Busy, Busy! But a lot of fun!

We celebrated cousin Jimmy's birthday about two weeks ago (BAD blogger!) and the kids had a great time. We met up with MaryLue and Clay and returned their children to them :) My sister-in-law, Pita made a very cute cake for Jimmy. She actually teaches classes in cake decorating and used a racing theme for Jimmy's party. And she just started her own blog! Stop by her blog and say hello! The boys had a great time together and Peter loves spending time with his cousins.

Jimmy getting ready to blow out the candles.

One amazing race car cake.

We have also been planning a birthday greeting for Rick's mom. She is such a great grandma to her grandchildren and she is also a great-grandma to Sydney, Colin, and now Asher (just a few weeks ago). MaryLue had an idea to have all of her children and grandchildren hold or create a letter, take a picture of that, and then put the collage together spelling out "Happy Birthday Grandma. We love you." It came out very cute and she loved it.

"Happy Birthday Grandma, We love you."

Peter had his belt test for his green belt in Tae Kwon Do. He now gets not only his green belt, but a new uniform for intermediate students, and nanchucks! Some of the other moms are sad he's leaving because they love watching him saying he has a natural flow of the moves and it's great to watch. One mom has a Korean son, age 3, who is a ball of fire like Caroline so the two of them play while we watch the class. The other mom is Korean-American, married to a Japanese-American. Her daughters are in Peter's current class and Emily (the older one) and Peter are great friends (why yes, we're planning the wedding. Thanks for asking! :) Emily has already said that she will be in Peter's new class in just a few months. She's a go-getter!

The green belt and green stripe belt graduates with Master Yoo, Instructor Julie and Instructor Giancarlo.

Peter and Master Yoo

New uniform and green belt

Caroline wanted to wear Peter's old purple belt and show off her moves.

We also went to Santa Barbara last weekend so that Yumiko could experience the beauty of it. It was a little chilly, but we had a great time. We went to the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum and the kids had a great time trying "virtual fishing" (my arms still hurt, but it was less smelly than real fishing! Oh, and when you fail -which we did-a little cartoon fish pops out of the water and spits your pathetic little lure out of his mouth just to humiliate you) and finding the clues on the scavenger hunt the curator gave them when we went in. They also got to "virtually park" a cruise ship into the harbor (Peter did ok, but Caroline ran the poor ship aground, backed it into buoys, and then ran it aground again) and also look through a real periscope. I recommend it if you have small children. Lots of "hands on" things to do. In fact, I was having so much fun "fishing" that I almost left my purse there! Another woman flagged Yumiko down to let me know that I left my purse! I'm glad there are honest people in this world!

Virtual fishing.

Viewing one's fish.

Caroline gives it a shot. I selected the sailfish for her and thought it was a sunfish. Basically I selected a large sporting fish. Every 4 year old should try to bag a fish twice her own weight, don't you think? Perhaps next time, I'll select the trout.

Peter practices "safe surfing"

Virtually parking a cruise ship

Also, Ligia came out for another visit and we went to the Tranquility Tea Room. It was so much fun trying the chocolate-infused blackberry tea (YUM!) and meeting new people! We had delicious sandwiches, scones, desserts and of course, all the tea we could drink. All in a beautiful atmosphere of Victorian hats, lace, and fine china. I only wish I had my camera, but trust me, it was great!

Now to add a picture of Caroline wearing the goggles from her "rescue puppy" that she got for Christmas.

Have a great week!