Beach day!

A day at Venice Beach was just what Micah needed!  Even though the cast was taken off yesterday, Micah kept asking me if he could get his arm wet and if he could touch the sand.  Poor guy... I guess having the cast on for three weeks really affected him.  It was so nice to watch him play, splash, and even get on the boogie board while I dragged him around.  When will we head back to the beach???

Freedom!

We have been counting down the days to Micah's cast removal.  It's been pretty difficult keeping this cast dry (we already had to go in and change it once) and I'm just really glad that Micah can now enjoy his final days of summer.  The cast removal was pretty quick and his x-rays looked great.  What will Micah want to do now that his arm is free???

Color Me Mine

Color Me Mine was another activity that Micah could participate in with his cast!  I can not wait  until tomorrow when we can finally take the cast off.  What will his arm look like???

Who Am I?

Jawsh and I went to Back To School Night.  I am so glad that we were both able to attend because we really learned so much more about the school.  When we toured Noah's class, we received a book that Noah worked on for the past few days.  Here are a couple things that Noah shared about himself:

1.  I have a little brother.  His name is Micah.  I was so glad that he mentioned him.
2.  My favorite bugs are spiders. I like the fastest ones.  They are blue.  I did not know this!!!
3.  I like playing with my legos.  I like to watch movies.  I like going to the Lego store with Mom and Dad.  I knew this!
4.  When I grow up I want to be... I'm figuring that out... like a Ninja!  Really?  What happened to all our talks about becoming a real estate developer or surgeon???
5.  I like to eat watermelon, grapes, bananas, pizza, and ice cream.  This sounds about right!
6.  I like going on the monkey bars and I like playing handball.  What handball?!?  This is a new kinder thing for sure!

What else will we learn about Noah this year???

Cat by Noah

Noah is now taking Korean language class on Monday and Wednesday afternoon for two hours.  At first, I was concerned this was a long time for him (especially after school).  But I saw that his class does a lot of art while learning the sounds of the alphabet.  And it turns out, going to Korean School is his favorite part of the day.  He likes being in his class and he made the observation that he is the only "half Korean" boy in the class and that everybody else understands what the teacher is saying except for him.  This made me feel a little bad because I could be speaking to him more in Korean, but Noah is resilient and he told me, "If I don't understand what the teacher is saying, I just say, excuse me can you say it in English?"  And after checking in with his teacher, she said he was "doing fine and says excuse me a lot."  Will Noah learn how to read Korean better than me???

34

Today is my birthday.  But now that Noah is in school, I just went about the usual business of dropping off and picking up.  Micah and I did enjoy one of my favorite salads at Nordstrom and then we went to eat Korean food for dinner.   34... what will this year bring???

Fourth tooth

Noah lost his fourth tooth in the back seat of the car!  I was talking to someone after school next to the car while the kids were getting in.  Noah, trying to get my attention, flailed his arm, which hit  his own chin, and then his tooth fell out!  Then he really needed to get my attention because he wanted to get out and show his teacher, Cathy, who was still at the gate!  The lower right lateral incisor is out!  I can't believe this is #4 baby tooth!  Here we are later that night celebrating with a milkshake.  When are those top teeth going to come out???

Storytime

Who said story time could only be at the library?  Today we were at the mall where they had a kid's program set up with story tellers, tattoo artists, and crafts for kids.  Micah really liked his stars and he also wrote his name on his pencil bag (I assisted him with the "a" and the "h").  What other activities can I find that qualifies as "cast-friendly"?

Cast friendly activity

This is an oldie and a goodie... baking chocolate chip cookies with mom.  Micah enjoyed helping me measure out ingredients, but I think he enjoyed eating the cookie a bit more.  Look at that smile, wouldn't you agree???

First day of kindergarten

Noah has been anticipating this day for a while.  He woke up to find a kick-off to kindergarten present, a book entitled "Kindergarten," a card explaining all the fun things that happen there, and a new Ninjago backpack and lunchpail.  Noah was excited but you could also see that he was apprehensive.  We walked him to the yard where he saw some familiar faces (from a kinder playdate a few weeks prior) and then his teachers came and they were off.  He didn't cry and was fine walking to class.  I teared up just a bit, but we are thrilled that Noah is in this school and feel so lucky that he can be part of this community.  What will his first day of school be like???

