Maile & Grandma Jill’s Dinner Party

by Papa K on August 10, 2016

(Dad note: Apologies for the long delay on posts! Maile and I traveled back to Boston last Wednesday and over the weekend I was riding in the PMC. Between the ride, work and lots of travel, I’ve been behind on my posts – sorry!)

Maile is spending a couple weeks in Boston staying with Grandma and Papa. Its quite an adventure for Maile Girl and so far she is doing great and having a blast. When Grandma heard that Maile went to cooking camp earlier this summer she had the great idea to have Maile throw a dinner party when she came to town.

They sent to work soon after we arrived, picking out recipes, making centerpieces and placemats, and then, of course, all the prep and cooking. They spent two afternoons in the kitchen getting everything ready – including vegetable crudite appetizers with an herb dip, sloppy joes and a crumble for dessert. Grandma even showed her how to make radish flowers!

Prep, prep, prep!

Prep, prep, prep!

Showing off her radish flower!

Showing off her radish flower!

Sloppy Joe, Slop, Sloppy Joe...

Sloppy Joe, Slop, Sloppy Joe...

The chef with her guests, Nancy and Andrew

The chef with her guests, Nancy and Andrew

At the dinner table, ready to dig in!

At the dinner table, ready to dig in!

The funny thing about this chef is while she loves cooking, she still sometimes is picky when eating :)

The funny thing about this chef is while she loves cooking, she still sometimes is picky when eating 🙂

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American Ninja Warrior with Maile & Lauren

by Papa K on August 1, 2016

This summer, we’ve been watching (and enjoying) American Ninja Warrior as a family. The girls are really in to it – and Christine and I like it, particularly how while they are competing, they are root for each other and more often than not, they don’t make it all the way through, but they still come away positive and ready for more.

On Saturday, we decided to head to the park and make up our own Ninja Warrior training course. Unfortunately, the video stopped right as we got going, but I got a few other pictures along the way…

Second obstacle was getting across this net without touching the ground...

Second obstacle was getting across this net without touching the ground...

... Lauren wasn't going to let her big sister have all the fun!

... Lauren wasn't going to let her big sister have all the fun!

Going all the way to the top of the rope ladder...

Going all the way to the top of the rope ladder...

Lauren grunts it out...

Lauren grunts it out...

(Click here for the video.)

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A Big Night

by Papa K on July 28, 2016

We’ve started talking to the girls (Maile in particular) more and more about the election. Tonight we started watching Chelsea’s speech and Maile was into it for awhile, but then got a bit bored so we stopped it. The girls headed to bed and Christine and I started watching Hillary’s speech. We had it on a little too loud, so Maile popped out, Lauren soon followed and we invited them to watch a bit with us.

Maile and Lauren were there watching when Hillary accepted the nomination!

Maile and Lauren were there watching when Hillary accepted the nomination!

Taking it all in...

Taking it all in...

They didn’t make it for the whole speech, but that’s okay. We’ll share more later. When I brought Maile to bed, I knelt down and told her that she can do anything she wants, where ever her dreams might take her.

I think she believed me.

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Maile’s 7th Birthday Pool Party

by Papa K on July 26, 2016

On Sunday, we headed out to a community pool in San Rafael to celebrate Maile’s 7th birthday. San Rafael is about 40 minutes outside the city over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was the perfect day for a pool party – when we left the city, it was a normal 59 degree San Francisco summer day – but out in San Rafael it hit 90!

We had a blast spending the afternoon in and out of the pool with friends – so much fun, we didn’t take too many pictures or videos – but here’s a few we snagged along the way…

We arrived early and Maile and Lauren probably ate half the watermelon before their friends arrived...

We arrived early and Maile and Lauren probably ate half the watermelon before their friends arrived...

Goofing around in the pool...

Goofing around in the pool...

Lauren had her BFF Elena there to keep her entertained.

Lauren had her BFF Elena there to keep her entertained.

Maile shared her celebration with her friend Aiden

Maile shared her celebration with her friend Aiden

Happy Birthday, Maile Girl!

