This web site is made possible by the advertisement on these banners.
This journal is about raising identical twins.Ninety Seventh Month
Previous entriesNote: This page may contain Chinese text in Unicode encoding. Some web browsers (e.g. Internet Explorer 5) can display the text without any user intervention if the fonts are available. Some web browsers (e.g. Netscape) will display the Chinese text only if you switch Character Set under the View menu to Big5 traditional Chinese.
Saturday, Aug 6, 2005 (8y)
The twins are eight year old today. We talked to the twins and they were okay to have family party instead of a birthday party with their own friends.Both daddy's and mommy's family arrived in the afternoon. Almost everyone gave the twins cash gift. Cousin Natalie gave the twins a pair of Cinnemon roll dolls from Sanrio. Jasmine just called hers Cinnemon roll. Joanne called hers Cinnemon and she couldn't part with it everywhere she went.
We showed them some photos from our cruise to Alaska. We went out to dinner at 6:30pm. We sang Happy Birthday and cut the ice cream birthday cake when we came back.
After the party, the twins wanted daddy to play Monopoly with them. They played with the lottory rule they learned from their friends. All real estate proceed goes to a jackpot. Whoever lands on the "FREE PARKING" spot collects the jackpot. Daddy won once and Jasmine won the lottery twice. Joanne didn't win any, but both daddy and Jasmine were generous enough to give out charity after each winning. The end result was obvious, Joanne was broke but Jasmine and daddy were about equal. Jasmine had more properties but daddy had more cash. If we didn't cut the game short, Jasmine would win the game because she had more earning power.
Sunday, Aug 7, 2005 (8y+1d)
We went out to lunch with Terence's family. Lucy gave the twins their birthday gifts. We went to shoreline park with Sonja's family. Jasmine and Sonja led the pack. They biked so fast that daddy and mommy had hard time catching up. On the return trip, Joanne slowed down too. Daddy stayed behind to match Joanne's pace. After we caught up with the rest of the group, we picnicked on the lawn of the Ranstoff house. In the evening, we went to Aden's home for a swim and dinner. His family returned from Hong Kong for a month. We had great fun in the pool and hot tub followed by great food. We stayed till almost 11pm. The twins fell asleep on the way home. After the bike ride and swim, the family had no trouble falling a sleep.
Monday, Aug 8, 2005 (8y+2d)
Mommy and twins slept in. They were unaware of daddy leaving for work in the morning. Christopher and Benjamin's family came to our house for lunch. They played some video games and Monopoly.For the past week after we returned from the cruise, Jasmine had been sleeping almost naked with just the underpants. Daddy told her that it was not decent for a girl to sleep naked. She said it was more comfy than the pajama.
Tuesday, Aug 9, 2005 (8y+3d)
Forgot to jot down note. Couldn't remember what we did!
Wednesday, Aug 10, 2005 (8y+4d)
The twins went to swim in Benjamin's community pool. Christopher and Joie joined them in the pool. The kids played in the water for 3 hours. Their fingers were wrinkled like prunes when they came out of the water. The twins got a pretty good tan despite the sunblock lotion they had already put on.Hing invited the Evon, SiuLing and our family to his home for dinner. He prepared a rib-eye roast and other side dishes. After dinner, we use a laptop to play our Alaskan cruise photo in a slide show. We had so many pictures that we could not show them all before we left midnight.
Thursday, Aug 11, 2005 (8y+5d)
Mommy borrowed a powerwash machine from Hing. She spent like 5 hours to blast off the dirt from wood deck in our backyard. The twins helped a little too.Mommy was too tired to cook after the back-breaking work in the afternoon. We went out to have Japanese dinner. After dinner, we went to a hotel in Sunnyvale to meet Kathy and Derek. They were on a 7 days trip to Yellowstone park. Their tour group came through town for the last night of the trip. We paid them a visit at the hotel. We brought then a cake for dessert. We left at 10pm. They need to get up at 5am tomorrow. Then their tour will stop at 17 miles drive in Monterey before heading back to Los Angeles.
