CMH with the Armstrongs

This morning after we woke up and had breakfast, I asked the kids what they wanted to do today. Since Brennan had picked yesterday's excursion, I wanted to let the girls make the decision for the day. Cara said she wanted to go the place that she had seen on the blog so many times and after I described some of the things from the Children's Museum, she said that was the place she was talking about.

Sadly, it was raining, but we still ventured out to the museum. Daddy also took off work today to join us! It was pretty crowded since the weather was so nasty outside, but we still had a great time.

Upon arriving, Andrew said he wanted to go cook and the girls were amicable to that. However, Brennan didn't want any part of that so Rick told him to explore other areas of the musuem. After cooking, the girls said they wanted to go to the grocery store and had a lot of fun there.

Then, we went to go find Rick and Brennan and found them in the science area. The kids had a great time exploring and experimenting here. Brennan was all about playing a video game with construction trucks. The girls wanted to try pulling themselves up in the chair via a pulley system.

Afterwards, we let the kids climb down the Tower and met them in Cyberspace. The boys had fun running through an obstacle course over and over again. Andrew loves to follow Brennan! And the girls did a fantasic job on the rock wall. Both were able to climb the entire way without falling once!

By this time, we wanted to go grab some lunch and headed towards one of Andrew's favorites, Yum Yum. Then, it was time to head home for Andrew's nap.

Tonight, the Armstrongs went over to celebrate Christmas with Rick's side of the family and then were going to head to League City and stay with Papa and Ngoai. Uncle Foo invited us to Pappasito's for dinner with some of his friends. Andrew was so well behaved in the restaurant and ate very well. I was overjoyed! We had a great day. Tomorrow, we will head to League City to hang out some more. Daddy has to work, but will come down Friday after work for New Year's Eve.

The First Day with the Armstrongs In Houston

We all woke up and lounged around the house doing whatever. The kids played of course. They played with trains and the play kitchen mostly. Andrew's been really cute with all his cousins. He totally wants to be with them every minute!

I had given Anh Thu a quick rundown of activities we could do and she said the kids could pick. But they were having so much fun this morning, they really didn't care to go out yet. But eventually, I think Andrew got a little stir crazy so I wanted to get him out of the house.

Brennan said he wanted to ride the Metro of all things. He loves trains almost as much as Andrew does. So, we all got dressed and ready to go. Uncle Anh Tuan was going to take Aunt Anh Thu to Target for an errand and lunch while Rick, Ngoai, and I took the kids to the Metro.

Brennan and Andrew said they wanted to ride the Metro all the way around. So, that's what we did. The boys were so cute as they were entranced looking out the window (even if Andrew had ridden it so many times already). The girls seemed to enjoy it as well, but probably not as much as the boys. But they were good sports.

After we came hom, we ate some lunch (the Armstrongs requested Chick Fil A) and then I put Andrew to bed. Emma was sweet and helped me put him down. That way, Andrew didn't put up too much of a stink about napping. She stayed in the room with me until he fell asleep.

We just lounged around the rest of the afternoon. Cara learned how to crochet from Ngoai while Emma and Andrew watched The Cat in the Hat. And Brennan spent most of his time playing trains upstairs.

Aunt Vinaya's plane back to New York was postponed so she, her older brother Vinod, and his wife Alpana came over to visit. I had just had the pleasure of meeting Alpana on Sunday, but Anh Thu and Rick hadn't had the chance to meet her yet. So, it was a great visit. And I totally suck because I was too busy having a good time that I forgot to take pictures of our guests.

Later in the evening, we finally let the kids open their presents. They had been waiting since yesterday. They got Andrew an awesome Disney monorail and GeoTrax train. He was totally enamored with the monorail and wouldn't put it down.

Anh Thu and Rick headed to dinner at Brennan's to celebrate their fourteenth wedding anniversary. Crazy, huh!? Ngoai, Uncle Foo, Daddy and I treated the kids to Little Bigz and Yogurtland, which was the bigger hit of the two. No shock there!

It was time for Andrew to take a bath and Emma asked if she could take a bath with Andrew. If she wants to, then I am okay with it. So, I said it was fine. Sure enough, Brennan and Cara wanted to partake in the bathtub fun and it was a sight to see them all in our tub together! I didn't think they would all fit, but they managed. They are all pretty thin!

After bath, the kids played a little more and then we put Andrew and Brennan to bed. Emma wanted to help too, but ended up falling asleep too. So sweet!

The Armstrongs Have Arrived!

They're here! They're finally here! Aunt Anh Thu and family arrived at our house around 8pm. How I love having them here! I had so missed them. Upon arrival, there were lots of hugs and kisses. And Andrew was so happy to have them here too! He immediately took the girls by their hands upstairs to show them his room and play trains! I think Brennan was happy to see all the trains that would be at his fingertips for the next few days.

