Making My Birthday Great Again

A lot of people hate turning 30. But I was sooo excited! Finally when people ask if I'm 16, I can say, "No, I'm not 16. I'm not even 20--I am 30!!!" And then all of a sudden, people will have to take me seriously. I mean, 30 is the age where people take you seriously . . . right? I should probably work on my acting too. Any tips on how to act like a 30-year-old?

The birthday morning began before the sun was fully up with Ana kicking me in the stomach and pulling on my nose. Breakfast ensued and only a few minutes into the morning, both girls had meltdowns. But this is normal. Constance was upset because she wanted me to open my presents "right now!!!!!" And everyone wanted food and water like we had just finished a 20-year famine in the land. But luckily we all survived that part of the day. Around 8:30 am, a full 2 hours after the first kick in the stomach, Tom finally got to take a shower and I finally got to eat breakfast.

Grandma and Grandpa came over and then we all piled in the cars and drove to Diana's Pumpkin Patch in Canon City. Constance and Ana insisted on riding with the fun set of parents, so Tom and I had a very peaceful drive to the pumpkin patch--a ride in which we had a conversation about important life topics and could actually hear everything we were saying to each other.

We arrived at the pumpkin patch just before the big crowds of people started to show up. Unfortunately, it was one of those days when neither child wanted to look up for pictures.

 Just lots of side glances. I guess being around so many pumpkins made them nervous.

 Constance enjoyed the duck races. Ana enjoyed collecting the ducks and getting her dress and shoes as muddy as possible.

This was the tall slide. Constance got to the top with me before deciding that she didn't want to go down after all. There was a huge crowd of kids anyways.

 We went on a very slow "hay ride." Apparently, there was something interesting that everyone was looking at!

 Tom's favorite part was all the different pumpkin varieties piled along the field.

 Sadly, this is the only picture we got with Grandma in it. And there are no pictures with me in it. So for all we know, I wasn't even there.

 There were some animals for the kids to look at/pet. But petting chickens doesn't always go as expected, as Ana quickly learned. Just moments after I took the picture below, Ana stuck her little finger through the wire and one of the chickens pecked it. She was so surprised and hurt that she yanked her finger back, put her head down in the dirt, and wailed.

 We went exploring in the corn maze. But by then, both girls were getting tired and the weather was getting very hot too. So we wandered around a bit, then gave up and took the quickest way out.

 Constance did like collecting corn.

 And Ana noticed that the corn stalks were just a little taller than she was.

We picked out our pumpkins then headed to the car.

Back at home, I opened my presents. Tom went with a Japanese theme this year and got me all decked out. He ordered me the finest yukata from Japan, with the assistance of my friend Adalia and our daughter Constance.

 We were too lazy to read up on how to tie the sash so Tom tied a very American knot.

 Look! I even have the slippers to go with it!

And then there was the most exciting present of all: the American Medical Association Style Manual. Well, maybe not the most exciting, but it was fun pretending. And our boss thought it was the funniest thing ever!

 I only asked for one specific thing this year, and Tom's parents made my wish come true: a gift card to Chapel Hills Mall. I don't even remember the last time I've been able to go shopping for myself, by myself with no kids screaming or making a break for the nearest door. Let's just say Constance and Ana like the play area in the mall and nothing else.

The gift card came in this card:

 The pictures say it all!

 I didn't have time to bake, so I ordered some vegan gluten-free cupcakes from The Cupcake Doctor. They were good, but almost sickeningly sweet. I never use as much sweetener as a recipe calls for, so I'm not used to the full sweetness experience.

We went to lunch at Tomo Sushi, where the food was good but the lighting for pictures was bad.

 It was all so scrumptious, I had to lick my plate. Ana loved every bite too and was doing a dance and humming while she ate. Constance, on the other hand, just wanted to dip her chopsticks in the soy sauce plate and then lick them.

Constance was so tired by the time we got home from dinner, I went to take a shower and came out to find her nowhere in sight. Tom had lost track of her too. We finally looked in our closet and this is what we saw:

 The poor girl had fallen fast asleep in there and was snoring.

Tom had to chaperone a stake dance that night, so he got all dressed up and departed for a very long evening of walking the church halls all by himself.