Friday, Aug 12, 2005 (8y+6d)
The twins went to visit Annette in the afternoon. She didn't take summer school, instead she attended some summer camp. The twins had not seen her for couple months now. Her parents transferred her to a different school in the upcoming school year. So the twins would not see her often from now on. Daddy spent the night recaulking the bath tubs to remove some unsightly mildew.
Saturday, Aug 13, 2005 (8y+7d)
Grandpa and his friend came to help us paint the wood deck in the backyard. We hired some professional to refinish the deck almost three years ago. The wood was still nice and smooth though oxidation changed the color of the wood. Mommy powerwashed the deck to make it look like new couple days ago. Grandpa helped us to reapply a coat of wood protection on it. Mommy and twins stayed home while grandpa worked in the backyard. Daddy went out to help grandma Chui sign a rental contract for a bigger and newer appartment unit. Daddy had lunch with grandma and Aunt Elaine before returning home.Grandpa finished the work at around 3pm. After they left, the twins changed into their swimsuits. Rachael invited them to swim in her pool. They had pizza before returning home.
Daddy stayed home to fix a printer problem. Daddy had to eat leftover for dinner.
Sunday, Aug 14, 2005 (8y+8d)
We went out to lunch with Aden's and Valerie's family. We went to Borders Bookstore in Santana Row after lunch. We then have a gathering at our home. Aden and Valerie little brother played with the garden hose in the backyard. Valerie and the twins played inside the house after they enjoyed couple of serving of ice cream. The adults enjoyed a Tiramisu cake with tea inside the house. We spent the afternoon chatting while the kids had fun on their own. We later showed them some video footage of the Alaskan cruise. Valeraie family had to leave for their own family dinner gathering after 7pm. We went out to Aden's cousin's ramen restaurant for dinner.
Monday, Aug 15, 2005 (8y+9d)
Nicholas and Patricia's family returned from Taiwan to visit. Their friends including our twins joined them at Great America theme park today. The twins got their wish of riding on the upside down roller coaster. The Demon ride not only flips upside down, it also does spiral roll.In the evening, five families got together for dinner. Nicholas, Patricia, Shuan, Melanie, Jackline, Kevin, Annette and Alex shared a table. The adults shared another table. We parted our way right after dinner because Kevin and Nicholas's family would go to a 6 days Hawaiian trip tomorrow. They still had a lot to prepare for the trip.
Jasmine asked if she could switch bed with daddy.
Tuesday, Aug 16, 2005 (8y+10d)
Christopher and his little sister Joie came visit the twins in the afternoon. Joie fell down the stairs but she was okay. Daddy joined them for dinner at the ramen place.Jasmine weighed 45 lb., but Joanne only weighed 42.5 lb.
Wednesday, Aug 17, 2005 (8y+11d)
The twins went to visit Claire in the morning. They went to lunch with Ben and Christopher's family. In the afternoon, all the kids gathered at our home doing some window art.
Thursday, Aug 18, 2005 (8y+12d)
Mommy took the twins to Valleyfair mall in the afternoon.
Friday, Aug 19, 2005 (8y+13d)
Mommy took the twins to the park in the afternoon to let them ride their bikes.The twins' cousins came visit us again. Alisa's mommy Eriko and little sister Amili and her grandma came from Hong Kong. They first stayed in LA for a while. Then they visited San Francisco yesterday and today. At the end of the day, they came to stay overnight with us. The twins' cousins arrived after we already had dinner. After they settled down, they went out to buy some takeout food for dinner. The kids spent the rest of the night watching TV and playing the EyeToy game. They stayed up till 1 am, until we forcifully turned off the TV.
