It's Raining, it's pouring..

Well, I think the gray season of Oregon is officially here, and just in time for Halloween.

Happy Halloween!

Jae and Hannah's Weekend!!

This blog entry is courtesy of Auntie's Barb Pollinger and Stacey Poirier...it's a loooooong post!

Thursday was a long time ago. I don’t remember anything. I met Stacey at sports class and so did Anna. Jae did good and was always looking over at the Aunties to make sure we were watching. The kids did a lot of running and stopping and some eye/hand coordination with balloons and paddles. For dinner we had hamburgers and hotdogs that Uncle Eric bbq’d and trees and mac and cheese, I think. Jae had a little bit of everything. He went back and forth between wanting a hotdog or hamburger, but decided on hamburger. I believe this is the night that Hannah literally fell asleep on the table. HI-LARIOUS. I believe Hannah woke up around midnight that night and after many attempts Auntie Stacey took her to bed with her and Eric and Bennigan. I think this was the night that after Stacey put her down in her bed on her belly Hannah propped herself up and with her “bed hair” all disheveled she looked at Eric and then turned and looked at Stacey with a funny look on her face like who are you people? Stacey tells it better but sounded pretty funny.

Friday I was able to go with Stacey to drop the kids off at school, which was nice. Not our normal routine so we had to read the “manual” several times to make sure we weren’t forgetting anything. Everyone at day care was super nice and helpful and you can tell how much they care for Hannah and Jae. Jae showed us the ropes like the good helper he was and got us situated with Hannah. Then we walked him back to his room and he sat down with the other kids and didn’t look back, even when the aunties we saying “bye Jae”. We knew he’d be fine. I was also able to go with Stacey to pick them up Friday afternoon too. Hannah was still sleeping and I think was shocked to see us and not mommy or daddy. But we scooped her up and went to get Jae who was watching baby Einstein. He gave both of his aunties a big hug. We learned that pictures were in but they wouldn’t release to the aunties or Jae, only to parents. Jae insisted that he wanted them now and was ready for a fight. He repeated several times that wanted them now. So we explained that mommy and daddy had to get them on Monday but how about if we could take a peek at them. The teacher was kind enough to indulge us and brought out Jae’s picture. We all told him how handsome he was and he said that was a new shirt he was wearing in the picture. Friday night dinner was spaghetti, Caesar salad, French bread. Auntie Barbara put too much minced garlic on the bread so Jae said it was spicy. Auntie B picked off the top to reveal only the white goodness underneath the crunchy garlic top. Problem solved. Oh I forgot to mention that Aunt Stacey told Jae that if he was a good boy that he would have some special treats/toys/surprise after school. After he hugged Stacey, and without prompting, he said did you get my special surprise? Is it trucks? Stacey had put them in the tent in her living room and as soon as we walked through the front door he knew somehow that they were in there. Did you tell him Stac? Inside awaited a brand new game of Candyland and the elephant/butterfly game. Since we had to start dinner we told him CAndyland would have to wait until after dinner but lets do the elephant. As soon as helped Auntie Barbara put the batteries in we fired that puppy up. We told Jae to get his net ready because butterflies were going to start flying out the elephant’s trunk. He was ssssssssooooooo excited about the butterflies. The first time he just loved letting them fall on his head. Then auntie Barbara showed him how to catch with the net and he caught a couple. Every time he caught one was followed by “I got one!” and he got so excited about catching one that the others gently fell around him. Hannah was very content watching big brother. Bedtime was an early night that night after the late night with Hannah and it being Friday. I think it was 9 or 10.

