The DB Big Race.......

The big Dragon Boat Festival is finally here all weekend out at Mother's Beach. We started bright and early arriving at 7:30am on Saturday morning. Our 1st race wasn't until 2pm but the morning seemed to go by fast with all the chit chatting with the team and festivities. When race time came Mommy & Daddy were on the blue team. Daddy paddled and Mommy was the drummer. We did really well! We came in 4th place with a time of 2 minutes and 54 seconds. Not too shabby! Mommy was so excited since it was her 1st race ever and she was so nervous. Then we got to rest up and have lunch and waited around for our 2nd race at 6pm. We got out on the water and they had to call us back since it was getting late and past our time on the beach. So we had to come back bright and early on Sunday for the very 1st race. Sunday we had to arrive even earlier at 6:30am since we had an 8:30am race time. We did great this time too! We raced our own team which was the White team and we had our own bet going to see who was going to win.....good thing it was our Blue team! Yippee! It felt so good to do well.
We came in 3rd this time which was fantastic! Coming at at 2 minutes and 49 seconds. Huge improvement! We had qualified for an additional race at around 2ish but we didn't do so hot there. I think our time was like our first race on Saturday but that didn't get us anywhere. We ended up being the 2nd to last team coming in out of 7 teams. So that called it a weekend for us. Everyone was just pooped! Didn't seem like a lot of races but it was very draining for everyone with the early mornings, late nights and sun. All in all we all had a blast! Can't wait until next year! Thanks to AT&T and APCA for putting all this together for us!

Dragon Mak & Daddy checking out the fancy Dragon Boats.....See they're really dragons on them!
Dragon Mak & Grandma blowing the bubbles that Auntie Lilo gave us! Lots of bubbles! One of Dragon Mak's most favorite things to do lately!
Uncle Kent and his famous 1 hand holding Dragon Mak way up high! He's so strong! It was good seeing you Uncle Kent and having you slumber at our house!
Dragon Mak's personalized t-shirt by Auntie Lilo. Mak loved watching the Dragon Boats go by......
Mak with her friend Jack playing with bubbles again, Jack's mom Kimberly took care of breakfast for us. Thanks for giving us energy food! She's a board member for APCA.
Finally a picture with my Mommy getting ready to drum away! Go Blue team!

18-Months with Mr. Bear

Well, another month goes by......I'm 18-months today and another picture with my Mr. Bear! I'm almost as big as him! I'm 21.4 lbs. today and 28 1/2 inches tall. Big girl! I'm just talking up a storm lately and I'm so loud! I don't seem to understand the inside voice yet. Words that I can say pretty clearly right now is ball, bubble, more, wa for water, gama for grandma, sease for please and cheese. There's probably more that I'm missing but that's all I can recall right now. She just seems to get funner and funner as each day passes and smarter and smarter too. She can close the door when grandma leaves and even locks it now. She's just full of energy and I can't even explain how wonderful her little personality is. She's just sooooo friendly that she goes to almost anyone, which could be dangerous later. Just another thing we'll have to teach her. Well that's a wrap for this month! Wow, just can't believe she's already 1 1/2 years old! Time is sure flying by........

18-Months Old Portraits

Makayla turned 18-months today! Our little girl is getting so big. Piggy tails and all now! We went to our usual portrait spot, Kiddie Kandids. The last time we had professional pictures done was for her big 1-year so it's been awhile unlike her 1st year where it was almost every 3-months. Makayla's old camera crew didn't work there anymore so we had to try someone new, her name was Inra and she was really nice. She made me smile lots so I think we'll get along fine. I had so much fun at this photo shoot! Some in my new school girl outfit and some in my summer swim suit. Say cheese!
I kept on wanting to climb up the ladder...up, up, up.
Summertime fun at the beach scene! Tuggin' on my little footsies.
I have to hold on to my toesies since that's how my photographer made me laugh so much. She kept on trying to tickle my little feet.

Disney.......

