This a conversation Caleb had with his mommy today.
Caleb (talking to Yvonne): I was in your tummy for a long time
Yvonne: Yes, Caleb. You were.
Caleb: It was dark inside. It was really dark. I couldn’t see anything.
Church Easter Hike
Almost every Easter, our church organizes a hike. But dragging along three kids 3 years and under, you tend not to make it to an 8am meet-up time. We went up to Eaton Canyon Park anyways.
We decide to get some McDonalds for breakfast and eat there.
And no, I don’t know why Caris is eating like that.
In the visitor’s center, there were some animals in glass cases. There were two animals that had food in their cages; the tarantula and the garter snake. Although I hate spiders and snakes, I had to keep my open in case one decided to go after some food, a cricket for the tarantula and some fish for the snake.
The tarantula got my hopes up, but I guess it wasn’t hungry.
The best part about the visitor’s center was the glass case with the stuffed animals and their fake poop.
Now on to the hike.
There’s a stream crossing at Eaton Canyon Park. Last time we were here, the creek was dry. This time, not so much.
I have a bad history with stream crossings. The first backpacking trip Yvonne took me on (this was before kids) was suppose to be an easy one. It was only suppose to be a three mile (6 miles round-trip) hike. Three miles to the campground, we’ll stay one night, and then go back home. Easy, right? Well it would have been easy if they didn’t lie about the distance and didn’t have the 26 stream crossings we had to cross. So after that, I haven’t been very fond of stream crossings.
Of course Caleb wants to cross the stream, and Mommy was readily willing to go. So off we go crossing the water. I wish I could have taken a picture or video of us crossing. I was carrying Caris. Yvonne had Chloe in the Ergo, and was holding Caleb’s hand behind her as they crossed together. Caleb almost made it unscathed until she lost her balance a little at the end. While Yvonne was trying to steady herself, Caleb took a little step in the water. He didn’t seem to mind.
Daddy and Caris, amazingly enough, made it dry.
Here’s us on the other side.
We decided that it would have been easier to carry Caleb across, but it’s kind of hard when the kids outnumber the adults. This friendly man offered to take Caleb.
After some hard work this morning hiking, the kids need to use the potty. Caleb left this present.
Mini-Flood of 2011
Before I moved into this house, there was the great flood of 2004. The washing machine is located on the second floor of our house. And when the pipes busted on that fateful night, there was chaos in the Wang household. Water soaked through the floor into the kitchen and into the garage. Lights came crashing down, walls developed mold. Never I have though what such a bad idea it was to have a washing machine on the second floor.
7 years later, and the mini-flood of 2011 is upon us. This wasn’t close to as bad as the great flood of 2004. It wasn’t a downpour; just a light rain that lasted too long. Our water heater pipes start leaking in the middle of the night Wednesday-Thursday. At least they were smart enough to keep the water heater on the ground floor and in the garage where the damage can be contained.
I turned off the water as tight as I could going into the tank, but it still kept leaking. This leak would persist for some 36 hours.
Not only was our garage becoming messy from the water, we had no hot water. No hot water to wash dishes. No hot water for showers. No hot water to bathe the kids. I opted for not showering. The kids endured the cold water, and they seemed to enjoy the bath anyways.
There’s our bad pipe.
And here’s our new pipes!
Life
Last Christmas Caleb got a live butterfly garden for a gift. The idea with this garden is that you request some caterpillars from the company, and they mail them to you. You watch the little caterpillars grow in size and become butterflies just like the Hungry Caterpillar. Since Easter is coming soon, Yvonne thought it would be fun to teach the kids about life through the life cycle of a caterpillar/butterfly.
We didn’t get any pictures of the caterpillars in caterpillar form. Somehow during the week, we just never took a picture. But it’s awesome watching them grow from itty bitty caterpillars to big fat caterpillars. The pictures will have to start at the chrysalis stage.
Here are the caterpillars starting to come out!
It’s a Small World After All
We have not been to Disneyland in over two years. The last time that any of us went to Disneyland was for our anniversary in 2008. Not much has changed at Disneyland except for the price. When we first bought our annual passes from Disneyland 7 years ago, it cost $99. Now it costs $239. Now I remember why we stopped going to Disneyland.
Well, now we have passes again. And believe us, we are going to put them to good use, even if it means our kids are messed up from lack of sleep. Last time we went to Disneyland, Caris wasn’t even born yet. So it’ll be the first time at Disneyland for both Caris and Chloe.
Chloe’s in an Eeyore outfit.
Driving down the I-5 to get to Disneyland. Since there’s no traffic now, we’re not in Orange County.
Caleb & Caris sitting in a single seat together.
Tram ride.
They are looking forward to Disneyland.
When we were going to Disneyland regularly years ago, Sunday was usually a good day to go. Not too many people usually, and not many long lines for rides. But for some reason, on this Sunday, everyone and their mom decided to go to Disneyland. We first went to Autopia, but the wait for the ride was 55 minutes. What are all these people doing here? We pick up the fastpass at Autopia for 7:05.
