Fitting session

I've been signing up the boys for all sorts of "jobs" recently - be it short film auditions, photoshoots, etc but to no avail.  But this time, they were actually accepted for a fitting session.  They tried on a few school uniforms:

And obviously had some fun doing it :-)

And then, each boy had their body scanned manually into a phone:

It had to be done about 3 times, where the person goes around and eventually an image is composited:

And then, there was this super fancy body scanner:

You stand still for about 3 seconds and then it takes another few seconds to come up with the body image.  How cool is that!

And it has every measurement possible:

Charlie's turn:

I just took Charlie for his annual physical and this kid is within the 85th percentile for weight (at 4'6") and 50th percentile for height (at 88lbs).  Graham on the other hand, is only at 50th percentile on weight (at 86lbs) and 27th percentile on height (almost 4'8"). Charlie is heavier and almost as tall as Graham even though he is 2 years younger!

What amazing technology.  I think Charlie's neck is thicker than Graham's.  And I think Charlie noted that his thigh is also bigger than Graham's by an inch.  Ha!

What a cool experience for the boys!  And then of course, always looking for that next snack.  We found some (expensive) acai smoothies.  Not sure what but something is obviously making Graham laugh out loud here:

Ahhh, my cuties.  Almost everyone think they are girls now, with their long hair:

And actually, the following weekend - Bobby and I went to the same fitting session.  And supposedly Charlie is saying my thighs are an inch thicker than Bobby's??!  How is that possible!!  Anyway, I was just happy as the whole experience was easy and one of the quickest way to earn a few bucks :-D

Anniversary Gondola ride (Jan 9)

As an anniversary gift, I decided to surprise Bobby and the boys with a gondola ride.  Yes, even in California! The gondola goes around a little area called Naples Island in Long Beach. As per usual, across the Gerald Desmond Bridge to get to Long Beach:

We were a bit early so decided to check out this little area next door. Looks like they rent kayaks over here.  Graham was totally excited about this, although we will have to wait until his collarbone heals completely:

Looks like our gondolier is getting our gondola ready.  Not quite like the original as this one actually has 2 paddles instead of one:

Graham and Charlie look like gondoliers themselves with their striped shirt.  Ha ha!

Happy 15th anniversary, honey!

Bobby and I decided to sit in the back and had both boys sit in the front.  We told them they could be our chaperones.  They are obviously quick to keep at least an eye on us:

OMG, someone put a pirate in this very corner of the canal:

What amazing houses along here.  And of course their boats and what not:

And homes of different styles too. Supposedly this one belongs to a famous surfer - no idea who though:

The house to the left in this photo below is one of the older/original homes along this canal.  If so, I'm just glad that big tree is leaning the other way!

I had to take a photo of this one when I saw it.  Shaaaark!!!

Under the bridge we go.  There was actually a photographer on another bridge and the guy was happily snapping along while we went under.  Bobby and I of course kissed to help him out. LOL!!

About 50 minutes later, we are back within the bay.  This is probably why the gondolier needs 2 paddles instead of 1.  I wonder how sore I would be if I had to do this daily:

It was a nice quiet ride.  I'm glad the boys were fairly cooperative in making it enjoyable for everyone:

Off to an early dinner.  Check out the snow that's still hanging around on the mountain top:

I have no idea how we deal with Charlie all the time.  He definitely keeps our lives "interesting":

It is so pretty along the water once the sun goes down:

I managed to catch a great photo of the same Gerald Desmond Bridge on the way home.  I love bridges :-D

Another fun little adventure!  Although, I think Bobby still owes me a trip to Venice, Italy.  I want a gondolier that will sing to us :-D

Happy Wedding Anniversary!

Can you believe it, 15 years??! Here's a photo of us from back in 2007 at my in-law's place.  Or it could have been Dec 2006 when I went to visit them for the first time for Christmas. Ahhh, we were so young then :-D

And here we are in 2022... an attempt at recreating this same photo.  I look so tired here. I'm going to blame it to the early mornings for the first week back at school.  Ha ha!

It's been a good 15 years I have to say - with 5 different state-line moves and 1 international one.  Sure there's the downs that come along with the ups, but I really can't complain - roof over our heads, food on the table... Bobby has definitely provided for all of us despite all the challenges that has been thrown at him, especially this past year.

