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This journal is about raising identical twins.Eighty First Month
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Tuesday, Apr 6, 2004 (6y+8m)
The twins are 6 and 2/3 years old today. They went to school as usual.
Wednesday, Apr 7, 2004 (6y+8m+1d)
The twins went to school as usual. They went to piano and abacus class after school.
Thursday, Apr 8, 2004 (6y+8m+2d)
The twins went to school as usual. The twins joined Patricia and her friends in the park to ride their bikes after school. They did their homework and practiced piano when they came home.After dinner, mommy gave the twins a dictation as a rehearsal for tomorrow's test at school. Jasmine started crying in the middle of the test. She blamed mommy for not giving her enough time to review the material before the test. Mommy said Joanne did, Jasmine just didn't listen when mommy asked them to prepare. She also cried and complained that Joanne peeked at her paper. Mommy said Joanne would fail her test tomorrow because she cheated, but that was no reason for Jasmine to cry. Mommy told Jasmine that her crying would not make a difference. The test would go on just like it would in school. The twins completed the test. But Jasmine didn't talk to mommy for the rest of the evening. She refused mommy's goodnight kiss before she went to bed. We read the second half of chapter 6 in the book we were reading for bedtime.
Friday, Apr 9, 2004 (6y+8m+3d)
The twins went to school as usual.They went to an art class in the afternoon. The class has 5 sessions costing $50 per person. They did something like a lithograph by applying ink on a plastic plate and transfer the drawing onto paper.
They went to Annette's 3 year old brother Alex's birthday party in the evening. Daddy stayed home and had a cup of noodle for dinner.
Saturday, Apr 10, 2004 (6y+8m+4d)
Jasmine did her hair by herself in the morning. She asked mommy if she did a good job. Mommy said no, it was a mess. Jasmine was mad at mommy the whole morning. When mommy got ready to go out to lunch, Jasmine wanted to stay home with daddy. Mommy and Joanne went to lunch with Michelle's family and Sunnie and her kid. After lunch they went to the park and dessert. Joanne took a nap in the car when they came home.Daddy worked on the tax return at home. Jasmine worked on her homework and practiced piano. Jasmine watched the Disney's Lady and the Tramp DVD in the afternoon. In one of the scene, a dog character sang an Italian song. Jasmine told daddy that the gondolier at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas sang the same song to us. I was amazed that she could remember a piece of music after hearing it just once. I could remember familiar tunes only if I heard them many times over. I guessed that I could not expect too much from myself when I didn't have music training like the kids.
When mommy told Jasmine that Joanne went to the park, she cried due to jealousy. Jasmine demanded mommy to take her to the park. Mommy didn't yield. It was Jasmine's own decision to stay home. Mommy let her cry more and let her know crying will not change a thing. Mommy went for a nap. Jasmine worked hard on her homework. When mommy woke up, Jasmine apologized to her and asked if mommy would take her to the park the next morning.
Sunday, Apr 11, 2004 (6y+8m+5d)
The twins woke up briefly early in the morning and they returned to sleep. After breakfast, we took the twins to the park as promised. After lunch, we went to grandma Ling to get their signatures on their tax returns. We planned to do some shopping on our way back. We were disappointed when we found that most stores were closed on Easter Sunday.
Monday, Apr 12, 2004 (6y+8m+6d)
The twins went to school as usual. Mommy went to the dentist while the kids were in school.
Tuesday, Apr 13, 2004 (6y+8m+7d)
The twins went to school as usual. Mommy had stomach trouble over night. She came home to rest after dropping off the twins at school.
Wednesday, Apr 14, 2004 (6y+8m+8d)
The twins went to school as usual. They went to abacus and piano class. The piano teacher told Joanne that she had improved a lot since last time. Joanne was quite far behind from Jasmine in her piano skill. Joanne used to play music in a hunt and peck manner due to lack of practice. She now could play more smoothly like Jasmine did.
