SEQUOIA PARK 森林大火.......鍋!

 

All of Us Fell and got Bruised....catching this little Trout (in pink bucket)! Fun Waterfall but Slippery Rocks!

[Google translated funky Chinese directly from English blog below ^_^]

這一周，我們的家去了紅杉國家公園的營地，它是如此有趣和令人難忘的！我2天沒洗澡.....第一次在我的生活......在我的"38"生日呢！



但我從來沒有在森林吃過美味的中國涮涮鍋，牛排，韓國醃製Barebeque和醃鴨翼！孩子們有這麼多的樂趣露營和烤白棉花糖！


牛肉蔬菜魚丸火鍋

  

台灣香腸和肋眼牛排

我們與朋友在休姆湖基督教中心的小屋! 我們有一個偉大的時間！我們帶回家的魚從瀑布岩石（不知道這是否是一個飼料魚或潛在的鱒魚）

 

Here is Our Wild Caught (Netted) Trout! He is very friendly and kind to all the other fishes in our fish tank!
(* Note: Later after hubby googled, we discovered that Seqoi is actually a CA Roach...aka "Bottom Feeder"! Oh well! We love him anyhow!)

和一個漂亮的小蜥蜴！

Our New Addition "LIZZIEbeth"!


此行令人難忘，我們沒有上網或電話的使用，因此，我們所有保稅 (bonding)真的很好！我們期待和回到教會的朋友回到 Lake Hume！這對我來說是一個非常有趣的第38次生日！

Soph's Birthday Ice Cream Waffle Cone (^_^)!

A few days ago, our family went to Sequoia National Park to camp, and it was so fun and memorable! I didn't shower for 2 days.....first time in my life....and on my 38th birthday too!

We caught lil' trout by emptying his big water hole (1 hr of labor)! Poor fishie!

But I've never had delicious Chinese shabu shabu, steak, Korean marinated Barebeque ribeye and marinated duck wing in the forest before either! The kids had so much fun camping and roasting marshmallows! We had a great time with hubby's friends and also at the Hume Lake Christian Center's lodge on the last day!



Our church Buddy James Woo! (^_^) Just noticed it's not hubby w/me and the kids!

We managed to bring home a fish from the waterfall rocks (not sure if it's a feeder fish or a potential trout!) and also a beautiful baby lizard! This trip was so memorable and we had no internet access nor phone usage, so we all bonded REALLY well!

Beautiful Montana Cabin style Library at James' Lodge

Kids are really good at playing "7"!

We look forward to going back for A Christmas retreat with church friends! This was a super fun 38th Birthday for me!!

What? School is Starting...Soon?

Mama Soph's Dream vacation came true! Put daddy and 2 kids in the back yard to sleep for 4 nights!

I can't believe it....I haven't logged on for over a month, and suddenly school will start in 2 weeks! Where has time gone? I guess I'm having too much fun playing with the hammies, birdies, fishies and screaming at the squabbling kids (^_^)!

12 year old Kobee meets his 2 ten week old hammie sisters!

We went to Vegas for a super relaxing trip! We did nothing but eat, swim, and watch Olympics! With 2 suites with 2 kichens, 2 hot tubs and 4 TVs, this is one of the most laid back trip we've ever had! There was a heat wave going on since the opening day of Olympics....and we've yet to see the end of it.... It felt like we're living in the desert for the last 3 weeks! Very not fun!

We had a good time hanging out with family members as well! Uncle Dan and Auntie Jennifer (Groom and Bride) came to visit us all, and we had a great time together!

Sushi lunch with Uncle Daniel after visiting Dentist Uncle Eric!

Baby Elie and brother Kyle came to our home to visit, and Caleb & Abbie enjoyed hanging out with them!

Caleb was very curious about baby Elie.... He discovered that empty Danimal containers (washed) are fun for babies!

Abbie's new "baby doll"!

We had a good summer hanging out with our friends too!

My Sweet Ju from New York!

Happy Birthday Eric, Charlie and Olivia!

Stephanie comes to play! Making Strawberry Muffins!

Having the hammies join our family was one of the most wonderful and exciting things that happened to us! We have so much fun with them!! They are hilarious and fun, anticipating 'open cage time' so we can hold them and give them yummy treats!

Abbie's favorite pastime.... Hammie in the Hand....

The Sunflowers are taller than me!!

Eat your Veggies, everyone! Napa Cabbage is Yummy!

Prince Charming joined Frogalina (Abbie said she needed a boyfriend) on 8/17....
But I think this little guy (who loves to show off his body) should be named "FLASHER"....don't you think? (^_^)

I must say....the only bad thing that happened this summer was the Plague that hit the Soph residence three days ago ~  Annoying Ant Armies! I was still silently boasting that we have had no ants in the past three years! Me and my big mouth....Seriously considering getting an anteater...

Enjoy the Last Few Dog Days of Summer Everyone!! It was fun and it's time for a Fresh Fall Start! Woohoo!! (^_^) Thankful for you all!