I know you all might be tired of seeing our Disneyland pictures but we're just having a blast with our new annual passports. We usually go on the weekends after 6pm so that it's not too hot. We have so much fun and Makayla just loves all the rides. The usual rides are the Astro Orbitor rocket ship as seen below, the carousel & dumbo are Makayla's standard favorites. This time we ventured on Casey's Train as our new ride for Makayla and she enjoyed it. Afterwards we found a new great spot to watch the fireworks, right behind the castle by dumbo and the carousel. We had a fantastic view since they seemed like they were right above us and we didn't have to deal with the huge crowd like in front on Main Street. Makayla really, really liked them this time around even though it was really loud.

We're going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship..........Pat, pat, pat, pat! (Little Einsteins)

Puppies.......

We went to dinner with a bunch of my Aunties & Uncles tonight. We had Thai food at this great little restaurant that Auntie Som recommended up in Pomona. It was a long drive for food but it was well worth it to see Uncle Ed & Auntie Grace, we haven't seen them in forever! They brought along Johnny & Josie who we haven't seen in probably a year! Yikes that's a long time! It was great to see everyone! We can't wait this long before our next gathering for sure. After dinner we headed over to Johnny & Josie's house just to hang out for a bit longer. I got to play with all their doggies, Alexis, Zoe & Nala. Fun times since I just love the doggies! Woof, woof!
Thanks for dinner Uncle Johnny & Auntie Josie! Yummers!

Big News....Auntie Grace & Uncle Ed!

We had dinner with Ed, Grace, Johnny, Josie, Alan & Som tonight out in Pomona. We hadn't seen Ed, Grace, Johnny & Josie in forever so it was a nice evening! We had yummy Thai food out there so all was good. Good company & good food.
The best part was that Ed & Grace announced to us that they're preggies! Yay for them! We're so happy for them! And......to top it off they're having twins! We can't believe it! Thanks for the great news guys!

After dinner we went to Johnny & Josie's to hang out for a bit longer. Makayla and one of their puppies behind her. Makayla liked all the pupperz!

Last DB Practice

Well, today is the last practice for Dragon Boat before the big race festival next weekend. I took my new red wagon wheels out for a spin. I was stylin' in my ride with my canopy and all. I love it! I rode up like a pretty, pretty princess. It's even got a place for my cooler in the back to keep all my milk and juice cool! This was a pretty kick back practice. We just went out in the water once since we had a potluck afterwards. It was another fun day at the beach. It was still a little cloudy again this time.
Chillin' with my Daddy in our new wheels! It's heavy duty if the both of us can sit in it. Just remember Daddy, it's my ride not yours......
I have chapped lips, let's put on that chap stick! Pucker up!
Squatting on the sandy beach with my new sand toys. Fun, fun, fun!

OC Fair - Cowabunga

The annual OC Fair is back again. The theme this year is "Cowabunga". It was real cute with all the cow stuff. We usually make it to the fair on a weeknight so it's cooler and not as crowded. This year I got to ride my very 1st Pony. I pointed to them as we were walking by and Mommy & Daddy let me ride Tex, my Pony. The ride was real long.....Mommy walked right beside me but I didn't need her to. I was fine all on my own like a big girl these days. I was a little hesitant the first couple of rounds and then was only okay. I was slightly nervous the whole time. Something different this year since I rode the big giant elephant last year and Mommy didn't really want to do that again. She was scared since it was so high up. Afterwards we were in search for the famous Krispy Kreme chicken sandwich. I know it sounds weird but they raved about it on the radio so we had to try it. It was different.....good but I don't really know what all the rave was about....it was a sweet Krispy Kreme jelly doughnut with chicken. Interesting it was. Then we walked around to look at all the animals, rides and games. Then we just went for our usual Australian friend potatoes with cheese & ranch and ended the evening with the usual funnel cake and walking around all the shopping that was indoors. On our way out we bought a box of cinnamon rolls for the morning for the Grandma's and us......and still on our way out we ended up coming home with a really fancy new wagon for Miss. Makayla.....this is something we've been eyeing since last year. Well, we broke down and bought it! You'll see in our next few blogs when we head to the beach in her new wheels! Boy oh boy are we on a diet after this evening!

