Mini Family Vacation

The end of 2010 is slowing approaching....I had to get at least a little family vacation in before the end of they year. Philadelphia? No, the flight is too long and mommy's patience is too short. Cabo cruise? NO....barfing/nausea all day is not my idea of a vacation :P

So, we decided to go to San Francisco!

The week of Luke's 4th birthday.....pretty busy.....but Luke had Friday off preschool for Veteran's Day. So, we decided to go to SF Thur-Sat. Mommy worked Wed night......so, needless to say, no sleep for mommy for 36+ hours! We were all excited so I didn't feel the pain of sleeplessness :)

 at the sd airport waiting for our flight.

The flight to SF was short-thank goodness! Luke did really well....

Joshua cried at take off and landing saying "I'm scare, I'm scare..." Poor guy. The take off from SD was a little choppy. Luke just said "mommy, my belly is funny" hahahahah! He kept thinking we were going up when we were descending, and down when we were ascending. Luke thought is was cool that we got free drinks on the airplane.  I was just happy that the boys weren't too loud and obnoxious. At the end of the flight, the man in front of us did turn around to tell Joshua to stop kicking his chair (I didn't even notice that J was kicking).

We landed in SF and got our bag. The first thing Luke says is "are we going to the hotel-o"? He LOVES hotels.  We had to take the airtrain to the car rental place.

The boys thought that was cool! Finally we got our rental car and we were off to the hotel. The boys were so excited. They were jumping up and down on the beds and saying "I'm so excited....I like hotel-o's"! Mommy just plopped on the bed and TRIED to rest. Didn't work. Needless to say, the boys didn't get a nap either. So, we decided to head out to the city and get an early dinner. Off to chinatown....yelped a place called R&G....supposed to have this awesome crab. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!! a huge, battered and deep fried crab. The best crab I ever had! I wasn't even paying attn to whether the boys were eating...they were busy on the ipad. btw, MOMMY LOVES CRAB.

It was still a little early after dinner so we drove on Lombard Street and then to Ben and Jerry's for some ice cream down by the wharf. We got two ice cream cones to share....Luke insisted on holding his....of course, he dropped it after one bite! The girl was really nice and gave us a new one....I felt really bad!

Then back atthe hotel mommy conked out....I guess the boys all fell asleep soon after me.

Everyone woke up early around 630am....we are an early bird family :) We decided to try the breakfast buffet at the hotel....not bad. Luke loves to drink his milk from a to-go coffee cup. Being his clumsy self, he dropped his cup.....just spilled a little. Then, literally 2seconds later, he dropped it again! This time the lid came off and milk all over the floor!!! I know you aren't supposed to cry over spilt milk but I WANTED TO CRY.....and YELL!!!  The hotel ppl were sooooooo nice. They let us get a new milk and cleaned everything up with a smile on their face! In the meantime, Joshua is running around the lobby somewhere and daddy is chasing him!

We got ready and headed out to Fairfax, CA to the Jelly Bean Factory. We went on a tour of the jelly belly factory. It was neat but a little to long for the kids. They didn't care too much about the history of the jelly bean and joshua did not want to wear the hat that everyone had to wear on the tour. If it wasn't for the free samples along the way during the tour, they might have not lasted. At the end of the tour they gave each of us a free package of jelly beans. The tour was free but they got us in the end with a $30 family portrait with the JELLY BELLY! 

 Yes, daddy tried the booger jelly belly!!!! NASTY!!!!

Next, off to Sonoma to TRAIN TOWN (what Luke was really waiting for). We got Luke a little harmonica at the JB factory store. So, for the next 45 minutes, it was his amateur music making on his harmonica in the car.....and joshua crying that it was "Joshua turn".

Arrived at train town and got our tickets for a mini train ride. They had mini sized trains and a shed and tracks all around. Luke was running around and checking everything out. Joshua was throwing rocks in a pond which had a sign that read "no throwing rocks". ah...my boys...... Finally, we got on the train ride...the train went around a mini town with bridges and trestles and lakes and tunnels. The boys loved it! They even stopped at the "farm" where they had real llamas (no red pajamas) and sheep that you could feed.

