Spring

Second to last day of spring break.  Hopefully the girls are well rested. They've had a ton of time to laze around.  None of them wants to go back to school.

It was my flex today but I went to work in the morning.  For the afternoon Eric and I took the boys to the Crofton Walk then to Dinters for fruit trees.  Two apples and a prune plum.  I think Eric is going back tomorrow for a nectarine too. 

Then he spent the afternoon digging holes.

The kids had great fun playing in the front yard. Until Luk had a purposeful tantrum that of course back fired for him.  He ended up in his room playing quietly. Jia was amusing herself and Kai went to the back yard to help Eric with the trees. He moved all of the rocks to a rock pile. He was pretty pleased with himself and he's not afraid of getting dirty.  Might be the only one of five to join Eric with his gardening.

Tonight before the boy's bedtime I took them out to check on Dad's holes. They had a great time running around. Kai loves to be chased. Then Eric moved the play house out and Kai was super thrilled about that. How cute are Kai's new undies? Miss Jia is indeed wearing the same outfit for a third day. She must really like it. 

Poo talk ahead.

Potty training is ongoing here, for both boys.  It's not going well.  It's taking so long!  Kai has told a Mandarin speaking friend that he likes the diapers and is nervous about the western toilet.  He can hold long enough to always wait for the pull up or diaper. If the weather was nicer he'd be outside and we could really wait him out. He doesn't have many accidents in his gonch.  Really just controlling by holding on until there is a diaper and alone time. We have more success with the potty versus the toilet. Problem being he's simply too big for a toddler potty.  Also because he waits, the diapers can't hold the amount he produces. Thinking we need to try adult diapers on him. So....he's four and a half, he can control things and he is voicing clearly that he wants the diapers. Suggestions?  Now with Luk, he needs to stick with diapers. He will likely never gain true control.  But...he can take part in the social aspect. He poops around 8 times a day and NEVER tells anyone.  I'm soooooo sick of poo and 4 1/2 year old poo is pretty gross. Especially after he's peed and sat and mooshed and shmooshed. TMI.  I get that.  But this is our new world.  Someone please tell me these boys will get it one day. I fear we'll be homeschooling because one likes diapers and the other wants to keep his poop.  Oh, and today Esmei had poop issues with her long fur so Fei and I had to help her out with a butt hair cut.  I need a poo free day! 

Gee, do you think they need sunglasses?!

If only they would wear them.

Easter

The bunny came and three little kids were pretty darn excited this morning.  Kai was all about sorting his stuff in and out of his basket.  Once the game grew to sorting Luk and Jia's baskets we moved into putting everything away around the house.  The baskets were just too much. Too funny.

After breakfast we moved onto hunting for eggs.  Kai was on it. Able to find only the ones with his name.  We did a few rounds of that in the toy room. Now Kai is ALL about his bucket of eggs.

Big girls got up at noon and missed it all.  Kinda sad.  First year they've skipped the fun.  Can't complain since they did ride the train. 

Mom and Dad were over for a visit at lunch time.

Quiet afternoon here.  Eric is cooking dinner. Luk and Jia are playing downstairs and Kai is drawing on the Aqua Doodle Cube with me.  Big girls are hiding, likely in their rooms.

Forest Museum and Train

The Easter Train is running.  We bought an extended family pass today, so we get unlimited visits to the train this year.

It's not the best park in town but it's ok and more importantly it's clean and they have popcorn.  So I think we'll go often.  Plus there is a train. Kai was over the top excited and a bit scared to ride that train.  I don't think there will be a problem getting him back there ;)  Luk still really, really likes the train too. 

Today they got to make bunny ears and get eggs from the scavenger hunt.  We've been there so often we just told Jia where the objects to find were.  She was the only on interested in the 'hunt'.  The boys just wanted the chocolate eggs. 

Waiting to go wasn't so bad.

Getting nervous saying goodbye to the station master.

Moving and genuinely concerned.

Check out the cute top!

Smiles all around!

We get to see this little stinker face fairly often ;)

She made them but would only wear them long enough for the photo.

I scored Fei's ears.

We're both pretty proud of our ears.

Good Friday

Started our day with pancakes.  Minnie for Jia, pirate ship for Luk and a firetruck for Kai.  Then onto housework and laundry. Lili, Fei and I got circles.  Ha ha.

We took off after lunch to play with friends at their campsite.  Had a great little hike.  Weather was perfect. Kai prefers walking in town on sidewalks ;)  He'll have to get used to our adventures in nature.