Life is like a House with runaway hamsters! (^_*)

I read that yummy nutty scent lures hamsters & squirrels out, so I
put out a jar of Roasted Skippy peanut butter on my living room floor....

This morning I woke up, anticipating my special "Ham, Cheddar and Me" Time alone

when I discovered......*gasp* that..... Hammie is GONE! She's not in her cage.....and both

of the cage doors were not secured! It must be Abbie last night.... The cage is very clean, no poopy....so she must have escaped early in the night!

A VERY tired and raggedy Fugitive ~ Hammy ~
 is FOUND in the noisy laundry room!!

I looked everywhere, upstairs and down......'while Abbie slept (good thing hubby had

left for work).....and after 1 hour...started feeling dizzy (I walked in the A.M. and

worked in the garden before discovering someone escaped...)...

I told Abbie that Hammy excaped, and she looked around with me for another hour....
To our surprise....we saw a little ball behind the dryer when I was putting clothes into
it! I can't believe hammy slept like a baby when it's SUPER noisy in the laundry room!

Super Sleepy... Zzzz.....After a night partying (somewhere in our house)!!

I guess life is like a house with kids & hamsters ~ You never know what you'll get (^_^)!
But it's very memorable when I look back and realize how fun every is....for without
them....Life would be BORING! But I also learned to stay calm....and whenever we run
into unexpected disasters like this.................PRAY!!!!

Happy Summer!

Summer is Officially HERE! (^_^) Chaotic and Fun summer so far!

Hi! I'm Franken-Hammie!

Wow, it's July already! As you can see, life became a bit more
chaotic and unscheduled after school was officially out on our 14 year anniversary! So.....

I can hold a banana chip!

The kids had spent many lazy afternoons playing (fighting) and slip n' sliding in the yard.

We also had lots of fun baking fresh fruit muffins and babycakes....

Chinese babycake pops!

Hmm....which one should I pick?

Banana Almond Muffins

The kids both got Bladerunner roller blades which are super fun and drove hubby crazy as they raced around the kitchen/family room....forwards and backwards!

Abbie started to learn swimming with Caleb's previous swim coach from Irvine....
30 minutes of private lesson a week! She learned so fast that she could swim a little bit
on day 1!

Last week our precious 6 week old little girls "Princess Hammy" and "Miss Cheddar Cheez-It" came home! They are super cute and fun to play with!!

Hi Mommy!

Massage for 30 seconds....

Immediately Zzzz..... like a baby!

Ugh...stuffed my face....gonna toss cookies...and hamster treats!

Hey! No cameras! I'm changing over here !!!!

I tried an up-side-down shot with camera in front of Hammy's face....(^_^)

Happy Summer everyone! I'm looking forward to our
Summer Vacations and the 2012 Summer Olympics!

Karate Kids "Go Green"! (^_^)

Wow, I can't believe that it's "Testing Time" again! Every 2+ months the kids 'graduate' from their current (camo) belt and move on to their next belt level (green, in this case)! It's an exciting (and lucrative) sport, it seems....

The kids had a great time practicing for this big day!

I can't believe that school will be out in 2 weeks exactly! We will have 13 weeks of unstructured days ahead of us....I can't wait (tongue in cheek....)....I'm sure all mommies are as 'excited'  (nervous is a better word) as I am! (^_*)

This "testing" was more fun than the past because we got to see the kids 'spar' (fight with funny-looking bullet-proof vest and gears) in a random fashion.....



It was also a treat to see the kids break boards! I didn't know they break boards at this level, so it was very exciting! Caleb even got to break 2 over-laying boards! Reminded me of my brothers when they had taekwondo (and the master was also named "Master Kim")! Now I have to be careful where I place my face....as to not get in their lethal hands' way! The way those boards flew.... worried me a bit.... (^_*)!




The best thing about 'testing + graduation' day, besides getting their brand new belt is........CUPCAKES!

Caleb was very not happy when I wanted to take his picture. This is him
swinging his fists at me (but missed) as I snapped away....



Abbie was a LOT more cooperative and smiled "on command"!



Making our own 雞蛋糕 (^_^) egg babycake!

Since our Canada trip, I've been craving the yummy 雞蛋糕 egg  babycakes that we had at the nightmarket in Vancouver. So when I saw this babycake machine while shopping, I snatched it!

Funny thing was, I didn't use this machine for the past 9 months! It was daunting to begin a big project and I'm totally a dummie at baking.....so this babycake maker decorated my kitchen floor until I finally enlisted 2 buddies to help me get the recipe going!

After researching the chinese dessert recipe online, I bought the ingredients and we took the plunge! So we made the batter, threw the goo into the babycake machine, and Voila!

Abbie came home and made her own cake pops....they actually taste like 蛋塔 ~ egg custard!

Her response wasn't what I expected! (^_*) She said, "Yuck!" It's actually pretty good, trust me!

Caleb tells Abbie, "Mom's gonna take pix of me and caption it: Caleb's taste
response to egg cake!"    (Wow, this kid read my mind!)

Ugh...it tastes okay mom! And stop taking pix of me!