Saturday, Aug 20, 2005 (8y+14d)
Everyone slept in. The first riser was mommy who got up at 10am. After everyone else got up and had a tiny bit of breakfast, it was almost lunch time. We went out to have dimsum for lunch. We went to Santana Row in the afternoon. The grandmas sat on the roadside cafe chatting while the rest of us split into two parties. The moms and Alisa when window shopping. The dads and the young kids went to Borders Bookstore. We left the place after a short tea break and some pastry for snack.Daddy took the two grandmas to grocery shopping while the rest of the group went to play miniature golf. The twins played there many times but it was Andric's first experience with miniature golf. He liked it so much that he requested to do it again the next day. Of course, we convinced him that they could always found miniature golf in LA. Andric and Amanada's mom felt sick after staying in the cold through the afternoon. We had to cancel our plan to eat out. We bought some takeout and had dinner at home instead.
The kids played the EyeToy game for the rest of the night. We turned off the TV as the clock struck midnight.
Sunday, Aug 21, 2005 (8y+15d)
We started to rise from bed after 10am. After a slight breakfast, we all went out to the backyard for some family photos. We then ate out at a Malaysia restaurant. Andric and Amanda's mom is from Malaysia. She helped us to order some great tasting food that were native to her taste. We returned home after lunch. The adults loaded the luggage onto the car. The kids rode their bikes in the backyard. Six year old Amili enjoyed the twins old 10" bike. Daddy put the trainning wheels back on the small bikes after we purchased the 20" bike few months ago. One of the old bikes was given to Joie sometimes ago. We had not decided whom would received the other bike. Today Amili made good use of it. We knew it would be too much trouble for them to take it back to Hong Kong, so we didn't even offer that to her. Amili negotiated with her mom for an extra last loop around the backyard. She looked unhappy when she dismounted the bike.After a long farewell and lot of hugging among the kids, they left form home. The twins spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV. Daddy was busy doing some minor electrical repairs.
After dinner, we watched the movie "Meet the Fockers" that we borrowed from a friend. The twins went to bed early tonight.
Monday, Aug 22, 2005 (8y+16d)
Jocelyn, Jessica, Jonathan and their mom Christine came to visit the twins. The kids played video games on the PlayStation. Then daddy meet them at Todai for dinner. During the summer months, Todai offered "Kids eat free on Monday" special. Nine adults and 11 kids all had a very full dinner buffet.Annette came to sleep over with the twins, three girls somehow fit into two beds. Debbie also slept over in our home tonight. Her children stayed in Jocelyn's home instead.
Tuesday, Aug 23, 2005 (8y+17d)
The twins went swimming in the afternoon. Daddy joined them at Outback Steak House for dinner. Four families with 5 adults and 9 kids went to dinner. They went to Annette's house to check out their newly remodel bathroom. Daddy went home to rest instead. Debbie continued to stay over in our home.
Wednesday, Aug 24, 2005 (8y+18d)
The twins went to the mall in the afternoon with Nicholas's and Jocelyn's family. Daddy worked overtime and came home after 8:30pm. Nicholas and Patricia came to stay with us for the night.
Thursday, Aug 25, 2005 (8y+19d)
Jasmine complained about a stomach ache in the morning. Mommy sent her to the bathroom. After she pooped, she said she was okay. The twins started school today. It was the first day of school after the summer holiday. After school, mommy asked if Jasmine got her upset stomach because she was too nervous about school. She said it might be the case.In the afternoon, mommy took the twins to Gilroy outlet stores to shop for sneakers. Luckily mommy brought them there to try on the shoes. Mommy would have bought them size one, but actually they needed size two now. Jasmine picked a Nike; Joanne chose a StrideRite. Of course, the twins wouldn't miss the Sanrio outlet store.
Nicholas' family didn't come back tonight. They stayed over at their friend's house in Concord. Their luggage stayed in our guest room.