 Meanwhile I stayed home, put both kids to bed by 8:00, and finished QCing a briefing document for the FDA.

It was a great birthday.

Trip to Utah

Our annual trip to Utah this year ended up being in October, and this time Tom came with us. We spent a total of 4 full days there but it felt very rushed. There were just so many things to do, people to see, places to go, things to eat.

Wednesday was a very busy day for us. I managed to pack the entire car and everyone's stuff while working some hours and cleaning up the house. The fact that I managed not to forget anything important is a miracle.

We started the drive early in the morning, but unfortunately just a little too late to miss some of Denver's notorious traffic.

In Grand Junction, we stopped at Taco Bell for lunch then went to the nearby park to eat and let the girls run around.

We got lucky on the second half of the drive, and both girls slept for a couple of hours. They still screamed and cried and fought over who was touching who but at least we had about an hour of complete peace and quiet.

We made it to Provo in time for dinner at Zupas. It was delicious as always but the girls had reached their limit. Constance refused to eat more than a bite of her sandwich and resorted to prowling the space under the table. Ana had no desire to eat anything herself but was intent on feeding me my salad even at the risk of poking my face with the sharp fork.

Our good friends Andrew and Mary kindly gave us use of their basement for the duration of our visit. It was like living in a mansion, compared to the size of our basement! Constance was very impressed with their selection of toys that she got to play with; she even took a picture of them.

Meanwhile, Ana fell in love with Andrew's beard. He would tickle her face with it, and she would burst into giggles. She also loved climbing into his lap and running over and hugging his legs.

We made it a point to visit my mom twice during those 4 days. She took the girls to her friend's garden to pick tomatoes. Constance loved the garden and was very interested and helpful picking the tomatoes and carrying the bag around for Obaasan. Ana, on the other hand, only wanted to explore and run into the street.

 On Saturday, we drove up to Salt Lake to see my friend Jessica and her family. She has two cute little girls and Ana fit right in.

 Constance and Kaylie are really good friends. They are only 3 months apart. Kaylie was so excited to see Constance, she could hardly contain herself and wanted to keep on giving her hugs.

We met Aunt Jessie in Sandy for lunch. Then Tom and Constance helped her buy some pumpkins for Halloween decorations.

 By the time we got back to Orem where we were staying, it was late afternoon. Along the way, Ana decided to try to take a nap but Constance woke her up suddenly with her loud singing ("Praise to the Man" screamo style). The kids were all grumpy from not having a nap and I was famished. I went to the store in an attempt to get some medicine and something to eat. I brought Ana along with me and she was pretty cute pushing the little kid's cart around the store. But then when we got to checkout, she decided that enough was enough and she headed straight for the door. I caught her just before she reached the parking lot and made it back in time to pay for our groceries with her in my arms screaming and flailing. I'm sure everyone in the store heard her.

A kind lady (who informed me that she had 7 kids of her own and was very sympathetic to my plight) carried the grocery bags to the car while I wrestled with Ana who seemed convinced that everything that mattered in her life had just been taken away. On the drive back, I opened up my vegan ice cream popsicle and ate all of it. Sugar and calories really saved the day.

On Sunday, we went to the Oak Hills ward, which is the ward that I went to for a few years with my mom before I left on my mission. Because I don't make it back to Hawaii very often, the tree streets in Provo are the closest thing I get to going back to a place with very strong memories.

My favorite picture from the Utah trip is this one of Constance and Ana walking up to Teresa's house.

 Ana loved Teresa's piano.

 Church was rough for Ana because she was still sleep-deprived from the day before. I wanted to stay but I could tell she was very tired and just not having a good day. So I took her and Tom back to Orem where I put her down for a nap and left Tom in charge of keeping watch. Constance absolutely insisted on going to Primary in Teresa's ward. I'm actually glad she was so determined. I got a chance to go back to Relief Society and Constance's Primary teacher ended up being the former Relief Society President when I was in the ward.

