Christmas fun

It wasn't intended for Kai, but Kai has enjoyed the Wii Fit--it's a bit easier to manage than the Wiimote. You can tell he was into it, but still needed a touch of help. And of course when the girls get into it, Kai just follows along.

From 2009.12

Our creative side

Enjoying some painting recently. Kai usually prefers the left hand, but this time he used the right. Not that it matters--the paintings look about the same either way. He's getting ready for a new art class that starts in a couple weeks. Don't ask me where the Hello Kitty apron came from!

From 2009.12

Nike Employee Store

We were able to visit the Nike employee store lately. The Tiger Woods' golf section had limited activity. It felt as if people purposefully were walking around it, willing to suffer through aisle congestion to avoid that area as if it may contain communicable diseases.

Oregon's newest state park

We enjoyed some fresh air on Sunday. Kai mostly loved following the bigger kids around, but he was in a good mood and gave us some nice smiles.

From 2009.11

Zoo Lights

Kai was ecstatic to check out the ZooLights. We had a bit of trouble keeping him out of the displays. Never fun when you hear the other parents tell their kids, "just because he is doing it doesn't mean you can too!"

From 2009.11

Look, no hands!

Next up: chopsticks.

From 2009.11

Boys day off

Had a day off last Wednesday--a perfect day to hit the slopes and work up some appetite for turkey.

From 2009.11

OMSI

Kai recently enjoyed a trip to OMSI. Air-powered rockets, laser lights, and a submarine equal good fun.

From 2009.11

Under the weather

Kai picked up a cold (and passed it on to me, thank you). So he got some special treatment recently. Does it look like he was pulling our chain? Don't tell me they learn this trick at age 2! (Okay, ignore the shadows of the nose crust.)

From 2009.11

Saturday Farmer's Market

Kai enjoying a recent visit to the farmer's market. They ran out of orange balloons, so we had to settle for a monkey hat instead of a pumpkin hat.

From 2009.10	From 2009.10

Trick-or-Treat

I'm sure Kai is counting down to the next Halloween already. Kai was desperate for nightfall so he could get some candy. He loved touring the neighborhood (avoiding those in scary costumes) and handing out candy once we were back at home.

Here is telling us to get on with it, "Enough with the pictures already, let's go!"

From 2009.10

A friend came over to Trick-or-Treat with Kai. Here's a hint of the back and forth that ensued at each house as they jockeyed to ring the doorbell and be the first recipient of some processed sugar.

From 2009.10

Halloween Parade

Kai's school arranged a Halloween parade yesterday. A fun time had by all with one exception--one youngster was frightened by another roaring in his green dragon costume!

From 2009.10

The couch potato

We do all we can to prevent Kai from catching the tube save getting rid of it altogether, but he gets his time in here and there. Here he is all decked out and ready for what appears will be an afternoon on the couch--blanket, drink, playdoh and of course the remotes.

From 2009.10

Aloha

Just back from Hawaii--our first real vacation with Kai. The stars from Mauna Kea, Mauna Kea Beach, and Kai rockin' it on the ukulele...what more could we ask for?

Next up: Hood

Busy day today. Hit the playground early. Climbing walls and vertical structures were the last frontiers on the playground--Kai is mastering them now. No need to stand so close to catch the inevitable fall any longer.

Vancouver, eh?

Yes, Hong finally got her wish--a trip to Vancouver, B.C. Apparently Vancouver, WA doesn't have the same attraction. And now I know why--Vancouver brings the Far East to the West. That should have made for some great Asian cuisine, but alas, the hot pot restaurants don't accept parties of 3--phooey. We had a good time nonetheless. Here's Kai at the aquarium. See all the pics.

Bridge Pedal 2009

Yeah, yeah, we did all the pedaling, but Kai enjoyed the ride. How couldn't he back there? He had snacks, toys and a comfy seat. This was at the beginning when the trailer was still in order. By the end, he had easy access to everything without so much as moving.

Bear hugs

Here's Kai in jail for the bear hug he put on Matilda today. It's the second time in two days Kai scared the recipient of one of his bear hugs--yesterday it was Ian.

Oaks Park

My company's picnic was at Oaks Park this week. It was Kai's second trip. He and Matilda had a great time on a handful of rides. The only surprise was the kids' viking ship which unexpectedly starting spinning (after it was too late to get out of course!)--Kai was wobbly afterwards, but got off still asking for more.

Two, Three, Seven, Nine

Kai's favorite numbers start with two. Maybe because he just turned two! We had a small party at the park which Kai thoroughly enjoyed. The Elmo pinata left a bit to be desired, but the kids had fun inventing their own ways to "open" it.

Curious George...close relative?

Kai has always loved climbing...lately it's trees.

