4th of July Week: Sun, Swimming, S'mores, Sequoias, Seahorses and Biking

After another week of summer camp, we packed up our car and went to R-Ranch in the Sequoias. When Mommy and Daddy told me we were going to a cabin, I thought, "Yay! We will see snow!" because every time I went to a cabin, it was for skiing. Little did I know it would be 100 degrees at the cabin.

Aunt Debbie and Uncle Warren invited us and Bryce's family to the cabin for the 4th of July weekend.  Thank you!  I had many first's on this trip.

Day 1, Friday, July 1: My First Bike Ride without Training Wheels

• After a 6 hour drive, we arrived at the cabin.  My first time sharing a house with 13 other people.  I love a big crowd.
• I asked Daddy to put pedals on my bike and I rode my bike.  Just like that!

Day 2, Saturday, July 2: Sun, Swimming and Sunburn

• Breakfast - Eggs and hash browns by Chef Uncle Scott and Aunt Susan
• More bike rides -- I practiced everyday!

July 2, 2011 - I was biking in front of the cabin every chance I got.

• Swimming, swimming, swimming and sunburn -- It was 100 degrees out so we played in the kiddie pool all day
• Fishing -- My first fishing "trip" -- I went with Daddy, Uncle Scott and Jack. I caught lots of weed "fish"  :-(
• S'mores

Day 3, Sunday, July 3: My First Horseback Ride

• Breakfast - Blueberry pancakes and bacon by Chef Uncle Warren and Aunt Debbie
• Horseback riding with Dr. Brown -- Dr. Brown is Grandpa Dennis' horse and he was very patient with all of us, kids! I'd tell him, "Let's go, Brown." Even Daddy got a chance to ride Dr. Brown.

Here I am riding a horse for the very first time!

Kendra, her Grandpa Dennis and of course, Dr. Brown

Bryce enjoying his ride.  "Let's go, Brown!"

• Swimming, swimming, and more swimming
• Building a dam -- Jack and Josh, the big boys, built a dam in a stream behind the cabin.  Hudson and I helped gathering sticks.

Aunt Susan taking a reading break with Bryce and Cooper while some of us are out building a dam

• More S'mores -- with some gourmet marshmallows 
• Playing with my "army men" and police men.

Hudson, Bryce and I had a great time with my army and police men.

Day 4, Monday, July 4: Happy Birthday to my cousin, Shea, and America!

• Breakfast - French toast and sausages by Mommy and Daddy

Early in the morning ritual -- All of the kids congregated around Josh and his DS, except Jack and Cooper

• Swimming -- Just can't get enough of swimming

Bryce and I were construction workers, fixing the pool.  We had to dive!  Boy, did we love diving!

• Lightning and thunder! A big storm moved in. Kendra and Hudson had to go home. After the storm cleared, Jack, Josh and Uncle Scott went fishing and the rest of us went for a walk.

Jack's big catch

Being silly with Bryce, spraying water in our faces

Day 5, Tuesday, July 5:  Giant Sequoia Trees

• Walk through the Trail of Hundred Giants & picnic lunch -- We saw giant trees, caterpillars, mushrooms, and a little waterfall.  Cooper loved finding walking sticks.

Josh is helping me up on one of the 100 Giant trees.  Can you see me?!

I just came out of this giant Sequoia tree.  Daddy and Jack are still inside!

We found lots and lots of caterpillars

Mr. Cooper and his stick

Everyone on the trail -- well, except Cooper, Uncle Scott (watching Cooper) and Daddy (taking the picture)

• On the drive back home, we decided we should head to Monterey instead.  I love vacations!
• Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey for dinner, dessert and fun

Day 6, Wednesday, July 6:

• Breakfast at First Awakenings in Monterey -- I shared chocolate pancakes with Mommy.  The pancakes were as big as plates!
• Monterey Aquarium -- I loved jelly fish, sharks, penguins, otters, puffins, sea turtles, seahorses, starfish.  Daddy let me take pictures with his camera.  Very cool day!

See?!

I'm snapping away.  And you wanted to see pictures of the seahorses?!

More of my adventures coming soon!  I'm sure my support staff (aka Mommy and Daddy) will post more pictures of our vacation.  

How I Spent Daddy's Day

Happy Father's Day!  (Hey, I am still catching up.)