After church and after Ana woke up from her nap, we went to see my mom one last time. Instead of trying to visit at her very cramped apartment, we took a walk to the park down the street. I let my mom be Ana's little walking partner on our way there, while I kept track of Constance. But when we were crossing the busy intersection, I just about died when I looked back to see my mom and Ana just reaching the middle of the street when the light was yellow and turning red. Mom was trying to coax Ana into walking the rest of the way across, but Ana's little legs just weren't going fast enough and the cars were starting to go. I screamed, "Pick her up!" Needless to say, on the way back I packed Ana in the baby carrier.

The park was a fun place though. The girls loved collecting leaves.

 And on the walk back to my mom's apartment, Constance complained that her legs were getting tired so my mom carried her.

 On our last night in Utah, I remembered to ask Andrew about the medical textbook he ghost-wrote and I edited.

 The editor doesn't often get much recognition, but I actually made it into the title page . . .

 with a very nice note in the Acknowledgements.

 It's too bad I'm not motivated to pay the $80 to have a copy for our bookshelf.

 On our last day in Utah, we were able to squeeze in a visit to the Provo City temple and BYU campus.

 "I do NOT want you to take my picture!"

 Daddy charmed her into taking one with him.

 Ana was very cooperative.
Sadly, the gates were closed and locked so this is as far as we got.

 BYU campus was quite the adventure with both girls. Ana broke a clay decorative piece in the BYU bookstore, and Constance was very offended that Daddy didn't share the same shopping interests that she had. Our visit there ended with me checking out with Ana squirming and squealing while Tom carried Constance out of the store under one arm while she screamed, "But I just want to talk about it!" And that's all I'm going to say about that.

 Ana fit right in with all of the other college students.

 The consistent trend for 4 days straight was me struggling to find myself lunch every day around noon (not being able to eat dairy or gluten anymore does make it more difficult). I bought a Jamba Juice on our way out of BYU but it ended up in some little hands. I'm glad she enjoyed it at least.

The drive back to Colorado ended up being much more eventful than the drive to Utah. Constance had several bathroom scares which mostly proved to be false alarms. And then Tom was still suffering from the results of eating a waffle chicken sandwich in Frisco a mere 4 days prior. But we made it back home early enough to unload and get some much needed rest in our own beds.

I'm still exhausted from all of the above. Traveling with kids can sure be stressful!

Constance's First Primary Program

This year was Constance's first time participating in a Primary program at church.

Unfortunately, everything didn't go perfectly. First off, because of stake conference and then general conference, the Primary children were only able to practice twice before the actual program. Constance was at the first Sunday practice but then got sick and missed the final practice which was during the week.

It all started at Ana's well-child check up the Friday before. Everyone was well and happy then but not even a day later, Ana started looking very unwell: watery eyes, mild fever, and then the endless coughing and gasping for air. Her doctor diagnosed it as croup and said she had probably caught it the last time we were at the doctor's office. Ana has had croup before but it was definitely not this bad. She spent at least two days where every breath she took required her sucking in her stomach and gasping for air. And this wasn't even at night. Then came the endless clinginess. I love cuddling with my little Mommy's girl but it got to the point where I couldn't even walk to the other room to get dressed in the morning.

Then the day of the Primary program practice, Constance woke up with a fever. It stuck around all day and so I ended up leaving her and Ana home while I went and played the piano for the other Primary kids. Luckily, Constance's sickness didn't end up in endless coughing like Ana's did, but she did lose her voice. Sunday morning, I was still unsure if she would even be able to say her part because her voice was so strained when she first woke up. Luckily it got better as the morning progressed.

Grandma and Grandpa came to see Constance in the Primary program. She sat up there with all of the other kids on the stand. But unfortunately I think the fact that I was up there too playing the piano was a little distracting for her. I did get to see some of her antics though, which included stretching her legs out sideways so that her shoes were right in the face of the little boy sitting next to her and then getting in a heated argument with him about the bones in her body.

But she went up to the front and said her part into the microphone with no problem and sat in her chair about 40% of the time. It sure is hard being little!

Meanwhile, down in the congregation, Ana was in heaven with Grandma and Grandpa taking care of her every need and want, with endless snacks and toys that she didn't have to share with an older sister.

So all in all, it was a great first Primary program for Constance. Next time, though, I'll try to not schedule a routine visit to the doctor's the week before.