Saturday we woke up around 7 or 7:30 to a bowl of Lucky Charms and cartoons before getting ready for swimming class. When Uncle Jake and Aunt Anna were on their way we learned the bad news that swimming had been cancelled. No tears from anyone on that one; that just meant we could get to the pumpkin places all the sooner. Everyone got dressed and in the minivan to meet Grandma and Grandpa at the pumpkin races. No sooner than we arrived that Hannah decided to poop. Aunt Barbara got Jae out and the stroller out and getting us all situated with supplies while Aunt Stacey changed Hannah’s diaper in the front seat of the van. It was windy and cold so not a lot of options at that point in time. We almost had a poop catastrophe when said poop almost rolled out of the diaper onto the ground, but quick reflexes by Auntie Stacey saved the day. Hannahs little bottom recently dabbed with wipes to make sure she was clean wasn’t too pleased when a cool breeze happened by …ooh that was cold she screamed! We resituated and got everyone on in their strollers and purses and key possessions were confirmed and we were greeted by the grandparents. Jae gave big hugs all around. Stacey and Grandma must have called each other because they were both wearing their white shirts and pink fleece vests. We made the walk to the pumpkin races. We walked around and tried to check things out but too many people so we couldn’t see. So we found a table a bit further back and staked our claim. It was really cold and breezy that morning so we zipped up and put up the hoodies to keep the ears warm. Stacey and Hannah talked with grandma and grandpa and then Hannah took a nap in Aunt Staceys lap. We’ve got some good pictures of that. Jae, Anna, and Barb watched the ducks and Anna helped Jae throw leaves in the water. Jae liked hanging over the railing with the water on the other side. It made everyone nervous but most especially grandma. Auntie Barbara was close by at all times. The pumpkin races were fun to watch. We decided we were hungry and decided to go to Red Robin for lunch. Hannah had the best seat in the house…on top of the table. We have great pictures of that too. Hannah had a blast. After oranges, mac, and cheese and fries, we were on the road to the pumpkin popper. Jae thinks this is the coolest thing ever. He went a couple of times with Aunt Stacey and then with Aunt Barbara. The second time there were several people in line in front of us and every time the popper went off, Jae would ask, “Is it out turn?” Unfortunately for us we were behind a dad and two kids who each got four pumpkins. After some patient waiting it finally was our turn. Auntie Barbara couldn’t keep up when Jae ran from loading the popper to pushing the button. Oh the excitement! Hannah and Stacey were in the field behind us evidently Hannah was taking a nap which I don’t understand-that popper was loud! On the way home Hannah was cooing and talking. It was so cute. She was such a good girl all day. I joked who is that baby in the back? We dropped off the kids at Auntie Stacey's then Auntie Barbara went to feed Mr T and buy some caramel for the apples we bought at the pumpkin popper place, get papa murphy’s pizza and also a much needed caffeinated beverage at starbucks. It was lite frapp for auntie Stacey and an Iced TRIPLE caramel macchiato for Auntie Barbara. WE got home and attempted the caramel apples. I don’t suggest the wrapping kind. Jae and I had a hard time with it. It was fun trying though. It was an easy night for dinner. Pizza. Aunties didn’t have any energy left to cook anymore or clean up after. Lots of butterflies, candyland and movies on Saturday…oh and playtime with Uncle Jake.

