Growing up, I knew I always wanted to be a mother. In fact, my goal was to have at least 4 kids. After going through labor with Natalie, I wanted to stop there. But, David and I both agreed that we should have at least two so that Nat would have someone to play with. So we stopped after Tyler. The past couple of weeks, I’ve gotten a good dose of having 4-5 kids. Although, skip to – the twenty somethings. We’ve got David’s niece who’s in between undergrad and grad school living with us and a couple weeks ago, Birdie moved in with us from LA after getting a job up here and can’t afford bay area rent. Then we have Willy who’s still on summer break and recently orphaned (kind of) with her mom traveling in Asia with my mom and her dad (Yee Gong) in the hospital. And then there’s Uncle Chubs, who’s still in So Cal for Pharmacy school, but comes home on occasional weekends for some TLC. My house is full of kids big and small. The dining table is always full. It’s nice taking care of all these “kids”, but I get tired too! Natalie and Tyler love it when people are over at our house. I’m glad they do because I grew up around lots of cousins, uncles, and aunts too. We’re one big happy family

We went to visit Yee Gong today in the hospital and brought him some fish porridge, since he’s finally able to eat solid foods now. Yee Gong’s been in the hospital for a week now due to pancreatitis. He should be going home tomorrow, hopefully!

In the car today the kids were talking about Pokemon. Natalie made some comment about one of the characters.

Tyler: Whoa! How did you know that 姐？
Natalie: I have big sister super powers.

We took Birdie to the city today to do some touristy stuff since the weather was so nice and she hasn’t been to San Francisco since who knows when.

We started the day having clam chowder bread bowls for lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf.

After lunch, we took a boat ride around the bay. We’ve done this several times and it never gets old. For $15 a person, the boat ride is 1 hour and takes you under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz Island. And on a beautiful day like today, it was very worth it! We also got to watch part of the Americas Cup race which was exciting.

Next was crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. The view was spectacular today. David took Birdie and the kids for a walk on the bridge too.

We stopped at Ghiradelli Square by request of Nat and Birdie for some ice cream.

Then headed over to Chinatown to get egg tarts and moon cakes from Golden Gate Bakery.

We ended the day with dinner at a Thai restaurant in Union Square and some shopping!

Nat had fun playing with the camera at UNIQLO

We brought home Po Po’s Jack Lalane juicer from LA and tonight the kids made juice with a variety of fruits and some spinach and kale. Tyler had fun putting fruits into the juicer, but when he saw the spinach and kale, he was not happy! I told him that Jamba Juice does it too so that eased him off.

It was a fun weekend in LA and now we’re back at home. It was so hot and humid in LA, and we had a hard time sleeping, but got through it.

On Saturday we went to Chuck E Cheese for a small birthday party for Sienna. The kids had fun playing together and getting tickets for prizes. They plowed through over 400 coins! Afterwards, we went swimming at Uncle Preeda’s house to cool off.

On Sunday we went swimming at Uncle Steven’s house and then had a nice family dinner at noodle world followed by some yummy cake at home. We celebrated the September birthdays of Uncle Steven, Uncle Tommy, Grace and Meliya.

The road trip back home was pretty smooth. We encountered a little traffic in Gilroy. Good thing we left early!

Natalie and Tyler helped Auntie Tul with the babies last night while David and Uncle J went to Costco to try to buy a couch. Nat really enjoys handling the babies. (It’s in the genes!)

Today was the first day back at school. It really felt like the shortest summer break ever. We didn’t get to do nearly all the fun stuff we wanted to! The kids were excited to go back to school and see their friends and teachers. Both got haircuts over the weekend and we started the first day with new backpacks, new clothes, and new school supplies!

I already can’t wait for next summer break!

Yes this was us last night at Tomi Sushi and Seafood Buffet. Auntie Diana, Uncle Barry, Grace, Meliya, Uncle Steven, Auntie Kitty, and Hunter drove up from LA on Friday night and we were joined by Uncle J, Auntie Tul, the twins, Don, and Bruce. We ate so much food!

Earlier in the day we took the kids to Roaring Camp Railroads and rode the train to Santa Cruz. We spent the afternoon on the beach and enjoyed pizza and snacks and the kids had fun playing in the sand.

David’s company had their annual company picnic today at Saratoga Springs park. Seems like fewer and fewer companies are having summer picnics.

There was a lot of food! The BBQ chicken was particularly good, even Natalie liked it. She had 3 legs!

After lunch, the kids went to the petting zoo and got to pet a bunny, peacock, and some chickens. Tyler had fun on the slides and Nat got a tattoo and Ariel balloon.