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I know Halloween was last month but I still want to share with you an activity I did with the kids. Since both of them are still too young to really carve a pumpkin, I came up with a way for them to still be able to decorate a pumpkin. I cut out different eyes and mouths for them to stick onto the pumpkins to create their own unique faces. They LOVED it and loved their pumpkins. I even made a couple of hats for them to choose from. Afterwards, I put their pumpkins on our balcony and they scream with delight everyday coming from school when they see their pumpkin faces.

My various eyes and mouths. I even made different sizes for the large and small pumpkins.

Buzz and Ahgoo's pumpkins. They both chose smiley faces.

These two pumpkins have hats.

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Posted November 23, 2014

Just a beautiful day for a sunset stroll along Manhattan Beach in November. That is all. Enjoy the pictures.

The kids enjoyed running on the sand.

This is the very first Halloween that Ahgoo have decided on her own costume! But the road to Halloween took many turns. For a while, she wanted to be Rapunzel because we were watching the movie. So I pinterested a bunch of Rapunzel pics trying to figure out how to turn her into a Rapunzel. I even bought yellow yarn to try to make her a long blond wig . Unfortunately, the wig didn't turn out as I had hoped. But thankfully, Ahgoo decided she wanted to be Anna from Frozen with a week to spare. Mr. BAW helped the cause by showing Frozen to the kids much more often. I was then able to find the perfect felt fabric to make her the Anna dress and her cape. I was even tempted to braid into her hair a white yarn to simulate the white streak in Anna's hair but it was going to be too much trouble in the morning. But her costume turned out to be perfect! It didn't even take me long to make it. The look on Ahgoo's face made it all worthwhile!

Since Halloween was on a Friday this year, the kids got to celebrate with tons of activities with their friends at school. Many parents volunteered to set up a haunted house, craft tables, and games at a Halloween carnival. Mr. BAW got to participate and took tons of videos and pictures. Sadly, I had a meeting I couldn't get out of so I missed all the fun. Buzz wanted to be Batman for the school activities but he wanted to be Superman for Trick or Treating. Ahgoo wouldn't get out of her costume the entire day. Her teachers had to let her nap in her Anna dress! Mr. BAW and I went simple this year as Elsa and Clark Kent to complement our better halves.

I can't get over how happy Ahgoo was in her Anna costume.

Anna with her cape on at school.

Buzz proudly showing off his pumpkin at school.

I threw on my blonde wig (from previous years' Halloween costumes) and put on my blue coat to be Elsa.
The kids were shocked to see me and Buzz kept asking me how I "painted" my hair so quickly!

Superman and Clark Kent.

Wow, October just flew by! Don't worry, I will post photos from our Halloween activities. But for now, I want to share some pictures from our adventures to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Open House!! Due to budget cuts, they've cancelled the annual event the past few years. Needless to say, the public was starving for some nerd exposure because the lab was completely packed! I worked at JPL briefly back in 1997 so it was nice to see the lab again and also discovered that they've built a brand new parking structure which was desparately needed.

Overall, it was a good day. We were joined by our closet nerd buddy, El Dwag. With thousands of people, I still managed to bump into a friend and ex-co-worker and his family! I think the kids had fun. But they are still a little young to fully understand everything. Buzz did enjoy seeing some robots and even got to have the Mars rover roll over him. But one thing we discovered this time is that the lab is rather stroller-unfriendly! Maybe next year, we can get away with not having a stroller. Enjoy the pics from our day at JPL.

Just a risk you take if you work at JPL, I guess! Buzz asked me if Jumpy was at JPL!

Buzz was the first kid to be run over by the Mars rover!

The kids enjoyed learning about robots and the different jobs they do.

Learning about the different planetary missions!

El Dwag getting to be a real nerd.

Mission control, this is where it all happens!

All the planetary missions on display.

The model of the Galileo Spacecraft which made leaps and bounds to our understanding of Jupiter.

Me and my little scientists.

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Posted November 5, 2014