Mommy told me that on Father's Day, we are extra nice to Daddy.  So I helped Mommy make M&M pancakes for Daddy.  We let him sleep in and surprised him with breakfast in bed!

Here I am pretending to be a baby animal sleeping while Daddy talks to Grandpa.  3 generations of Pawligers together -- virtually!

We ended the day with Los Gatos Music in the Park.  The band was fun.  I also ran into some friends from school.  We had a blast playing with our guitars.

Daddy and Me

My unique guitar playing style

Girls vs. Boys.  I think we were out-powered...

Archer and I thought we were winning.  Little did we know...

Happy Father's Day to Daddy, Grandpa, Uncle Gary and daddies everywhere!

Pictures of the Week

Oh my! Where does time go?!

Once again, I have been too busy to keep this blog up to date. Here is a quick recap of this past week:

• Summer camp started this week at JCC. I swam every day and on Friday, we had a "snow day". I've been having lots of fun with my friends, Catherine, Leora, Amanda, Max and Holden.
• On Thursday, we drove to San Carlos to see Mommy's old friend, Janeen, and her family. I got to play with Isabella and Francesca which is always a treat! There was even a farmers market where we bought and finished 3 baskets of strawberries. I must have had a whole basket of berries all by myself.
• Daddy has been teaching me how to ride a balance bike. He took the pedals and training wheels off of my bike. We went practicing this weekend. I can go really, really fast!
  
  
  
  
• I went to my very first DCI (Drum Corp International) competition. Daddy let me wear his Blue Devils T-shirt. It was so much fun! (It was at Stanford. Mommy said I should wear my Cal shirt next time we visit Stanford. Go Bears!) Oh back to DCI. The Blue Knights, Blue Devils and Santa Clara Vanguard were awesome!

Here I'm enjoying the competition in my Blue Devils shirt. It is a little big.

This is Blue Devils Group B. The A corp was much larger and much, much louder!

Blue Knights are from Denver and had a very rich sound. Maybe I will get to visit aunt Janeen and her family there.

• I ended the weekend with a trip to a real movie theater to see Cars 2. I loved the popcorn and gummies. I didn't like the movie very much because it had too many bad cars.

Another week of camp starts tomorrow. See you soon! Love, Adam

Happy, Healthy New Year!

While I am still catching you up on 2010, I wanted to wish you a very happy, healthy new year.

These pictures were taken on November 14, 2010 at the Winchester Mystery House, an unfinished Victorian mansion built by Mrs. Sarah Winchester. The photographer was Jing Chen, my friend Veronica's mom.  Thank you!

Happy Holidays!

Wow!  How time flies when you are having fun!  I hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday season.  I have been enjoying the relaxing pace of my winter break.  I have enjoyed many play dates, swimming, museum visits and of course, shopping.

After Halloween come my birthday, my birthday parties, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year.  Here is a short recap of the holidays.

Daddy was in charge of roasting our 18 pound bird on Thanksgiving.  He used Alton Brown's recipe for the turkey and I enjoyed two different kinds of sparkling ciders -- apple and cranberry.

I was in charge of the dessert -- chocolate chip cookies.  Mommy and Uncle Joon Ho (aka Sam-chon) helped or was it the other way around?!

This year Thanksgiving was closely followed by Hanukkah.  On the first night, we all went to Santana Row for the Hanukia lighting.  We also lit our Hanukiah at home every night.  On the fifth night of Hanukkah, we hosted a Latke Fest.  We fried up 15+ pounds of potatoes (with our secret ingredients, carrots and zucchini).  Our "side dishes" included matzo ball soup and beef brisket.

This year I had my very own Hanukiah which I painted.  (Thanks to Catherine and Holden for the Hanukiah!)  Daddy also let me hold the shamash because I am 4 years old.  A big boy!  

In the middle of Hanukkah, Daddy's work, Google, hosted a holiday party at California Academy of Sciences.  We enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch at Kingdom of Dumplings (don't you just love the name?!) and a little play time in San Francisco before the party.

Here I am checking out the museum directory while Mommy tries to talk "adult" with aunt Susan.

Jellyfish, sharks, chrysalis, butterflies, and dinosaurs are all fascinating. But one of my favorite things from the party was decorating a gingerbread house.  A big thanks to Google for making tons of goodies available.