Thursday, Apr 15, 2004 (6y+8m+9d)
The twins went to school as usual. Mommy took the twins back to school for a Literacy Night activity. The school informed the parents on what the students were learning in term of writing style. They learned topics like "Introduction", "Discussion", and "Conclusion" etc. They returned home at 6pm. The twins requested to take a nap. They slept for two hours before waking up for dinner and homework.We finally finished the last chapter of the "Cat in the Hat" novel. Since the book was based on the screenplay of the movie, the twins has been injecting comments during the bedtime story according to what they've seen in the movie. In the last chapter, there was a scene that was not in the movie. The twins made it a big deal and requested to inspect the book. They thought daddy made it up.
Friday, Apr 16, 2004 (6y+8m+10d)
The twins went to school as usual. They went to the second session of the art and craft class after school.Joanne brought back a few tiny larva of silk worms on a mulberry leaf from school. It is part of their science project. Jasmine also had silk worms at school, but the teacher didn't let her take them home. The twins had research assignments from school. Both needed to find out more about some insects. Jasmine picked mosquitoes and Joanne picked firefly for their research topic. They did some Google searches on the Internet. Mommy complained that the twins went on myscene.com, sanrio.com, or disney.com after a few minutes.
Saturday, Apr 17, 2004 (6y+8m+11d)
We went out to lunch with grandma Chui. After lunch we came home and stay home the rest of the day. The twins did their home work and practiced piano.Daddy and mommy watched the Matrix Revolution after the twins went to bed.
Sunday, Apr 18, 2004 (6y+8m+12d)
The twins got up early in the morning. They played on their own until mommy prepared them breakfast. They did home work after breakfast.We went out to lunch with Hing, Lucy and Terence. Terence asked when he could come to stay overnight with the twins again. When we came home after lunch, mommy wanted the twins to start writing their report for their research project. They needed to answer several questions about the insects they studied both in Chinese and English.
Monday, Apr 19, 2004 (6y+8m+13d)
The twins were on their spring break this week. We got up and readied ourselves in the morning. Before 11am, Hing came to pick us up. He took us to the SFO airport. After we checked in our luggage, we went to lunch outside the airport. Then we returned to the airport for our flight. We took off to New York at 1pm. The flight took four and a half hour. We arrived at JFK at 9:30pm eastern time. The twins took a nap on the plane. They only knew the sky was dark when we arrived. They didn't have the concept of time zones. They had no idea that we had lost 3 hours during the flight. There was a slight delay in the baggage claim area. We left the airport after 10pm. We took the air-train to the shuttle terminal. Then we took the hotel shuttle bus to the hotel near the airport. We had a quick dinner at 11pm at a restaurant in the hotel. We stayed overnight near the airport.
Tuesday, Apr 20, 2004 (6y+8m+14d)
Daddy got up earlier than everyone else and went to rent a car near the airport. Mommy and twins were up and ready to leave when daddy came back. We checked out from the hotel. We drove the rental car to a nearby AAA office to get some street maps for the vicinity. It took a few miles of local driving through Jamaica which was an African American neighborhood. Mommy complained because the detour caused almost 45 minutes delay to our plan. In addition, we felt alienated and out of place when driving through the streets of Jamaica. In California, the streets were filled with people of different colors and ethnic origins. In Jamaica, it felt like we were in East Africa.After we got the maps, we drove towards Philadelphia. It took a long ride through traffic jam to just get out of New York city. We arrived at Philapedia at around 2pm. We paid a visit to Philip, daddy's high school classmate, at his pediatric clinic. He was quite busy with several patients waiting for his attention. We took a couple of pictures together and left. Dr. Philip picked a Finding Nemo storybook from his clinic and gave to the twins as gift. We went for lunch at Philadelphia's Chinatown. After lunch, we stopped by the Independence Hall to see the Liberty Bell. I visited Philadelphia once back in 1979. I remembered the Independence Hall and the bell, but nothing in their neighborhood. Even the building that housed the bell didn't look the way I remembered it. Of course that didn't surprise me for many things changed in a quarter century. We left Philadelphia and drove toward Washington DC at around 4pm.