Friday, Aug 26, 2005 (8y+20d)
The twins went to school as usual. It was the second days of third grade. The twins said the material were very easy because it was only the second day.Nicholas' family picked up their luggage and joined a pot luck party at Jocelyn's house. There were 5 families in the party to say farewell to Nicholas' family. They would return to Taiwan taking a late flight tonight. We didn't join them because we had separate dinner plan for our 10th Wedding Anniversary today. Joanne asked mommy if they should be present for our anniversary. Actually the twins wanted to go to the pot luck dinner because of all the other kids in the party. But when mommy said the twins would be our number one guests, they each picked a nice dress for the occasion. We enjoyed a nice French dinner in the Left Bank Restaurant at Santana Row. The twins looked very tired towards the end of the dinner. It was understandable because it was a regular school day today. We took a short stroll around Santana Row. The twins bought some writing pad from their favorite stationary store. We then returned home. The twins were not tired anymore when they came home. They took shower, played with LEGOs and read comic books before going to bed.
The twins' California STAR test result is back. They did quite well. Jasmine was at ADVANCED level in both English and Math. Joanne was at the high end of PROFICIENT level in English, she was only a few points from getting in the ADVANCED level. Joanne's math score was higher than Jasmine's and was at the high end almost getting the maximum score. Jasmine got 100% correct answers in the area of Literary Response and Analysis (English Reading), Addition and Subtraction, Algebra and Functions. Joanne got 100% in the area of Multiplication, Division and Fractions, Algebra and Functions, Measurement and Geometry, Statisticas, Data Analysts and probability. She basically get all her math right except she made a mistake and got 93% in the area of Addition and Subraction.
Saturday, Aug 27, 2005 (8y+21d)
We lingered in bed all morning. The twins got up a little earlier than we did. We could hear their chatting in their room, but they didn't bother us. Mommy summoned the twins by yelling "Babies!" across the hall. The twins responded "What?" It took mommy several yells before they actually came into our room. We asked what they wanted to do, they said they wanted to go to Great America Amusement Park again. We turned down the request because the admission was too expensive.We went to San Mateo for lunch. The restaurant serves Northern Chinese dim sum. It was a tiny restaurant with a long line waiting outside. We waited for about an hour before getting a table. After lunch, we went to a furniture store nearby. We didn't buy anything, we just need some idea what is available recently.
We came home and watched Star Wars Episode IV on DVD. The twins watched the first three episodes already. Daddy kind of made them watch the others for completeness sake. Joanne lost interest about half way and started to wander away from the TV. They watched the movie while playing with some LEGO blocks.
In the evening, we went to dinner with Christopher's family at Layang Layang restaurant. They came to our house after dinner. Joie played LEGO with the twins. Christopher played video games in the living room, Jasmine joined him occasionally. The moms chatted while the dads watched TV. When Joanne took over the TV to watch Disney Channel, the adults huddled over the computer to see our Alaskan cruise photos. The guests left at around 10pm.
Sunday, Aug 28, 2005 (8y+22d)
We stayed home in the morning. The twins left their LEGO blocks lying around on the carpet last night. Mommy was mad at them. Daddy cooked ramen as lunch because mommy was in a bad mood. The twins said it was nice to have two good cooks in the house. The twins understood that flattery always work to their advantage.Daddy dropped off the twins at their classmate Grace's birthday party. Joanne said the games and crafts mentioned in the invitation didn't happen. All she did was watched TV. I joked that she might have missed all those because she stuck to the TV. They didn't miss the birthday cake. That was the most important part of a birthday party.
Monday, Aug 29, 2005 (8y+23d)
The twins went to school as usual. They said they have no homework until next week. They did some readings on their own. After dinner, Joanne played UNO with daddy while Jasmine practiced piano. Jasmine later joined the game.
Tuesday, Aug 30, 2005 (8y+24d)
The twins went to school as usual. They went to piano class after school. Their piano teacher took a summer break. Today is their first piano lesson after the break.
Wednesday, Aug 31, 2005 (8y+25d)
The twins went to school as usual. They went to piano class in the afternoon. Then they went grocery shopping with mommy.