Here I am with my very 1st Pony, Tex. I look so serious or am I scared?

Welcome to the OC Fair, my head sure feel small in this big girl farmer body!

Tiny Bubbles

Makayla blowing bubbles for the 1st time! She's having so much fun with Grandma. She is already trying to say b-ub-le. She has gotten lots of bubbles from birthday party favors and gifts from Christmas and her birthday so we are well stocked with this new fun thing for Makayla. She's got the old fashioned bubble bottle, bubble gun, automatic bubble machine and special no spill bubble bottles. Fun stuff! Tiny bubbles all over the place.....from the back yard to the front yard she goes. She can blow them herself and she loves chasing them around.

1st Potty Time......

Okay, don't scroll down and look if you don't want to see little poopies. I know this might be weird to a lot of you but we are very excited that Makayla sat on the potty and actually went. She's been getting more and more familiar with her potty and seems to understand what it is. It all started with us putting the potty in the bathroom and we let her watch an Elmo Potty DVD that really clicked for her. She was watching the DVD and then pointing into the bathroom and her potty. A little bit after the DVD we took off her pants and diaper and she went and sat and below is what we got. She hasn't done it again since so we think it's going to be a long process. She sits on her potty all the time now with no diapers but nothing else has happened. Time will tell......Yeah Makayla!

Bike Ride

No pictures for this post. I went bike riding today from our house all the way down to the beach along the boardwalk to the pier and back. I went with Mommy, Uncle Alan & Auntie Som. Daddy had to work from home in the morning but then met up with us at the pier. I fell asleep on our ride to the pier since it was a little overcast and cool out with a nice breeze. When we got to the pier one of Auntie Som's friends, Kora met up with us to go blading, she's really good. We all hung out on the lawn area waiting for a band to finish setting up and play music for us. We arrived there at around 11:30am met a boy named Dylan that was just my age, he shared his ball with me. Then we had lunch. By the time we were heading back it was around 1pm and the band still hadn't started. So much for music today. I almost made it all the way home. We were probably 15 minutes away from the house when I had a big meltdown. I wanted out of my bike seat bad! Mommy had to pull over and Daddy rode home with Auntie & Uncle and they all came back for us. Good thing for the bike racks or Mommy would've had to solo it back home by herself. Sorry for the meltdown Mommy, it was just a long hot day. Overall I was a good girl.

Dragon Boat Practice

There's only one more practice after today until the big event on July 28 & 29th! Hope you can all come out at join us down at Mother's Beach in Long Beach. It's a good time! I had another fun day at the beach. This time my girlfriends couldn't make it but my Grandma & Grandpa joined us. I played in the sand and filled up my bucket. I didn't like being barefoot on the grass or sand. Icky's! I'm also not that comfortable with the beach water either. I love the birds, dogs & other kids at the beach. It was good to see everyone on the team again. Mommy drummed for the 2nd time this practice and she really enjoyed and had lots of fun with it. I think she did okay too since the boat was moving forward......I think that's a good sign.
Thanks to Auntie Lilo's Mom for all of my new Elmo goodies, my backpack, lunch bag & wallet! I love my backpack, I've been wearing it like a little school girl.
I'm ready to paddle, too bad the paddle is twice my size! I'm strong, let's go anyways!
I'm ready to drum too! Multitasking!
Here is Mommy in front drumming for our team! Looking good everyone! Go Mommy & team!

Bye, Bye Binky

Today was a big day for us! Makayla gave up her Binky! I had no intentions of doing it, it just happened. We were reading our little book before night, night time and all of sudden I just realized that she could be ready since she's understanding so much lately. I just told her that she's a big girl now and that the Binky is for babies since she really loves her babies lately. She looked for it for a little bit and was a little whiny but nothing major. I held her and she fell asleep and I put her in her crib and it was a done deal. She woke up a couple of times that night looking for it but it was pretty easy to get her back down. I hid all the Binky's, she only had 3 from her Grandma's for the daytime so we'll see how that goes too. We'll see if this lasts........I'll keep you posted! Wish us luck! I really wanted her to give it up by 18-months so we might be on track. But I know if she's super fussy that I'll cave because she's just too cute and I can't resist the pouty,pouty face!
Here they all are....one downstairs, one for her crib, and one for her travel bag.
Bye, Bye Binky!!

