After the tree was all decorated we set up the timer on the camera to take some ‘nice’ pictures. As usual we hardly took any nice photos:
We need however manage to take a lot of goofy photos…that all turned out nice:
I guess it is hard to mess up when you are goofing around:
If only we could put in the effort for a nice picture:
But we are too good at taking pictures like this:
Merry Christmas everyone!!
I think this was the first year that the kids could actually help us decorate the Christmas tree. Stacy was doing the low branches:
Jack did the middle:
Aya did the lights and the top section of the tree:
And Jack put the ‘star’ on top this year!
(Yes, Jeff if you are reading, my dad picked up and delivered the tree for us this year…AGAIN…hey, it is tradition!)
This year we participated at the Community Center Undokai Day. It cracks me up because Jack reminds me of the thugs in the original Karate Kid movie that beat up Daniel-San when he wears this outfit:
It was a fun day with various activities for all ages competing against one another:
Even some basketball shooting contests:
And then DODGEBALL!!
My parents needed a family picture for their Christmas card so we went over one night to take pictures:
This one ended up being a good one of our family….too bad we already sent out our xmas cards:
Of course we had our usual photo outtakes:
The other night we heard all these sirens going off and talking on the loudspeaker. It turns out it was the Culver City Police Department with 5 squad cars blaring and a truck pulling Santa. I have seen it in the past but usually it drives by our place. This time it stopped right in front of our place!
I was totally unprepared…I thought they were going to drive away before we got outside and I left my camera at home so a neighbor snapped the picture for us.
Normally we go to Westside Pavillion to take pictures with Santa but this year we happened to be at South Bay Galleria right when the Santa photo booth opened so we took pictures there:
I was able to ‘sneak’ in some pictures of the kids with Santa:
Jack seemed happier playing games:
Of course his DEAL or NO DEAL:
Some air hockey against mom:
Stacy on the other hand wanted to go on the Ferris wheel:
She loved it! Aya not so much. Aya and I rode the London Eye which was way higher but this little Ferris wheel made Aya queasy. Apparently, it goes around too fast for Aya. Good thing we rode it BEFORE we ate our Thanksgiving lunch!
For the last few years before Thanksgiving lunch at Aunty Paul’s house we go to Boomers for a round of miniature golf. Jack was pretty frustrated this year because he isn’t very good at it:
So far Stacy has down pretty well with her eye hand coordination but as you can see golf is not her thing either:
In between the kids are arguing about who gets to go first or who is winning, Aya and I try to play as well:
This year Aya got one hole in one, but I got TWO hole in ones!
The apple does not fall far from the tree! One of my favorite events was when Jack took gymnastics and threw the ring not realizing it was going to swing back and it hit him in the head. It was hilarious!
I was watching Stacy at gymnastics and normally she doesn’t goof around like Jack but today she put the ring around her head:
Sure enough the teacher saw her and told her to take it off but it got stuck around her head:
What’s wrong with these kids???
We celebrated Jack’s 8th birthday with the family:
Grandma asked Jack wanted he wanted to eat for his birthday and he picked lasagna, bread and a chocolate cake:
Group photo:
Happy Birthday!!
Another season of SBY is in the books. We had a pretty good season, I think we came in 2nd or 3rd place.
From one season straight into the next season, as CBO starts up the next week. We went from having just 4 teams to 10 teams in the league so it should be very competitive this year. Hopefully Jack continues to play well, although a lot of these kids in the league are getting better and better.
Just before I went on vacation I was able to see Stacy at her school Halloween Parade:
Stacy was Cinderella and it is so different from when Jack went to school. It was less chaotic and more organized. They break up the classes into different days and times so the school is not crowded with parents taking pictures. Now it was a lot more casual and easier to get pictures of your kid:
Most the class is all girls…there are only four boys in her class:
The worse decision we made all night was waiting in line for a Johnny Depp, Captain Jack photo:
We waited way too long and Jack was bored:
I couldn’t wait in line for Captain Jack and not wait in line for the Princesses so Stacy and I waited in that line as well and we were the second to last person in line to greet them…we barely made it!
Snow White:
I have no idea who these princesses are…princess from some Frog movie:
I think this was Belle:
I doubt I would go back for the Halloween event but at least I can cross it off my bucket list (not that it was on my bucket list);
The kids really enjoyed being at the Happiest Place on Earth:
After we rode on some rides the kids changed into their costumes and got ready to trick or treat:
It was a zoo, waiting in line to get your candy and Disneyland was super generous with the candy. Honestly, I dunno how parents would let their kids eat that much candy! Stacy and Jack got 3 bags of candy each…we dumped it into 2 extra back packs we brought AND we stopped trick or treating early.
Okay, I guess I need to get this post done BEFORE Thanksgiving!! Since Aya and I were on vacation before Halloween and we were going to miss seeing the kids on Halloween we decided to go to Mickey’s Halloween party at Disneyland. Aya and I had never gone to Disneyland at Halloween. It is a special ticket, in that you can get into the park 3 hours before it closes and then when the park closes only ‘x’ amount of tickets are sold and you can trick or treat in your costume at the park.
In order to tell Mickey’s Halloween guests from regular park guests you have to wear wristbands and then they rope off the entrances to parts of the park and you have to show your bracelet. I thought it wouldn’t be as crowded but it was super crowded. We were still able to go on several rides:
