Civitavecchia (Rome)

If mommy had to pick one place out of all the places we went to that she enjoyed the most it would have to be Rome! I mean who could resist the Trevi fountain, all the churches in the Vatican, the Greek history too, the list goes on and on. Despite the language, people, food, etc, etc, etc it was just too much to take in for one day. I would love to go back one day soon to see all the things we missed.

I think the girls enjoyed it too although our land excursion was way too long for them to endure in the heat. That day alone I think mommy and daddy lost a few pounds from all that walking, pushing the stroller, and did I mention the heat?....100 degrees+ To make it up to the girls mommy did give in to a couple trips to the gelato shop.

Sophie, Mommy, Hannah in front of the Trevi.

Sophie, Daddy, Hannah in front of the Trevi.

The coliseum where the gladiators fought to the death. Sophie and Hannah were more into the local birds flying around on the grass.

Mommy and the girls look around the seating area in the coliseum. The girls make friends with the worker.

Here the worker tries to shake their hands and the girls suddenly become shy.

Inside of St. Peter's Basilica.

Mommy, Hannah, Stefania (our tour bus leader) and Angela (our land leader).

It's a towel bat!!!

Naples, Italy

We got over the culture shock in Barcelona, but we got another shock in Naples...the honking and driving! Wow, can I say that our driver of the tour bus we had in Naples was not only shocking, but really good. He managed to squeeze us into small alleys and get us to our destination in one piece.

The tour speaker was nice enough to tell us to sit on top of the bus since there was no AC on the shuttle. Though we were up top and having warm breezes blow in our face we were still HOT! We saw quite a bit from the top of the shuttle, but the girls weren't of course into any of the sites, so to keep them busy I let them take turns playing games on my iTouch and listen to the recorded tour on headphones.

We tried to go see a museum and was unsuccessful since we couldn't find the entrance (very embarrassing). Instead we talked to the locals and roamed some back streets. We also walked around the park and saw the locals playing soccer. It was during the World Cup too so people were all into it. People really took to the girls and wanted to take pics of them (I'm not sure if it was an Asian thing or because they were twins, but it was interesting). I found it strange, but the locals were really nice and friendly. Later after visiting so many locations I would have to say that Italy was my favorite because people were warm and friendly and it really felt nice to be around that.

We learned that siesta time is all around the region and if you ask for a cappuccino it should be before 10 a.m. or you will get some aggravated people. I never really experienced any of that in Italy....only in Spain and France.

Sophie playing with the iTouch and drenched in sweat up on top of the shuttle next to daddy.

From the shuttle you see parts of Naples.

A local bunch of school kids so friendly and nice wanting to take pics of the girls :)

Hannah and Soph get a free mini cone from the nice lady behind the counter and daddy puts some Italian gelato in there.

Story time on the ship before bedtime. "Big dinosaur!!! RAWR!!!" Thanks for the interjection Hannah.

Hannah and Sophie quickly adapt to the suite life.

Elephant towel gets taken in with squeals of delight.

Mommy and Hannah enjoy the sunset.

Silly on the jogging track.

Day at Sea 7/5/2010

We spent the next day at sea on our way to Naples. The girls had fun swimming in a pool made just for them in 8" of water with a slide. The pool on the side was fun as well and we spent a good chunk of time splashing around keeping cool from the warm weather. The girls made friends with some kids that spoke Spanish.

We had fun exploring the ship, but if you can believe it we didn't get to use all of the facilities because there was just too much to see. We missed looking at the ice rink! We did see the miniature golf, basketball court, rock climbing, arcade, etc. We did spend time on deck 14 on cloud 9 which is for kids 3 yrs and under.

The girls enjoying the pool made for munchkins!

Hannah looking for mermaids with mommy.

Hannah and Sophie enjoying the first of many animal towel creations made by our stewart Manuel. The swan towel wearing daddy's sunglasses.

Boarding the Voyager of the Seas

The fourth of July was when we boarded the boat and we decided to do it early as did everyone else. It was my paranoia of boarding early and looking back I think we had more than enough time to explore Barcelona more, but we were still newbies and very green to getting around. Live and learn...

We had one day at sea as we made our way to our first port which was Naples, Italy.

The girls eat the croissant, but not the contents of the sandwich. The only place open for food was the promenade which was one of the places that was 24/7 which served sandwiches, pizza, cookies, fruits, and cakes
.

Mommy, Sophie, and Hannah check out the view from the ship as we say good-bye to Barcelona.

The running path that circled deck 11 which overlooked the pool and the view of the ship looking out. We spent many a days taking the girls for a walk around the ship on the track.

