This morning I stirred at 6:10 AM. I quietly walked over to Maile’s room and opened her door. She was on her bed doing some Chinese exercises on the iPad (her latest move these days since she wakes up so early).
“Hey, would you like to snuggle for a bit?”
(Big smile!)
“Yes, Daddy I would!”
It might have been her birthday, but it made my whole day.
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As I was tucking her in tonight, she looked up at me.
“Good night daddy, thank you for an awesome birthday.”
She was mostly excited about her presents, but still, I’ll take it.
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Maile at 8 is definitely in between. Growing up fast. Driving us a little crazy along the way. So. Damn. Smart. But still our little girl. Often in ways that delight and sometimes in ways that frustrate. An incredible big sister … and every once in awhile … not. Gaining confidence every day, becoming more daring. Pushing the boundaries where ever they fall in both impressive and maddening ways.
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On the eve of her birthday, Maile and I finished a book we’ve been enjoying – The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm. One the quotes and main takeaways of the book is:
Sunday was dance performance day and the girls did not disappoint! They got all dressed up in their performance outfits and we headed down to Nagata Dance for their quarterly performance. Of course, we took video – the long ones that only grandmothers watch until the end 🙂 I have to say that both girls impressed – Lauren is coming into her own as a little dancer and Maile continues to amaze with how she keeps all the moves from all the different routines straight!
Maile and Lauren striking a pose on our way to their performance!
First up was Lauren performing to “Singing in the Rain”…
And then Maile and her crew closed out the show with a routine to “Good Morning”…
And then, per tradition, the show was closed out with a family dance to “Lean On Me” – in the past the girls brought Mommy or I up to dance with them, but this time they just wanted to dance with eachother…
Very proud of Maile and Lauren and the whole Nagata Dance crew!
The full Nagata Dance crew 🙂
(Click here for the first video.)
(Click here for the second video.)
(Click here for the third video.)
After months of practice the big day finally arrived on Saturday – the Chinese New Year Parade!
We headed down with the girls mid-afternoon and met with the parade crew, got everyone ready, ate a little bit, practiced one last time and then headed down to Market Street to get in our positions. The girls were fantastic! Maile danced up a storm and Lauren waved, smiled and blew kisses from her cart the whole way through.
Here’s a video of all the fun:
And some videos from the festivities…
Lauren and Marni - they shared the cart together and made people smile the whole way through...
Our parade girls - ready to rock!
The whole PKS crew!
A view of the scene as we get in our places for the start of the parade...
This weekend we headed over to Presidio Knolls for the annual Chinese New Year celebration. Every year it gets bigger and bigger as the school continues to grow. It’s basically setup as a big carnival and the girls had a blast running around and trying out all the various activities. Maile and Lauren both also had performances throughout the day and they both did a wonderful job with their classmates.
(As always these videos are on the long side – posted for all, but mainly enjoyed by the grandparents 🙂
First up, Lauren and her class (Lauren is on the right side of the screen)…
Next is Maile and her class (Maile is in the front row on the left side of the screen)…
Finally, not the actual performance, but a close up of Maile and the Chinese New Year Parade crew doing their thing…
Maile and Lauren all dressed up and ready to go...
Family picture - Maile (7.5), Lauren (4) - in our Chinese New Year finest...
Taking in the show - in complete awe...
Close-up of Lauren on stage performing with her class...
Maile with two of her classmates, Gemma and Amelia
(Click here for the first video.)
(Click here for the second video.)
(Click here for the third video.)
(I know, I know … 2017 has not started out well for me posting-wise. I hope to improve…)
Last weekend, we headed down to Anaheim for a quick day trip to Disneyland and to support Mommy who was running the Star Wars Half Marathon! We headed down Friday night, hit Disneyland for Saturday and then supported Mommy on Sunday morning.
We had a great day at Disneyland on Saturday. Both girls are at a great age for it – Lauren really taking everything in for the first time and being amazed by the magic and Maile old enough to enjoy rollercoasters. Yes! Maile went on every ride in the park with me – it was fantastic. Just look at the joy on her face…
Here are a bunch of other shots from a very fun weekend…
Within minutes of arriving at Disneyland, we had a Minnie sighting - got the girls in the right mood for the fun to come...
