7/29 Dragon & Lion Dance – 舞龍舞獅

I never really thought about to bring in Chinese Dragon & Lion Dance to Nio until it came to our, Annie and my, conversation when the other day she came to pick up her son Darren at my house. Nio and Darren adore each other, but yet, they don’t really get to see each other after the camp’s over two weeks ago.

 

Nio was not fund of Lion Dance when I brought it up this morning, however, as soon as I mentioned about Darren would be in the class as well, Nio immediately nodded his head for a go.

 

It was so cute to see Darren being protective towards Nio and he instructed Nio all the steps since Darren was in the class for months now. After the class, we spent sometime in the playground cuz it was hard for Nio to say good bye to Darren. Nio cried and told me that he doesn’t want to see his friend Darren leaves after the playground. Coincidentally, Darren them went to the same restaurant as we did for lunch, and Nio got to spend extra time with his buddy.

 

Of course, Nio asked us to sign him up for the Lion Dance and make it routine since he had such a blast with Darren today. Well, we thought it is a good idea for Nio to hang out with peers and workout at the same time. Besides, it is also great that Nio could get to know this Chinese Tradition 🙂

7/21 有朋友真好 / 7/24 小廚師畢業了– Bye Miss Shannon

7/21 Another great party, so good to have friends around, they listen and share!

 

Thank you, Wayne, Ruby, Eric, Alicia, Sabrina, Mark, Torrance, Tiffany, Chindy, Tony, Chi, Annie and Aiden for coming in which made this a joyful party. Too bad that I was too excited catching up with all to remember taking any pictures.

 

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7/24 Sadly, Miss Shannon announced that she will no longer be teaching this class next session. Nio is very upset to find out that today’s "Little Chef" is his last cooking time with Miss Shannon. A lot of parents feel the same of the great loss on losing one marvelous teacher in our community center…

 

Nio acted so out of gratitude to Miss Shannon by perfecting his beach cups and fish necklace today.

7/12 憎恨自己的粗心與愚蠢 – 100% Fool

OMG~ 心。情。糟。透。了。 昨天寄來的新driver license被垃圾車收走了 慘的是舊driver license也一併莎呦娜啦….

為了比較新舊driver license上照片的自己五年前後有無差別 兩張比對了半天 滿足的我隨手一放….今天收垃圾 那兩張driver license被夾在一些junk mails裡面 Jimmy不知情 拿到Recycle垃圾桶裡…

垃圾車收走了幾個小時後的現在我才恍然大悟!!! 嗚呼哀哉~ 我.. 我.. 我… 比什麼比!!! 還亂放!!! 我.. 我.. 我… 竟如此的蠢!!! 我.. 我.. 我… 真是欲哭無累 作繭自負 ….. 氣自己氣到暴!!!

7/11 簡單的幸福 — Fulfilling life

美國的生活其實一成不變 很多人習慣了臺灣的便利生活 would probably find it difficult to adjust and fit into the life here. 像我自己住了上海15個月回來後 也著實懷念那便利性好一陣子 But yet, the life here is so much easier, simpler, and those are the beauty about it.

 

*這星期Nio的小小廚師課"Little Chef"做的是Frog cup cake, one chocolate flavor, one vanilla. Nio吃掉了vanilla口味 說chocolate口味要帶回家讓爺爺和daddy一起share 後來回到家還交待爺爺和daddy:"Frog眼睛的糖糖要拿掉喔 不能吃喔 那個有色素 對身體不好 我都沒有吃."

 

*這星期Nio的Camp是叫Hayward Shoreline Bay Camp, 讓小朋友們了解海灣生態. 今天會從Bay行走1mile到Beach. 爺爺說那麼遠 小朋友受不了吧 左想想右想想 與其擔心 還不如跟去瞧瞧. 結果小朋友們走的飛快 爺爺還落後 回到家後 爺爺昏睡四小時 還不肯起來吃晚餐…

 

*這星期Nio的家後院 花卉水果熟成 Nio叫爺爺陪他去摘peach 因為他想要吃 看起來不多 摘了半棵樹 已經滿籃子peaches, wow~又大又甜又有機!!! 吃不完就做成果醬吧. 想想這些植物的生命力好驚人 沒給肥料 也不曾好好照料 但是它們還是依然開花結果…  

 

看似平凡 但是卻很充實 看似簡單 但是卻很幸福 生活不就是那麼的過嗎?!!!

7/10 童言童語 — Part II

每天Nio都會讓我發笑 well也許只是當局者迷 只有我覺得Nio說什麼都好笑…

  

有一天在Wal-mart 當推shopping cart 經過狗食區時 Nio指著說:"是狗狗吃的東西" Jimmy說:"你想吃吃看嗎?" Nio忙搖頭加搖著他的小手說:"我是屬羊的耶 daddy才是屬狗的啦!" 我接著說:"那買給daddy吃吧!" Nio皺著眉頭急迫的說:"不行啦 很嘔心ㄋㄟ…"

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Ok, so I was driving Nio to school and thought about to call Jimmy at work. I suspected that Jimmy was smoking with co-workers, so I went "Ney, 你不要抽煙嘛 因為我想比你先死 你不可以丟下我和Nio先死知道嗎?"

 

掛下手機後 只聽見後面傳來微弱又委屈的聲音:"Mommy我不要你們先死 你可以不要那樣說先死嗎 就都不要死嘛…"

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沒來由的 Nio突然問起:"Mommy你是不是很喜歡假裝?" 心想這小子在想什麼 難道我平常待人處事 他也看出有破綻? 我回:"假裝?沒有吧…" Nio接著說:"有啊 我常常都看到你在假裝" 心虛的我決定轉話題…

 

事隔幾日 Nio看著專心對著鏡子化妝的我說:"Mommy 你看 我就說你很喜歡假裝吧!"

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這天爺爺在院子抽煙的時候 放了連環超響屁 我想屋裡的人都聽到了 可是我仍然繼續做甜點 Jimmy繼續打Wii  Nio繼續玩Lego 幾分鐘後爺爺進來 Nio以非常冷靜的聲音訓誡的說:"爺爺 你放屁屁 要說Excuse me喔!"

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Nio叫我稱他快樂小幫手 因為他很會幫忙 這天一如往常的 Nio幫我從車上unload groceries到廚房 突然Nio在提Leek的時候包裝脫落 Nio大喊:"Mommy 你快來幫這個菜菜 他都裸體了!"

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Jimmt生日的時候 小姑包了個紅包 當晚我們打電話跟小姑道謝 Nio搶著說要說電話:"姑婆 我爸爸剛剛在數你給他的錢, 太多了啦! 下次就不要給這麼多吧!" Jimmy:"%^#@*(**>#…."

7/9 天使最終贏不了惡魔…

照理說~ Saturday 是"奉獻日" 以Nio為主 帶Nio東征西跑 遊山玩水 吃喝玩樂…Sunday 是我們的"家庭日" 以照顧家為主 打掃 割草 維修 買菜 買家用….

 

However, 時常天使贏不過惡魔…

像昨天本來第一站只是單純出門去買些用品的 離開時卻多了三件衣服….

第二站單純出門去買菜的 中途經過Jack London Square 想肚子也餓了 這風景也宜人 就先在這吃頓便飯吧 結果便飯吃成了碼頭上的Sunday Champaign Brunch 還Spent了個把個鐘頭… 哇~ 高級餐廳 享用美食 端視美景 當我們想像能擁有一艄小遊艇 小倪倪說:"我不要那麼小的 我長大一一一~~(誇張的拖長音中)定會買大的給你們的" 加上這孝順的兒子 滿足的Jimmy 摸著Nio的頭:" 真有出息~"

 

此時 喝的微醺加上時差的爺爺 在一旁傻傻的看著海灣 神遊中~

 

Sigh…買菜去吧 明天 後天 日子還是要過的啦…

 

由於在碼頭的時間過久 打掃家這檔事 下個Sunday吧…

 

PS.Nio有"追鴿瘋" 一看到鴿子 就跑著追追追 跌倒 爬起來 跌倒 爬起來 跌倒 爬起來 跌倒 爬起來 跌倒 爬起來 …

7/7 Rock Climbing 攀岩趣

Fremont 開了間City Beach (www.citybeach.com) 幫Nio報名一堂攀岩課($35/1.5hr) 希望他在畫圖 哼歌之外 能找到比較Man的興趣, 剛柔並濟.

 

前晚剛從臺灣風塵僕僕來到的爺爺 一大早也興致勃勃的說要去 結果一到還說:" 耶 不是outdoor的嗎?" 哈哈…. 原來如此 我就說嘛 難怪我看爺爺帶遮陽帽 穿檔風衣…

 

一如往常 一到會場Nio充滿興奮與期待 但往往果不其然…. Ok, so Nio爬過Daddy的高度 就會恐慌 即使有belay… 我要Nio再加油 疼孫子的爺爺立刻說: "可以啦~ 已經很厲害啦~ 有一個比他大的 連都爬不敢爬 就一直哭 我們又不是那種的 我們是靜態的"

 

這麼一來 Nio有靠山了 難怪Nio會說: "爺爺最~~~~(拉長音)喜歡我了!" 小狗腿 (這樣說兒子 是不是很糟的媽啊~) 嘴巴這麼甜 好在這點不像他daddy. 