Sunday was a relaxing day. It started with a nice big breakfast: mickey mouse pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon. Jae ate very well.asked for more bacon, three pancakes and some eggs. And he ate it all. While we were getting breakfast ready, Uncle Jake played with Hannah and was holding her and she fell asleep. Good Job Uncle Jake! Auntie Barbara was very ripe by Sunday and badly needed a shower and fresh clothes. Reinforcements were needed so the aunties could freshen up. Enter Aunt Anna and the grandparents. Thank Heavens. As I was coming back, Anna and Jae were on their way out in the stroller (Jae all decked out in the black sunglasses) to look for leaves. They found some good ones. We got Hannah down for her 2^nd nap and were dangerously low on formula and decided to pack up and head to the Grunwald home. Kids don’t pack light people. We got home and situated and unpacked and organized. The first thing Jae noticed when getting out of the car was all the leaves….”look at all the leaves in our front yard. Our leaves are falling, our leaves are falling!” Energy levels were reaching an all time low so starbucks was needed-STAT. Once that kicked in Auntie Barbara started the welcome home sign and she and Jae went to the living room to decorate more and add the finishing touches – fall leaves. If you look close there is a letter J next to Jae’s name. Jae did that. After some playing and a little downtime, it was time to get Uncle Jake for dinner and naptime. WE had it all PLANNED out. Dinner and bath time and bedtime. While Aunt Anna made jae’s dinner, he climbed up on Uncle Jake’s lap and they started to watch a show about airplanes. In hindsight, Jae did look a little TOO relaxed sitting on Uncle Jakes lap. Dinner was ready and we called for Jae and he didn’t move. DARN IT he fell asleep on Jake! After much discussion. We let him sleep a little bit and then woke him up. BIG MISTAKE. He really needed a bath and didn’t think Bill and Patty would have time in the morning. WE learned that Jae doesn’t like to be awoke from naps. After twenty questions and bribing him with a popsicle things started to calm down. He followed the popsicle with a piece of pizza and a tiny bit of “special” juice. And then it was bath time. Before we turned the water on Jae started doing the pee pee dance, proceeds to strip down to only his shirt, grabs the red “bucket”, hands it to Auntie Barbara and hops in the tub. He says daddy holds it for me so I proceeded to do what daddy does because it seems as if Jae couldn’t wait for any more questions. He proceeded to spray pee all over the place. Some got in the bucket. I think he had his finger over it and pointing it up. It only took my hand getting sprayed once for me to suggest he point it down. Auntie Barbara loves it when Jae waits until the last minute to go potty. Finally we got both Hannah and Jae in the tub. Jae was a trooper as Anna and Jake tried to figure out how he and Hannah and hannah’s tub were all going to fit in the bath tub. Hannah was first on the agenda. Get her clean and get her out so Jae and Jake could have their special time with THE HOSE. Jae thinks it is so funny to spray uncle Jake. A few times Auntie had to remind the boys to keep the water in the tub. Stacey got Hannah down and then Barb read stories. Jae picked out three. We were doing the word book and he was spelling out the words. He was spelling a word that started with T. At the same time he said T he tooted. He thought that was ssssssssssooooooooooooooooooo funny. IN between fits of laughter, he would say T toot. While very funny I was impressed that he knew toot started with T. I could see he wasn’t very tired so I told him because he was such a good boy that I would read him another book. That didn’t work much either because he ended up on Bill and patty’s bed. He told auntie Stacey he wanted to surprise mommy and daddy. So jake and I went in there and asked him if he was excited for mommy and daddy and he said yes. I told him that when he woke up they would be there. He asked if I was going to stay. I told him I would stay until mommy and daddy got home. Jake laid there until he fell asleep, but both Jae and Jake fell asleep. I made jake come downstairs though.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:Jae was such a good boy all weekend long and was very helpful when aunties had questions or needed help with Hannah. If Hannah got a little fussy we called Jae over to make Hannah smiled and it worked almost every time. The first thing Jae did in the morning was go to the crib to check on Hannah. When she wasn’t there he’d say, “Where’s Hannah?” We went downstairs and he gave her a big kiss good morning and greeted Aunt Stacey with a cheery Good Moooorning. He also talked a lot this weekend about growing up to be an adult. Thought that was cute.

Unfortunately for Stacey, Hannah was glued to her for four days. We were hoping to take turns but she wanted nothing to do with anyone but Stac. We made it work and everything was great. She ate well and was giving out lots of smiles and played hard. When she gets excited she likes to stand and bounce.

Like I said before as exhausting as it was, I would do it again in a heartbeat to spend time with Jae and Hannah and give Bill and Patty a much deserved break.

Love all the aunties and uncles.

Hawaii and Kelcy's Wedding!

Bill and I just got back from 4 days in Maui. I know, not nearly enough time to relax and enjoy ourselves, but we were going for a wedding and without the kids, so we thought we would make it a quick trip, this time.

Maui was wonderful. We stayed in the town of Lahaina (where Kelcy's family lives)at the Royal Lahaina Resort. The views from our hotel room were amazing. We could see the islands of Lanai and Molokai from our room and the neighboring Kaanapali Resorts and just bright clear blue water that went on for miles. The weather was great everyday we were there (minus a little scare we had during Kelcy's wedding, but that's another story). We rented a mustang convertible, so the wind whipped through my hair and gave me a little bit of color. I loved Maui because of what it did to my hair! It felt so full.

