More Milestones!

 Do I continue this blog or not?  That is the question.  I feel like my posts keep getting further and further apart.  

Turns out February 15th was a big day for us.  Esme turned 11!  And Pops lost her first tooth!  She just wiggled it out all by herself!  Eve wasn't the happiest that day as she felt quite left out but we keep reassuring her that her day will come.

Pops, minus 1 tooth and a lot more on the way!

Birthday girl!

She requested a boba birthday which I'm not really sure what that is.  So she got boba decorated cookies from Aunty Janelle instead!  No complaints!

Winter Break - Part I

We braved a trip to California this past winter break to have a little fun and experience a Christmas away from home.  We spent the first week in Disneyland and the second week in San Diego.  The kids all had a blast!  We missed our other family back home but were easily distracted with all that was around us.  And we did it all!

We took an afternoon flight on Southwest Airlines.  Everyone was excited to get unlimited screen time after they finished their Kumon.

We arrived super late that evening and so didn't get to our hotel until even later.  Once 8am rolled around though Chan just couldn't comprehend sleeping anymore even though we went to bed past 2am.  He was just so excited!

So many new experiences for the kids.  And simple things like water fountains were still just as amazing to them!

Happy Holidays from California Adventure!

It wouldn't be a trip to Disney without a spin on the teacups!

The holiday decorations were spectacular!  We loved all the lights!

Special time with mama!

Each kid got to pick out a souvenir at the end of our Disney trip and Eve was so excited to pick Mirabel's dress from the new movie Encanto.

Chan worked his way up to being a roller coaster fanatic by the end of our trip.  He didn't start out that way though.  Incredicoaster was his favorite!

And once we finished with Disneyland we rented a car and headed south to San Diego!  Stay tuned for more pics!

We Survived Another Year

 Well it's the end of 2021 and we successfully survived another year!  Where does the time keep going?!?!  It's hard to say if the pandemic makes it seem to go faster or slower.  It all depends on what you're referring to I guess.  

As far as the kids growing that seems to be happening at warp speed these days.  Esme makes it a well known fact that she has reached the 5 foot mark on the wall :)  She's now 10 years old and in the 5th grade and loving being back in the swing of things.  She really missed all the social activities at the beginning of the pandemic.  She continues with tennis, seasonal soccer, and started swimming this year.  She's also going strong with Kumon and piano.  She had her second piano recital last month and did great despite being so shy and nervous to be in front of the group of parents.  

Chan is now 8 and in the 3rd grade. He never stops moving and keeping us on our toes.  He's become quite the little fisherman and has such a drive to keep going.  Luckily Allen is a good sport and they often spend entire days down by the water waiting for the next big catch.   Baseball started back up this fall and it's a whole different game now that the kids are pitching for themselves.  Chan also went back to judo which he really seems to enjoy in a different way.  He's also doing Kumon and piano and did great at the piano recital which was his first!  He didn't seem nervous at all :)

Poppy & Eve are 5 and finally started kindergarten this year.  So this is the one year that all the kids are at the same school.  Woohoo!  The girls are in separate kinder classes and thriving in their own ways.  They adjusted to school with no problem despite all the pandemic changes.   And they started back with gymnastics and finally seem ready.  We tried at 3 years old and they weren't comfortable enough yet.  Now they go out there onto the mat without any major meltdowns.  Phew!  They're also doing Kumon for reading and are waiting for another year or two to start piano like their big sibs.  

As for Allen and I, we're just busy keeping up with all of the above.  Ha ha!  Happy Holidays everyone!

One Step Closer

 Our kids finally got vaccinated!  Woohoo!  We'd been waiting for this day for soooooooooooo long and it feels so much better now.  We got them signed up as soon as possible so that they're fully vaccinated before we travel over the holidays.  We'd been talking about it for awhile so they were as prepared as they could be.  Eve and Esme were champs and took them with straight faces.  Chan was nervous which I'd expect from him and I think Poppy was taking after him.  But the first one is done and I have a feeling they'll both be much better for the second.  