7/6 煮的很累 清的很拼 伴的很美 – Party hard ~

Nio again had so much fun playing with water at the backyard while I was busy preparing for the party tonight. (Nio would call me out to take pictures for him whenever he thought of new poses, like the ones with spider man sign, too funny!)

 

Jimmy and I both love having friends over. As I went over the canlendar, I only realized that we have four parties in two weeks already. Gosh, that was overwhelmed!

 

And I sent out an invitaion yesterday about our 7/21 party…. man~ what a party animal!

 

Strangely, I used to enjoy the "catering" part, but ever since I got back from Shanghai, I just don’t enjoy as much, and I dislike the part of going to groceries. I guess I am just too much spoiled by the life with A-yi(maid) in Shanghai…. Everything is so much easier with helpers around, isn’t it?!

 

Anyhow, another great time spent with friends tonight. They all loved my pie! Another successful experiment recipe~

 

6/23 Nio’s b-day Party, 6/27 Sean & Huihui, 7/02 Jimmy’s Shanghai team, 7/06 Susana, Charles & kids

7/5/07 Heat Wave~ 少有的熱

Am I not glad that we live in the bay area, it was 86 degree yesterday when it is 81 degree today, hot, very. However — July 4th — 105 degree in Vacaville!  Inland crazy temperature, hot, extremely!!

 

We were not aware of the heat, headed to Nut Tree Family Park in Vacaville which is 70 miles away after the "Transformer" breakfast in Burger King. It was around noon when we arrived in Nut Tree, not many people were in the park, wasn’t sure if it was the temperature kept away from them or cuz of this new park has just grand opened. (www.nuttreeusa.com)

 

Anyhow, we sorted enjoyed the park in the first two hours, until Nio’s face turned firely red from pink, dry to sweaty hair. I could actually see my skin burning from the sun and the ray was killing me. Gosh, was it nice to see an ice cream shop in the park, we ran into it right away to cool off and gear up.

 

Nio got a really nice suntan when I am looking at him now, I didn’t enjoy much at all yesterday due to the heat, but yet, when Nio said "我好高興喔 daddy mommy 謝謝你們帶我來這裡玩" in the end of the day, every sweat became worthy.

 

**pLEASE check out our Nut Tree pictures in our MSN album or at http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=nonow&P=&AID=4630568&Show=Y

7/3/07 Little Chef – Ratatouille – 小小廚師課

Today is Nio’s second class meeting of "Little Chef". After we took him to watch the movie, Ratatouille, on last Saturday, Nio is now even more into this class.

 

The teacher, Miss Shannon, is very friendly and full of ideas. I don’t see no kids in this class not falling in love with her and the class material she prepared.

 

Today, Nio made pizza while he made strawberry pancake last week. Nio is very proud of his making, and always asking to save one for daddy to taste. Very sweet~ 

6/25~6/29 Sulpher Creek Wildlife Camp

Wow, never thought this camp location could be such a beauty. I didn’t anticipate to see this wild, forest like place, only few blocks away from Hayward downtown.

 

The camp directors were two teenagers, they did an amazing job. Nio brought home hand craft every day, and he didn’t like to see me showing up cuz he knew that was the time I came to pick him up home.

 

Very quickly, one week had gone by, Nio told me that he didn’t want the one week camp to end, that was how much he enjoyed it. Moreover, it was hard for Nio to say good-bye to his best friend, Darren, who he met in this camp.

6/24/07 童言童語 — Part I

为人父母真是要特別注意自己的言行舉止 今天Nio給我們上了一課

 

對於昨天(James)龍爸在變魔術的時候 龍爸:"媽咪 噗 放了個屁 哇 變出來了" 我then配合龍爸做了兩次"噗"的動作 就為小朋友犧牲 搞笑一下吧…

 

However, Nio wasn’t impressed at all. I asked him if he enjoyed the Magic show, and if Mommy was funny?  Nio的頭低低的說 "我不喜歡你那樣 以後可以不要嗎" 我問為什麼 Nio頭低的更低說 "因為那樣很醜…"

 

**pLEASE refer to the comic drawing, done by Joseph Lai, a good friend in SH.

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Jimmy’s converstaion with Nio, "你真好 有這麼多生日禮物 Daddy生日的時候都沒有禮物…" Nio went "可是小姑爺和小姑婆有給你紅包啊!"