We arrived at DC at around 6:40pm. We circled around the Union Station to find a parking. We barely made it to the 7pm twilight tour by running. We spent the next three hours on tour. The tour bus looped around the tourist attractions in DC. It stopped for a quick 5 minute photo stop outside the Capitol building. It stopped at Jefferson Memorial for 20 minute at dusk. It stopped at Roosevelt Memorial for 30 minutes, it was totally dark when we came out. It stopped at Lincoln Memorial for 45 minutes, The last stop was longer because the Vietnam War Memorial and Korean War Memorial were nearby. The bus finished the tour after it passed by the entrance to the Arlington Cemetery.
It was after 10:30pm when we checked in to our hotel in Virginia. The hotel seemed to be converted from an apartment building because the unit we stayed in looked like a 2 bedroom apartment. The master bedroom had two queen size beds, the other room had one queen size bed. The living room had a sofa bed. It had 2 full baths, kitchen and a dining area too. After the trip, the twins said it was their favorite hotel because they each could occupy a bed.
Wednesday, Apr 21, 2004 (6y+8m+15d)
We had the complimentary continental breakfast before driving back into DC. We parked the car near the White House to take some pictures from a distance. The twins liked to take a tour inside the White House, but we found that we needed to write to our congressmen to get the ticket a few months in advance. Before the 9-11 attack two years ago, ticket to the White House could be obtained at the visitor center. It is no more for security reasons.We failed to find a parking space near the National Mall. We parked the car at the big parking garage at the Union Station. We started walking towards the Mall at first. After a few blocks, we decided to take a taxi to the Natural History Museum. We were surprised that the taxi in DC charged both by distance and passenger count. The fare was over ten dollars to go just a few blocks.
Due to the short schedule, we picked only several exhibits to see. We first looked at the dinosaur fossils, then we saw the gemstones. We then went to the insect zoo where the twins got to touch a cockroach, hold a grasshopper and a green catapillar.
We went next door to the National Gallery of Art. At the underground passageway between the East and West wing, we stopped for a sandwich break at the cafe.
We then went to the Air and Space Museum on the opposite side of the Mall. The twins and mommy were quite exhausted by now. They rested on a bench for quite a while before visiting a couple of exhibits. We spent about one hour in there before the Museum closed at 5:15pm.
After a day of Museum touring, our soles were sore. We took a taxi back to Union Station to retrieve our car. Since we'd already seen DC at night, we headed back to the hotel right away. We asked the first desk for directions to the grocery store. On the way, we saw a strip mall with many restaurants. We had a nice Japanese dinner and then went grocery shopping.
We continued the storybook for the usual bedtime reading. With only one page from the end of the chapter, the twins ran away to get their fruits from mommy. Daddy asked them if they would walk away from the class in school when the teacher was teaching. They said no. As a punishment, daddy told them to forget about bedtime story for the rest of the trip.
Thursday, Apr 22, 2004 (6y+8m+16d)
We checked out from the hotel after we had the complimentary breakfast. We drove back to the Lincoln Memorial. It was pretty dark in our first visit two days ago. We returned in daytime to take some better pictures. We visited the Vietnam War Memorial again. On the way to find the Korean War Memorial, we had a good look at the reflection pool.We left DC and drove to the Air & Apace Museum near the Dullus airport. We saw some exotic airplanes including the SR-71, Concord, X-38 and even the Space Shuttle Enterprise. When we got back to our rental car at the end of the museum visit, I noticed our dark gray car had a yellow tint. On closer inspection, we found that the yellow film on the car was actually pollens. We found the reason why we were sneezing and shedding tears for the past few days.
On the return trip to New York, we took the New Jersey turnpike and avoided the rush hour traffic in Philadelphia. We arrived at Chinatown in New York city at dinner time. We had dinner and drove to Times Square. When we got to Toys R Us at 10:15pm, the twins were disappointed that the store closed at 10pm. We scrolled around Time Square to take pictures of the dazzling neon lights. We checked in to the hotel afterward. With no more bedtime reading, we could go to bed right away.
