Summer this year is going by really fast. There's always something going on every weekend. This weekend is the only weekend that we had nothing so I was able to spend time working on the website.
Okay, let's start with the month of May. During the summer time, we have a bowling discount at our bowling house. So, might as well use it. We took all the kids bowling one day. Here are pictures from that day. All the kids had lots of fun. I think this is the first time Mackenzie actually got to bowl. At first, she was not too keen on bowling, but after a little while, she liked it too. She likes to watch the ball hit the pins and then say, "all gone."
Also in May, my younger sister, May Lai came down from Portland for a visit. I don't remember why, but we had a family gathering so here's some pictures from that also.
Now, we move into the month of June. June is Nicholas' birthday so of course, we had a party to celebrate it. Thank you to those who took time out to come to his birthday party. Can you believe he's already 10? It seems like he just started walking the other day and next thing you know, he's already in the 5th grade. He's doing pretty well in school. Just a little lazy sometimes and will forget his homework every now and then, but overall, not bad. He's also very independent and doesn't require a lot of one-on-one time. Overall, he a very good boy. He's also a very good brother. Yeah, the boys do still fight a lot, but I guess that's why they are boys. He's very good at taking care of his younger brother when Mom and Dad are not around. I'm very proud of this son.
Next, we have Father's Day. This year, we spent Father's Day at Folsom Lake. It was really cool. The kids had lots of fun playing in the sand and riding in a boat. Both the boys got a chance to drive it so they were very happy. I hope every one else had a wonderful and fun Father's Day like we did.
Moving onto summer break for the boys. This year, as their reward for working hard during the whole school year, we took them to Monterey for the weekend. Now, before we went to Monterey, we stopped by Palo Alto to celebrate Carla's 30th birthday. The boys got to sit in a cop car at the park and Mackenzie got to see lots of passenger trains go by. We had lots of fun there and learned a lot about Carla that day.
So, onto Monterey we go. We got there on Saturday night so we were fresh the next day for a day at the Aquarium. We spent most of the day there. The kids got to see a lot of different sea creatures, touch them, and draw them. They enjoyed playing at the kids area, of course, and had a blast looking at all the different types of sea horses. After the Aquarium, we went to the beach besides the Fisherman's Wharf and had a blast there also. The only thing I didn't like was the pink umbrella. Can you believe how hard it is to find a beach umbrella in June? My goodness, I looked around for one before we went and during the trip and the only thing we found was this bright pink beach umbrella. Oh well, at least it kept us shaded.
Finally, we're getting into the month of July. First thing in July is always Independence Day. Lot of fireworks. This year, it was at my brother's house and like usually, gotta have a barbeque. Each family brought some fireworks and ironically, most of us bought the same family package so we had a lot of the same fireworks. Next year, I need to get more of that snapping stuff. The ones you throw on the floor and it snaps. I bought 11 boxes and my brother-in-law bought another 6 and that was not enough to go around for all the kids. They love that stuff. This year's weather has been very strange. It's July and the night time temperatures were still very low. None of us expected it and we were all in shorts and t-shirts. As you can tell from the pictures, most of us had to wear my brother's long sleeve shirts to keep warm. Some of them were out with blankets all wrapped up.
Next, we have Zachary's birthday party. This little one just turned 7. Thank you to all who came and gave him presents. It was a blast and hopefully everyone had fun. Of all the kids, he's the one that requires the most work. He's attention spam is very short so homework can sometimes be very frustrating. It's not that he doesn't know it, it's that he doesn't want to do it. Overall, his grades aren't bad, but still had room for improvement. And overall, he's a good kid, but sometimes just a little impatient and has way too much energy. To counter this, I've introduced both of them to karate in hopes of keeping their energy in check. They've done it for a month now and have both earned black tips on their white belt. Mom's very proud of them both. We're going to continue with it for at least 7 more months. We'll see by then if it helps release some of that energy at karate and help calm them down at home.
Jenny, one of my nieces and also the boys' baby-sitter, just left for Japan. She's going there to teach and won't be back for a couple of years. We're really going to miss her. The boys will miss her a lot. She was always so willing to take the kids out to the movies to watch the latest kid movies. She really loves working with kids so I'm very glad she got a job that will allow her to work with lots of kids. We wish her the best and hopefully, we'll be able to see her soon. Good luck, Jenny!
Now that it's August, there are still lots of events coming up that we are looking forward to. Event such as Calvin's birthday party, Bruce's wedding, and camping. Last year's camping trip was fun so I hope this year's will also be as fun. In other words, there will be plenty to write about during my next update. Until then, have a nice summer!