On Christmas eve, we were back in San Francisco.  Actually, we have been in San Francisco practically every week in December.

We enjoyed playing tourists in Union Square.  We didn't ride the cable car since the wait was too long.  But I saw how they turn the cable car around.  It was very cool.

Union Square is a mini-Rockefeller Center.  You can find a tiny ice skating rink, big Christmas tree and of course palm trees.

Although I didn't have patience to wait for a cable car, balloon animals are a different story.  After almost an hour, I got a turtle from Sunshine, a storytelling, Yiddish speaking, balloon lady.

Happy Holidays to you all.

A Busy Week

The birthday boy at West Valley Gymnastics School

Welcome back!  I've had a busy week.  Last Sunday, Mommy and Daddy threw me a HUGE party at my old gymnastics school.  I used to take a class there just like Amy Chow, a member of the famous Magnificent 7, the first American team to win Olympic gymnastics gold.  My friends and I showed just as much dedication to having fun.

I had all my friends from school and from my childhood (I've known them for "years and years").

We climbed, slid, jumped, dangled, ran and had so much fun.  Then we were rewarded with lunch and a very chocolate cake.  (A special thanks to Aunt Meg for introducing Mommy to Icing on the Cake!)

The week just flew by with school.  On Thursday, I had a play date with Catherine and Holden.  I have known them since I was a baby; now Catherine goes to the same school.

On Friday, our school had a special treat, An Ethical Start.  Mommy came to school and we saw our teachers put on skits so we can learn about how we should treat our friends and how we can behave when we get upset, sad or mad.  In the class, we have been learning that Hillel would say:

If I am not for myself, who is for me?
When I am only for myself, what am I?
And if not now, when?

I also learned about Ben Zoma who said, "Who is wise?  The one who learns from everyone.  Who is strong?  The one who controls himself.  Who is rich?  The one who is happy with what he has."

Mommy and Daddy say if I actually learn and use these in my life, I would surely be wise.

Mommy and I went to Happy Hollow Park and Zoo on Saturday to enjoy the warm weather and also to get my roller coaster fix.  (Daddy spent the day volunteering as a judge for a Lego competition.  When I'm 9, I can compete!  But I am first counting days to my 6th birthday.  Mommy said that's when I could chew gum.  :-) )

After the roller coaster rides, I went on the Frog Hopper.

I went on it again, again, and again mainly because on my second ride, I met a 6 year old blonde girl.  She and I went on the Frog Hopper and Kiddie Swing rides, played in the giant redwood play area and watched the puppet theater -- Rumpelstiltskin.

No trip to a park is complete without some scrapes.  I was showing off my jumping skills to my new friend; then I landed on my face right onto the ground (yes, cement).  Ouch!  I wonder how my holiday pictures will turn out.  :-)

See you soon!

Happy Birthday To Me!

Hello everyone, It's been years since I updated my blog. Oh boy! I have been very busy -- growing up to be a big boy! I am now 4 years old. I wear size 12 shoes; I just got some new Darth Vader shoes today (Thank you, Halmoni).

My Mommy and Daddy threw me a huge party today at West Valley Gymnastics School with 30 kids. Yep, 30. (Pictures are coming!)

My birthday celebration week started on Monday, the day after my favorite holiday, Halloween, and will continue until Thanksgiving. Then the rest of the gift-receiving season starts. Here are some pictures of the birthday week:

One of many cool birthday presents. This one is from Grandma and Grandpa. I love Buzz Lightyear and Woody. Mommy even put them on my birthday cake today.

My friends sang me the birthday song. Mommy baked vegan chocolate cupcakes and we decorated them in my class. (Yes, did I tell you? I go to preschool.) I decorated mine with marshmallows, M&Ms, chocolate chips, and green sprinkles. You can't go wrong with sugar, sugar, and chocolate!

As a bonus, here are some pictures of my favorite holiday. I was a "Power Man" (more commonly known as Red Power Ranger). We got the costume in Columbus during my last visit and my Grandma fixed it so it fits me perfectly.

Daddy and I were just about leave to trick-o-treat in the neighborhood.

Here I am with the kid ghosts. I wasn't scared since I am a superhero.

I promise I will update this more often! Gotta go and open more presents.