Dane's Farm and Dairy, here we come!

The last field trip of the school year for both Peter and Natalie was to Dane's Farm and Dane's Dairy. Sam was able to go with Natalie and her class. She was so happy that Daddy was there!
Here's Natalie with her field trip buddy, Mackenzie. Don't they look super excited?!

The day was beautiful for the outdoor field trip! The class got to see so many different animals like a donkey, chickens, sheep, a calf, mini horse (not sure the technical name), and alpacas!

A class picture in front of Farmer Herky!

A sweet end to the field trip was ice cream cones from Dane's Dairy.

As always, Natalie with Thomas!

Is that a mini hand holding I spot!? :)
Nothing could be sweeter...well, except the bus ride home with sixteen 3- & 4-year olds on a sugar high!

The very next day was field trip day for Peter's class. They were not so lucky with the weather as it turned cold and rainy. That didn't damper my group of boys that were assigned to me.
Peter B., Peter K., and Jack...all ready to go!

Hello, Farmer Herky!

Classic me, I forgot to grab Peter's jacket for the cooler weather. That's him wearing my black jacket...if only I had some thick rimmed glasses and a magic wand, I could've had a Harry Potter on my hands!

Peter really loved it when the peacock flew on top of the roof.

This sweet calf enjoyed the attention!

Despite the rain and cold air, all the kids ate their ice cream, some shivering more than others!

The Bear class ready for the trip back to school!

Great time had by all!

Mother's Day 2010

We celebrated Mother's Day a week early this year. Sam would have the luck of having a conference in Seattle over Mother's Day weekend. So, we made the best of it.

We started the morning with my favorite: Sunday brunch at Iowa River Power Restaurant! It's my absolute favorite in town. The fact that mimosas and kids under 5 are free makes it an even sweeter place in my heart! :)

After we ate enough to last us the entire day, we took a stroll across the bridge next to the restaurant over the Iowa River. The kids really enjoy the walk on the bridge...

...well, almost all the kids. Elaine could see the roaring river through the cracks of the bridge planks and froze in fear. She wouldn't move without holding someone's hand. Even then, she was a little hesitant. I found this unexpected from our resident daredevil!

Elaine definitely wasn't thrilled about the waters below!

I snapped the next photo in awe that my kids would be so interested in reading about the fossil stones found near that area. Afterwards, I found out that they were actually watching these tiny red bugs crawling along the plaque! :)

At the end of the bridge, we were greeted by a giant dragonfly.

Peter hitched a ride with Daddy back across the bridge while I had Elaine hanging onto my pants for dear life! Literally, as I clicked this photo, my pants were at a dangerously low level! Next time, I will remember a belt!

We relaxed the rest of the day at home. By the end of the day, we saw a great rainbow in our backyard. If you look closely, there's actually two rainbows...one to the left of the main one.

It was a beautiful end to my special day!

Spring brings interesting things

From clearing a spot in our garden patch,
take a close look at my catch!

Natalie wasn't so sure
she wanted it near her.

Peter was the typical boy,
and was overjoyed with our new toy.

The creature curled up into a little ball,
probably because it didn't like us at all.

Then it found the courage to seize the day,
as we watched it inch away!

Apparently, spring also brings
a little rhyming to my blogging!

Breakfast at preschool

Each year the kids' preschool hold a continental breakfast for parents, siblings and kids. It's a great time to see their rooms filled with art projects and meet other kids and families. It also is a good time to load up on the sugar with those yummy pastries! I admit, I had at least three of them! I thought that was terrible of me until Peter yelled, "Mommy! THIS IS MY FOURTH ONE!"

I was happy to leave him in the care of his teachers to handle the sugar rush and to pick him up at the crash (hoping for a nap).

Natalie is such a lady when she eats!

It's about impossible to get the three kids to smile at the camera at the same time! This is as good as it gets!