After they ate dinner (we made Korean barbeque), the kids continued playing. Mostly, the kids plays trains and more trains. But soon, it was time for Andrew to go to bed. The girls were really sweet and read Andrew his night night books. I love how much they love him and how sweet they are to him. After books, Daddy stayed in the room with both Andrew and Brennan. In the meantimes, we hung out with the girls and everyone else downstairs until it was time to go to bed ourselves.

I couldn't be happier that they are here!! And I am pretty sure Andrew is just as stoked as his mommy!

Creek Reunion 2010

Tonight, we hosted a little Creek reunion at the house. Will and Jill were in town from San Diego for the holidays so we wanted to have a little get together so that the old high school crew would catch up.

Andrew was giddy with all the guests. He was going around and around playing with all the kids. He did some good sharing and some not so good sharing unfortunately. But I know it must have been hard on him with all these kids playing with his toys. For the most part, he did a good job.

After dinner, we just hung out and talked. Then, we let the kids open presents. All the kids were so cute about opening their gifts. Carter, Selene, and Andrew are within six months of each other so they were all totally into it.

Next, we did the White Elephant exchange and it was hilarious. We had some great gifts and there was quite a bit of stealing going on. White Elephants are always good for laughs!

The last thing for the night was a quick celebration for Will's birthday which was a few days ago. The kids all wanted to help blow out the candle and ended up letting them do it twice.

Time flew by way too fast and it had gotten a little late. Time for all the kids to go home to go to bed. But we had an awesome time with everyone. It always is great to see these guys and I am so glad we get to do it when we do.

Christmas in League City

After letting Andrew play with some of new his toys, we ate breakfast and got ready to drive down to League City.

Our first stop was Aunt Hong's and Uncle Hung's house for Christmas lunch. When we arrived, Andrew went straight for the dogs and started to play with them. We also got to introduce Andrew to some more of Ngoai's younger brother from Dallas, my Uncle Tho, and some of Mommy's first cousins. He had actually seen my uncle and some of his kids when he was just a baby. Anyway, it was great having them with us.

It was time for lunch. David had ordered a turducken while Uncle and Aunt prepared lots of food including eggrolls and various sides. Everything was delicious. Andrew totally just wanted to eat the eggrolls and must have had like five of them!

Andrew of course finished eating early and wanted to open gifts. I had told him we would after lunch so naturally he thought when he finished regardless of anyone else. After I further explained to him that he had to wait until everyone finished eating, he watched the Disney Christmas parade on TV for a little while.

Finally, we had eaten; and it was time for presents. It was funny because Andrew at first said that all the presents were for him. I quickly corrected him to which he then said "one" as only one gift was for him. And then he picked up a gift and gave it to one of Uncle Tho's sons, Kevin. Andrew totally loved Kevin and had been chasing him around and playing with him all morning. I thought it was pretty sweet of Andrew. I was proud of his unselfishness.

Apparently, the morning had provided Andrew with ample practice with gift opening. The fool was a pro. He still wanted to stop and play with each present before moving onto the next gift to open. We did let him play a little, but wanted him to finish opening his presents so we kept at him.

Drew totally loved the remote control train and fire truck from Ngoai and Papa. Andrew was so happy with his train alphabet and number puzzle from Uncle and Aunt (Josh has the exact same one and Andrew loves working it when we go over there). He was so excited about the garbage and dump trucks from David and Dina. And he really liked his die cast cars from MaryAnn and Scott. Ba Co gave him some money, but he really wasn't too interested in that since he is totally into tangible goods at this point, but we know that mentality will change one day.

James and I received some really nice gifts too. We got lots of Longhorn paraphenalia and some cute things for the house! ;) We really are so fortunate to have so many loved ones to celebrate with. We had a really nice time. And actually, it got even better because Uncle Hung's sister, Lan, came by the house for a visit. She and her family live in Tennessee and I just adore them. Aunt Lan came with one of her sons, Daniel; and it was nice getting to see them. It was a great finish to a wonderful Christmas celebration!

We headed back to Ngoai's house to try to put Andrew down for a nap, but he was fighting it. We just decided to let him go without and headed over to Uncle 10's. Sure enough, he fell asleep on the way over. We drove around a bit. But when we arrived at Uncle's and tried to put him down in a bed, he woke up and was too excited to fall back asleep.

Andrew totally loves going to my uncle's house because he is totally spoiled with attention from all my cousins. Ngoc-Thuy even got him a sweet gift too, which was totally unnecessary, but so very thoughtful. Andrew would run around going from all the cousins and loved sharing his trains with them. Drew also loves playing with the twins' stuffed animals as well as their die cast airplanes that he always play with over there.

We ate dinner (Vietnamese soup) and hung out with all the kids. It's nice just getting to spend time with all my cousins especially Vanna who was back from college in California. They are really good kids; and I really love being with them. They always make us laugh.

But before long, we needed to head home to put Andrew to bed. He fell asleep about fifteen minutes into the car ride!!

What a great day! We saw a lot of family today and it was a great way to spend Christmas! I feel so lucky that we have so much extended family that we are close to. Thanks to all who made this day possible and so special!