Jia didn't want to leave her friend Emily.  So she stayed behind and we scooped Asia to play with us. 

We went to Menchies for a snack.  We got a gift card as a boy gift.  So that was fun and yummy.  Kai was pretty thrilled.  He ate his, half of Luk's and was eyeing up the rest of Asia's. 

Just home now.  Dinner soon. I'll have to go get Jia after the boys lay down.  I'm still stuck laying down with Kai at night.  Thankfully he usually falls asleep in a few minutes.  We talk about how nicely Luk lays down by himself and Kai agrees that he is going to too.  But he changes his mind every time we try.

Caught a Smile

We're having problems in the playroom.  Kai really, really, really doesn't know how to play with the toys as they're intended. He spends a lot of time moving the toys around,  sitting on the toys and taking them apart. Everyday we throw away broken toys and things. In an effort to gain control, stop the toy carnage and get some peace for Luk and Jia we're trying to keep him out of the toy room. Tonight after dinner he was looking sad about not being with Luk and Jia in the toy room so I sat with him to play with some puzzles which he thought was okay but a whole lot more fun when he got to show off for Eric. I finally caught his smile in a picture!

Haircuts for the boys.

Finally.  I was off work early today so we had time to get the boys haircuts. 

Kai thought he'd go with a simple NO.  It took some convincing for him to get in the chair.  He scowled through the whole thing and didn't lighten up until I held his hand.  He was happy to be done ;)  Luk loves the pampering.  He chatted happily with his hair stylist. Told her all about his broken shoulder and complained about the hair falling on his cape.  Our boys are exceptionally cute for sure.

Kai's First Bowling

Or what I assume is Kai's first bowling experience.  It's really loud and he had chips and pop so it was hard to focus ;)  Eric helped him for the first couple turns and then he was good to go.  Too cute.  Luk was a bit more willing to try bowling without the assistance ramp after seeing Kai take off on his own.  Miss Jia decided tonight to try throwing the ball with one hand.  Lili went up to bowl and then sat down to enjoy the free WiFi.  Fei enjoyed watching the littles. 

Hmm, he looks scared.  Poor kid.  Honestly he did have fun bowling.

Takes a while for those slow moving balls to reach the end!

So slow there was time to cuddle.

One day Kai might smile in a photo!

Monopoly

Jia and I tried to teach Luk how to play Monopoly Jr.  Sigh.  He was excited to be included but he had to be prompted each and every turn through the entire turn and it didn't improve an hour later when the game was still going.  He was exhausted by the time it ended.  Jia was out first and then Luk. No poor sportsmanship so that was a pleasant improvement. 

Bunny Ears.

We did find bunny ears yesterday :)

Kai was pretty happy about them this morning, happy to put them on and stand and pose for a picture.  Once I showed him the picture he was done and they were off.  I'm guessing too silly for him.  No hope of a smiley face wearing the ears I'm afraid. 

Getting Ready for Easter

Chinese New Year came down yesterday.  This morning the Littles helped me sort out Easter.  They were all super cooperative and carried each special thing oh so carefully to the mantle.  Luk carried all the wood, plastic and metal as carefully as Jia and Kai carried the breakables.  Luk and Jia had their bunny ears on.  Didn't have any here for Kai.  I asked if he wanted a turn and he said no but I think today when we're running errands we'll need to stop at the dollar store for bunny ears for Kai.

They loved sorting eggs.  Had to find a dozen for each kid with their name on them.  We found a bunch of blank ones and Kai picked his dozen and we wrote his name on each one.  It's fun to watch him when we are fitting him in.  He totally gets it and is so excited.  He presumably has no clue about hunting for eggs but for now he has his own eggs in a bucket and that seemed to make him pretty happy.

Each of the kids has a stone egg.  Kai needs one.  Putting that out there to the universe. 

It took me forever to find a manly basket for Luk.  I bought a cheap plastic one for Kai for now and the search is on again for another manly basket. 

I didn't put out all the goodies, toys and games that the kids usually play with.  Still having trouble with Kai moving everything constantly so we'll just avoid putting more stuff out for now.  Jia and Luk took that in stride. 

Next up today is hair cuts for the boys and a few errands.  They're both pretty scruffy.  We have a whole day with nothing scheduled! So rare.

Update: In total Nelson style we scrapped all our plans and took off to have lunch with friends and a trip to Costco. Boys are still in need of a hair cut.