking through it.

  We need to go back when it's not so packed...we weren't able to check this ride out!

I just love the Halloween decor!

the button makes it official...

Waiting for the World of Color

Noah really liked Luigi's Flying Tires 

It was a long and tiring day, but definitely worth the smiles and memories.  Thank you to Roselyn's mother for getting us in, we truly appreciate your generosity.  

We're back

Hello friends and family!  

I have not been able to blog much lately and I have really missed it.  With Noah starting Kindergarten, Dex going live with his project and the transition to my new job...I haven't had much time to write.  

Anyway, lots of catching up to do, so here are some pictures from the last couple of months. 

Though Rose and I don't work together anymore, we try to catch up whenever we can!  Here's Noah taking  pictures with my iPhone.

Ninong, Ninang & silly Noah

In October of last year, we took Noah to his first show, STOMP, at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in OC.  He thought it was really loud, but he enjoyed all of sounds.  Noah would love to play the guitar, keyboards or drums.  I've tried teaching him basic notes on the piano, but he ends up just asking me to play.  In the end, we aren't really productive.  

Random pix...thank you Buchanan family for the tie-die Berkeley shirts!

Noah has been adjusting well to Kindergarten.  I had to post his first progress report!  In our parent-teacher conference, Mrs. Phillips indicated Noah was a "model student."  Let's hope it stays that way. This progress report was back in October and he's already learned so much more in the past couple of months.  He really loves to read and chooses it over math homework. Lately he has really been into the Olivia books...there's something about that pig that cracks him up.  Anyway, thanks for reading...more to come!

Girls Trip to Solvang

We took our annual girls trip back in September to Solvang.  It has been years since most of us have been there.  It was a wonderful weekend full of relaxation, laughs, amazing wine and food!

Highlights in bullet format...

• On our drive up to Solvang, we were stuck in LA traffic.  BUT, we were there just in time to see the Endeavor Space Shuttle fly over us on a Boeing 747!  It was such an amazing moment, I wished that Noah was there to see it.  I was driving in traffic, so I need to steal a pix from one of the girls.
• Buttonwood Farm Winery - We bought a "groupon" and was pleasantly surprised by this cozy winery.  We really liked the garden in the back, we walked around while we enjoyed our glasses of wine.
• Root 246 -  Fantastic for dinner. We split 4 entrees (only girls would attempt something crazy like that), a cheese platter with vino of course. It's a farm-to-table restaurant, so everything was very fresh and delicious.  The interior was modern and had a wonderful vibe.  
• Solvang Restaurant - For a snack, you must go here for the famous Aebleskivers.  For under 4 dollars, you can get these amazing round danish delicacies with powdered sugar and jam.  
• Shopping...there are some really cute antique stores to check out. Meesh and I bought rings at Z Folio Gallery.  It's a museum store that carries jewelry from independent designers.  
• The Olive House - Olive oil tasting...I ended up buying garlic olive oil which tastes amazing with balsamic vinegar and bread.  
• Cecco Ristorante - If you are craving Italian, you must come here for a meal!  We split a pizza for our appetizer and then most of us had pasta dishes for dinner. We also had a rich chocolate dessert along with the salted caramel creme brulee.  
• Paula's Pancake House - Totally worth the wait for breakfast or brunch. The servers were actually dressed in Danish attire.  I had the basic eggs, sausage and hash browns breakfast, but I did try the Danish flat pancakes.  They were thin and very yummy.  There were also a couple of danish bakeries within walking distance of each other, I would recommend walking in and checking them out/perhaps sampling some of their wonderful pastries.
  
  
  
  

On Sunday, we shopped at the Camarillo outlets.  The weekend went by way too fast!  Hmmmmm....where shall we go next year?!  Sedona, Napa???

Noah's in Kindergarten!

Noah's first day of Kindergarten was back in late August.  He goes to Calavera Hills Elementary School which is a little over a mile away from our house.  As most of you know, Noah had a really hard time transitioning to preschool, so we were really paranoid about how the transition to his new school was going to be.  

The day before his first day of school, we went to do a meet and greet with his teacher, Mrs. Phillips.  I think this really helped get him familiar with his new classroom as well as the layout of his new school.  Dex and I dropped him off on his first day of school and he did remarkably well!  He didn't cry or hold on to us like he did the last two years.  

Over the last couple of months, he has made two close friends (Mason and Kaelyn).  In October, we had our parent - teacher conference and Mrs. Phillips said that "he is the model of a well-behaved child."  If only he would exhibit the same behavior at home!  I usually have to repeat myself 2 or 3 times for him to respond to me.  Anyway, I'll stick to the positive stuff. =) Noah has really built up his confidence in his reading skills.  The next time you see him, you will have to ask him to read you one of his favorite books.  

He has learned so much in the past 2 months, I am so excited to see how much more he will learn in Kindergarten. We love his teacher and are happy that we made the decision to move him to his new school (we had debated on keeping him another year at his previous school).  

Go Noah!

First day!

Room K1

Homework at home...Cade likes to pretend he's doing homework too

H A W A I I

Dex, Noah and I went to Oahu in August and stayed on the west side in Koolina (which means the place of joy).  Noah has been addicted to a PBS special on Hawaii (he still watches it over and over from our DVR). He knew all about the island even before we got there!

As soon as we landed, he screamed "Diamond Head!"  He definitely impressed many of the locals with his knowledge of the Hawaiian landmarks and his pronunciation of many Hawaiian words. 

We had a wonderful time relaxing at the JW Marriott Resort and it certainly helped that we were right next to the Disney Aulani.  The 2 resorts share the same lagoon which is great for kids!
I also had a chance to catch up with family members that live in Oahu...of course, any occasion with family calls for eating lots of delicious food!  

The week went by way too fast and by the time I was finally in vacation mode, it was pretty much time for us to go home.  Dex and I are thinking of taking Noah and Cade to Kauai or Maui next year.  

Here are some of our pictures...click here for the full album

at LAX... ready to for HAWAII!

ALOHA Honolulu

View from our balcony

fish feeding

Hanging out at the Turtle Bay Resort

Shaved ice from Matsumoto's - a must!  We ordered shaved ice with ice cream and condensed milk!

our hotel room

date night with our chaperone

living the good life

view of our hotel from the beach

boogie boarding

You can't really see because of all the bamboo...but this was Dex's apt in Hawaii Kai

RAINBOW!

the black pearl ship from the Pirates of the Caribbean...it was docked near our hotel

Disney Aulani

more Aulani

Ahhh...Mickey Mouse in a Hawaiian shirt

hanging out with the cousins

dinner with our family!

another yummy and fun dinner date with more family members

back at the Marriott

I took a lei ribbon making class :), isn't this soooo cool!

waiting for the luau to start at the Polynesian Cultural Center

he slept so well every night!

until next time...