Thursday, Oct 23
We arrived around noon and drove about 45 minutes to our hotel. We checked in and were starving so went out to look for some food. We ate at The Mixed Plate, a local hangout that serves teriyaki type food. It was good and the view was nice. There were a lot of birds hanging around to eat any food that may have fallen on the floor..Let's just say that they got nothing from us. This meal was the first time that Bill was introduced to Poi. He did not like it (neither do I for that matter). But he did fall in love with Lomi Lomi Salmon..who knew? Then later that evening, we headed to Kelcy's rental and had a bbq by the pool for all the folks that arrived early.

Friday, Oct 24
We decided to go and try The Gazebo, per the recommendation of one Jacob Pollinger. We finally got to the place and sure enough, the line was already started. We waited about 30 minutes before getting seated and I proceeded to order the fried rice dish (the house speciality)..holy cow it was HUGE! At least two cups of rice (measured uncooked) and portugese sausage, ham, onions, egg, green onions all mixed together. We didn't even eat half of it. Bill ordered corned beef and hash..REALLY! and then we got one order of banana macadamian pancake (since they were famous for that too). I just have to say that I was not overly impressed with the food and left the place feeling bloated and FAT! I don't recommend this place. From there, we went shopping at the Whalers Village and bought Bill a pair of slippers and some trinkets for the family.

Then we had to go and help Kelcy set up for the reception, so we drove to the Jodo Mission and Bill dropped me off while we moved tables around. We also had the wedding rehearsal that day and the sunset was beautiful. Later that evening we went to the Royal Lahaina Luau. We got to enter through the VIP side entrance and had the best view in the house..of the ocean and the stage. The food was good the show was good. But I have to say that I wasn't too overly impressed. You know how it gets whey they hype everything up for so long..But I am always amazed at how they can shake their hips the way they do. Besides, you have to see a luau at least once when visiting Hawaii! After it was over, I went to bed and crashed.

Saturday, October 24
Wedding Day!!!

The day of the wedding started out beautiful. I kept telling Bill that Saturday was by far the best day. Not just because of the wedding, but because we woke up, got coffee, headed back to the hotel, hung out by the water and looked out over the beach and just relaxed. It was the first time we were able to do this together. I wasn't supposed to be at Kelcy's until 2, so Bill and I were able to relax together for a bit.

So this whole trip I've been wanting sushi. All I hear about is the freshness of the sushi, so I wanted to compare the fish in hawaii vs oregon. Well, it turns out that most of the good places don't open until dinner or they are on another island. We decided to go find some sushi at lunch, but were unsuccessful. Instead we hit this place called The Blue Lagoon on Front Street and had some disappointing food and drinks (at least I did). Another bad food experience.

But it was wedding time so Bill dropped me off at Kelcy's so the girls could get ready together..although, Kyle Dobashi was in the room most of the time..can we call him a girl too? =)

I used a flat iron for the first time and I fell in love with it. If I didn't have two kids to get ready in the morning, I would totally do that to my hair. My hair looked great (at least to me). The dress actually looked a lot better on me once I was surrounded by the other girls too.

Kelcy looked beautiful. She had on a spaghetti strap ivory dress with a small train. She also had the cutest shoes. We all headed over to the Jodo Mission so we could get the party started. The girls were lei'd and the flowers smelled so GOOD! As we were proceeding to the alter, the wind was starting to kick it up a notch and we could see the clouds getting bigger. The sun was gone and it turned a big overcast. After the ceremony was pictures and we had a good time, except there was a nazi videographer that just wouldn't let the newlyweds get to the reception in a decent time. During this time tables were being moved to covered areas, just in case, but thank goodness the rains never came and the evening turned out to be perfect! Everyone ate (the food was amazing..courtesy of Jayson Asuncion and his crew), drank, and danced (Kyle was a great DJ, if you're looking for a DJ, check him out). The party moved to a house and unfortunately, I was tuckered out and went to the hotel and slept.

