A week before the big 7, she lost her 2nd front tooth. Signs of the times... she's turning into a full-fledged kid.
While I definitely miss their cute, little baby and toddler stages, this age also has some perks. Like for instance, when I decided to make a cake for Emilia's cake decorating play date, the kiddos re-confirmed that I have no need to purchase an additional kitchen gadget, such as a Cuisinart Stand Mixer. The kids are saving me $300+.
Now, why can't the kids be this enthused to help me out normally in other areas (aka cleaning up, getting dining table ready for dinner, etc).
Emilia's BFF came over and the kids had a birthday play date where the theme was cake decorating. There were two all-white cakes from a local bakery, and I made an additional four 1-layer vegan chocolate cakes for the younger siblings & others to decorate. It was also for Liam to eat, since you know, he's still allergic to eggs.
The younger siblings.
The kids decorated with homemade buttercream frosting of 5 various colors, frosting gels, sprinkles, and gummy bears... apparently the gummy bears on cake was a big hit. Liam got to it first before the other kids, so his cake is loaded with minimal frosting, but lots of gummy bears.
Emilia's 7th...
This bday play date turned out great. It was all about having a special day with a close friend and doing special activities. She didn't, and hasn't, asked once about presents. Okay, she did ask for cake... and she got lots of it. Anyhow, at 7 years old, I'm quite happy at the little person she's become.
E had the opportunity to participate in a special kids ninja warrior workshop with the pros. Yup! She got to learn ninja skills from Kacy Catanzaro, Brent Steffensen, and Flip Rodriguez! Of course, Kacy is E's favorite.
E was just short of the minimum age requirement by a month, so the gym made an exception and let her enroll for the workshop. The spots were filling fast so I signed her up, though I wasn't sure if she *could* hang with the bigger kids.
Smallest kid on the block.
The workshop started off with 4 main stations that focused on training a few specific obstacles. The kids were broken down into groups of 12 (12 kids per station), which then were broken down into smaller groups depending on the obstacles at that station. E tended to be last or close to last in line for most of the training. I was the helicopter mom that hovered around as much as I could just in case the instructors were not watching closely and/or if E needed help on the obstacles.
Her first station was with Flip Rodriguez and his crew of instructors. Skills learned were climbing up structures, down short walls, rope climbing, and fireman pole slide.
Actually, E's rope skills were not too shabby at all. Not completely assistance free, but definitely she had enough confidence to try it on her own.
This station also had training for the mini-Warp wall. They did a few drills for the kids to get comfortable with forward climbing, backwards climbing on the warp wall. Then moved on to practicing running up and sliding down.
Single file line and on to the next station, with Brent Steffensen.
Station "2" had a version of the Quintuple steps, cliffhanger traverse, and climbing/jumping over barriers. E initially got tripped up on the Quintuple steps, but the 2nd time through, Brent gave her some tips that helped her out.
Station "3" was with Kacy Catanzaro & crew. This had a bar traverse, balance obstacles, and a rope traverse.
Station "4" was trampoline practice and rope swing into a foam pit.
Ryan and Liam show up to watch E ninja.
After the stations were all done, the kids had a break while the instructors set up 2 obstacles course for the kids to line up and try. Kids getting a course briefing.
E's run on the first obstacle course.
E was 2nd to last in line, so she get's lots of spectators and cheering for her finish.
E almost missed running the 2nd obstacle. Of course, she was last in line again. Time was up and the instructors did not realize she didn't get to do the 2nd obstacle course. As they started ushering the kids, good ol' helicopter mom stepped in. Kacy made sure E got her 2nd obstacle course and cheered her along the way.
Super fun event for E and I. She had a great time doing obstacles with the ninja warriors. I loved watching her try the obstacles, figure things out, and really hold her own. That grip strength is definitely coming along!
Ryan's super proud of her too. Happy smiles all around this day (except when we all got pelted with windy rain storm after lunch!).
For Liam's 4th birthday, we went to Legoland's Brick Or Treat. The excitement!!
Brick Or Treating is Legoland's Halloween event during the month of October. Kids go "brick or treating" at either candy stations or brick stations (they get lego pieces) throughout the park. Brick Or Treat requires special Brick Or Treat tickets, which grants admission into the park after normal operating hours, 4pm til 9pm. We actually didn't go brick or treating because the lines are crazy long and we didn't want to spend the whole evening waiting in lines. Instead we took advantage of the time to roam the park and ride the rides.
