i heart oe

Chloe participated in her first ballet performance this year. Honestly, when I first heard that it was going to be held at a convention center, a wave of dread dawned over me. The thought of having to find parking and walk miles to get to an auditorium with two toddlers pained me (in my mind, convention centers = Orbit Baby trade shows = lots of work). However, this local convention center wasn’t how I pictured it at all, and was much more manageable than the huge Las Vegas Convention Center that we visit every year for the annual trade show. The only downside was that there was a rehearsal and two performances spread over three days. For a four year old that was only performing for four minutes, this was definitely a commitment. But all in all, it was well worth the experience.

Just for the record, I did not want to put any makeup on Chloe. However, it was “required” that they wear a specific shade of Loreal lipstick (they even suggested purchasing at Walgreens) and lavender eye shadow. I didn’t have the time or energy to buy the lipstick, but another mom did lend her some.

No foundation or powder for her though. There will be many years in the future for that.

Yes, how unoriginal. Who doesn’t like fro yo these days? I personally am not a huge Pinkberry fan (I prefer Fraiche) but the Oes seem to really enjoy it. You never really think that kids notice things like decor, but Chloe has made comments that makes me think she likes it not only because of the yummy toppings, but also because of the ambience. She points out the modern lights, the packed stones in the floors, and the glass walls with green accents. I like it because I only recently found out that it is one flat price to get as many toppings as you want. Pretty sweet deal, I must say. Zoe prefers chocolate with choco balls and fruity pebbles, and Chloe prefers pomengranate with mango and kiwi. How different they are.

On a separate day, after camp, with best friend…

I started practicing yoga years ago, back in high school in Taipei. At the time, yoga wasn’t trendy at all, I took it because I had some back problems and my parents thought it would be a good idea for me to get more balanced. Years later, they are offering yoga in the Oes preschool. I didn’t think of enrolling them, until one day this past winter, Chloe said she wanted to take yoga. I still think it was because she was curious about the orange mats that she saw some of her friends use. When the yoga instructor teaches the warrior pose, she says “I AM STRONG!” and they bellow it out of their tummies when they show me at home. Of course, Zoe chose not to participate in any of the moves the day I visited.

You are not supposed to be looking at me, Zoe…

Savasana isn’t quite the same with pre-schoolers. They wrap themselves up like fruit rollups instead.

We took the Oes to Bay to Breakers this year, as part of Orbit’s annual company walk. We actually made it past the finish line (although we never start at the beginning, it would be too painful with two kids). Chloe was old enough this time to ask why there were so many naked people, at one point, she asked us “Why is he wearing that underwear? I can see his butt hole,” while grimacing at a Bay-to-Breakers guy with g-string on. For those of you who are not from the Bay Area, the race is a ridiculous San Francisco tour de force. Lots of crazy people.

This year we went to the Japanese Cultural Festival on Stanford’s campus. The Oes caught a couple of goldfish - for Zoe, it was as if she won the lottery. She didn’t take her grasp off of the plastic bag; in fact she loved the fish so much that she wouldn’t stop squeezing it (that, and also because it probably felt really good and squishy). After a couple of leaks, it was time to return the fish to the students, as we’re not quite set up to raise fish yet.

Chloe and her best friend tried on kimonos, and also had a fun time with origami.

Does anyone else out there have kids who are obsessed with bike racks? Both of the Oes are. Everytime we are out walking, they have to hang onto a bike rack. They’ve even been known to try to squeeze on one with a bike there. Here, they are squeezing each other:

Back flip attempt by Chloe:

And no, they do not go to gymnastics class!

The girls have an uncanny ability to put together outfits that, well, sort of work. I thought that this one was pretty good though:

A nice transition into spring from winter - cotton summer dress, with a layered pom-pom cardigan (originally intended for Christmas), tights, and burgundy boots. Nice work Zoe. Lunch box doesn’t quite match, but you can’t have everything.

I have been totally delinquent with blogging recently…Life has been a little bit busy. I’ll try posting a blog entry for every month I’ve missed. So here’s to spending Easter down in Irvine.

Building sandcastles…

eating by the pool…

hunting eggs (first easter egg hunt)…

petting bunnies…

renting a puppy at Fashion Island…

and lots of swimming in wetsuits…

We took the Oes up to Lake Tahoe to see some snow. They’d never seen snow, and when we first spotted it at 5000 feet, Chloe said, “Where does it come from? It’s just always there?” And when she saw that the ground was wet after the snow fell, she would ask, “Why is it all wet? Is it raining?” The things you take for granted in life…Chloe had a fun time ice skating and sledding, although she couldn’t seem to keep her gloves on. I also learned that Zoe is quite like me - doesn’t really like the cold. She couldn’t stand wearing her snow suit, and screamed whenever we tried putting on her helmet and goggles.

We brought the G2 to test out in the snow blizzard, and it worked pretty darn well. Unfortunately, I can’t show photos (as I alluded to in a previous post, there is a new product that we are working on, and I couldn’t get any photos without it). Zoe preferred to hang out in the stroller, rather than stand out in the snow.

We’ve now been to this restaurant a few times, and I’ve decided that I really, really like it. Every time we go, the girls do a fantastic job - they eat the noodles, rice, and pork like nobody’s business. And for that, I will keep going back. We got there at 11:50 last Saturday, and it still wasn’t quite opened, but given that there was another family in a mini-van waiting in the parking lot, I decided to venture in with Chloe to snag a seat. Good thing I did - within 10 minutes after noon, the place was packed. Almost everyone was there with a toddler, and people came prepared - the Asian mom who sat next to me brought her own scissors for cutting the noddles, the other mom across from me brought a special cloth seat for her daughter (pretty cool contraption, will need to do some digging), and the dad across the way broke out some tiny chopsticks for his young son. To top it off, I love this poster they have hanging up there. On my last visit, I had asked the owner for the name of the artist, and never got a call back, but I’m sure he has better things to do (like stewing pork).

Zoe of course fell asleep (in her Orbit, of course) on the drive over, but upon waking up, she inhaled a bowl of rice with stewed pork and edamame. Yummy.