He's getting cuter all the time. I realized that I have a habit of saying "Be nice!" when he hits me. Today, when I was changing his diaper against his will, guess what he said? "Be nice!"

Ah, summer!

The summer weather in the Pacific Northwest has been fabulous as usual. We've been busy lately. Playing at the beach, picking berries, hiking the trails, even riding bikes. We also found a used bike trailer so Kai can enjoy a free ride while he's still small enough. Check out a few other pics.

Kai's first camping trip

Kai and family and friends ventured to Central Oregon for his first camping trip. Highlights included the mountains, the Painted Hills and Smith Rock. We stayed in a yurt at Tumalo State Park near Bend. Kai loved throwing pine cones, wading in the Deschutes and the live music at one of the coffee shops. For the most part, the trip was a success. A slight slip on the Misery Ridge trail near Smith Rock was our only mishap--I'm sure Hong is saying "I told you so!" See the other pics.

Back to our roots...

Kai visited the Midwest for the first time last week. It brought a handful of firsts including a ride on the MAX, meeting the cousins, a visit to Kings Island and a 3-way.



Kai again turned out to be a good traveler. He managed the fiasco that was our return trip better than could be expected despite the fact that it took us to six states (Ohio, Indiana, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Oregon) in a single day.

Check out the other pics.

Day at the beach...

I know what you're thinking... Sunshine, swimsuits, and a leisurely day at the beach. Nope. Try winter clothing for Kai (and goosebumps for the rest of us) and enough wind to blow sand in your eyes. At least the sunshine part was correct.

Kai did like playing in the sand, but his favorite activity of the day was hanging out of the sunroof (while we were parked of course). As usual, we have a much easier time catching Kai's serious face than his silly face. See more pics.

Thumbs up, dude

Yes, we recently learned the thumbs up. And enjoyed a "walk in the park." I can now vouch that carrying a 30 pound munchkin plus gear for 6.8 miles with 2,000 feet of net elevation gain carries consequences. Other pics also posted.

Need to ask Sree if we can post the GPS data/graphs.

The zoo

We finally made it to the zoo. But only after some persistence. And a long wait to find a parking spot. Next time we'll be parking at Sunset and taking the train.

New pics...

A recent attempt to visit the zoo was thwarted, but we managed enough fun anyway...

ABCs

Here we are working on the ABCs...on a good day we can make it to Z, but some of the letters still sound similar (e.g. 'D' like 'B').

Blowing kisses

Finally got around to uploading some more video. We've been busy as of late. Kai is learning things faster than I can keep track of them these days. He's working on shapes and colors and loves puzzles.

The cow's "moo" sound is mastered, but for lions/tigers/bears it's a big open mouth with just heaving breathing noises. We heard the first real sentences in both English and Mandarin. In English it was, "I see Mama." In Mandarin it was, "this is my sister."

Another favorite activity of late is "reading" books to Elmo (or trying to get the big Elmo doll to read a book to the baby Elmo doll).

The paparazzi...

 While in China, we experienced a different kind of paparazzi. But this is Kai trying to deal with the local paparazzi...aka Mom.

On the topic of pictures, we're on our fourth camera in two months. Can't seem to find one that consistently takes good pictures. We started out with Canon, but eventually Hong's Sony bias took over. We're on the second Sony, and it too may be on it's way back to the store.

We're not selling anything...

 Kai loves appoaching neighbor's houses. This friendly neighbor even has a "No Soliciting" sign, but that was no deterrent to Kai. If you see us coming, no worries...we're just out to say "Hello!" And if you're not home, we might just use your front step to take a rest.

Another snow day

Not quite as much tubing as we'd have liked, but we got our feet wet.

A few more pics are posted as well.

Roll call

Found (humor) in translation

Yes, this is a roll of TP...





This ad was on the side of a number of ice cream stands around the city...


An item slightly out of place in the young children's DVD isle...


My personal favorite...Mickey cheering you on in a game of Whac-A-Mole. I'm told there's actually an advertisement for a brokerage on the game and it roughly translates to "risk free investment, join today."

Please, no chicken feet

Our friend Nic was asking about the food in China, so I promised to take a few photos for him. Here is a food mall we ate at--a stretch of maybe 40 restaurants or so. Each has one or two folks out front to try to sell you on the idea of eating at their joint. It looks a little sketchy, but the food is good. Of course I'd recommend not drinking the tap water. And taking Hong's mom along to sterilize your eating utensils probably helps too.

It's true that food in China is much better than Chinese food in the U.S. The opposite is true as well--American food is much better here than in China. I admit that we ate at Pizza Hut--it was terrible. Hong's dad also

got us McD's for breakfast one day and I couldn't bring myself to eat it.