Exploring Barcelona

The second day in Spain we took a tour via a shuttle and had to choose which sites we wanted to see. I know we should've seen the Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's most famous church, but it was on another tour route and unfortunately traveling with toddlers you have to make choices on which is the better route. I looked forward to using what little Spanish I could muster up from my days in high school, but the native language is Catalan which is a mix of French and Spanish. The locals understood me and were nice enough to draw, use simple Spanish I could understand, and some people did know enough English to communicate. Either way the first day was a shocker for us as we were trying to find our way around like "Lost in Translation" with new money, new food, and massive heat.

Let me say it was hot! Mind you it wasn't as hot as most people said it would be, but it was in the 90's. All of us sweated massive amounts that we lost weight and keeping hydrated became more of our worry sometimes more than taking good pics. Good thing we had artist daddy Der! He took more of the better pics we see here. Both parents were armed with a camera each so we didn't miss anything LOL!

Besides the girls not liking the local cuisine...Mommy didn't either. Daddy was more open as usual and enjoyed the tapas, etc. Mommy enjoyed getting her Starbucks...sad I know, but it was comforting knowing you can order a mocha! We were worried about the girls and searched high and low for a McDonalds because it would be the only thing they really liked and they had not eaten much for 2 days. Der found a local man with a Micky D bag who directed us to the nearest Micky D and we managed to get chicken nuggets and some apple juice for the girls to eat...YAY!

At a port as we walked along the area looking for a place to eat lunch.

Hannah plays with her food, but manages to eat some potato wedges and mommy sneaked in some small pieces of roasted chicken (which was super yummy!).

Sophie was just not having any of it.

After eating tapas for lunch Mommy and Soph wait for the tour shuttle.

The girls stop to look at the local graffiti.

Der with the girls in front of Catedral de Barcelona one of the many Gaudi churches.

I took Hann and Soph in by myself as Der stood outside patiently with the strollers. Sophie and Hannah really enjoyed looking at everything inside and outside the church and were really excited to tell Der all about it.

There were just much too many pics to post as combined Der and I took over 300 pics, but I tried to get the more spectacular ones.

More of the inside of the church.

One of the many scenes behind bars that the church had.

The girls amazed at the surroundings. Sophie holds a map of our tour.

Der and the girls in front of the water show at night in front of the magic fountain.

My turn to pose with the girls.

Totally beat! Sophie and Hannah spread out in our bed.

Girls enjoying the Font Magica de Montjuic in Barcelona.

My first passport stamp

I've been lagging, but with all the things that were happening I have good excuses for my lack of entries which I will not bore anyone with it since this for the girls :P Everything is a blur up until we left for Europe and even then it's like a dream. We left July 1st to embark on our first trip anywhere outside the US.

The girls did pretty good considering they were in and out of airports for extended periods of time (12 hours of flight, but waiting around airports, etc brings it to way more than that). We flew out of SFO and landed 10 hrs into London's Heathrow airport. Our stop over was 2 1/2 hours and personally I didn't mind since the airport is like a mall!!! The girls got to stretch and have something to drink and snack on (they did not like British food at the airport). The next flight into Barcelona was roughly about 4 hrs and we basically got in at roughly 6:30 p.m. their time. One meltdown was with Soph Soph who could not be calmed down and I figure it was due to her not being able to "pop" her ears :( Other than that we did pretty well and Der and I enjoyed the British tea cookies on the plane and we really loved the movies on the way over...yay British Airways!

First night in we were pooped, but that wasn't the clincher....it was getting my iPhone stolen which not only upset me, but the girls as well. I brought it along for them to play games on along with another iTouch so each girl had their own to play with.

Later we tried to find something for the girls to eat since they didn't like the airport food nor the airline food. Unfortunately they didn't like the hotel food either. I knew going to Europe was going to pose a problem since they only really like Asian food.

Sophie in her PJ's and her travel companion Pooh bear.

Swimming in San Ramon

Last weekend it started to get hot. Summer has officially kicked off its weather and we've hit high 80's. What is the perfect thing to do? Go to a water park/pool in San Ramon. Our friends the Yabut's had found a fun pool/water park and we have gone two weekends in a row (this past weekend with more friends). The girls have a nice tan going on and they love the water they are definitely island girls at heart. Sadly mommy had forgotten her camera two weekends in a row and these pics were from her iPhone. I lost taking pics visiting friends' babies, a friend's birthday party, some cool parks, etc. We've been taking the girls all over, having them experience new things.

Other updates are the girls have been fighting over mommy's iPhone and both girls have become very proficient on the phone (this has been going on for a while). Because we'll be going on a trip soon I decided that an iTouch would be much more useful than any other hand device for them to keep occupied with and the fact that I always have to have two of the same thing for them to play with at the same time. Yes, people outside of tech and casual bystanders cannot believe I let them use my iPhone. Kids today are much more advanced....yes I sound old...hahahhhaha! I also want to set up a child friendly computer for them to use, but we'll see.