Kiddos in their costumes. Emilia is Princess Aurora, and Liam is the Amazing Spider man.
Legoland.. the place for everyone to be a kid (aka Ryan!).
Liam needs to use his Spidey senses to direct us to the next activity.
Most. Fun. Night. Ever!
Boat ride (aka unoffical bumper boats).
And, we couldn't leave without the kids earning their Lego driving license at the Junior Driving School.
We were a little worried that Liam couldn't drive, but after a few minutes of figuring things out, he was the most in controlled driver lapping everyone that had crashed.
End of the night, we stayed til the park closed. Emilia was ready to find her way home.
Super fun for the whole family! It was a kick seeing the kids experience centripetal force and momentum fun for the first time on these kind of amusement park rides. Also turned out to be a good break and family time from October's hectic, crazy schedules (hence the no blog updates lately).
We discovered an awesome newish place called BravoLand on the long drive back home. I've driven this route up and down Cali for over a decade now, and I don't ever recall seeing this place. But I caught the attention of a sign that said "playground" and knew we had to stop and check it out, esp with restless kids in the car.
This place is AWESOME! A BBQ joint, ice cream parlour, unique odds/ends and knick knacks shopping store, and a giant play area all conjoined together and decorated like a rustic scene out of an old Western town.
Great little find for an extended pit stop.
We stayed there for almost 2 hours, and yes, it extended our drive home by that and then some. Even so, I am sure we will be back there for a visit again sometime.
The kiddies are at an age where they can start to play GAMES!! And when I mean "play", I really mean, they are not eating the pieces, or tossing them around, or cheating left and right, but they can (sort of) play by the rules, follow instructions, and take turns. They understand the notion of winning and losing. And they do not like losing!
First family fishing session...
These videos were taken back in May, the first time they played the fishing game. There was a learning curve on various aspects of "gaming". The kiddies had to learn how to play well together or else they both lose when mom confiscates the game. They also learned that you won't always win with the most fish on this round, but you may win it on the next round. Oh, and don't forget the power of persuasion, you can barter a blue fish for a red one. They also learned the power of teamwork. The two kids combined (with Liam's cheating hook method) guaranteed a sure win over a parent.
Now several months later, they go fishing unsupervised (*gasp*). Emilia has gotten pretty good at hooking a fish the proper way. Liam still likes to hold the hook and shove it in the mouth. There is disappointment still sometimes, but the kids have learned how to move past it (aka play another round, barter a fish, or change the rules!, etc.)
This fishing game is definitely an old classic fun for all of us and has been a good intro to games for the kiddies.
We went to the faux-beach, where they played with the faux-beach toys...
They literally played for hours before water restrictions kicked in (aka 3 buckets of water later) and moved on to some suntanning and drying up time.
Then it was nap time... kids went down pretty quick. Buckets of water play and sun apparently does that to you.
The two kiddos are pretty inseparable. They always play together and come up with things that drive mama mad. They always fight too and push each others buttons.. A LOT. Regardless, they are still always together. Today, they both wanted to nap together, so I let them.
After nap, it was more outdoor fun.
Climbing trees and pretending to be monkeys.
"Hear me roar!"
And the day isn't over until there's some kind of dirt, sticks, leaves construction. Here's their summer time Xmas tree.
And some jungle gym.
The two of them entertain each other all the time. So it makes my job much easier. I don't even have to push them on the swing sometimes!
Once Ryan is done developing an even bigger, cooler play area for us... I foresee we will rarely leave home!
I grew up as an only child, and my parents taught me that in my culture, cousins are just like brothers and sisters, and family always is fa...
About
Ryan and Connie officially began our journey in life together (wedded bliss) on August 1, 2009. This blog chronicles our journey through whatever life throws at us.
On February 27, 2010, we welcomed a new addition to the family: Emilia Ying-Zhi. She tipped the scales at 7 lbs 2 oz, and measured in at 19-3/4".
Liam Noboru joined the family on October 20, 2011. His fighting weight is 7 lbs 4 oz with a length of 19-1/2".
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