Wa Gwai 兩隻人見人愛的搗蛋嘩鬼 - My 2 Little Rascals

Yesterday was my cousin Krystal’s 20th Birthday. We had a Laua themed BBQ party for her. We prepared the Tiki torches, cocktail umbrellas, and inflatable palm tree cooler. We even prepared special outfit for her - hula skirt, silk flower leis. Oh, the only thing missing was the coconuts bikini top ( Ha Ha!).

Cousin Jacqueline brought over her Rock Band PS2 game set with guitar and drum set, Ashlyn & Alex had so much fun. I wondered if they were practicing while I was at work or what. Look at them, they are like the pro.

xoxo

I always wanted to go shopping at the new San Fransico Center in SF Downtown, but couldn’t find the time to go. Afterall, it’s an hour drive and parking in the garage could be expensive. This past Saturday, I need to go Chinatown, so I thought it’s a good chance to go Downtown too. Dear Hubby agreed to go with me to keep me company. Kids were supposed to stay home, but under certain circumstances, Ashlyn tagged along. The only store I wanted to shop at was H&M. Why? Here are the reasons:

1. Bigger & better selections (I assume)
2. Early Fall collections just arrived
3. Most important, have a $10 off $50 purchase coupon for Kids’ department

We got there, parked. Both Ashlyn & myself were excited to go shopping. Went to the one on Powell Street. As soon as we went in, Ashlyn said, “I told you not to look at adults department. I told you to go to the kids’ section.” We went upstairs, nop. I remember Elaine told me there’s kids’ section, so I called her. She told me to go to the new one at the Westfield San Franciso. We went. There’re 4 doors at the entrance, 3 of them were shut. A security guard standing in the front, answering people questions. OMG! how could that happened? Not today!! A piece of paper posted on the glasses, and all I could see was “Power Outage” NO! NO! Not today! We went in anyway, and I checked the directory, H&M was located on 3rd floor. I looked up, dark, no light at all. Oh well, so we turned around and left the building and head home. Both Ashlyn & myself were disappointed.

You know what my Dear Hubby said to me? He said, “It’s not your day today!” How comforting.

*sigh*

We spent our July 4th holidays in Los Angeles this year. We arrived LA on the 4th, early afternoon. Soon after we checked in to the hotel, Jeff, Penny, and Ryan were getting ready for their special event planned in the evening - to watch a soccer game, or David Beckham.

To prepare for Ryan’s first celebrity encounter, Jeff had been searching for the England team jersey for Ryan. Why England not Los Angeles Galaxy? I guess Beckham IS the English soccer star? Oh well, that’s not important. Finally, me, the shopping mama, found him the jersey he wanted here locally, and was able to have it delivered in time for the event. Geez, never thought an infant jersey could cost that much — $50.

Here are some picture they took at the soccer game.

Ryan: David Beckham? My first celebrity encounter.

Ryan (troubled): Since when I become a Soccor fans of England?

YAY! Beckham! Beckham! Over here!! This way!!

Ryan: Cheers? Noise? What? I can’t hear you! I don’t hear anything!

xoxo

When Ashlyn & Alex were born, they didn’t have much hair. Alex didn’t get his first haircut just before he turned 2. Ashlyn? haven’t had her first haircut yet. My nephew Ryan, was born with full head of hair. Well, digging out the old pictures, my brother had pretty full hair too. When I was in Hong Kong (HKG) a few months ago, Ryan was just about 3 months old, my brother already thinking about cutting his hair by himself. They just returned to HKG couple weeks ago, and Ryan had another haircut already. This time, thanks to Elaine, Penny, my sister in law no need to hold Ryan in her lap, cux Auntie Elaine gave him the BUMBO, and can sit there safely by himself.

Look at the pictures, I wondered how long it look for him to cut Ryan’s hair. Why? Just take a look.

Ready… Set…

GO!

Ryan: How much longer? Are we done yet? Let me take a nap, wake me up when you’re done.

Ryan: Woo Hoo! All Done. I’m Handsome!!