After the ride, we decided to get sandwiches at a local deli market (from advise from the train town sales lady) and take it to a nearby park for a picnic. That was a great idea. The kids ate well and then got to play on the playground. THen, it was an hour and a half ride back to SF. We got Joshua a train whistle at train town so they boys could both make music :) In the car, they were whistling, playing the harmonica, trading, trading again....laughing, giggling....all very cute but again, boys had no naps and Joshua was getting really cranky. He started crying and screaming in the car for no reason, throwing down his whistle. Mommy was tired too and losing her temper....finally, Joshua fell asleep in the car with mommy reaching back, patting his chest for 10 minutes! When we got back to the hotel, we tried to make the boys rest a little but it didn't work. So, we went swimming at the indoor heated pool. I thought it was still cold but the boys jumped right in.

For dinner, we tried this Korean restaurant about 5 minutes from the hotel "mom's tofu house". It was really good! Will got soon dubu with kalbi and I got dol-soht bibimbap and the kids shared a dduk gook. We cleaned it up! This restaurant had nine tables....very cozy....good food....nice service. Thumbs up!

At the hotel, lights out!

Rise and shine....630 again! We cleaned up and got ready for our last day in SF. Found a Panera in downtown and had breakfast. Then, we strolled around Golden Gate Park.

   We were all trying to make echo noises in the tunnels :)

Then, off to a cable car ride. Luke thought the hilly streets were cool. Joshua got scared when going down the steep streets. We got to union square and the line for the cable car ride back to the wharf was like an hour long! A nice lady on the cable car told us to take the F bus back to the wharf.....so we did! We got right on and got back to the wharf in time for a yummy lunch of clam chowder, calamari and CRAB! We got our food from a crab stand and just found a bench to sit on and eat. Luke devoured the chowder and Joshua had a blast watching the pigeons eat the bread and french fries he was throwing on the ground. Mommy got messy battling the crab and daddy enjoyed the calamari!

It was time to return the rental and head back to the airport. While we were waiting for our flight a nice man made Luke a paper bird with flapping wings....while I was watching him make the bird, Will went to check in our stroller and car seat and Joshua decided to run half way down the airport.....I had to run full speed to catch him, while he is looking back at me like "come on mommy, catch me"! Ppl saw him running from me and me chasing him and no one tried to stop him....they were just like "stop...stop" and laughing. LIttle rascal, I still am faster than you!

It was about 5pm and the boys were TIRED! We finally boarded the plane. Another nice man sat next to us....Mr. Matt. He showed us an article in the sky magazine that showed how to make an airplane with a dollar bill. That helped make the time pass. Joshua did well on the flight to SD, didn't cry, just watched videos on the ipad. The boys ate cheetos and dorritos to keep them busy and not whiny! Ah, finally, back in SD. Boys fell asleep within two minutes of leaving the airport.

It was good to be home but we had a few visitors....ANTS!!!! Right when we got home, we spent about 45 minutes killing ants and spraying ant spray. Luke was still asleep on the couch but Joshua had woken up and was watching Thomas video. We got the ants, ate a quick dinner and then off to bed......

I asked Luke and Joshua "did you like San Francisco"? Luke's reply "yeah....we should go there again". so, all in all, it was a good vacation. But, it's good to be home :)

It's been a while....

Talking to a coworker last night at work, I was inspired to make an xanga entry. I realized that the first three years of Luke's life has been catalogued in xanga with pictures and funny stories.....Joshua has barely anything. 

So, this will be a summary of the past year, mainly focusing on my little Joshua :)

So, let's start with his first birthday....at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum....Uncle Sung flew in but Joshua has yet to meet GP and GM from Philadelphia...maybe next year. Soon after Joshua turned one, he started to walk....and then soon after that, RUN! My Joshua is a happy, cute, pudgy DARE DEVIL! He loves to run and chase his brother around the dining table. His favoring sport is climbing....whatever is "climbable" he will climb. Once I discovered Joshua had climbed on the dining table when no one was around and was sipping my cooled down cup of coffee. This happened several times so far :P I think he will be a coffee drinker like his mommy and daddy.