Sunday, October 26

Time to come home. We left Lahaina early because we wanted to check out the neighboring cities. We headed southwest and north and drove through Kihei and Kahului, not that exciting. We drove to Paia and Kapua and that's where we saw the surfers, para-surfers. It was exciting and definitely a highlight! We got in at 11pm and went home and found two sleeping kids. It was a cute sight.

We had a great time in Maui and at Kelcy and Ben's wedding.

Check out the pictures from our trip here.

http://picasaweb.google.com/patty.grunwald/MauiAndKelcySWedding

Pumpkins, pumpkins, and more pumpkins!

Fall is my favorite season without a doubt! I love the crispness in the air and just bundling up and getting cozy.

With Halloween only three weeks away, we decided that it was time to get ourselves some pumpkins! We went with our friends the Ly's and Arbuthnot's and also met a new family, the Vogler's (Lynn's neighbors and they are very nice). We went to The Lake View Farms in North Plains. It was the first time that we've been there and for the most part we were impressed. They didn't have a pumpkin popper, but the other activities made up for it.

They have a boat ride that takes you to the pumpkin patch and a little train that brings you back from the pumpkin patch (or you can go to the pumpkin patch by train and return by boat or use the same mode of transportation for each way - so many options)! In the water they have a shark that comes out and pirates on a boat and and on the train, they take us through a tunnel that is decorated in a fall/halloween theme.

We had to do a little searching, but we picked three pumpkins! I have to say, for being a boy, Jae was worried about getting dirty and he was complaining that it was too sunny (oh, he will learn soon enough about it being 'too sunny' in Oregon)! He seemed to like pointing out the pumpkins that were rotting more than he did the ones that weren't. LOL. After we picked our pumpkins, the kids played on the hay bales and just enjoyed the open air!

A great time was had by all. Even Hannah was very well behaved..although, I'm sure she was tired from the night before..but that's another story in itself..teething. Enough said.

If you're interested in checking out The Lake View Farms, here is their website. http://www.thelakeviewfarms.com/

The mamas..

Mommy and Hannah

Jae and his long lost brother...LOL!

The kids...

Click or cut and past URL to view the pictures from the Pumpkin patch.
http://picasaweb.google.com/patty.grunwald/PumpkinPatch2008#

Buffalo Wings...mmmm...

Check it out if you are in Portland (http://www.portlandwings.com/).


A co-worker of mine told me about this place. He's a wing lover just like I am. It is located on Interstate just by the Prescott Max Station. It's not a large place and it's kind of a self serve establishment. One great thing about this place are the array of sauces. They offer like 12 different sauces that you can choose from. They had some good music playing in the background and we saw people from all walks of life there. Men in suits, construction workers, a family, a couple, and then me and Stephanie!

We were kind of hungry so I think (I should emphasize the "I" here) we over indulged. I ordered wings with sweet potato fries (my new favorite thing are sweet potato fries). I chose two sauces, the Medium hot sauce and bbq (I won't get the bbq again, stick to the hot sauce). Stephanie got onion rings and the HOT hot sauce..she was living on the edge.

The wings were good. Not too crispy fried and not too fatty. The hot sauce had good flavor and if I didn't have my sweet potato fries, I probably could have stuffed a couple more chickens into my belly!

Writing about our experience is making me want some hot wings now..

Stephanie's visit...

This entry is a long time coming!!! It's been about 3 weeks since Stephanie visited me (she currently lives in San Diego), but I've just been so busy lately and I'm actually behind in blogging that's I'm finally getting around to it. I've got a lot of stories that I want to post, but need to find some quiet time that I can dedicate to this thing.

So let's focus again...So Stephanie had a conference in Seattle and decided to extend her visit and hang out in Portland for a while. She met me at my mom's place (this is the weekend of my momb's b-day) and then we drove down to Portland. Stephanie got to experience the first Im family meal and I'm going to say that she realized how boring and repetitive Korean meals can be. Yes, we like eating leftovers - morning, lunch, and dinner, and then again the next day! LOL!

Once we were in Portland, I took a couple of days off from work and we went shopping. It's been a couple of years since she's been in Portland, so I wanted to show her some of the new things that have popped in the City. It actually turned into a quick drive around town. We went to Fire on the Mountain for lunch (that's another post) and got our grub on some chicken wings.

