We decided to put our house on the market so for the past few weeks we have started packing up our things and toys, and moving them to a storage.  We have been working on the yard on our own, cleaning up and replacing the mulch.  We finally decided to have the interior painting done which started last week.  It was quite stressful as we had to move things to the center of the room and dealt with the mess throughout the process.  We also had to stay out late as the painters sometimes worked until 7-8pm.  The painting job finally finished on Friday (total of five days), but we could not put things back in place yet as we were leaving town.  While we were gone, the realtor arranged to have the exterior power-washed and have a handyman repairing a few things in the house. 

    When we returned from New Mexico, we finally put things back in place after the painting.  The realtors came to the house yesterday to accessorize the house while we moved out most of the knick knack into the storage or into the garage.  We also had to finish up the yard work.  I removed all the old mulch in the front yard and replaced with new ones.  I also potted some new geraniums.  A housekeeper came in this morning to clean up the house and made it spotless.  The photographer arrived afterward and took photos of our finished work. 

    We now still have a little bit more clean up to do on the sides of the house, but we hope that the majority of the work has been completed.  The house will go on the market starting next week, and we will have an open house next weekend.  We will have to live on a different routine during the entire week; will see how we manage it then.  We have posted before and after photos of our house.  If we are not able to sell the house, at least we have given it a new look.

     We left for a three day trip to New Mexico on Saturday.  This planned vacation was with Yvonne and Dora to visit our parents together.  Saturday morning, the boys were excited with the rides on the shuttle and plane as usual.  Logan still remembered his last experience of “choking” (vomiting), so I brought a seaband and Benadryl (from the doctor’s advice) for prevention.  Logan was willing to wear the wristbands and agreed to take the med with little resistance, and he was pleased to say that he did not choke afterward because of them.

    We arrived the airport and met up with Dora who arrived before we did.  We picked up a rental car and checked in to the hotel.  We then went to my parents’ house to see Gong Gong and Pau Pau along with Yvonne, Allen, Katie and Kevin who had arrived a day before.  The boys took just a little bit of time to warm up with everyone.  Our old time friend Sydney and her mother came over too, then we all went out to eat dinner.  We let the kids played again after dinner at the house.  All four of them, Katie (9), Kevin (6), Logan and Connor, played very well together; they just went around the house giggling and playing their own made up games. 

   On Sunday after hanging out at the house in the morning, we went out for lunch for an early Father’s Day celebration for my dad.  My grandma and a few more of my relatives joined us too.  After nap, we resumed our gathering in the house while my parents played MJ with grandma.  We all tried to play a little ping pong; Logan seemed to really enjoy it.  Connor on the other hand had fun using one of the little brooms in the house, and preferred cleaning the house.  My parents were happy to see how helpful he was.  For dinner, we went out to have yummy New Mexican food at a local joint by the university, then we took a walk at the school afterward.  The kids enjoyed running around there while the weather finally cooled down.  It was a nice walk and chat for us too.

    Monday morning I had scheduled to take my dad to the ophthalmology while Stuart and the boys hung out with Yvonne’s family until it was time for their flight.  After nap, Dora and us decided to take a swim in the hotel’s indoor pool.  The boys had fun playing while Dora showing off her new acquired swimming skill.  We then took Dora to the airport before meeting my parents at the house for dinner.  We enjoyed the homemade meal by the grandparents; Sydney, my parents and I chatted for awhile before we returned to the hotel for another late night.

    We packed up on Tuesday morning, then went back to my parents to say goodbye before heading to the airport.  Logan and Connor had a snack during the car ride, and Logan threw up at the rental car center, but he did well during the plane ride home.  This concluded our short but productive visit to my home state.  It was very nice seeing everyone, and it was especially great to see how much fun the boys had with their cousins.

    Last Thursday (June 6) was Logan’s last day of school.  This had been a great year for Logan; he had learned a lot and has become a bit more independent.  Stuart and I as well as Logan also like his teacher Ms. Diana, so it was sad that the year had come to an end.  Logan wrote a Thank You card to Ms. Diana as well as to the afternoon teacher Ms. Liana.

    On the last day, the school made it a Circus Day; the students could dress up in any costumes to celebrate.  Logan initially wanted to be a cowboy, so we got him a costume, but on the day, he changed his mind and wanted to be a batman.  Since the batman outfit was too tight, we were able to convince Logan to be a knight instead.  I was able to capture a few photos in the morning and Stuart got a picture of Logan with Ms. Diana too.