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Maile’s Final Show at Muscial Theater Workshop Summer Camp

by Papa K on July 25, 2016

Maile spent the last two weeks at Musical Theater Workshop camp and last Friday they held their final performance. She had an absolute blast – not a big surprise at this point, but Maile Girl definitely enjoys being on stage 🙂 The performance was fantastic and I’ve included clips below for your viewing pleasure – if you don’t want to watch them all, I recommend the last one – What A Wonderful World, complete with sign language – I have to say after all the craziness going on with the convention last week and everything else, was kind of nice to sit there and watch the kids sing a song like that…

Featuring Maile Girl, one of the stars of the show!

Featuring Maile Girl, one of the stars of the show!

First up, “It’s A Small World”…

Next, Maile and crew set the stage for the show with some narration.

“Let’s Go Fly A Kite” from Mary Poppins…

Learning to sing, “do re mi”…

Do you have worries? Hakuna Matata!

Maile’s big role was the “king” in the “King & I”…

From under the sea Aladdin’s magical carpet (h/t to Christine for correcting my lack of Disney knowledge here), “A Whole New World”…

And the finale, “What A Wonderful World” with sign language accompaniment…

It really was a great show and a wonderful couple of weeks that I think really awakened a love for Maile for theater – will be keeping an eye out for more opportunities for her to participate.

(Click herefor the first video.)
(Click here for the second video.)
(Click here for the third video.)
(Click here for the fourth video.)
(Click here for the fifth video.)
(Click here for the sixth video.)
(Click here for the seventh video.)
(Click here for the eighth video.)

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#TBT – Time for one of our favorites…

by Papa K on July 21, 2016

Yes, another birthday for Grandma Jill is in the books and its an opportunity to watch one of my favorite videos with Maile Girl…

We can’t wait to see you in a few weeks and celebrate (minus the tears 🙂

Love all of us!

(Click here for the video.)

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Lauren Learns to Find Her Name

by Papa K on July 19, 2016

At camp/school, Lauren is starting to learn to find her name. Christine caught her first attempt on video. I remember this being a fun process with Maile that really starts to ramp up – first the circles, then before you know it she’s writing her name in English (and Chinese!)

So many names...

So many names...

Fun to watch that little mind working 🙂

(Click here for the video.)

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A Swimming Graduate!

by Papa K on July 17, 2016

Big milestone today for Maile Girl – she earned her Level 4 ribbon at La Petite Baleen which means she has fully graduated from their learning to swim program!

The proud swimming graduate!

The proud swimming graduate!

We went looking back at old pictures and Christine realized that it was almost exactly 3 years ago that we started the program.

Yeah, she’s come a long way…

(Click here for the video.)

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Making Empanadas with Maile & Lauren

by Papa K on July 13, 2016

When Maile was at her cooking camp a couple weeks ago, she learned how to make empanadas filled with apples. We had a picnic for Mommy’s work on Sunday, so we decided to give the recipe a shot – it was a family affair in the kitchen (and I have to say, they came out quite tasty!)

Maile and Lauren led the way while Mommy and I play sous chefs.

Maile and Lauren led the way while Mommy and I play sous chefs.

Here’s Maile Girl showing off her technique…

(Click here for the video.)

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7

by Papa K on July 11, 2016

Maile Girl on her 7th birthday

Maile Girl on her 7th birthday

And then, just like that, she was seven.

She has a big ol’ hole in her mouth where an absolute monster of a tooth is working its way in. I love her.

She keeps Christine and I on our toes – she hears everything, remembers more and her logic will twist you in knots (and even when she is patently, blatantly, completely wrong – she’ll wiggle and work to find a way to the light). I love her.

She’s the most cuddly little girl ever – perhaps watching TV is bad, but nothing can be this bad when you have this little munchkin curled up by your side. I love her.

Give her a few minutes in a new place and she’ll make a friend. Leave her for a few hours and there will be hugs on the way out the door. I love her.

She still gets scared by cartoons made for 3 year olds. I love her.

Yet, she gets braver every day on her bike and running, jumping, exploring this great big city. I love her.

She’ll sit down and work on a project for hours and creates things that baffle and amaze me. I love her.

This weekend I gave her a new book about coding and she carried it around with her all day long. I love her.

She can be the best, most caring, most loving, most fun big sister in the whole world. And sometimes she’s not. I love her.

She grew up so much this year – she developed these things called emotions and they ran wild on her – she worked so hard to try to figure it all out – and she is doing an amazing job. I love her.

It’s getting hard to remember the times before she was with us … and that’s just okay by me.

I love her.

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