Happy 2010! New Year’s Eve, we celebrated with a family style Chinese dinner, followed by Wii and ringing in the new year at our place. It was the first time Zachary stayed up past midnight!
That weekend, we went to Picture People to get family photos taken. On Saturday, we celebrated Dylan’s birthday with a feast. The kids did a fun, time consuming craft, and the parents ate crabs, lobster, salad, and a Chinese sesame noodle dish. We also played a winking Grinch game – and like a typical manager, I was rewarded for not doing any real work. What a great party! Happy 5th Birthday, Dylan!
Sunday, the last day of winter break, I took Zachary to Soda Springs for some skiing. I was hoping he would be good enough to get on an actual lift. Alas, after 30 minutes of private lessons, he was still having trouble stopping, so the instructor recommended we stay in the kids area. The problem is that Zachary wants to go down the hill fast – and stopping takes coordination and effort … which was “boring” to him.
He also climbed a snow hill, went on a sled carousal, and snow tubed. He’s definitely outgrowing the kid’s snow park though … every once in awhile, he’d look at the ski lift wistfully and ask to get on it. Next time, I think I can talk him into taking the lessons more seriously by using the lift as motivation.
Since it was back to school the next morning, I let Zachary go wild with puddles in the parking lot. At first, he was surprised I was encouraging him to jump … and then he went crazy! 
The next weekend, we drove to the Bay Area. My parents had flown in earlier that week and were staying with Sophia. My mom and sister made moo shu for lunch. Afterwards, we played Rockband and did a little shopping, mostly to walk around.
My parents treated us to dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant. The downside of having a good eater is that there’s competition for the dishes I like best. Calie accepted my portion of crispy duck and salt/pepper soft shelled crab. Zachary did well too (considering he is one of the pickiest eaters ever) … had a plate of tofu and one string bean. Maybe I should say James did well. Just thinking about cajoling Zachary to eat makes me feel exhausted.
The next day, before leaving, we walked around an outdoor mall and had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen … followed by Sprinkles cupcakes. The kids had a great weekend … they always love the attention my sisters, Eddie, and my parents lavish on them. Thanks Mom and Dad for flying across the country to celebrate a belated Christmas/NewYear with us!
This weekend, we took the kids to ArtBeast. It was great! I absolutely agree with their philosophy on kids, valuing the processes of learning their own way. Especially since Zachary’s K program is so academic and structured, I thought this place was a great weekend outlet.
Jason and Dylan also joined us (yea!). The place was chaos by the time we left – toys and fingerprints everywhere. On the way home, Zachary said,”Remember when we first got there and it was neat and organized?” And when Calie noticed her sleeve had paint on it, she took her dress off (good thing she didn’t notice until we got home.) I think my kids need to go there more often so they’re not such sissies about getting a little dirt on them. (Oh wait … what was it they said about respecting our children’s different personalities?)