Storybook cooking

Noah starts Kindergarten tomorrow and Micah starts preschool in three weeks, so we decided to enroll Micah in some classes so he had some things to do while Noah is in school.  One of the classes we enrolled him in is called, Storybook Cooking.  His teacher, Julia, reads books and then does an activity with food.  Today they read, "How Are You Peeling?" and then made fruit kabobs (notice Micah's cast covered).  She invited Noah to join in since he was there watching.  I wonder if Micah will like this class???

Legoland

Do wishes come true???  If you were to ask Noah and Micah their answers would be a resounding, "yes!"  Today we went to Legoland with Grandpa Barry and Grandma Lauren.  Since we slept at the Sheraton Hotel (and used the private entrance that connects to the park) we arrived bright and early.  The boys got to ride the most popular rides and we really liked seeing all the Lego creations.  Grandpa Barry and Noah went on some exciting rides that had them in the air and Micah loved getting on his first roller coaster, The Dragon.  A great day... hot... but nontheless great!  What will the boys wish for next???

First cast

With the cast comes some changes...  for instance, it's not waterproof so we have to cover it up at all times when Micah is eating, in the bathroom, washing hands, and don't get me started on the bathing.  And although we were planning on separating the boys' beds soon (the mattresses were directly next to each other) now that he has a cast on, we needed there to be more space.  Noah was thrilled, Micah not so much.  So Micah received a hypoallergenic bear at Build-A-Bear and then promptly chose to cover the bear up in Spiderman gear and then name him "Spiderman."  Oh and let's not forget his accessory, a sling!  So Micah is now sleeping with Spiderman and they both have their arms wrapped up.  Isn't that darling???

Goodbye Summer Sounds

We went to the last Hollywood Bowl Summer Sounds performance, featuring Trio Ellas, a mariachi band comprised of three women in tall red heels.  It was the perfect remedy to lift my spirits (and Micah's spirits).  Music has a way of touching the soul and I was seriously feeling so upset by what happened yesterday, that it helped to take my mind off of it.  The boys enjoyed the character of Mr. K and wanted to take this picture.  What cultural music will they feature next year???

The first fracture...

and hopefully the last. We were at the Petersen Museum racing Hot Wheels on the track.  The boys would run back and forth to hand me cars to drop down the track (too high for the kids to reach) and on one of the runs, Micah fell.  He fell bad.  He started wailing and screaming.  I knew he was upset but I didn't think anything like a fracture had happened at this point.  He calmed down considerably, but was still crying and even the offer of a milkshake didn't help.  I called his doctor's office and also went to urgent care and found through x-rays that he had a distal radius fracture.  My poor baby and his dominant arm!  He's in a splint and sling now and will be casted tomorrow... what are we going to do???

La Brea Tar Pits

We ventured to The Page Museum by default.  I wanted to go to LACMA today to see Levitated Mass but  it was closed.  So, we kept walking east on Wilshire and found ourselves at what Micah calls, "ewww... it stinks here."  We walked by the pits which smells like fresh tar and then walked through the museum.  The kids enjoyed parts of it but they were eager to head to the Petersen Museum... when will they want to go back???

The adventure continues...

The boys and I headed to Venice Beach for a nice afternoon.  Micah got hit by a wave early on so he sat out and Noah started playing with a group of kids who were trying to body surf.  As I was watching Noah, I noticed that he started mimicking the kids and he started body surfing!  He didn't catch every wave but the ones that he did catch were so fun to watch.  It's moments like these that I am reminded how fast time truly passes.  What will Noah learn how to do next???

Filipinotown

We were driving to Ktown from Olvera Street and found ourselves in Historic Filipinotown which makes up the southwest portion of Echo Park.  The boys loved playing at the park where the Gintong Kasaysayan, Gintong Pamana mural is located.  The mural depicts over 5,000 years of Filipino and Filipino American history and it was very beautiful.  I loved the fact that there was no graffiti anywhere inside the park area.  I think Jawsh would love this... when will we go back???

Olvera Street

This is the last week of summer for Noah so we wanted to have some new adventures.  Today we went to Olvera Street and we visited the Avila Adobe which was built in 1818 and is considered the oldest standing residence in LA.  The kids were not that impressed with the house but they loved leaving and heading to Mr. Churro.  It was pretty interesting to see how they preserved the Avila House, when will we head back???

Yum

Peaches off Halmoni's tree... can anything beat that???

Liam

How could anyone not love this face???