Joanne somehow convinced Jasmine to exchange their pajamas. It was the first time ever Jasmine let Joanne wear her Tinker Bell pajama. The switch was confusing to us because Jasmine's pajama had already became her trademark for many months.
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 (6y+8m+17d)
The hotel's complimentary breakfast only offered orange juice, milk and bagels. After breakfast, we took the subway to Wall Street. We tried to get inside the New York Stock Exchange to see the stock traders running around the trade floor. I have seen that twenty some years ago. We were disappointed to find that the entire building was blockaded. We took a picture of the twins with couple of policemen armed with machine guns outside the NYSE.We walked over to the World Trade Centers site to see the ground zero of the 9-11 attack. We took a taxi to Battery Park. Unlike Washington DC, the taxi fare in New York city was quite affordable for such a short trip. We took the ferry to the Liberty Island. We took some pictures with the Lady up close. The twins saw some kids running up the wall of the base of the Statue of Liberty. They wanted to do the same too. They climbed up two stones on the wall and requested daddy to take a picture that looked like they were climbing the Statue of Liberty. We had lunch at the cafeteria on the island. We spent too much time in shopping in the souvenir store that we missed the ferry by less than a minute. We had to wait 30 minutes for the next one.
We landed on Ellis Island on the next stop. We spent about an hour at the Immigration Museum there. We got back to Battery Park and took the subway to Times Square. We spent the rest of the afternoon in Toys R Us. When we left the store, Joanne said she lost the batteries from the lighted key chain she bought from Liberty Island just a few hours ago. We had dinner before taking a taxi back to the hotel.
Saturday, Apr 24, 2004 (6y+8m+18d)
After having the complimentary bagel breakfast from the hotel, we took the taxi to the Rockefeller Center. We tried to buy the tour tickets for the NBC studios, but the tours were sold out. The next available tour was for one and a half day later. We gave up and walked around Rockefeller center to take some pictures. Mommy took the twins to shopping when daddy took more pictures around the area.Across the street, we saw a store called American Girl Place. The store sold dolls and accessories to go with the dolls. The doll alone cost $85, the accessories ranged from $15 to a few hundred dollars. Everything that you could think of came in doll-size including clothings, furniture, bicycle, bedroom sets and even horses. Once you've purchased the doll, the snowballing would start. I guess ten thousand dollar may not be sufficient to complete the collection. I told the twins up front that they were not getting the doll. The best way to stay away from addiction is to not get started. They had their eyes set on the doll's pet dog named Coconut. The puppy was $16, and its sleep pen cost another $12, its dog house cost another $12. The twins also picked some T-shirts, stickers and note pads carrying the Coconut characters. We lost over a hundred dollars after less than half an hour in the store. The twins agreed to share everything except they each got a Coconut T-shirt.
We walked towards the Central park. We stopped at Carnegie Deli Restaurant for lunch. When we came near Central park, we intercepted and boarded a horse-drawn carriage. After a brief ride around a small portion of the Central Park, we disembarked the carriage and started walking towards the lake. Mommy stopped at the Sheep Meadow and refused to go any further. Jasmine joined mommy for the strike. Joanne continued the journey with daddy. Joanne and I scrolled around the lake, crossing the Bow bridge. Daddy pointed out that the Bow bridge was shown in the movie Stuart Little. When we were on the lake shore, Joanne pointed to the character on her T-shirt. She told daddy that there was someone like it on the lake on the kind of boat we rode in Las Vegas. Lo and behold, we spotted a Venetian style gondola on the lake, the gondolier sang to the passengers too. We returned to the Sheep Meadow to look for mommy and Jasmine. The Meadow was packed with thousands of New Yorker enjoying a nice Saturday afternoon. We then left through the southeast corner of the Central Park.