At the end of August 09, Lukie Hyunga started preschool. That was a big challenge but now Luke loves going to school. It also gave Joshua and me more time to do things just the two of us. We did a lot of errands together but we also did some fun things like the park, playdates and NAPS! By the beginning of 2010 Joshua transitioned into taking one long nap instead of two shorter ones. He is usually in a good mood, even if he doesn't sleep much, which is unlike his brother who is the worst cranky boy if he misses his nap! 

Before Josh turned one and a half, he self-transitioned himself into a toddler bed. One night he decided to somehow crawl/fall out of the playpen for halmoni. The next night, he climbed out of his crib!

Joshua still falls a little lower on the growth scale. Luke has always been 90% height and weight, while Joshua is more like 60-70 % weight and 40% height!  I love my butterball! But, height does not equal brain power. Little Joshua learned the first four catechism questions/answers before he was 18 months! I guess we need to continue teaching him a few more :)

Since the beginning of the summer, Joshua has been talking a lot. He copies everything that he hears. His favorite words: NO, pee pee, poo poo.....wonder where he got those from????

Josh's favorite toys are the cars from the movie cars. It was the first movie he sat through :)

His favorite food: plain white rice

Joshua was always a good sleeper....taking good naps, falling asleep nicely without our help...until about 2 months ago!  argh.....he needs us to lay down with him in order to fall asleep....got fix that!  But, I admit, I like it....I get to cuddle with him which I didn't do much with Luke...Luke is not much of a cuddler :(

So, now his second birthday is approaching and I can't believe how our family dynamics have changed. Luke is totally potty-trained....yay!!! L and J actually play together, well, when they are not fighting.

But, I can actually do thing around the house while they play or watch a movie. They nap at the same time and sleep at the same time. They also usually wake up at the same time, which usually before 7am....that part I don't really like....wish they would sleep to at least 8!

Anway, this short entry does not do justice to incredible joy that Joshua and Luke bring to our lives. I thank God so much for blessing me with my two boys....yelling, screaming, crying,

whining, fussing, stress and ALL!!!!

 I LOVE YOU JOSHUA!

why is my little man growing up so fast????

Joshua brings a huge smile to my face....I love getting him in the morning and seeing him gleem brightly at me when I open his door (even if it is 0545am!). I love it when he clings to my leg and says "umma"...even though, to him, that means pick me up....and I especially love his stinky toes.....although they are the best smell in the world to me :)

Lately, he has been saying so many words....he's got the answers to the first two kids catechism questions down! I am amazed! Luke didn't learn this fast.....he's only got four answers to the catechism down :P Joshua pretty much understands all of our commands and follows directions even though most of them are "don't put that in your mouth", "come here" "ppo-ppo" "joo-seh-yo" and of course, "do you want a meh-meh"

Joshua is definitely more of a daredevil than Luke....he has no fear! This boy started climbing the couch a few months ago and has walked off the couch a few times, mid-air, like there was a huge cushion to fall on or something....oh, and he's fallen down the stairs (not all the way, thank God) a couple times bc he thinks he can just walk down like his hyung! boy-oh-boy!

well, yesterday, my mom tried to put him down for his am nap in the playpen at her house......of course, he started crying/screaming....my mom just went to brush her teeth to see if he would stop...he was really tired...well, she heard a door open thinking it was me but went to check it out anyway.....well, wouldn't you know it, Joshua had climbed/fallen out of the playpen, opened the door, walked to where the top of the stairs were, just when my mom saw him.....what? how the heck did my little guy (and he is little for his age) get out of that playpen....I almost didn't believe my mom when she told me......but then.....

