Off to Work

Elise is "off to work" in her high-heeled shoes and underwear! 

Finley is Five!

Starting the day with one of Finley's favorites-- oatmeal-- but made specially with birthday sprinkles!

Birthday dinner at Finley's absolute favorite restaurant, Din Tai Fung. This child can put away some dumplings!

Home for chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing, as per the birthday boy's request.

5 YEARS OLD!

Digging in!

Time for some gifts, like this off brand playdough dim sum set.  (Was trying to decide between buying that or the sushi set!)

Finley's main birthday request-- flippers!  YES!

Day After the B-day...

Sweetness in the taxi, coming home from taking Elise to the doctor for infected mosquito bites from Vietnam.

Opening gifts sent from Grandmommy, Granddad, Granny & Papa! 

Happy birthday to our sweet Finley!  Can't believe he's 5 already!!  

Elise's First Haircut

Milestone alert @ 2.5 years old: Elise got her first haircut-- just a trim to get rid of her tangly baby ends. She did great!!

Hoi An: Tra Que

We had a fantastic trip to Hoi An, Vietnam over the Easter holiday.  All the photos in this post are from our visit to the Tra Que Water Wheel Farm, where we spent an entire morning.  It was such a fantastic hands-on experience for the kids (and the adults)!

Beautiful welcome drink.

They put us in "farmer clothes" so we wouldn't get dirty.

Turning the water wheel mini replica with their feet.

Apparently Finley and Elise were a little late on their jump...

Out to the field with the water buffaloes.

We got to ride them!

A little hesitant to touch the horns.  I think he was a bit concerned about them being sharp.

Learning how to grind rice to make rice paper.

What's going to work? Teamwork!

We all got to try making our own rice paper, which could be used for fresh rice paper rolls, noodles, or crackers.

Success!

Every time we steamed one, our guide Helen made the kids sing a song while it cooked.

Cutting up the rice paper roll I made.

Oops, Daddy's is broken!  It will be dried and turned into chicken food.

Time for lunch!  It was beautiful and super yummy, just like our welcome drinks.  Vietnamese food is so vibrant and full of fresh herbs.  It is definitely one of our favorite cuisines.

The kids loved hanging out with Helen.  She was a fantastic hostess, and even let them try sitting on her motorbike.

Lost and Found

Found these photos on my phone from a few weeks ago.