Happy Halloween 2012

We finished our first Halloween in our new neighborhood and give it an immediate thumbs up for fun, family and friends.  The narrower streets bring everyone closer together despite the larger homes.  There are only four streets in the gated community - a perfect amount for trick-or-treating.  Woody walked with the kids and I handed out candy with two of our neighbors.  Two other families walked with Woody.  After the third street, Erik was working hard to catch up to the older kids and finally decided (himself) that he had enough and came home with Woody.  The girls continued on with Ashley's parents in charge.

The costumes I made for Ingrid and Erik were the most challenging sewing projects I have ever completed.  I started in August - a smart move - to avoid a last minute rush.  The costumes, Mary Poppins and Bert, turned out better than expected.  I used several photos on Flikr and one website - Make it and Love it, for inspiration and tips.

Erik loved his costume.  Do you want to know the secret to getting him to wear it?  I told him the gloves belonged to Mario and Luigi.  And the clothes, too?, Erik asked.  Yep, I said.  They're Mario's dress clothes for church.  Erik rocked his suit!

Morgan chose to wear the Troubodour costume Grandma sewed earlier this year.  Annika started out as Sally Ride, her costume from last year's Wax Museum project.  Just before heading out, she darted inside and switched to last year's Halloween costume - the iPhone.

More photos to come!

Ginny

Ingrid got a package in the mail that sure made her smile.  Grandma sent all of Susan's Vogue Ginny dolls to Ingrid this week after cleaning out some storage areas in the house.  Ingrid was on cloud nine taking out each doll and fawning over each outfit.  She loves the dolls on the right most - the sporty Ginny's with their running shorts and striped socks.

It's really sad now that American doll companies have gone by the wayside and have been replaced with cheap Chinese play sets.  There are so few options.  Even the American Girl company now makes its dolls not in America, as the name implies, but in China.  Grrr.

Thank you, Grandma, for taking good care of our toys so that another generation can enjoy their beauty.  We will be doing the same for Ingrid's kids.

Saturday Night Science

After much begging and pleading, we finally relented and let Annika buy a science kit instead of a book on our last vacation trip to Barnes and Noble in Rowland Heights.  She has had her heart set on a bubble gum kit.

I was skeptical and made her wait until we got back home to set it up.  It's definitely a parent and child activity with several steps.  Annika had it opened previously and spent several days pouring over the instructions.

With all that extra knowledge, she was a champ at getting things set up and laying out the supplies.  She chose watermelon mint as her first flavor.  Oh my.  Not quite the flavor combination I would think of - but that's our Annika.

Following the instructions closely,  Annika managed to make a very nice blob of gum with the correct consistency.  I helped her roll it out and Ingrid and Annika pressed cookie cutters to get their first piece of gum.  Annika immediately thought of her friend, Ashley, and asked if she could run a piece over to Ashley's house across the street.  Of course, I said.  She gave Ashley the Halloween cat at the door.

Annika is following up our successful Saturday Night Science with requests for more gum manufacturing.

Fall Break Day 3 - Natural History Museum

Day 3 of Fall Break Vacation in California.

As we previously said, this vacation is not scripted, except for Saturday's Chuseok parade.  Therefore, on our first day of "vacation part of vacation" we sat down during breakfast to decide a plan for the day.  What was not anticipated was the amount of road and freeway closures because of a campaign event.  Ugh.  Secret Service and CHP were planning epic closures.

Harabagee mapped out a path and we were on the road in two cars early to avoid the closures.

The Los Angeles County Natural History Museum is fantastic!  On the grounds of the University of Southern California, it sits adjacent to the California Science Center (soon home of the Endeavor Space Shuttle) and the USC Stadium.

The kids were so great, this is the first trip without a stroller.  We did have four adults and four kids which helped, we traded around and had a great time looking at all the artifacts and having a nice lunch on the lower level.

There was so much to see and to touch and to do that we did not even get through half of the museum.  In the atrium there was an exhibit of live amphibians.  Snakes, alligators, turtles, frogs and other caged creatures.  We all enjoyed looking at them and talking with the caretakers.

Fall Break Day 2 - Chuseok Parade

We lounged around this morning after our drive to Los Angeles yesterday.  The parade was scheduled to start at 3 PM, leaving us with time before heading downtown.  Andy was teaching a class in the morning and would join us at Abanim's office at 1 PM.

We had an easy drive downtown, talking all the way.  Once we turned off the Interstate into Koreatown, it was entirely different.  EVERYONE seemed to be in their car trying to get into town.  The last three miles took more than 15 minutes before we turned off to Dr. Chung's office, parking in the underground garage.  Sweet for us, we didn't have to worry about parking.  Erik was asleep when we arrive so we made a bed for him on the floor while Abamin took care of the last patient.  The kids stayed in the waiting room, talking to the staff and relaxing in the chairs.

At 1:30, we woke Erik and made our way to the parade route - about seven blocks walk from the office.  It was beautiful weather.  There were many tents of vendors and events to look at prior to the parade.  It was *very* crowded in the tents, but we managed to walk through and back to the parade route.  Andy and Yoonjin arrived and saved a spot on the curb.

Much like the Chuseok parade we attended when Morgan was three, this parade was filled with hanboks, drummers, bands and firetrucks.  A 2012 Chuseok parade would not be complete without the current top pop song in the world, Gangnam Style, which was played multiple times.  One of the stars of the parade was not Psy, but the mini-Psy that became famous for his five year old dance moves in the video.  He rode on the Miss Korea float.

After a long pause in the parade, the fire trucks finally came up the street to entertain our happy 3 year old son.  We strolled back through the crowded sidewalks and found the fire trucks and fire fighters congregating at the end.  Erik got to touch the L.A.F.D. trucks and talk to the firemen.  High-fives and lots of smiles at the end of a fun parade!