Josh was cranky all day bc he had no nap...so for sure I thought he  would sleep in his own crib for a few hours....well, put him in his crib like normal and......."WAH!!!!!!!!" crying, screaming again....i mean this boys was really tired by now! why couldn't he just go to sleep like normal???? I just closed the door behind me and let him cry....well, no pm nap......

so, at night, FOR SURE I thought he'd sleep well....put him down....cried/screamed again....closed the door behind me......as soon as I got down stairs, I heard a big thud....and about 5 seconds later.....loud crying....i ran up stairs and Joshua was at his door crying!!!!! what???? he CLIMBED/FELL out of his CRIB too!!!

already ready for a toddler bed? he's not even 1.5 yo and a toddler bed? Luke went to a toddler bed a couple months before Joshua was born...because he had to.....

well, will got the bed guard from my parents' house and put it on his crib (which we made into a toddler bed). well, last night he slept with us until he fell asleep adn then we took him to his bed....finally he sleep until 7am! thank you God!

well, guess what....am nap.....cried cried cried....finally after a lot of crying and screaming and holding/comforting, i think he's asleep...don't know if he is on his bed or on the floor....will see when he wakes up.....

i guess next is potty training.....NOT!!!!!!!!!!!! 

last night's fiasco!

yesterday night almost midnight, will and i were awoken by our door bell ringing....we were like "what the"...probably some pranksters....they kept ringing and ringing.......like 5 minutes straight!!! annoyed!!!!

well, will went down stairs and heard some guy yelling "let me in!". will said "who is it, who is it" but the guy kept yelling profanities and yelling "let me in"....he was totally drunk will said. but then he started banging on the door so will yelled "i'm calling the cops"....will ran to the kitchen turned off the lights, called the cops and grabbed a knife.....ahhhh (I told him never to do that again)

i was upstairs listening in my  room and just praying that the kids wouldn't wake up and that the guy wasn't a crazy pshycho!

i looked outside our back window into the back yard and saw some dark guy (he was indian) standing there....he had like a dress shirt and id badge on so I was like "what the" but i was scared bc he was in our back yard. will called the cops and told them what was happening and will came back upstairs....he looked outside too and saw two guys....one white guy was climbing over our fence....(they had both gone into the back yard by now)

my heart was beating soooo fast. he looked out the window again and it looked like they were gone....our neighbors on both sides of us had thier lights on now so we decided to call one of our neighbors who we had the phone number of....she is mid-age and single so i wanted to make sure she was okay and see if they had banged on her door. we met outside (our doors face each other) and she (the brave one) actually went out to the street to look around....she said the cops were there talking to a taxi driver (it had been like 20 min since we called the cops and we were wondering where they were)

anyway, will went out there to talk to the cops and he found out that our neighbor a few units down (a marine) had been drinking A LOT in the gaslamp and caught a cab home, barfed in the cab, but he ditched the cab and didn't pay the cab driver, so the taxi driver (the indian) was chasing him around trying to get his money. the guy was so drunk i guess he though our place was his or something.....i don't know....he climbed over our fence and our next door neighbors fence....the taxi driver was all looking in our window....arghhhhh! i was so mad and relieved at the same time when we found out what was going on. i guess the cops made the drunk neighbor pay with a credit card and it was over. I was sooooo mad!

thank GOD the kids slept through the whole thing!

we saw him this morning when we were leaving for church...he was on his motorcycle riding around the complex revving his LOUD motorcycle! i don't like him!!!!

i am just so happy it wasn't a crazy pshycho trying to get into our house!

remember, when that car crashed on salmon river...we called the cops and it took forever!!!

to top it off, will had indigestion, heartburn, diarrhea adn only one our of sleep after that! he ate too much at his company party we went to and cheh-heh-suh from the whole FIASCO!

now, we are like "should we get a dead bolt or security door???????

Happy Birthday to my 1st born!!!!!

Happy 3rd birthday big boy!

All day long Luke has been asking me "where's my birthday". I keep saying today, NOv. 9, right now....today is your REAL birthday! You were born today 3 years ago.  He doesn't get it bc he keeps asking me over and over....then he's like "we going to my birthday party today?" uh...no, your bday party was 2 days ago!!!! ha ha ha...

maybe he's asking where's his bday gift.....i decided not to give him the gift we got him...gonna save it for CHristmas! He go soooo many nice gifts.....it's plenty for now!

he got to watch a new thomas dvd, eat popcorn and have lemonade....what a great birthday