 

Gosh, how does this little brain know that 紅包=生日禮物

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再說前幾天 Nio把水打翻 他第一時間滿臉歉意來告訴我說"Mommy sorry, 我又給你工作了 我把水打翻了 你可以幫我擦嗎?"

我看了一下是水灑了點在Kitchen cabinet上 覺得不礙事 就懶得動手擦

 

Nio:"Mommy 你快擦吧"

I answered: "It’s OK, 天氣熱 等下就乾了"

 

Couple days later, Nio spilled the water again, Nio滿臉自信的說 "It’s OK, 天氣很熱 等下自己就乾了"

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The first couple days our return from Shanghai, Nio wondered what I was doing when he saw me sweeping "媽咪 為什麼你在當阿姨啊"

 

"上海我們有阿姨 媽咪不用打掃 回美國沒有阿姨了 就要自己打掃啦" I said.

 

然後Nio offered "那我來幫你當阿姨吧" 沒掃幾下 Nio累了 "當阿姨 好辛苦 還是給你當吧" 然後把掃把還給我…. 

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晚餐吃烤全雞 Jimmy切啊切啊 Nio盯著看說"Chicken都在啊命啊命了(喊救命)"
我回" 那你救它吧 "
Nio 快速搖著頭哀怨的說 "我不要 我好餓喔 我要吃它 …"

6/23/07 Nio’s 4, what a great party!! a BLAST~

Nio三歲時還搞不清楚什麼是Birthday, he only enjoyed the cake and blow candles part. 因此當時初到上海的我們草草的過, 請來的都是Jimmy的co-workers, no birthday presents, and no kids.

 

This year, Nio從四月就開始期待his birthday 每天都在問 "今天是我的birthday了嗎?" There and then, I decided and hoped to give him a memorable birthday party. I rented a Spiderman jumper, asked James to perform magic, ordered a "Cars" theme cake, and ballooned full the house. The food preparing started two days ago, I spent hours and hours just to hope Nio and guests a great time. Parenting could be such unilateral willingness biz…

 

Nio started to count down about one week ago, he woke up this morning and couldn’t stop saying "我好高興喔 今天是我的birthday!" If you asked him what is so good about birthday, he would simply reply "可以吃蛋糕啊~"

 

Without too much anticipation, the day was full of joys and excitements, everyone seemed had a blast, inculding adults. I’d deeply thank to all our supportive friends and your adorable children, without your presence, this wouldn’t be possible.

 

After all, every penny and every second spent was quite a worthy!!

 

5/26, 6/2, 6/9, 6/16, 6/21 — All about Nio~

We planned all sorts ongoing activities for Nio despite how anxious Jimmy and I were trying to settle in to our Shellgate house. Like every other parent, we are trying to make Nio’s life fulfill.

 

5/26 — "The Bay Area Parent" is the must read magazine for me every month, it includes articles, useful information, and all, such as this Kids ‘n Kite Festival in Fremont. Nio:"Can we please come again tomoorw?!"

 

6/2 — FairyLand in Oakland, right by the Lake Merritt. I never thought here could have this cute family park in such urban area. Nio:"Can we please come again tomorrow?!" http://www.fairyland.org/

 

6/9 — BayArea Discovery Museum, Sausalito. Ah~ this is when you feel like you are really in San Francisco Bay Area, the astonishing view from driving on the Golden Gate Bridge, also the views from the Museum towards the Golden Gate, BEAUTIFUL~ Nio is not much into the views, however he enjoyed much his time being in the museum. I especially like the outdoor playground area, very educative yet in a fun relaxing way. Play and Learn, exactly! Nio:"Can we please come again tomorrow?!" http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/ 

 

6/16 — Rollerblade in the neighborhood park. We bought Nio this pair of rollerblade about a year ago, however, Nio finally got to try the sport until now. Although Nio was looking forward to trying to rollerblade ever since, we never thought he could last maybe after 5 minutes on it. Jimmy and I were all very so surprised that Nio was not only rollerblading for over two hours but also refused our helps when getting up from the falls. He was such a sport, didn’t even get discouraged at all. Nio:"Can we please come again tomorrow?!"

 

6/21 — Magic Show in Hayward Libary. Nio had a good laughters through out the show. He told me the show "好好看喔 Magician叔叔好好笑喔" I told him 龍爸 is going to perform magic in his birthday party 2 days later, he gave me a big happy smile. He is now even more looking forward to his birthday party!