They were a little stoic right afterwards.  

But they livened up by the time we got some boba tea and got home :)

Halloween has also come and gone.  We didn't know what we were doing till the last minute so we were digging through all of our costume drawers to put things together.  And they all had so much fun doing something so normal again.  Though I'm not even sure Poppy and Eve remember the last time they went...

I couldn't nail this one down to take a picture with the girls.

Eve is taking off with reading and it's so cute to see her read to Poppy.  I found them like this one day in the playroom.

And then bright and early one Saturday morning I found them like this - playing Sleeping Queens in the driveway.  Silly kids!

Oh yeah we also celebrated our 12th anniversary.  Dinner out on a Sunday didn't sound appealing this year so we opted for breakfast out with the whole family.  And it was a hit since we never do that :)  Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day!

Chan and Esme had their first piano recital and both did awesome.  They had to memorize 2 songs each to play in front of a small audience.  They were both nervous but you couldn't tell.  They pulled it off well.  

And Chan continues to be our busy fisherman.  He's hooked!  Whenever there's a free moment he's always asking to go fishing.  He recently borrowed all of the local fishing books from the library and can't stop reading them.

Fall Break Has Come and Gone

The kids had fall break last week and it just flew by.  All four of them attended Imiloa Astronomy Center's fall break camp which kept them busy and they all enjoyed.  And it felt more like "home" than our regular school to go back there for the week which was nice.  

School pics 2021-2022 school year

I can't remember if I mentioned that the twins started gymnastics.  Just as fall sports started ramping up we found another activity to fill our days!  They just go once a week and they really look forward to it.  And now that restrictions are loosening in our community the the big kids are starting to have games too.  Esme now has weekend soccer games and Chan starts baseball games next week.  Spectators still aren't allowed but we're just happy the kids are getting to play.  

And when the kids aren't out and about they love being home and playing with the cats.  Oscar and Toby are getting to be best buds and soooooooooooo loved by the kiddos.  They're enjoying cats so much that they even want to go and watch shows about cats these days!

Cat Fest at the Palace Theater

Best buddies, Oscar and Toby

  

Happy Fall!

Fall is upon us and our schedule has filled up with all the fall sports - soccer and baseball on top of year round tennis and swimming.  Allen is still coaching Esme's team despite all the COVID restrictions and she's happy to be around her soccer friends again.  This is Chan's first year of kid-pitch baseball so it'll be interesting for sure.  He's just excited to be back on the field too.  We're still waiting for openings at gymnastics so the twins can start back there.  With our recent COVID spike though it might be awhile.  At least they have each other!

Other than that we've been keeping busy with lots of outdoor activities like usual.  Chan is still obsessed with fishing.  He could do that all day every day which is amazing considering what a busy kid he is.  

We had to take Poppy to Oahu recently for an eye appointment and while we were there for the day we stopped by to see the Beyond Van Gogh exhibit.  I'm so glad we went because it was shut down the next week due to our rising COVID cases!  I didn't know how she'd do at the exhibit since she's not the most patient kid but she made it through and enjoyed the end of the exhibit the most.  

The kids used to go to the farmers market with me in the morning but now I make them wait in the car instead of exposing them to more people.  This was Eve hiding from me one morning.  And don't worry, the garbage bag is filled with clothes ;)

We did have a visit from cousin Kai and Googoo all the way from New Jersey recently!  It was so fun to have all the Shih cousins together!

School is still going well.  Thank goodness for uniforms in the morning.  Getting dressed goes so much faster!  The kids are loving the bus still too which works out great for everyone.  They play all sorts of games in the driveway when they wait for the bus in the morning.  

And other than that we're just enjoying our lovely island as much as we can to keep busy and safe!

Oh and we got a new cat!  We thought he could be a friend for Toby but it's taking him awhile to warm up to Oscar.  So we're waiting for now.  We adopted him from a shelter, he's about 8 months old and he came with the name Oscar.  The kids didn't want to rename him so Oscar it is!  He's got the cutest little white paws and a gray coat.  I'll get more pics later