Boo-Boo Band-Aid

This is my 1st big boo boo. It's on my right heel. I started walking & running so much lately and with the hot weather and maybe my cute new shoes walking all the way home from our park probably did it! I got a big blister that was all raw and red. Daddy bought me pretty, pretty princess band-aids to make my boo boo better. Daddy put Neosporin on it to make it better too. I know how to show everyone my boo boo and understand what a band-aid is now.

California Adventure

This is Makayla's 2nd trip to California Adventure since Mia's 2nd birthday party at Ariel's Grotto in April. Daddy got to join us this time since he had to work when it was Mia's birthday. We just went towards the evening and it was real nice. When we arrived Makayla was still sleeping so Mommy pushed her in the stroller while Daddy rode the big Screamin' coaster. Then she woke up just in time to ride her favorite carousel ride and went all around the park and rode what she could. Then it was dinner time and she had yummy chicken nuggets. After dinner we went over to Bug's Life and rode more rides there. Now it was time to sit and wait for the big Electrical parade. While Mommy & Makayla found a spot to sit, Daddy went and got us Churros but all Makayla wanted were her apple slices. Our little girl is such a healthy eater. I let her try the junk food and she prefers her tomatoes, cucumbers and fruit. I guess I'm lucky for now.
My favorite ride anywhere, the carousel, but this one is under the sea and that's a seal I'm on....waving "Hi" to Daddy!
Here I am with Daddy on the big Sun Wheel ride. We were chicken and went on the non-swinging ones. Wonder if we'll be braver next time for the swinging ones? They looked scary since it goes up so high. We'll see......
I'm on the big rocket ride with Mommy...round and round I go. I loved it once Mommy buckled me in my own seat. I didn't even want Mommy to touch or hold me. I'm a really daring girl alright!
My first viewing of the famous Electrical Parade. We had front row seats! I think it was the 1st time Mommy & Daddy had ever seen this parade that close up. I made friends with the family sitting right next to us. They had a little girl that I played with, her name was Elizabeth. Hope I didn't bug her too much. I waved at all the floats an people & characters walking by us. So much fun!

Alyssa's 10th Birthday

We went to Alyssa's 10th birthday party today at Fountain Valley Skating Center. We didn't skate but we watched everyone since Makayla is too little to skate and they wouldn't let me carry her and skate. I guess that's a good thing since I don't think I'd be very good at it and there's a very good chance that I'd fall. We had lots of fun with all the kids, friends & family. Makayla really wanted to get out there on the rink. She loved it! The music and all the roller skating action. She kept on wanting to hang out on the ledge looking into the rink.
Happy Birthday Alyssa!
Birthday girl Alyssa with her little sis Alexis and cousin Makayla.

Princess Alyssa opening our card & gift.....cute stuff from Justice....and all girly, girly clothing store.
Makayla has her birthday party hat on! Let's go skating Mommy!!
I'm gonna jump into the roller rink.......I wanna skate.......but I'm too small!
The Bui family birthday picture, Alex, Alexis, Patty & birthday girl Alyssa ready to blow out her candles on her yummy fruit cake!

