Toby has made some major changes in his life. He has made the move from Room 1 to Room 2. Though he’s not quite potty-trained yet, he is in the process and is well on his way. Hopefully we’ll be saying bye to diapers soon.
Also, Toby has moved on from his tricycle to a bicycle with training wheels. He’s so happy now that he can cruise around on a bike like his big brother.
Tyler started his first team sport of T-Ball. He was lucky enough to be on the same team as his best friend, Gavin, as well as have the team name of “Giants”. I don’t really know the rules of T-Ball, but it definitely a scaled-down version of little league baseball and there are really no winners or losers. In any case, it’s great that he is in a team sport and learning sportsmanship and how to be a team-player. So far he seems to really enjoy playing and socializing with his team. It’s also a lot of fun to watch the kids play.
This weekend Tyler played well, listened to the coach, wore his uniform correctly, and participated well. So for this game he received one of the “game balls” alongside Gavin.
Tyler and Toby have been progressing very well in their swim lessons at DACA. Tyler is having a lot of fun and working on his “Peanut Butter & Jelly” strokes. This past weekend, Tyler did his PB&Js all by himself and received his RED RIBBON
Toby has advanced to a stage where he is beyond the “Parent & Me” swimming class. He is fearless in the water and has no issues getting his head wet, jumping in from the side of the pool, and diving for rings already! He still doesn’t know how to swim, but he is definitely ready to move on to the next step.
Tyler and Isabell in their ski lessons
The Northstar ski trip was a lot of fun. With 3 other daycare families staying in the same cabin, the kids certainly had a blast. First off, staying in the Northstar Mountain Homes was awesome. We had door to village bus service so there really was no need to fight for parking. There was also the “Fast Track” ticket to the lift lines that all of us got by staying in a Northstar lodging. This was certainly helpful when skiing on Saturday when the resort was more crowded. Northstar also had the added perk of a “Parent Predicament” ticket that Stuart and I got. Basically, we got 1 ticket which we shared so that one of us can ski while the other spent quality time with Toby who is not yet old enough for ski lessons. Tyler went into ski lessons for 2 days. The kids’ ski lessons at Northstar was incredibly great for kids. The online registration process was very smooth. When we checked Tyler in, all I did was give his name, take a claim ticket for pick-up (as if he were a coat), and one of the experts walked him through the whole process of fitting for boots and skis. He was served lunch and snacks. Every now and then they would take a potty break and drink some hot chocolate. The experience was very good. Tyler even skied down a green slope with the ski instructors. I highly recommend Northstar if you have kids and want them to learn how to ski. the ski school and resort is very kid-friendly and convenient. They even provide wagons to lug all your ski gear around (and kids, too, if they don’t want to walk).
Back at the Mountain Home, the kids found a great area for sledding in the backyard. They all had fun indoors as well where there was a lot of room to run around and a big living room and a loft to watch movies. One night they even made their own dinner…personal pizzas.
On the last day of our trip, we went to Soda Springs for a few hours of tubing and playing in the snow with the kids. This is a very small ski resort with 3 lift lines. They had a kids play area with tubing rides as well as a magic carpet for tubing down a small hill. For older kids, there was a tubing area where the hill was much steeper. After lunch and a snow ball fight, everyone was pretty much exhausted and ready to head home.
Tubing at Soda Springs
Once again, I attempted a recipe in the ad hoc book. This time it was roast chicken. I roasted the chicken on a base of vegetables which included leeks, potatoes, onions, garlic. The smell that filled the house while roasting made my mouth water. I could hardly wait for the chicken to finish. When the chicken was finally done, the taste of both the chicken and the vegetables was excellent. I was expecting the skin to come out a bit crispier since I took Thomas Keller’s advice and let the chicken “dry” in the refrigerator for a day. Unfortunately, I was not watching the time well enough while chit-chatting with a neighbor and made the temperature change when I should have. Oh well….I will try this again and hopefully get that part mastered. But overall, the taste of this dish was pretty darn good!
Things to remember for next time:
Here’s the pictures to my Leek Bread Pudding.