Thursday, Sep 1, 2005 (8y+26d)
The twins went to school as usual. They gave mommy a test in the afternoon. They changed into the same clothes, covered their face with a towel, then asked mommy to tell who's who. Mommy picked them out correctly. After dinner, they pulled the same trick to daddy. Without seeing the face, it was not easy to tell. I said, "Say something." Joanne said, "No!" Her voice gave it away. They were upset that they couldn't fool their parents.
Friday, Sep 2, 2005 (8y+27d)
The twins had no school today. It was a teacher learning day and an extra day off for the kids. Their classmate came to our house and they did some painting. They went out to dinner together. Daddy had to work late and couldn't join their early dinner in time. Daddy cooked some instant noodle at home for dinner.
Saturday, Sep 3, 2005 (8y+28d)
Mommy went to play tennis with her teammates. Daddy stayed in bed. The twins played on the computer and watch cartoon on TV. We went out to lunch with grandma Chui and Aunt Elaine. Mommy didn't join us. Mommy was home when we got back. The twins played on computer and the Playstation2.
Sunday, Sep 4, 2005 (8y+29d)
We got up at 10am. We got ready by 10:30am. Christopher's family arrived first, followed by Ben's family. We went to San Mateo in a convoy. We had a lunch reservation at 11:30am.After lunch, Ben and the twins rode with Christopher's family. Ben's family returned home. The other two families went to San Francisco together. We went to the cable car terminal at Powell and Market. There was a bicycle race (Grand PrixSF) somewhere in the city. The event caused massive traffic jam and the cable cars were all delayed. We didn't paid attention to the time. The kids entertained themselves on the cable fence next to the waiting line. When it was time to board the cable car, we occupied the front port side of the car. The moms and kids took the seats, the dads took the standing room and hang half our bodies outside the car. Half way through the journey, when there was more room, Jasmine stood next to daddy and hung her body outside the car just like a typical San Francisco tourist on the cable car. Daddy grabbed her by the waist just in case she might lose her grip.
We arrived at Fisherman Wharf at around 4pm. We stopped at an In-N-Out burger to grab a bite. After we bought the burgers, we took a seat in the courtyard just outside the famous Hooter's restaurant. There were two musicians in the courtyard playing some middle eastern music using a carinet and a drum. Later there was another musician joining them with something that looked like a Tibetian horn. We enjoyed a great meal and music. The dads also enjoyed a great view of the waitresses inside the Hooter's restaurant through the windows. We took a stroll around the area. We stopped by several gift shops. We visited the Rainforest cafe. We checked out the Boudin sourdough bakery. We watched a sidewalk artist make gorgeous artwork with cans of spray paint. We returned to the Hyde Street cable car terminal at around 7pm and stood in line for the cable cars. We got off the cable car in Chinatown, but the time we sat down in the restaurant, it was almost 9pm. We had dinner. The dads took a taxi to return to the parking garage. The moms and kids waited in the restaurant for pick up. It was about 10:30pm when we left. We were home a little after 11pm. They took shower and went to bed.
Monday, Sep 5, 2005 (8y+30d)
It was the Labor Day holiday. It was the last day of summer because there would not be another holiday until Thanksgiving. Mommy went to play tennis in the morning. The twins and daddy decide to sleep through the morning. We got up at around 10:30pm. We went to Mitsuwa supermarket for lunch. There was a ramen company from Honkaido Japan that sold some traditional ramen and other food from the region. It was an annual event to try some authentic regional Japanese food. Itaka's and Terence's family were there too. We bought some ramen, fish cakes and croquet from the store. We returned home to keep the food refrigerated.We spent the afternoon watching US Open on TV. Terence family later joined us. We played the Tin Gow domino game after the tennis show.
At 5pm, we went to Christopher's home for a dinner party. It was an early celebration for the upcoming moon festival. The twins' music teacher Ms. Shwu and her brother's family were invited too. We had a great meal and good time until 10pm. The twins went to bed after taking a shower.
Tuesday, Sep 6, 2005 (8y+1m)
The twins are 97 months old today.
Previous Next Site map Book List
Visitor Count
Search this site!
started on Sept 13, 2005