We managed to find FAO Schwartz, but were disappointed that it was closed for remodeling until the summer. The twins were quite disappointed, because they were shut out from the stores in San Diego, South Coast Plaza and San Francisco, now in New York too. We took some pictures outside the closed doors of the store. We then walked down the 5th Avenue for some real and window shopping. The twins saw other people carrying Disney's shopping bags. Of course, they wanted to visit the Disney's store. Joanne bought a pajama with Disney's princesses on it. After shopping at Disney's, we were carrying so many shopping bags that we decided to shop no more.
We took a taxi back to the hotel. We washed the twins and changed them into warmer clothes. After a quick snack, we took a taxi to the Empire State building. The line to the building tour was not too long outside the building. We waited in line to get up to the top. Only after we entered the building, we learned that the lines to the ticket office and the elevators looped around the corridors in the building several more times. Joanne got tired. Daddy carried her for half an hour to let her take a nap on daddy's shoulder while we slowly moved along the line. Jasmine stayed awake because she knew mommy had no strength to carry her. We spent over two and a half hours in line before we got to the elevators. When we got to the top of the skyscraper, we went around the observation deck to see the city at night and took some pictures. It was too windy and cold to stay any longer. We returned to the street level to see the sky-ride movie. It was past 11pm when we left the building. We had a very late dinner at McDonald's across the street. It took us quite awhile before getting a taxi because all taxi were occupied when they came out from the Time Square nearby.
Joanne wanted to wear her new princesses pajama. Mommy won't let her because it was not washed yet.
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 (6y+8m+19d)
In the morning, both twins nagged to wear their new Coconut T-shirt and they did. The twins came to agreement that they would exchange their jeans for today. Joanne wore Jasmine's red jeans. Jasmine wore blue today. The twins were very possessive of their own stuff, it was quite unusual for them to switch clothings. Daddy's college friend Oscar and his wife Sabrina came to meet us at the hotel. They lived in New Jersey about 45 minutes away. They took us to Chinatown for lunch. Then Sabrina took mommy to shopping in Soho. Oscar took daddy and the twins to the subway. We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art next to the Central Park. We originally planned to spend half time there and another half at the famous Natural History Museum. The twins were very excited to find paintings of Picasso. They didn't know anyone else. Apparently Picasso was the only artist they remembered from their art classes at school. They wanted daddy to take a picture of every Picasso they found in the museum.We took a break and had some snacks and fruits when we were tired. We could see that it was raining outside. Though the Natural History Museum in New York had more dinosaur fossils in display, the twins had already seen some dinosaur bones in Washington DC. I figured that we wouldn't miss too much if we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon to see the rest of the museum.
When the museum closed, we took the subway back to Little Italy. The subway train was so packed that the two tiny twins were squeezed inside the crowd smelling other people's butts. I guess it was quite a unique experience for the twins to ride a crowded subway.
Oscar and Sabrina bought us a nice Italian dinner in Little Italy which was just next to Chinatown. They took us back to the hotel at around 9:30pm. We ended the day early and enjoyed a restful night at the hotel.
Joanne argued with mommy that if they were allowed to wear an unwashed Coconut T-shirt earlier in the day, then she should be allowed to wear her unwashed pajama. Mommy was speechless when she got caught red handed.
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 (6y+8m+20d)
We got up late in the morning. After we washed up and packed, we went to the airport. It was raining and cold when we left New York. We took the 2:40pm flight. We arrived at SFO at around 5:30pm. It was 90°F in San Francisco. That concluded our week-long vacation on the East Coast. It was quite relaxing for us because the twins were very well behaved. They were very happy. Joanne often said something funny to make Jasmine giggle and laugh out of control. Due to the time zone difference, the twins were able to stay up very late with no complaint even when our schedule ran late. According to the weather forecast before our trip, New York was supposed to be hit by thunder storm starting Thursday. We were lucky that the storm was delayed by several days. Sabrina called us to tell us that the thunderstorm arrived as soon as we left.Joanne carried Coconut in her arm after we landed. While we walked to the baggage claim area, a shoeshine person at the terminal yelled to us from behind and pointed to Coconut on the floor. Joanne ran back to pick up her lost toy. Jasmine scolded Joanne for not taking good care of their shared toy. Daddy scolded Joanne for being so absent-minded because she also lost the batteries from the lighted key chain she bought from Liberty Island in less than a few hours.
