We joined the Kaos for a hike to the Stanford Dish this morning.  We met up with them there at 8:30am and managed to finally find a parking.  We were worried about the cold weather, so the four of us were all bundled up.  But the weather turned out very nice that we slowly stripped a few layers.  As soon as we began the hike, Connor wanted to get lazy in the stroller.  Logan and Mckayla both started very strong as they were excited; they both were walking fast and running at times, even while going uphill too.  The hike was very hilly but we were making good time toward our 1/2 way point, the Dish.  The big kids were energized, giggling with each other while they walked.  Marcus was very good walking at least half of the time holding his parent’s hand.  Connor continued to prefer staying in the stroller eating cranberries.  We finally made it to the Dish; the kids felt accomplished and were rewarded with a bar each. 

     We continued onto the 2nd half of the loop, and we started hearing some whining from various participants.  Connor did come out to walk here and there; Logan also took advantage of the stroller for a short stretch.  The last 30 minutes was hardest; it took more encouragement to get Logan to walk.  He did not care to play games or to walk anymore.  Stuart finally had to carry him for the last stretch, and we think that Logan actually fell asleep on Stuart’s shoulder.  It was tough to push the stroller through the hills too, and so we all definitely had a great exercise today.  After two hours of hiking, we made it back to the starting point.  Mckayla walked the entire way; both Logan and Marcus did well too walking a lot of it.  Connor spent majority of the time in stroller, and by then, he wanted to return up the hill for more hiking.  We decided not to join the Kaos for lunch as we wanted to go home to recover.  This was a tough but great hike, and it was a definitely a great start for a new year.  Hopefully we can keep up doing more exercise with the kids.

		Stanford Hike VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

     We spent some time cleaning the house yesterday.  I am glad that now Stuart is on board with this New Year tradition, and suggested that we have a clean start of the year too.  I also spent some time teaching the boys to say “Gung Hay Fat Choy” to wish people a wealthy new year.  In the afternoon, we drove up to Milpitas to meet up with the Kaos to have a new year dinner.  We arrived early to walk around the plaza first.  The boys enjoyed running around the plaza and up and down the stairs to burn some energy before we went inside the restaurant.  We happened to be up on the balcony when the Kaos arrived at the parking lot.  When the kids spotted each other, they all got so excited.  Our boys attempted to rush down the stairs while Mckayla and Marcus went up to have a big reunion.  It took awhile before we got settled down at the table and had our food ordered.  Then the food arrived quickly and they were yummy.  Each of the four kids had a phone to watch their shows and thus they all behaved well.  Logan and Connor enjoyed the soup and the crispy noodles a lot, especially Connor.  He was very diligent in picking up and eating all the noodles on his plate, and he even wanted to finish the left over of soup in my bowl too.  After we finished the dinner, we were given some desserts to wrap up our meal.  One of them was a New Year dessert that I used to help my mom made when we were little, so it was nice to have a taste of that again.  Afterward, the Kaos and we said goodnight and wished each other Happy New Year to end the nice evening.

    We went to Rohan’s house to watch the SuperBowl with his and Bar’s family.  We arrived right after the game started.  As soon as we walked in, Logan and Rohan started running around the house, and Connor followed them.  They giggled so much while chasing each other.  The big boys enjoyed going up and down the stairs, but since Connor liked to follow them, and I am nervous with them on stairs, I warned them not to chase on it.  Fortunately they all listened and Connor would hold on to the railings and call me when he wanted to come down.  When Bar and Raz arrived, they migrated to play in the backyard for a bit.  Both boys were filled up with snacks earlier so they did not want any pizza initially.  When everyone eventually filled up with food, the kids had a chance to watch some cartoons while the adults continued watching the game.  I made a chocolate cheese cake for the adults and brought some ice cream for the kids.  But the kids ended up all having a small slice of the cake too.  The game was really interesting to watch but unfortunately, as you know, the Niners did not win the title.  After the game, we said our goodnight and returned home to start the late bedtime routine.

Epilogue:

    During our time at their house, I enjoyed some red wine with everyone, and I probably had 4-5 glasses throughout the evening.  At home while waiting for the bath, I started to have a headache.  I managed to bathe the boys and read to Connor.  While I was cuddling Connor after reading, I suddenly felt sick.  I put Connor down to bed and sang him the last lullaby, and rushed out to the bathroom.  I felt very dizzy, light sensitive and ended up throwing up several times.  I went to bed early but could not sleep well until the symptoms finally improved a couple of hours later.  Fortunately this morning I woke up feeling completely fine and was able to go to work without any problems. 

    Up until yesterday, Connor always cried for me if I did not read to him at bedtime.  Thus a majority of the time, I read to Connor and Stuart reads to Logan as it is easier and everyone is happy that way.  Last night, Logan requested a switch, and so Stuart told that to Connor.  His immediate reaction was “No, mommy!”, but he quickly changed to “Okay” without any tears.  Tonight, while I was putting Connor in his PJs, he told me he wanted daddy to read him.  Stuart came in to confirm, but by then, Connor gave me a big bear hug and wanted me again.  I then went to Logan’s room quickly to get PJs for Logan.  At that point, Connor came in and informed me that he wanted daddy again.  We warned Connor that he could not keep changing his mind, and that was his final decision.  Connor was fine with that and was happy saying night night to Logan and I.

     We had a free day today, so we decided to go to Oak Meadow Park this morning for some exercise.  Logan does a better job with biking these days; he biked around the large perimeter of the park without any problems, just needing a couple of gentle pushes.  I basically had to half jog to keep up with him.  We brought a balance bike for Connor to try, however, he did not really want to ride it.  He ended up doing a few peddling before we gave up in convincing him.  He actually needs to have his seat raised anyway.  He has grown taller since the last time he rode this bike.

    After the round of biking, Logan wanted to go play at the airplane structure but Connor wanted to ride the train.  Surprisingly Logan did not care to ride the train, so Connor and I walked over and waited for the ride.  The park was relatively quiet possibly due to the colder weather; we did not have to wait long in line and I felt quite relaxed.  Connor was excited, and he had fun looking around and waving to everyone while we were on the train.  Afterward, we returned to the playground to join Logan and Stuart.  Logan enjoys climbing and seems a bit more daring lately.  Connor reminds me how Logan used to be; whenever Connor plays with something or sits inside the train/truck structures, if another kid joins in, Connor choses to leave the area instead.  He is a shy boy as well. 

     Logan has been learning about countries at school lately, and they had a "Small World Day" celebration today to wrap up what they have learned.  We received a flyer suggesting that kids may wear their traditional ethnic outfits for their celebration.  Yesterday when Logan and I were walking into school, I mentioned about the special day and how the kids could wear their special outfits.  Logan was concerned and said "I don’t have any special outfits".  I explained that he actually has a couple of Chinese clothing that he could wear.  Logan immediately replied "But I am not Chinese!".

     Logan was interested in wearing the Chinese jacket today.  According to the teacher, he liked it so much that he refused to take it off even after being warm from running around in the playground.  Stuart saw few other kids wearing their traditional clothing too.  Other than dressing up, we have no idea what other activities took place today as Logan did not offer any information.