     Connor is progressing fine with potty training.  He is doing better at school than at home as the teachers are good in reminding him often.  Connor has also suggested to go pee or poo to the teachers at times too, so his pull ups have been relatively dry there.  At pick up, sometimes we ask Connor if he needs to use the restroom before we leave, he will happily say yes and walk proudly to the portable toilet there.  He takes off his pants and pull-up on his own, then he leans toward the wall to pee into the toilet.  He flushes, walks toward the sink, and takes out the stool underneath the sink.  He stands on it and starts washing his hand.  I was so surprised to see how independent he is at school.  On the other hand, with us he has his moments.  He has occasionally letting us know that he needs to pee or even poo.  He is very proud and happy with his own accomplishment, and he would remind me that we should go to Chuck E Cheese.  For some reason, he got the impression that we will go there once he has potty trained.  But at times, he still just prefers to do his business in the pull ups.  My plan is that we will move on to underwear after our upcoming trip.  Will see how he does then.

     Something about Connor was funny over the weekend.  Connor was excited to hang out around the pool, sitting on the edge.  When Stuart asked him to go into the water with him, Connor agreed.  But once he was dipped into the water, Connor whined a bit.  They continued to play in the water for a little while but Connor was having a straight face.  He then requested to sit with me again at the edge and he continued to look huffy.  I did not ask him why, but a few minutes later, Connor suddenly started talking with his broken English “Daddy put me….down in the water….down.…I AM MAD!”  Then he showed me a bigger huff and crossed his arms.  His expression was so funny, but I had to try not to laugh.  About 5 minutes later, he suddenly said “Ready now” and he started smiling again. 

     We visited the Acostas this weekend to attend their son Jacob’s high school graduation party.  They live up in the El Dorado Hills and it took us a little over two hours to drive up there.  It was 99 degrees on Saturday, but it did not feel too bad.  We checked into our hotel which was very nice, so we ended up taking a break in our room before we got ready to head to the party.  There were a lot of guests at the house, so Stuart and I caught up with the people we knew while the boys played around the big house and the huge yard.  The boys did not care about the swimming pool but enjoyed playing at the climbing structure where they spent a lot of time.  Connor was getting very good at climbing while Logan pretended to be a pirate hanging on the rope ladder.  We were served with lots of food there including some Pilipino food; the boys loved eating the lumpia (egg rolls) and had many of them.  For the entertainment, Jacob, his brother Mel and another friend played some music in the backyard.  Logan and Connor immediately ran over to the front of the stage to watch.  Connor was quite attentive to the music while Logan quickly lost attention, but instead he tried to find a good seat to join the crowd.

     While we were there, Logan and Connor had a chance playing with the piano and the drums.  Connor was quite interested in both of them and spent quite a bit of time on each of them.  On the other hand, Logan enjoyed watching the big kids playing video games; he hung out in the office with them on and off for quite awhile.  For the rest for time, we ate more food/desserts, talked and played.  Finally close to 10pm, I was tired and the boys were getting silly, we left to return to our hotel.  The boys were very cooperative to bathe and we all fell asleep quickly together.

   This morning we spent some time in the hotel before checking out.  We ate breakfast and hung out at the swimming pool.  As usual the boys did not want to get inside the water, but finally agreed.  Then we all relaxed on the lounge chairs.  After leaving the hotel, we stopped by the outlets.  But shopping with the boys was not easy, so we ended up buying just a few shirts for them and headed out to get a quick lunch before the long drive home.  Everyone slept during the drive except Stuart and we made it home in good time.

    Gloria visited us over the long weekend.  Logan was excited and warmed up to her right away.  He liked holding her hand, and even snuggling with her to watch TV.  Connor was a bit shy; he liked saying hi to Gloria, but preferred staying with me instead.  Throughout the three days, we were quite active.  We went to the park twice taking turns playing tennis while watching the boys play at the playground.  The boys had a chance to practice to be ball boys too.  Connor took his job seriously, waiting for his call before coming to the court, but the good time did end when he decided it was more fun to keep all the balls in the containers instead.  We also went for a short hike and had a picnic one of the days too.  Gloria and I also sneaked out during naptime to do some shopping.  We walked so much that our legs were sore.  We definitely had a nice and productive weekend.

     Gloria also spent a great deal of quality time with Scottie who she missed a lot too.  It was funny that Logan suddenly asked Gloria on her last day here “Why do you love Scottie more than you love us?”  Gloria was caught off guard.