Hing gave us a ride home. After we cleaned up and settled down, we went to Hing's home for dinner. Terence was thrilled to play with the twins. We left at around 10pm.
Tuesday, Apr 27, 2004 (6y+8m+21d)
The twins returned to school after a week-long spring break. They missed one day of school yesterday because we were in transit. Joanne's class went to a field trip at a farm. Mommy was a helper and went along with the group. It was a hot day at 90+°F heat. Mommy was well prepared to bring a hat, water and lunch for Joanne. Some kids in the class didn't even bring lunch because their parents didn't follow the teacher's instructions. Some kids were hungry and hot after baking under the sun for one and a half hour. The poor teacher had to share her own lunch with some of the hungry kids.In the evening, daddy tried on a suit for a business trip the next day. The twins greeted daddy with some Ooohs and Aaaahs. They praised daddy for being handsome in the formal wear.
Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 (6y+8m+22d)
Daddy got up at 5am in the morning. Two other coworkers and I were at the airport by 6am to catch a 6:20am flight. We arrived at Salt Lake City, Utah one and a half hour later.The twins went to school as usual. Jasmine went on her field trip to the farm today. It was in the 80s today. It was a bit cooler than when Joanne had her trip. Jasmine said she fed a chicken there. That stroke a chord because recently we read a book called "Chick Challenge" for bed time story.
After the business meeting, we flew back on a 6:40pm flight. It was snowing in SLC before we board the plane. We landed at 7:30pm. The temperature has already cooled to the 70s. It was quite a different weather change within less than two hours. It was 8pm when I got home. They twins were excited to see their handsome daddy in business suit again. It was a once in life time occasion since I don't usually go on business trip at all. The twins confused daddy because they switched their pajama. Joanne was kind enough to let Jasmine wear her brand new princesses pajama. Jasmine had been wearing her Tinker Bell pajama for the past year or so. That pajama had become a signature for Jasmine in our eyes. It took some getting used to to see Joanne in that pajama.
Thursday, Apr 29, 2004 (6y+8m+23d)
The twins went to school as usual. In the evening, Jasmine lost her upper right incisor. It was her 3rd lost tooth so far. Her first two lost teeth had already grown back to full size. She said she cracked the incisor a few days ago when she used her teeth to open a bottle cap. She said the blood on the tooth made it looked scary. She didn't remember as much blood on her last two teeth. Jasmine was proud because she had more lost teeth than Joanne now. Mommy commented that Jasmine had all her loose teeth earlier than Joanne did. Daddy called Jasmine a big girl and Joanne a big sister. I could tell on Joanne's face that she was not too happy about that joke but she didn't say anything.
Friday, Apr 30, 2004 (6y+8m+24d)
Jasmine woke up in the morning to find a dollar under her pillow next to her loose tooth. She was very happy for her income. Joanne borrowed Jasmine's tooth to put under her own pillow. The twins went to school as usual. They went to art class in the afternoon.
Saturday, May 1, 2004 (6y+8m+25d)
Mommy prepared us a fast brunch in the morning. The twins practiced piano before we went to their recital. It was the twins' first ever piano recital. They had seen Annette did it before. We didn't know if the twins would experience stage fright.The twins had invited Annette, Patricia, Nicholas and Rachel to the recital. Rachel brought them each a bouquet of tulips. The rest of the kids bought them each some gifts including a lockable diary with twin stars characters on the cover.
The twins were very calm during their performance. Since they took group lessons, they were seated among their classmates. They were relaxed before and after the performance. When I asked them afterward, they said they were not nervous at all.