Caris & Chloe’s first ride will have to be It’s a Small World. The wait is only 30 minutes. Still too long for our kids, but manageable.
Here are some ducks just chilling on the grass. They remind me of my cats.
All Done!
We decided to let our kids run around in toon town for a bit.
We were able to eat dinner here and then attempted to go to Autopia once again with our fastpasses in hand before we headed home. However, we were to be denied. When we arrived at the entrance of Autopia, they told us they had shut down the ride and it was unknown how long it was going to be shut down. We had been hyping this up for Caleb the whole time. Caleb took it well. I think we were more disappointed than he was.
So we decided to take the train next to Autopia and start to go home. As we’re waiting at the train station, not more than 10 minutes pass, and Autopia reopens. We see a flood of people going through the line. I hate you, Disneyland.
At least we can go back to try to get on Autopia. Caleb has his own pass too.
Puke Away
Some of you may be disgusted by the picture above. I apologize, but this is the reality that we have been dealing with the past few days. That picture above was the start of everything. After showing no signs of being sick that day, Caris decides to upchuck her dinner right after we walk in the door. She had begun crying at the end of the car ride, so Yvonne was holding her, and I was holding Chloe in front of her. All of the sudden we hear her gag, and then *blurp*.
The sight was not pleasant to say the least. At least we know why she was crying. Yvonne bent her over as she started to puke, and put her down on her feet to grab some towels. A few seconds later, she proceeds to throw up a little more. I ask Caris if she’s okay, and she says “yeah.†How do you spell relief? V-O-M-I-T
Caris got sick Saturday night. She’s been sick with the stomach flu all Sunday and Monday.
Yvonne has been careful in order to not transmit the stomach flu to the rest of the family. We’ve used a good amount of chlorine bleach wipes. And our hands are raw from washing them hundreds of times the past few days. The rest of the household had showed no signs of picking the stomach bug. That was until 4am Tuesday night.
Caleb had been waking up a few times during the night complaining about his stomach hurting. He didn’t have to go poop, so there was nothing I could really do. After Chloe was fed at 4 in the morning, I went to go help her back to sleep. Caleb woke up screaming at about the same time. That’s when he decided to puke twice, apparently on my side of the bed.
Thank God for Yvonne’s motherly instincts and lightning quick reflexes, she was able to catch all that puke in the bucket. Whereas Daddy says, “I can’t do anything for you, Caleb. Go back to sleep,†Mommy says, “something’s not right.†Good thing Mommy was there to catch the puke. I would have been sleeping.
We’re praying Chloe doesn’t get this. Baby puking and crying is not a fun thing to watch. Praying that we don’t get it either. We don’t put toys in our mouth, so that should at least help us.
Caris Out of the Crib (And out of bed)
Yesterday, Caris got started in her big girl bed. No more crib for you, Caris. We probably didn’t pick the best of nights to get her into a regular bed, since they were also adjusting to daylight saving time as well this weekend. But we’ve procrastinated too long, and I had time to convert her bed in the afternoon.
Caleb and Caris are so different. I was reading back at an old post of Caleb first getting into his big boy bed, and their responses have been much different. Of course Caris has had the benefit of watching Caleb get into his bed for a few months, so that helps.
The first night did not go so well. It wasn’t horrible, but it was good either. We put the kids down around 8pm, which is technically an hour earlier than normal based on standard time. We figured they would take a while to go to sleep, but not as long as they actually took. After multiple times of telling them to stop playing and go to sleep, they finally fell asleep at 10:40pm, over two and a half hours after we put them to bed.
Once asleep, Caris did well. But anything the doesn’t involve her falling out of bed I would consider doing well. She got over the falling out of bed quickly though, for tonight she did it. We’re about to eat dinner downstairs, and we hear a big thump. Originally we though it was Caleb knocking down the gate like he down earlier in the night, but nope, it was Caris falling out of bed.
We run upstairs and hear her crying. Caleb fesses up.
Caleb: Caris fell out of bed. We were talking and laughing, and she fell out of bed.
I’m glad Caleb is so willing to tell us what happened now. I hope it stays that way.
I Can Spell “Ocean”
5:18 PM Yvonne: so, caleb kept saying "i can spell ocean"
"
oh really, caleb?
ocean
me: hehe
ocean?
Yvonne: no, not ocean – says caleb
5:19 PM lotion?
me: lotion?
haha
Yvonne: no, not lotion and not water like ocean
me: Can he really spell it?
Yvonne: "ocean"
what? – mommy
caleb: U-R-C-H-I-N
me: Urchin?
Where he learn that word?
Yvonne: Mommy: urchin?
hahahaha
5:20 PM Caleb: yeah, urchin…. i learned it from the apple
me: haha
Yvonne: did i tell you yesterday he spelled lion at the sink when he was washing his hands
5:28 PM Yvonne: he just spelled camel for me
Caleb/Caris Videos
Happy 6 Month Birthday, Chloe
Happy birthday, baby girl. You ate rice cereal for the first time today.
And Caleb gave you a ball