XOXO

When we had our first child, Ashlyn, it was pretty quick for us to decide / comprimise on the name. The second one, Alex, took a little more time. It was not an easy task at all.

Have you caught on to the latest celebrity babies’ names? Since a few years back, celebrities named their babies some unusual names, like Apple, CoCo (this is obvious that her mom loves certain name brand). The latest, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline, a mouthfull. I must say, when I heard this one, my reaction was “HUN?” Sunday Rose. Well, I guess Sunday Rose isn’t unusual anymore until I read this news headline (from New Zealand) this morning. Judge: Girl’s name, Talula Does The Hula, won’t do. First I saw Talula. It caught my eyes cux one of the characters in the animated movie Barbie Island Princess (one of Ashlyn’s favorites) was named Talula, it’s a monkey from the South Sea. It’s a mental torture to the child. Moms and Dads to be, please think twice, three times, four times before you decide on your child(red)’s name(s).

Out of the blue, Ashlyn was humming a 3-year old Chinese song. A pop Chinese song. A HIT Chinese song at the time, and it’s in Mandarin Chinese, not Cantonese Chinese. I didn’t catch it at first, but then, she heard a portion of the medley song I play in my car, and asked me to go back to play that 10-second portion again and again. I asked her if she liked the song, she said yes. She also complaint that I didn’t keep a copy of the song (full version) in the car. Then, Alex started to hum with Ashlyn. You may be wondering which song that is. Drum roll…. Ta~ Ta~

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We were over at the in-laws last Saturday for dinner. We stayed until 9:30pm or something before we started packing up and getting ready to head home. As we were busy loading, all the sudden I heard the sound of locking the iron gate. I rushed to the gate and saw Alex standing right in front of it with his hand on the gate. Obviously he shut the gate. All of us were at the driveway, nobody inside the house, and in-laws didn’t bring the keys with them. I started the yell for Ashlyn, and hoping that she was still inside the house to open the gate for us. No, I heard “I’m here!” right behind me. Oh! NO! What to do? We thought about calling the locksmith, but father-in-law said he could get the gate removed. Good thing was, we were able to open the garage door and the tools. You might ask, why not getting in from the garage? Simply because they locked the door to the gargage, and without keys, there’s no difference. After a good 20mins of banging the iron gate, we got the screws out and the gate was removed. Then we had to put the gate back before we could drive off.

Lessons to learn:
Lesson 1: don’t get out of the house without your keys to your home.
Lesson 2: not everybody out of the house at the same time (without keys), except for emergency.
Lesson 3: strap the kids up in their car seats as soon as they left the house.

Oh No! She said the “S” word. Oh My God!! How did that happen? I don’t remember how the conversation went. As Alex was talking to my cousin Stephanie, all the sudden Ashlyn said the “S” word. She said “Shut Up”. It was a good laugh, but we also explained to her why she shouldn’t say that again.

Followed by the party at the childcare center with her friends, we had another celebration at home with relatives. I ordered the cake a month ahead of time at a local grocery store. No, it didn’t take that long to make the cake, it’s just I felt more comfortable putting the order in early. Ever since we ordered the cake, Ashlyn kept on asking me the same question E-V-E-R-Y-D-A-Y! I mean it, everyday!

Ashlyn: Mama, is my cake ready?
Me: No, not yet. Not ready until 6-2-7.
Ashlyn: Why?
Me: EEERRRGGG… because there’s one Princess missing.
Ashlyn: Which Princess?
Me: Jasmine (** I changed the name of the “missing” Princess every time she asked me this question **)
Ashlyn: Oh! ** sounded a little puzzled ** So when will my cake be ready?
Me: ** Taking Ashlyn to the calendar ** You see, today is here, and 6-27 is here.
Ashlyn: OK. ** off she went to watch her DVD’s **

The cake was amazing!! Never thought grocery store could make cakes like that. I was impressed. Obviously, the Birthday Princess was thrilled.

Alex: So what?! I’m gonna get mine soon!

Ashlyn: Ryan, are you having fun?

Alex: You so Funny!! Ha Ha Ha!