After the recital, we went for a quick snack, then a quick stop at the grocery store. We went home to change the twins into more casual wears. We went to CW's home for a pot luck dinner gathering. They had invited 7 to 8 families to their home. They purchased a full roast pig as the main course of the dinner. Each family brought some other dishes. We brought some Korean beef and short ribs. The twins followed Deanna all night long. Simon's preschooler Kristian also followed the group to play together. The girls of the other guests were older and they stayed in front of the computer or TV. The boys spent the night playing video game. The adults broking into two groups, the husbands and wives. We just chatted on any random topics came to mind. We left at around 11pm.
Sunday, May 2, 2004 (6y+8m+26d)
The twins got up in the morning and they practiced piano and did a page of abacus homework. We went to Alameda to Cindy's son Brandon's first birthday party. The party was held in a community center next to a park. They rented a jumper house right outside the party room on the park's baseball field. The twins played in a playground nearby. Jasmine also wanted daddy to play frisbee with her. Joanne was not interested. Cindy invited many old friends. The adults took the opportunity to have a reunion. The kids had fun too with the clown the host hired. The clown first did a magic show on the park lawn. Then she moved indoors to do some face paintings on the kids. Jasmine had a butterfly painted on her face. Joanne wanted some flowers at first, but she finally decided on the same butterfly pattern as Jasmine's. Then the clown did balloon sculptures. Joanne wanted a puppy. She later returned to asked for a leash for the puppy. Jasmine didn't want any because she didn't like the balloon to pop in her face. Due to the many old friends in the party, mommy decided to stay for over 3 hours instead of 1 hour she originally planned.After we left the party, we hurried back to the south bay. We were late for Nicholas' 7th birthday when we arrived after 4pm. We missed the water balloon fight and the cake cutting. We dared not missed the birthday party because Joanne said Nicholas was both Jasmine's and her boyfriend. Jasmine later denied that. She said Nicholas was only Joanne's boyfriend. Many Nicholas' friends and classmates were in the party. The twins still had 4 hours of play with the best of their friends. They also rented a jumper house to let the kids burn their energy. We had the leftover food as dinner before the party ended at 8pm.
We returned home and let the twins wash up really well because they were sweaty all day. In addition, the face painting took some extra washing to get rid of. We watched the video footage we taped in their piano recital yesterday before the twins went to bed.
Monday, May 3, 2004 (6y+8m+27d)
The twins went to school as usual. Mommy dropped them off at the curbside at the same time as Annette was dropped off. The twins got into their respective classrooms with no problem. Annette had to get a late pass from the school office. No one knew what Annette did that caused her delay. Mommy no longer walked the twins to the classroom since about a few weeks ago. They were old enough to walk from the curbside into the campus.After school, Ansel, Annette and their moms came to our home. The kids worked on their homework together and they played in the backyard. Annette finished first. Mommy made her read a book to prevent her from disturbing the other kids.
We were at the last chapter of the book Chick Challenge tonight. But the twins told daddy at the last minute that they wanted to cancel the bedtime story in order to sleep earlier.
Tuesday, May 4, 2004 (6y+8m+28d)
The twins went to school as usual. They finished their homework and piano practice in the afternoon. Mommy and the twins went to dinner at Hing's home. Daddy went to a Prius workshop offered by Toyota Sunnyvale.
Wednesday, May 5, 2004 (6y+8m+29d)
Today is Cinco de Mayo. The twins went to school as usual. They went to piano and abacus class after school. We went to dinner with Nicholas' family at a Korean tofu restaurant. When we got home, the twins prepared for their oral presentation. They already submitted their written report last week. Tomorrow they would need to present their report orally. Joanne chose to write down the key points on a flash card as the teacher suggested. Jasmine decided not to use a flash card at all. During their rehearsal, Joanne delivered her report smoothly; JasmineJoanne made a paper puppet of a firefly which was the subject of her report. Daddy helped her tie the strings to a wooden cross for controlling the puppet motion. Joanne practiced making the puppet flutter its wings, raising its head to say hi to the audience and also bowing to say thanks.
Thursday, May 6, 2004 (6y+9m)
The twins are 6 and 3/4 year old today.
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started on May 11, 2004