Easter Sunday

Rather than celebrate Easter with eggs or bunnies, the kids and I went to a potluck hosted by our Belgian friends, Michael, Marikje and Axel (shown here with DJ, Riley and Holden). The kids swam and played while the adults ate and ate. I brought homemade bread and flank steak. 

Dustin from his Droid

DJ will recommend a gun/guns or knife for you to buy for $5 On fiverr.com

m14ninja: I will recommend a gun/guns or knife for you to buy for $5 On fiverr.com

Catalina with Uncle Paul and Aunt Shu

Here's a great picture of Holden playing with an airplane with our plane, N9852W, in the background. This is Catalina Airport two weeks ago.

Paul took some great pictures. Click through to see them.

Taco Tuesday at the Airport

I wish I knew more about airplanes. Really. This is a picture of the three kids sitting in the cargo area of the largest single prop airplane I've ever seen. Maybe Robert, Michael or Ryan will comment on this post to remind me of the make and model.

I took the kids to Taco Tuesday at California Flight Center, a Fixed Base Operation at Long Beach Airport. This was more than the typical Taco Tuesday though. A Filipino family bought California Flight Center and turned Taco Tuesday into a huge celebration of the new ownership. Besides tacos, they had a Filipino cuisine table, beer and wine, and a live band. They even gave away many cool prizes. The kids all got balsa airplanes -- the cool kind with rubber bands, wheels and a prop.

DJ made Yellow/White Belt at Jujitsu last night. He has been progressing well and you can see it even outside the studio. His physique is looking a little more python-like... more like the instructor in the picture.

When DJ is fighting he stays very calm and expressionless, like UFC's Hoyce Gracie and relative of the founder of his Jujitsu school (I think). I told DJ that when he finishes AP Chinese in High School I will take him with me to China. He can be my body guard and translator.

Knotts Berry Farm

It was Holden's weekend with me and if you remember from a previous post, he wanted to go to a "land" place such as Disneyland or Legoland. I took him to Knotts Berry Farm Land because Jisselle already had tickets and I like that place. It costs much less, has fewer crowds and more exciting rides than Disneyland.

Before we left, I measured Holden to see what rides he could go on. I was surprised to see he could go on all rides except for four that required riders to be 54". Holden is now 50". Funny aside: Yesterday I was talking to someone at work about how Holden is fifty inches already. She said, "Fifty inches? How much is that in feet? Four feet.....two, right? Why didn't you just say 4'2"?" I replied, "Knotts posts everything in inches. But still, it's amazing, isn't it, that a kid that's only 87 months old gets to go on all these great rides.?" I crack myself up.

Turns out two of the rides Holden couldn't go on weren't even operating that day. He missed out on Supreme Scream, which he will love when he's tall enough, and Silver Bullet. He got to go on everything else. He had a hard time picking a favorite but we went on Montezuma's Revenge several times. Jisselle didn't go on any fun rides. She did bumper cars and the mining car ride. I didn't know she was afraid of roller coasters. Still, she was a good sport waiting while we went on all the fun rides.

Holden's Agenda

This weekend is Holden's weekend alone with me. Each kid gets a weekend with just Dad every 12 weeks. I've mentioned before that these weekends are my favorite, which come every 4 weeks for me.

I asked Holden (7 years old) to make a list of things he wants to do this weekend so that we don't run out of ideas. I will translate for you:

1. Go to Nickel Nickel (an arcade)
2. Ride a bike to Dollars Count (a dollar store so he can buy a mood ring)
3. Go to a land place (Disneyland, Legoland, Knotts Berry Farm Land, etc.)
4. Eat pizza.
5. Pet the dogs (we only have one)
6. Meet people.
7. Ride a bike around the town.
8. Play the Wii together.
9. Eat cool food.
10. Play on Dad's phone.
11. Drink Starbucks coffee.
12. Eat people.
13. Watch T.V.
14. Play with Dad.
15. Go to the swap meet.

Pretty good printing for a 7 year old troublemaker, right?  So now I will try to make all 15 activities a reality this weekend, except the cannibalism one.