They both love to draw and they are pretty good at it. Biased or not they both can draw faces (expressions), bunnies, whales, Mickey mouse, etc and it amazes me. Der and I both enjoy drawing and doing art, so it gives me great pleasure that our kids are following in our footsteps. Besides the art thing they both love music as well which makes us overjoyed. Sophie is a dancer and Hannah is a singer.

They are communicating more and more and we have so much fun watching them at this stage of development. At 34 months we find that this is the "testing the limits" stage and I find I must tap into my secondary set of patience. From teaching potty training (yes we're still trying!!!), to learning to control anger (parents included), to demanding requests, and learning how to communicate better, I know that this is probably the easier stage in life and I'm not looking forward to the teen years!!! It scares me that I see the kids exhibit our personalities, but it's also pretty funny too :D

The first weekend the girls had so much fun at the water park that was less than 1 ft of water near the play structure.

The next weekend they had more fun with mommy and daddy in the water with them and more friends like the Clarkson's, Ko's, and Yang's joining us. Here they munch on some Pirate Booty and Caprisun drinks.

Memorial Day Weekend

The highlights of this weekend was spent going cherry picking at Seko Ranch out in Brentwood. We did this last year when the girls were about 18 months (with the Yabuts) and now going back at almost 3 yrs old they still got the hang of it and had a grand ole time. This time we went with the Yabuts, the Ko's, and Adel's friend Lilly and her son. We found a hummingbird's nest and even got to see the mommy bird (who needs the nature channel). Later we had a mini picnic in the back of our minivan which consisted of some teriyaki spam musubi (Der made), mini wheat honey peanut butter and guava jelly sandwiches for the keiki's (mommy made), char siu baus and custard tarts (the Ko's), sandwiches (the Yabut's), and homemade chocolate center cookies (Lilly) and some other snacks as well. The weather was the hottest this year (89 degrees)! The kids had alot of fun and took a short nap in the car as we made our way back to get a pie for the next stop.

We were invited to our friend Nick's house in San Ramon for a BBQ. We also met up with some other friends (the Yangs, the Clarksons, and our host the Chen's), and a bunch of other friends of Nick's. The girls had fun meeting new friends and playing with their old friends as well. Emi came along as well and made a new friend named Toby.

Hannah gets right to it and starts picking some cherries.

Sophie finds some yummy cherries to pick!

All the kids in one pic this was as good as it was going to get. Sophie, Hannah, Aiden, and Lauren (left to right).

The girls already using the Asian squat.

Hannah looks on as Sophie and Lauren throw fallen cherries into a hole in the ground.

Hummingbird's nest within arm's length on the cherry tree.

Mommy bird comes back to check on the two eggs.

Sophie plays with Emi on Nick's deck outside.

Sophie playing in the backyard at Nick's house.


Thank you Adel for the invite! Thank you Nick for inviting us!

Castles and Dragons

May 23rd - I try to find fun, new and interesting things to do for Sophie and Hannah, but sometimes I run out of ideas and stick to parks which is never a bad idea. The weekend of the 23rd of May I decided I had enough of congestion and wanted ramen. Do you know you cannot find ramen in the Hayward vicinity? Much less east bay...unless you go to Oakland maybe. I decided we should cross the bridge and go to San Mateo where I used to work and knew that there were a bunch of ramen places (there is like a mini Japan town there).

Instead of my favorite Santa Ramen, we decided to Yelp it and try Ramen Dojo (which took the location of the old Santa Ramen shop). The girls loved my spicy ramen surprisingly and decided they rather eat mommy and daddy's ramen instead of the gyoza and rice which was ordered for them. We later hit up the posh toy store called Talbot's down the street. We walked about 3 blocks and it was just a beautiful day to walk around. After the little shopping spree where I bought the girls some Kumon learning books, level 1 reading books, and let's not forget some great Tinkerbell coloring books (these come in handy while waiting for meals in restaurants).

Ahh, but it didn't stop there, we took the girls to a park called Coyote Point Park. It was a great park (although not free $5 entrance fees for all the Coyote parks, even the one in Fremont) filled with lots of fun playgrounds for all age groups. It was packed! It is also near the water, so it had a cool breeze, although the sun was out in full effect the wind made it quite chilly. The theme was castles, mid evil dragons, etc. How cool was that? The girls felt the same way I did and had a blast!

Hannah and Sophie ride the purple dragon. I don't think it was Puff the magic dragon LOL!

Uh oh the girls being swallowed up.

Hannah and Sophie in the mouth of the dragon.

Hannah and daddy enjoying the beautiful day at the park. Look at the castle in the back!

Hannah trying out the balance beam.

Sophie rides the horse.

So many structures and things to do. What did the girls like the most? Walking up and down this hill! They thought it was the coolest thing to do because the grippy floor kept them from flying down the hill.