And we are still able to shower each other with gifts.  I got a new scarf:

And I bought Bobby a new handheld muscle massager:

Okay, perhaps the massager is for me also.  Although I think everyone in this household is using it. Somehow, Charlie's stuffed puppy is also eligible for this massage. Ha ha!

Even after 15 years, I've yet to enjoy olives the way Bobby does:

I'm glad we are still able to get some fresh juices.  I really miss that from our time living in Abu Dhabi.  Here's to the a healthier us in 2022!

This year, we decided to cook up a spiral ham for our anniversary dinner.  We had one at my sister's place when we were visiting MN last month:

I didn't realize how huge 8lbs of ham is!

Plus, this one was a bone-in.  I think the boneless one at my sister's was a lot easier to carve, but then again I thought this one had better flavor:

Looks like there will be a lot of ham incorporated into our meals for at least a week, or perhaps even more!

But as per usual, Bobby and I do share the love of eating.  Since Bobby was busy on our anniversary, we had a make-up lunch yesterday at a restaurant that we had never been to before.  YUM!!

And actually, since both boys are back at school this week, we also had a lovely breakfast this past Monday:

Ahhh, some sense of normalcy at least for now.  Although, I won't hold my breathe on it - the number of positive cases have been pretty high just this first week of school after the holidays.  Noooo...!!!

We've yet to play golf together this new year.  The voucher that we had purchased during the holidays is only good for Monday - Thursday.  So that will have to wait.  I did find this funny card for our anniversary.  It's so true!! I wonder what my underwear will look like in the next few years. LOL!!

I had to explain to the boys what the "thong" is. It was really funny seeing the expression on their faces. Ha ha!!!

Here's to many many many more happy years, my dearest hubby. Love you lots!! XOX

Happy New Year!!

2022... another new year within the pandemic.  When will Covid actually disappear? At this point, I think it's looking pretty gloom. It's crazy to think that there are more new cases this time around for Omicron than there was for the Delta variant a year ago.  And most people are vaccinated too. Crazy! So the way Bobby and I are thinking, now that both our boys are back in school in-person, it will just be a matter of time before we catch it.  The only consolation is all of us are vaccinated and (fingers crossed) will only run into mild symptoms.

Here's some photos from our New Year eve's dinner.  We decided to have an early one at a restaurant nearby.  We really need to fix Graham's glasses so they fall over his nose like when Daddy wears his reader.  Ha ha!

It's a bit chilly outside.  Charlie even has his beanie on:

Meal is here and Graham is so happy. Nothing like having some pasta with a huge "showering" of parmesan cheese:

It was either the lamb chops or the lamb shank... and you can obviously see which one I picked. This lamb shank lasted tonight and 2 more meals after!

Happy New Year!!

Daddy obviously didn't have any issues finishing his meal:

It took a little bit longer (so many places understaffed these days) but our dessert finally showed up. It never takes us too long for us to finish that :-)

None of us stayed up to watch any fireworks - backyard or TV.  I did get woken up by loud bangs from the fireworks at midnight but thankfully didn't have any issues falling back to sleep.

On New Year's day, we didn't have anything planned out.  We decided to have a fire in our backyard and so I had the boys try lighting one with the flint they got for Christmas:

Not as easy as they make it look on TV!  I also put some hand sanitizer on the lint (from our dryer). Since the hand sanitizer is mostly alcohol, it can catch on fire and burn pretty easily. Crazy thought though, right?? As we put so much of that on our hands these days.

After a few more tries, we did it!  And our second attempt even lit without any hand sanitizer.  You really have to get super close to the lint for it to catch fire.  It's a good thing we're not out camping somewhere.  We would definitely die of starvation and cold.  LOL!!

Now, here's our real fire :-D

The boys and their s'mores!

And Bobby and his stick... he loves poking at that fire:

Since it's been so cold later on at night, we allow the boys to have their s'mores dessert before dinner.  Now that everyone is all washed up, it's time to eat.  We bought some sparkly cider for the boys.  They love that stuff, especially being able to drink it from a fancy glass.  And Charlie is all dressed up for the occasion:

Don't mind Graham - who doesn't even have a shirt on.  And he is probably also just in his underwear. Ha ha!!

Here's to a great 2022, no matter what it may bring.  We will just have to deal with whatever challenges and live one day at a time.  Sort of like golf - play one shot at a time, which unfortunately is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Ha!