Tea cup time!
One of Lauren's classmates was there too so we spent most of the morning running around the park with them.
Jazz Hands!
Maile Girl and I getting ready for Thunder Mountain - no fear!
Action shot of Maile and I on Splash Mountain!
Lauren the Hulk!
Mommy stopped along the way to take a picture with this guy...
... and then we found Mommy!
We were very proud of our Mommy for completing the half marathon!
After the half marathon, we hit Goofy's Kitchen for one last meal and fun with the characters...
Auntie Elyssa & Uncle Stephen sent Lauren some fun clothes for her birthday. The best part of the gift was definitely the new shades. All the ladies had fun trying them on…
Maile Shades
Note the reflection of Lauren not totally thrilled the Maile is trying on her new shades 🙂
Mommy Shades
And, of course, the birthday girl her self (sending along some thank yous)…
It was a bit jet-lagged, middle of the week and rainy – but that didn’t stop us from giving Lauren a “great day” for her 4th birthday, full of some of her favorites. From the waffles in the morning (a special mid-week treat courtesy of a Mommy that woke up early) to an ice cream capper at night (we’ll ignore the classic 4 year old-style melt-down before bed), Lauren made the most of her birthday!
Per tradition, we started the celebration a few days early while we were still in Hawaii with Lauren’s favorite cake – Hello Kitty ice cream cake from Safeway!
Last night Mommy showed off her “handiness” by putting together the bike that Grandma and Papa Boston sent over. To say Lauren was overjoyed with her new ride is an understatement – I have a feeling she is going to put some serious miles on that thing before its all said and done!
I took a few snaps throughout the day – here are some of the highlights…
Did Lauren hear Mommy stirring when she got up early to make waffles? Of course she did ... and was rewarded with some quality time cuddling and book reading before the day really got going.
Lauren on her new bike - its raining, but she can't wait to get out and take it for a spin! Thank you Grandma and Papa Boston!
After two weeks of seeing them every day, Lauren really misses Grandma and Papa Hawaii - so a breakfast FaceTime was a special treat to start the day...
At night, Lauren picked our dinner and we headed to Japantown for some noodles - we were very excited and quite pleased to have every one taking her lead...
Noodles. Are. The. Best.
And here it is. Lauren at 4. Our little tyrant of a goofball. Love her.
And the capper was the frozen yogurt. A fun end to a fun day!
With Lauren fast approaching 4 years old, she’s started talking more and more about wanting to ride a “real” bike like her big sister – with pedals and everything. (Spoiler alert: she’s going to be very excited when she sees what Grandma and Papa Boston got her for her birthday 🙂
The family across the street had a Paw Patrol bike for their son and all week Lauren has been eyeing it enviously. With her older sister and cousins headed to the track for some running, we decided to walk over and ask if we could borrow for a spin. They had a balance bike too (just like her red one at home), but Lauren was emphatic that she wanted to give this whole “pedals, no training wheels” thing a shot. I was game too, so we loaded the bike in the car and headed over to the track.
Our little bike rider and a very proud daddy!
Well, I think its safe to say that Lauren’s time on the balance bike paid off because I barely needed to do anything before she was up and riding without any help from me. It took her a few minutes to get the pedaling motion down and she still felt the need to stop every once in awhile, but her balance was great and within about 10 minutes she was pedaling like demon all around the track. (BTW – track was an awesome place to do some bike riding practice!)
Here’s a video pretty early on in our practice session…
And then a short while after that she was already off on her own…
Very proud of our little girl! She’ll be burning up the streets in SF when we get home for sure…
(Click here for the first video.)
(Click here for the second video.)
With Lauren fast approaching four, we are now in the sweet spot for Santa visits. No one is scared and every one is looking forward to him stopping bye for a quick hello while on his rounds. This afternoon the girls were playing around the house when all of a sudden there was a knock at the door…
Maile, in particular, was very concerned because Papa Cal had been running errands the past couple of years when Santa came by to visit. Luckily, this year he was in the house and got to say his hellos!
Katie and Santa
Emily and Santa
Maile and Santa
Lauren and Santa
One last group shot before Santa was off to visit some other children...