Expanding our toy horizons

The invasion has begun...new toys are entering our lives. Remember the days of colored blocks, Leapfrog caterpillar, and Thomas trains? They're slowly becoming a distant memory as the kids grow older. Fisher Price is hanging on by a thread aka Elaine. As Peter is getting closer to 6 years old (sniff sniff) and Natalie is starting her 4th year (sniff sniff), their interests have expanded to a new level of toys.

Let me introduce to you, Legos! Peter has always enjoyed building towers. I guess Legos have also been in our lives for years with those mega blocks...at least since 2007:

Then last fall, I just had to take the kids to their first Lego store on Magnificent Mile in Chicago:

Can you feel the excitement?
And how cool was it to build his first Lego model (Anakin's skyfighter)!?:

Now after Mommy went to the Lego Outlet store in Atlanta with Ai-Yoo and Po-Po, our house is filled with Lego building blocks with SO many possibilities.

I have to admit, I enjoyed building the beach house model with Peter to the point that I waited until they went to bed to build the another model house! The kit from Po-Po has 3 house plans! I can almost see myself old and grey putting Lego models together with my huge magnifying glass and all!

And let us not forget that I mentioned a trip to the American Girl store. Po-Po was caught up in the frenzy and got a Itty Baby Twin girl for Natalie, her very first American Girl doll. Most likely, it'll be her only after I saw the price tags on these dolls! Yowza! I loved the fact the doll resembles Elaine and it'd be like Natalie taking care of a baby Elaine. Natalie, on the other hand, loved the fact the doll had underpants too! :) The girl has her special priorities!

Happy Birthday Po-Po weekend in Atlanta

Elaine and I flew down to Atlanta last weekend to celebrate my mom's 68th birthday on April 12th. Because Elaine is under 2 and could be a lap baby on the plane, she was the best candidate to join me! Nothing beats a free plane ride for a child! It was exciting for her!

In no time after landing and getting greeted by my family, Elaine absorbed lots of attention and received many gifts. Po-Po gave her new shoes and a new dress, which Elaine totally loved. She really enjoyed showing off her new shoes by striking a model-like pose.

The two days in Atlanta went by very quickly, but we still managed to see and eat a lot! First stop was the Lego outlet store. It was about the coolest store for any kid and adult! So many blocks with many more opportunities! You can even build a huge Lego kid! Elaine couldn't resist his eyes!

For lunch, we went to The Lobster House, which actually had a wonderfully large sushi buffet. It was so so good! We ate more than our bodies needed, so we walked it off at a nearby mall. To my niece Alysa's great excitement, we made a long stop at the American Girl store. That place was madness!
Elaine had so much fun with Po-Po. This picture about says it all!

Po-Po even gave Elaine her first manicure. Elaine's nails were so tiny, Po-Po had to pull out the reading glasses to see them! :) Not my first pick of colors, but lime green was a huge hit with Elaine!

We enjoyed a home-cooked meal and a Cheesecake Factory cake for the birthday celebration.

Alysa and Alex gave a mini concert playing the Chinese musical instruments they're learning to play. Elaine was very interested in both of them. Anyone in Iowa City giving lessons?

More fun family times filled the weekend with a trip to Chinatown...Anthony and Elaine in the Chinese garden area.

No sibling rivalry, just love, during an outting to Rita's. Everyone is always happier after custard and Italian ice, right?

Something about watching baby eat an ice cream cone is just so fascinating.

Art time with cousin Alysa.

QT with my dad's African Grey Parrot, Doong Doong.
My mom loves giving him head scratches.

Many laughs and smiles before we headed back to the airport.

Many laughs were provided by Ai-yee. The least Elaine could have done is say "Ai-Yee", but we're still working on that! Promise!

No trip to Atlanta would be complete without have a yummy plate of Masaman Chicken Curry...

at my favorite restaurant of all time, Thai Chili!

New life to old slide

I found a little treasure in the pool area: a play structure. It was being used to store some pool tubing. It looked neglected and forgotten. I saw a new toy for the kids. As luck would have it, the slide to the structure was in the garage storage room. So, with a little TLC, this play structure got its new life...as well as new playmates.