The Leek Bread Pudding turned out quite well for my first time. I don’t think I’ve ever cooked with leeks before so that was something new. I think I cut the bread a little smaller than the suggested 1-inch cubes, but the croutons turned out just fine. After being in the oven for about an hour, I saw that the top was already browning, but the pudding was not settled. So I put some foil over the top for the rest half hour. This is probably why it looks a bit browner than other pictures I’ve seen of Leek Bread Pudding. I’d say this is not user error, but oven differences. 
I will definitely try this again. Here are my tips and notes from this experiment:
- Put a foil over the pudding for 1 hour. Take the foil off during the last half hour. Again, blame is on the oven, not me.
- Don’t forget the chives. OK…this is my fault. I was wondering what the unopened package of chives was doing next to the dish after I had already put everything together. DOH!!
- Don’t worry about how puffy it looks when you take it out of the oven. The dish decompresses as it cools down.
- Use more leeks! Recipe calls for 2 cups. I think next time I’d like to use 3 cups to add more “greens” to the recipe.
- Use brioche, not Hawaiian Bread. LOL! My sous-chef couldn’t find the brioche so he became very resourceful. We call this recipe now Leek Bread Pudding – Hawaiian Style. Aloha!
Wow…Thanksgiving has come and gone, Christmas has come and gone, and now, New Year’s Day is coming to a close. We spent Thanksgiving in Scottsdale, AZ where it was the chilliest Thanksgiving in 30 years there. Nonetheless, we were able to swim each day in the warmed up pools of the Phoenician Resort. The boys got to hang with their cousins, Kai and Koa, and even took to golf as the “caddies” for the older ones.
Christmas was spent at Lola and Lolo’s house in San Diego. It was chilly there as well. We spent the chilly, but sunny days touring the theme parks. Once again, we headed for Legoland. This place is simply impossible for us to miss. Legos and boys… enough said. The boys went to Seaworld for the first time. Tyler especially enjoyed the Shark Encounter there. We also went to the San Diego Zoo where Toby was so intrigued by the elephants, he was dreaming about them that night. The Birch Aquarium was suggested by one of my cousins, Kristine, and we got to see more fish and other sea creatures there as well.
We spent Lola’s 25th birthday at home and the boys got to play with their new toys aaaallllllll day. It rained this day so we were glad we had gotten our park visits done. We were all exhausted each and everyday and everyone slept soundly…very soundly. 
As we drove back to the Bay Area that evening, again we were were lucky to have crossed the Grapevine when we did. It had begun to snow there and perhaps an hour later, there may have been some pretty icy conditions on the pass.
For New Year’s Eve, of course, the boys were not able to stay up ’til midnight. So we celebrated Noon Year’s Eve at the San Jose Children’s Discovery Museum. Toby and Tyler played around with all the neat gadgets and things to experiment and play with. Toby really enjoys the water area there. This time we were prepared with a change of clothes and a towel.
We are looking forward to 2011 when Tyler enters Kindergarten in the Fall. I am looking forward to Toby being potty-trained soon. I’m hoping that this year will also be the “Year of the Kitchen”, the project we had delayed for other home improvement/maintenance.
Happy New Year to you all!
We just recently discovered dehydrated kale at the local Farmer’s Market. At almost $4 a tub and at the amount we eat, we decided to get a dehydrator of our own. With a few experimental batches, I finally got the kale recipe right. Toby also loves eating his new snack of “green chips”. They are great to eat plain or toss on salads or even put in scrambled eggs. Now I am moving on to other foods….apples, persimmons, and potatoes. Will keep you posted!!!
Here’s the link to my review of Arata’s Pumpkin Farm: http://www.yelp.com/biz/arata-pumpkin-farm-half-moon-bay#hrid:v5k4XkEGs80Cry79gwxGXg
Tyler and his classmates were very excited the whole week in anticipation of their first field trip to the Mountain View Library. They were taught to respect books they borrow from there and to treat them gently. They now know where to find the books for their age group, and to use their quiet voice. It was a very informative trip for all and after the visit, the kids walked to a nearby park to play and eat lunch. I was lucky enough to get to chaperone and drive 2 kids to the library. Watching the excitement in all the kids is always a delight to see.
Click THIS to see the pictures from the field trip.
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