Our site will be under construction until we can buy a computer to upload our pictures and organize our Summer adventures. Thanks for stopping by! Check by in a month or so.

Easter

The Chow Family invited us to their house for Easter. The boys were excited to be visiting their twin cousins, Sean and Seth. As the moms prepared the eggs for the kids, the children were busy playing the backyard. Once the eggs were cooked and the fake eggs stuffed with candy, the moms hid the different types of eggs around the backyard. Boy, oh boy, did the children find lots of eggs and candy!

Thanks Chow Family for a memorable Easter fun!

Spring Break '09

We spent the boys' spring break at Legoland in Carlsbad, CA. It was awhile since we saw the Jasso family, so we invited them to come along to Legoland. The boys were excited to hang out with their cousins - Christopher and Aaron.

The boys enjoyed their visit to Legoland. They liked Darth Vader made out of legos and Bob the Builder. They really weren't impressed with the park. We'll maybe go again when they get older, maybe when they're 8 or 9. But they liked checking out the legos at every store, especially getting new legos to play with for the next few days.

The rest of the week was spent vacatioining and relaxing at the hotel. The boys didn't get to swim because the weather got colder, and it rained a bit. But they played games with other children, rode the train at Balboa Plaza, got plenty of chocolate cookies and milk. They were in heaven.

The Getty Villa

The Getty Villa...beautiful, breathtaking, and ROMANtic... What makes it so? I can give you three reasons: (1) a view of Malibu beach, (2) a view of Malibu beach from a villa, and (3) a view of Malibu beach from a villa surrounded by Greek and Roman art and sculptures. But what makes it memorable is that the Caos and Mirandas joined us for the day!

I can describe to you how beautiful it was to experience a day in the life of a Greek and Roman, but it is best to experience it yourself. It was great to relax with the family - have the kids run around while the adults enjoyed life's simplicities - wine, food, art, and a great surroundings.

Next time, we plan on doing it right by having a picnic and bringing our own wine!! Yeah!

Gian Carlo's First Teeball Game - Go MARLINS!

Gian Carlo started playing teeball this Sunday. He's on the MARLINS team - #31. He played at John Burroughs Middle School here in Hancock Park/Wilshire area. At first he was nervous, but I pointed out that the other children are also playing teeball for the first time. The benefit with playing in this sports organization is that his classmates also play on his team and on other teams he'll be playing with. So if you're up for watching cute, little 5 and 6-year olds running around and picking their nose or acting silly, give me and Gil a call. We'll let you know when his games will be.

As for this Sunday, he played much better as I expected. Unfortunately, Gil was unable to attend because Rocco was extremely sick and took him to urgent care, so I had the pleasure of taking him. He made me proud, once again. He hit the ball far enough to make a run for first base, and made it! He paid attention to the game, and was very fair. It was nice to see other parents outside of SBS too.

Gian Carlo's 6th Birthday Party

Gian Carlo has been planning his 6th birthday party since he hit five years old. He wanted the theme to be "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," and he wanted his classmates to celebrate his birthday with him. Being that this is his first year in an actual school, it was an important milestone to celebrate with his classmates. We agreed and began planning "the event" according to his request.

I took care of the typical party planning details while Gil thought of the creative details. We thought it would be different to surprise everyone with a special kind of entertainment, especially for the kids. We hired Star Wars characters, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kanobi, to be exact, to entertain the children. The characters were true to form from the moment they arrived. Obi-Wan even had an accent and a beard and Anakin was handsome and had gleaming navy blue eyes like the movie. The look of the children's faces when they appeared at the door - Gian Carlo was estatic. He couldn't believe his eyes. It was worth seeing the look on his face.

During the party, Obi-Wan and Anakin were comedic in their performance as Obi-Wan was trying to convince Anakin to turn to the good side. They encouraged the children to interact by teaching them the "force tickle" and having a Wookie shouting contest. Obi-Wan, with the help of his fellow Jedis (the kids), won the contests; but Anakin was not yet convinced that he had won so he challenged Obi-Wan to a light saber duel. Clearly, this was very exciting for the children to witness. In the end, Anakin lost to Obi-Wan and turned away from the dark side. Together, they found the treasure that could only be opened by the Jedi whose birthday it was that day. The treasure, as Gian Carlo finally had the courage to open, was glowing light sabers for each Jedi in training. Needless to say, everyone went home happy and experienced an adventure of their own that day. Gian Carlo, especially, since he truly believes he is now a Jedi Master. Unfortunately, Mateo was a bit overwhelmed and did not really participate as much as we had hoped. But he was still curious and hopeful to becoming a Jedi Master one day.

It was worth all the hard work and planning. Thanks to Peek-A-Boo Playland for being so accommodating and helpful. Gil and I are enjoying the party planning for our kids' parties and we can't wait for the next one. Next to plan is Mateo's 5th birthday! Hope to see you all there.

Rocco's First Birthday - Mod Monkey-style!

Rocco turns 1-year old!

Join us for Rocco's FIRST birthday!


@ Peek-A-Boo Playland in Eagle Rock.


On January 23.

We held his birthday celebration at our favorite party spot, for kids that is,
Peek-A-Boo Playland, with our dear friends and close family. We chose the Mod Monkey theme because Rocco's personality is that of Monkey - specifically a Mod Monkey. He's the modern (MOD) version of his father, like a Monkey, always active (running and climbing) and always silly. He also has a stuff-animal monkey that looked just like the Mod Monkey; it was only fitting. To add, Melody, his godmother, found Monkey cupcakes, which we tried to create and was a hit with everyone at the party.

The little boys and girls had a blast. It was an appropriate place to have a 1-year old's birthday party since all his little friends were still babies and toddlers. Of course, you can't go wrong with a playground inside a house! How awesome is that for a toddler - you feel safe and mom and dad can enjoy themselves. But, nevertheless, we are fortunate to be surrounded with our family and friends! Thanks to everyone for making it out.

Gian Carlo - Star Performer

Gilbert and I are proud to announce that Gian Carlo has been chosen to be narrator for his Kindergarten Thanksgiving Play and opening solo for the school's Christmas concert. He's been practicing at school, at home, and in-between homework assignments. He's determined to say each word correctly, with the correct emphasis too, and hit each note in his solo performance.

Cris and Kristine joined us for the Thanksgiving play. We were all pleasantly surprised to see how well he read, directed his fellow castmates (future director?), and executed his performance. He even memorized the whole play! We were all very proud of him.

Gian Carlo continued to impress us in his Christmas performance. He sang a solo at the beginning of his Kindergarten's song - The Reindeer Song! Again, he flawlessly and proudly sang his part. Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures because of the venue - at the church. We sat at the very end of the church without a view of Gian Carlo at all. However, Gilbert was proudly filming at the end of the pew. We did not invite any of the godparents to this event, unlike previous years, because we were told by other parents the hassle of finding seating inside the church and that it would be a "packed house." But he did say that he would have liked for his godparents to be there. Maybe next time. The school is currently constructing more buildings for an auditorium and a gym. We'll keep you informed.