At this age, setting up double play dates creates a lot less work than hosting one play date with the odd sibling out. It requires a bit coordination to pick up two guest kids at their respective schools, but that will get a lot easier when our kids attend the same school this September. Once everybody arrived at our house, the kids closed the door on me and had a great time in their room. This is what the scene looked like 90 minutes later, when Henry’s mom came to pick him up: the boys hiding under an umbrella fort, and the girls pretending to have “lost” the little guys…

No fashion show this weekend. Instead, the bunnies set sail as pirates. The kids supplied all necessary props: a boat with pirate flag, two telescopes, and two eye patches. Hours of fun and plundering…

After last year’s snow overdose, i am secretly grateful for every week of winter passing without blizzard. Today, the kids’ wishes came true: they got to enjoy a perfectly delivered “snow teaser”. On a Saturday! Less than 5 inches!  It was just enough white for a quick snow ball fight and a mini sledding ramp. Happiness all around!

Hard to believe that this little guy turned three years old this week! Then again, look at all our kids and the speed at which they’re growing up is staggering. Harold rallied all of his friends for a big tumbling extravaganza – big enough to accommodate older cousins and -siblings. It was great to meet so many friends and our kids had a hopping good time!

… and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats” was an exhibit we saw today at the Jewish Museum. Thanks to Eugenie and Nara, we didn’t miss the opportunity to study the original artwork to one of the kids’ favorite classic books – as well as countless other originals from Keats’ body of work. We learned that the author grew up in Brooklyn, and that he pursued his creative career against all odds. Very inspirational story. Unfortunately, there were no cameras allowed at the Jewish Museum, so i took this snapshot afterward.

On Friday, Mika dressed her bunny up in a flattering little number made from an Asian pear protector. Before she left for school, she instructed us to take good care of her bunny (as she does often) and “not forget to drop her off at her party in the afternoon”.  Now we have to manage the social calendar of our two kids AND A STUFFED ANIMAL …

I can’t keep up documenting all of the outfits the kids create for their bunnies, but this superhero suit Mika tailored for Tobin’s bunny is a keeper. Most notable superpower: he could stand on his own two feet … for the first time ever!

Tobin is ready to move on from his runbike, so we are trading it for a used 12″ Specialized “Hotrock” model, similar to Mika’s 4th Birthday present. First, he will need to get used to pedaling and breaking with his feet … then we can remove the training wheels for good. He has a good sense of balance, thanks to the runbike, and was able to ride a bit without training wheels already.

First two clips are short hands-free moments.
Later, he wanted the training wheels back on and has been riding with them since. We will probably go back and forth for a while, depending on how much practice he can get over Winter.

2012 will be a good year since everybody ate their good-luck bowl of Tteokkguk on New Year’s Day. We got together with the same group of (mostly half-Korean) families for our fourth annual Mandoo Making Party. This time, all past training hours paid off because our six kids (between the ages of 3 and 7) were not only willing, but able to make dozens of dumplings without further assistance. The grownups finished off the remaining ingredients, and everybody was sent home with a goodie bag of freshly frozen mandoo. Of course, there was a passionate game of Yut, and a full spread of other Korean foods, to which we contributed home made Yaksik and Kimchi Jjigae. Thank you Jean and Brian for this wonderful tradition!

This New Year’s Eve, we celebrated with Team ArandaLee – family sleepover style. The weather was rather mild, so the kids could stir up some mud outdoors before it got too dark. Later, they had to earn their dinner: each child queued up to roll out their own portion of fresh pasta dough, with some expert guidance from Doris. All five of them ate and played really well. Once they started to get too tired, we treated them to classic Looney Tunes until they were ready to go to bed. Since all four “big kids” were sleeping in one room together, they didn’t even want to stay with the grownups until midnight. By 11:00pm, we had the party to ourselves … Happy New Year!

The next morning, we shared a fantastic breakfast and the kids had plenty of time to check on their mud (and bike, and rocks) before we had to head back home. Thanks again for great company, great food, and especially for hosting the four of us overnight!

What a great way to end the year: on December 31st, Team Lukas caught us in the morning via FaceTime. It was such a nice surprise, since we had to postpone our original iChat plans due to year-end craziness and unscheduled naps. We got a tour of their new apartment and plenty of Lukas in action. Happy New Year and hope to see you IRL this Summer!

Every now and then, Sung’s inner architect gets carried away with the kids’ blocks. On Mika’s last day of school, Tobin was already on Winter break and the guys had a lot of time on their hands. First, Tobin got completely encased by a brick cocoon. Then, Sung inserted a window, which turned into a full opening … big enough for Luna to check out the construction, and start poking her paw through the little holes. She got really into the peek-a-boo game and eventually knocked it all down. Later, they built a second, open-style ‘house’ that lasted until both kids deliberately sent it crashing down…