Daidai's 3rd Birthday Party (video)

My goodness, little Daidai just turned 3!  He's such a big boy now.  We wanted to celebrate his birthday with a huge bash so we invited all our friends to Funky Monkey in Surrey for an awesome celebration.

We ordered lots of food:  3 Dominos pizza, 2 noodle dishes from Kent's Kitchen, chicken wings from Mui Garden, cake and fruit platter from Costco, homemade mac and cheese and chocolate cupcakes that was free of gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, and nuts.  Can you tell I'm writing all this down so I can remember for the next party?  There was also juice boxes and chips.

We had a private party room for 2 hours and then everyone migrated out to the public area after that.  All guests could stay as long as they wanted in the play area.  We bought extra ride bracelets for the kids who wanted to do rides.  Here's a peek at how well Daidai did on his first ride...

He was sooooo scared.  Sad Mommy just wanted to hold him after he came off so that he'd feel secure again.  Poor fella.  He loved playing in the ball pit area and refused to step near those rides at all for the rest of the party.  He was even too scared to go down the slides too...boo.  Oh well.  I'm sure in a few years time, he'll do just fine on rides.



Unfortunately, as with most hosts at parties, I forgot to take a large group pic of everyone there.  Dang!  We had over 40 people attend the party.  I will try to remember next time.  Happy bday Daidai!

Fourth Year - House Anniversary

We usually take an annual house photo at the end of June but so many things were going on, we totally forgot about this.  Here we go - another year in our lovely home.

So Sad... a Wasp Sting and Sun Burn

Mui mui had a bad day at day camp today.  She got her first wasp sting!  (bandaid in pic)

It was slip-and-slide day at Killarney day camp (where they put a long plastic tarp on the grass, pour soap on and spray water all over it).  I always give the girls sunblock and a UV shirt to take with them each day to camp.  Unfortunately today, Muimui forgot to put her UV shirt on.  So she got quite burnt today.  Good thing Jas had her UV shirt on.

And because Muimui forgot her UV shirt, she felt something fluttering by her side but didn't know what it was so she swat at it.  And it was a wasp!  She got stung.  (insert unhappy face).  Apparently, she screamed and cried and cried.  Poor Muimui.

Botanical Gardens Greenheart Treewalk

Today we visited the UBC Botanical Gardens, to try out their brand new Greenheart Treewalk.  They had a Groupon deal for $23 for a family of 4 (daidai was free).

I didn't really think about it too much and thought it would be neat to walk up into the trees with the kids.  Until I realized that Daidai was afraid of heights and clung to my leg.  I couldn't walk.  I tried to carry him but that takes both arms since he is now 32lbs.  And when I carry him, I can't walk either because the treewalk swings back and forth making me fall over.

To make the story short, Rich stayed behind with Daidai and waited for us at the end.  The 2 girls and I finished the tree tour in about 30 minutes.  Rich then did the treewalk tour with Jas again while I walked Daidai and Jules at the bottom.

It was super hot that day so it was nice to be under the trees with alot of shade.  All in all, for the price, it was a good touristy thing to do in town.

Potty Trained Himself

The photo says it all!  Daidai is toilet trained now and it only took him a few days.

He was totally ready for it.  We just sat him on top of the toilet before every bath and without even trying hard, he peed.  That was it.  He really enjoys peeing inside the shower though so sometimes he purposely does not pee on the toilet. What's with that?

We still bought pull-up diapers for night time, just in case.  Great work Daidai!

Happy Breakfast with Gong Gong

The kiddies were so happy when they found out Grandpa Leung is coming over for the weekend.  Jas loves it when she plays chess or checkers with Gong Gong.  Mui Mui is learning how to play checkers now and likes to watch.  While daidai loves Gong Gong always, he just wants to sit on his lap all the time.

Canucks annual Family Event

We were invited to participate in the Canucks annual family event today and we were all very excited to go.  This is our first year so we didn't know what to expect.

As it turned out, the event took place at Hillcrest Center where the huge gassy area is.  Everyone got either a hot dog or burger and a drink for lunch.  They offered ice cream and cotton candy for dessert.  Too bad the kiddies couldn't eat any of that stuff.  There were tons of little booths with simple games for the kids to play as well as several blow up castles.  The kids had a fabulous time and didn't want to leave except that Daidai had to take his nap (and it was sizzlin hot out).

They must have spent a fortune and lots of time to organize this event.  We are so lucky to be part of this community.

Face Rash and New Cream

Jas' skin had improved significantly from the beginning of the year, for about 2 weeks.  Then all of a sudden, her mouth rash came back and it's been there maybe 2 months now?  We are still trying to pinpoint what the heck is making her body react this way.

We've cut alot of foods out of her diet already including:  nuts, dairy, soy, egg, gluten, tomato, corn, shellfish, fish, crab, sesame, pork, cantaloupe, honeydew, mushrooms, strawberry, msg, artificial colors.

And just recently, we cut out chicken as well (considering eggs are from chickens).  So she only eats beef for meat and veggies are seasoned with salt and pepper, nothing else.  I do make a white roux sauce each weekend that uses organic rice milk with rice flour and organic olive oil as a base.  I add in salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and whatever herb I think she can have.  What can it be????  I just don't understand.

Good news is that my friend recommended a new cream to try (god knows, I love creams):  Avene XeraCAlm Lipid Replenishing Balm.  I bought the cream the very next day and tried it out on Jas. It's a heavy petroleum-like texture and seems to moisturize pretty well.  We'll see how it goes with this.