5-Year Anniversary

Today was our 5-year wedding anniversary! Wow! Can't believe it's flown by that quick! My wonderful husband planned a Vegas trip for us to celebrate. We flew out on Thursday morning and stayed at the New York, New York Hotel & Casino. We usually stay downtown but this was kind of a last minute trip and they were all sold out so we ended up on the strip which was a change of pace for us. It was lots of fun! We'd so do it again! Ryan had everything planned out so nicely.....we ate a late lunch downtown at our favorite Hawaiian restaurant called Aloha Specialties, then he took me to a the Venetian and we walked around, checked out the gondola rides and ate a late dinner at Delmonico's (Emeril's Steak House) on Thursday night and it was awesome! You gotta have their rib eye and save room for that banana cream pie! We were going to ride the gondola but it was all sold out by the time we were finished with dinner. Oh vell! The next day, Friday the 6th was our actual anniversary. We hung out downtown again in the day time and then headed back to our hotel to get ready to dine at the Paris Eiffel Tower Restaurant. This place was awesome! Totally romantic ambiance and a totally nice view! After all the fun we went back to our hotel and gambled a little bit. It was around 1am when we had a very scary event happen to us......there was shooting in our casino while we were on the casino floor. We & everyone started diving under the tables.....only 5 hurt and crazy, unhappy man was caught! I can't believe we saw the man and the gun firing! All so surreal! This was big....it was on the news in Vegas, everyone was talking about it and I had friends at home that saw it on the news and called me. Then when we got home it was in Saturday's OC Register paper. Wowzers!

4th of July

It's 4th of July and I'm ready to go on my decked out bike. Mommy decorated it in red, white and blue so that we could ride it along Main Street and watch the parade. It's a tradition that Mommy & Daddy do each year.....they always went bike riding on the 4th, until last year when I was born and too small to be on a bike but we still decked out my stroller last year and walked to the parade. So tradition is back to normal with me on a bike with Mommy & Daddy. We rode all over with Uncle Alan, Auntie Som, Uncle Phil, and all my cousins, Alex, Patty, Alyssa & Alexis. We met up with Nate & Rachee too. It was a big group we had to ride bikes but it was so much fun. The best part was how PCH was all closed up so that we could ride in the streets and along the beach! It was a nice day....a little over cast in the morning and then it got really hot towards the afternoon. Happy 4th everyone! Hope it was fun & a safe one!

Makayla all ready to head out to the HB parade on her bike. All decked out in her red, white and blue!
The parade had begun! Makayla enjoyed all the ones that had horses. She would squeal each time she saw one.
Mak waving her flag....check out her shoes that look like little floats....I just couldn't resist when I saw them and she had to have them! Just love dressing up my little girl for special occasions like this!
Makayla and her most favorite cousin Alyssa. They practically had matching 4th of July outfits on. It was too cute! We didn't even plan for it to be that way. Isn't Alyssa's new short hair cut cute? She donated her hair recently. We love her new look!
That's Uncle Phil that we hardly see anymore, he went riding with us. Daddy met us for lunch since he had to work this morning and didn't get to join us on our bike ride. I was taking a nap and he came to pick me up since Mommy didn't want to ride with me sleeping but then I woke up and we rode some more.
Here we are back at my cousin's condo since they live close to Main St. for us to drop off our bikes and ride from there for the parade and all the 4th of July festivities. That's my cousin Alexis in her red, white and blue and of course me to the right of her.

Hugs and "Bye, Bye" I had fun with you today Lexi!I'm mowing on my BBQ corn on the cob and my tri-tip! Yummy BBQ that we had with the family that evening after a hard day of bike riding. We were all suppose to go see fireworks but everyone ended up feeling lazy and tired. So in the end it was just Auntie Stace, Rachee, Mommy and me that drove around town to see fireworks and down towards the duck pond off of Warner & PCH to see the big HB pier fireworks but they just went up in the clouds. Thanks Auntie for driving us all around.

Summerlane Pool

Today, Makayla's cousins came over to go to our pool since it was such a nice day. It was Alexis' first visit to the pool. She did great! She wasn't happy in the beginning but she wasn't even that bad at all. Then she was just fine and splashing around. She had the cutest little bathing suit on that had floaters built in. The girls all had fun at the pool! We hope they come with us a lot this summer! Maybe we can get Alyssa to learn how to swim by the end of summer too! Good times! Yeah for summertime!
Makayla sitting on the pool steps next to her cousin Alexis. She's on her own and holding on to the pole like a big girl. Miss. Independent and brave!
That's Patty, Alexis, Makayla, Christine & Alyssa hanging out at the pool! Fun times!
Here's Makayla with her cousin Alyssa on their water weenie. Makayla just loves the water and her cousin Alyssa. Follows her like a shadow, it's so cute!