We spent the weekend in Tahoe/Reno since the kids had an extra long weekend due to MLK holiday. They got to go snowtubing and skiing for the first time. I was worried at first that there wouldn’t be any snow since it hasn’t been raining, but there was plenty at the resort. We spent all of Saturday snowtubing and then went back on Sunday before heading home so the kids could try out skiing.

Nat built a snowman

We stayed in Reno cause the hotels were cheaper. The kids got to go to Circus Circus to play some games

Tyler tried out snowboarding too

Yesterday Nat, Theresa, and I got up at 6am to go to a Hello Kitty Warehouse sale in SF. The sale was starting at 9am but I wanted to get there early based on past experience. When we got there, there were 3 other ladies there but they weren’t in line, instead just sitting around having breakfast. I was so surprised no one was in line yet. We got there around 7:15.

Nat first in line

The line that formed behind us by 9am

The sale was inside a hotel event room. There were boxes and boxes of stuff to be sold at 70% off or more.

They let too many people inside at once and the place got crazy! Good thing we were one of the first in. Nat moved around easily because she was small. In the end we ended buying way too much. I have a lot of birthday and Christmas present inventory!

Nat had a blast at the sale. While this wasn’t her first time (I brought her once 7 years ago), it’s the first she can remember. Last night she said to me, “Today was awesome!”

Kaiya and Sienna came over for a sleepover yesterday. They are in town visiting their grandparents in Marin. This was Sienna’s first sleep over and she did really well. Natalie and Tyler have been looking forward to their visit all week. Both girls wanted Nat’s attention. At night she had to sleep in between them cause they both wanted to be next to her.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant to celebrate Big Uncle’s birthday. The kids enjoyed eating his free birthday cake.

The girls had fun taking a bubble bath together

This morning I took the kids to Chuck E Cheeses for some play time.

After that we drove to the city to meet Auntie Marissa so she could take Kaiya and Sienna back. We had lunch in Japan Town.

I know, I haven’t blogged about Christmas yet. I’ll get around to it soon! I have a lot of pictures to sort through.

It’s New Year’s Eve. As with the last few years, we had dinner at Yee Po’s house hoping the stay til midnight, but we don’t make it as usual and home by 10:30 this year. It’s almost 11pm and the kids are still awake. We’re watching the countdown on TV, but I’m not sure they’ll still be awake. HAPPY NEW YEAR! Thanks for reading my blog.

Nat had her first piano recital this past Saturday. She has picked up piano pretty quickly. She and Tyler started lessons in June if this year. Her teacher said she was ready for a recital and assigned her two songs to play. One was a duet with the teacher.

David took the kids to go fishing with Uncle Way, Kaiya, and Sienna over Thanksgiving weekend at Pyramid lake. Uncle Way’s boat fit all 6 of them! Nat caught a teeny tiny fishy and Uncle Way caught a small but edible fish. The kids had fun taking turns steering the boat.

Today was Tyler’s football playoffs. Each team played 3 games and depending on how those went, they could move on to the semi-finals and finals. Tyler’s team won 2 out of 3 games and tied one. In the third game, Tyler pulled a game saving flag which helped them get into the semi-finals. His team ended up winning both semi-final and final games! The boys were really excited and put in a lot of energy today. We were on the field for over 4 hours.

The kids had some friends over yesterday for a play date. Nat wanted to go ice skating so I invited one of Tyler’s friends so he would have someone to play with too. We had lunch at In-n-Out and then headed over to Sharks Ice for some ice skating fun. It was a long day, but the kids had a really good time together. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone ice skating, but I haven’t forgotten. It’s like riding a bike, once you learn, you don’t forget!

Tyler fell and scraped his chin 🙁 I didn’t see him fall, but he skated over to me and was crying. I saw blood and got worried! I took him out to rinse his mouth — I think he bit his lip, and we rested for a few minutes and then he went back in.

Hot chocolate break

Nat decided to make her costume this year. She got some help from Birdie and Theresa and together they made Nat’s costume. Tyler decided last minute he wanted to be a pirate and luckily we found a costume a Costco.

This year Tyler went trick or treating with his friend so it was just the girls with us.

After school, I brought the kids to David’s office for some Halloween fun.

We brought the kids to the pumpkin patch this weekend to pick out their pumpkins. Saturday was hosted by our school so we saw a few friends there. Hayden and Mason came too and enjoyed playing in the pumpkin patch.