The highlight of the trip was getting a quick 'makeover' at the MAC counter at Nordstrom's. Stephanie and I went in to get some 'pointers' on how best to do the eyes and we came out of that place looking like something..or rather, I should say "I" came out looking something. It just wasn't that cute at all.

The kids really enjoyed seeing Stephanie. Jae still talks about her when he sees an airplane.

ABC's

Jae is growing and getting so smart. This morning he was sitting on the couch and doodling on a pad, when he exclaims, "Mama, I wrote a J!" So I look on his paper and sure enough, there is the letter J on the paper. I was so excited. This has been the first letter I've seen that he's written on his own (do you see it??).

We have been doing a lot of spelling exercises with him lately and he definitely knows his letters. Today we spelled Mommy, Daddy, Jae, Hannah, Auntie Barbara, Auntie Stacey, Auntie Anna, Uncle Jake, Uncle Eric, Bennigan, and Charlie and he knew all the letters. The only hesitation was him trying to read my writing! LOL.

He also comments on objects that he sees when we are driving in the car. Once again, my baby is growing up!

It was so strange, I had to do a double take!

This happened a couple of weeks ago, but I just had to share this bizarre story with you.

We were spending the weekend at my parents to celebrate my mom's birthday, so my brother and his kids were there and my friend Stephanie was there as well. My parents were at work, so they didn't have the opportunity to witness something so bizarre!

It was Sunday morning and everyone (except my parents) were in the living room watching football and hanging out with the kids, when I thought I heard a voice in the other room. At first I thought it was one of my mom's friends just walking through the door like they have done or someone had left the tv on upstairs, so I go to investigate. I open the front door to see if anyone is outside and it's clear, but I still hear the voice. So I turn around and look up the stairs and see a little girl standing at the top of the stairs! I was so shocked that I had to do a double take! At first I thought I was seeing things, but it was a real girl! I called for my brother and asked him if he knew who she was and I believe he was in as much shock as I was.

My first thought was "how the hell did she get in here and who is she?" Were my parents hiding a blond girl in the house and not telling us about it??? This whole time, she's repeating the name Josephine. So I go upstairs and ask her what she's doing here and she still keeps repeating "Josephine". So I ask her what her name is and she said "Allison", so I ask her where her parents are and she starts saying Josephine again. While I'm doing this, Bill and my brother are outside looking for a parent who might be looking for their lost child, but it's a very quiet Sunday and no one is out.

Meanwhile, I finally get her downstairs and outside and my brother and Bill start knocking on doors to see who she belongs to. They end up finding a house that knows her and then points to the house next door. They knock on the door and sure enough, it's her house. She ended up living 4 houses down from my parents.

I'm just surprised that no one was looking for her. She was a special needs child so that proved to be a little difficult in the communication part, but she was not scared at all to be in our house with strangers, or at least she didn't show it.

Lesson here is that you should always keep your front door locked, you never know who may walk through it!

Can we fix it? Yes we can!

Bob the Builder is in town!

For those of you who aren't familiar, Bob the Builder is a children's television character. Bob appears as a construction contractor specializing in masonry in a animated program with his colleague Wendy, various neighbours and friends, and their gang of vehicles and equipment (all made of clay). The show is broadcast on PBS.

In each episode, Bob and his gang help with renovations, construction, and repairs and with other projects as needed. The show emphasizes reuse, reduce, and recyle, conflict resolution, co-operation, socialization and various learning skills. Bob's catchphrase is "Can we fix it?", to which the other characters respond with "Yes we can!" (Thank you wikipedia).

The exhibit is pretty fun. There are several stations where kids can build/construct things, kids can go into Bob's trailer, as well as Wendy's trailer, and they've got some of the construction vehicles (scoop, lofty, rolly) that you can sit in and take some cute pics.

Jae had a great time playing at all the stations they had. We were also able to go outside and sit on the real construction trucks!














Anywho..Bob is shacking up at the Portland Children's Museum until January, so if you are interested, you should stop and say hello.