Guoguo sleep over

We skipped out of school in the middle of the day to go to the Great Play of Redmond for a free play class offer.  They had a great time.  Guoguo liked it so much that the next morning he said "I want to go to the new school".

Guoguo brought his pillow and the two finally made the sleepover happening tonight (last time when they tried, Guoguo cried for home when it came to lights out time).  They had fig infused spinach cucumber salad, salmon buckwheat pancake, noodle, and bao zi for dinner.  The two ate really well so they got to have kiwi blackberry popsicle (made by themselves) for dessert.  We did some flashcards afterwards and it was time for bed already.  They talked long after lights out...

The next morning they played quietly for close to an hour in the room and built a sophisticated fortress.

Moses Lake Camping

Andy's first camping experience... And he wants to do it again tonight!
We took yesterday (Friday) off and drove 3 hours east of the cascades to this little town called Moses Lake. We had a late start and got there in the afternoon. We checked out the nice "Surf 'n Slide Water Park" and then walked around the downtown a little bit. We then drove half hour to this Pothole state park, next to a beautiful shoreline. Very gorgeous scenery and not crowded like Seattle beaches.

Rattlesnake Ledge Hike

The hike is 4 miles round trip with a bit of elevation and Andy did it without being carried (albeit a lot of whining)! The ledge top view is beautiful and Andy played in the water for a little bit after going downhill.

Andy's Daycare Friends

His favorites are Guo-guo and Samantha at Little Dinosaur. Guoguo's mom Mary is the daycare owner and a classical Chinese instrument musician. We have Guoguo over sometimes after school and the two just talk in Chinese non-stop. One night we tried sleep over, didn't succeed as Guo-guo finally wanted to go home when he realized it's really bed time. The two kids really bond and so do the two moms :-)

Swimming Lessons

Andy has been taking beginner swimming lessons (6 weeks per session) since March. The first couple times he didn't want to get in the water, but he's grown to like it. He does back floats with the teachers, blows bubbles, but doesn't put his head under water yet.

Snow Day: Jan 12

The only snow day this year (Andy had the day off school): only a couple inches as you can see.

After Sea World Visit

After a day at San Diego's Sea World, Andy added the following to this tooth brushing routine tonight. He dumped the toothbrush into the sink, pulled the plug, filled the sink with water and declared it's the toothbrush a shark. Andy said "don't drain the water." "We have to drain the water so we can wash hands."
"No, we can't."
"Why not?"
"Because shark has to swim in it."
Before going to Sea World, he was set on seeing the sharks.
His favorite today was the "Shamu show".