Another Halloween has just passed. The festivities started out with my Baby’s school Halloween parade. The whole school circles the parking lot twice to “The Monster Mash” playing in the background. When my Princess was in the toddler class, she pretended I wasn’t there. As soon as my Baby saw me, she wanted me to hold her hand while she walked in the parade. Toddlers are so unpredictable.
After the parade, the class got together to take a group picture. There aren’t many things cuter then a group of 2-year-olds in costumes. My Princess had her school parade at the same time so my Grouchy Husband and I had to split up parade duty.
Later that day, we went to a nearby town to trick-or-treat. The town closes the streets where the shops are so they can hand out candy to the kids. This year, I let the girls be whatever they wanted. My Baby wants to do everything her big sister does so they were both Cinderella.
My girls don’t just give me simple smiles when they pose for pictures anymore.
These are silly princess curtsies.
This is just being silly.
Trick-or-treating wasn’t such a great experience and involved a lot of crying. My Baby was scared of all of the costumes so cried and wanted to be held. My Princess was scared of our friend who was dressed up in a hot dog costume outside our hot dog store. How can she be scared of a hot dog costume when we own a hot dog shop? You win some, you lose some. We’ll try again next year.
Another Halloween Survived Mama,
Chrissy xo
We spent the day at 
The farm has a big petting zoo. You can buy milk bottles and ice cream cones filled with food to feed the animals. I think this is the only petting zoo that uses ice cream cones. The girls had a blast feeding the animals.
You could only give the milk bottle to the sheep and goats. They preferred the food so the girls had to try hard to find animals that wanted the milk.
All of the girls took a pony ride. They even let my Baby on with my Grouchy Husband walking next to her. She had this expression on her face the whole time. I don’t think she could believe she was riding a pony.
We visited the bird sanctuary this year. You buy these $2 sticks of food, hold it in front of where the birds are sitting, and they walk onto your stick to eat. This was sooo much fun and the girls were in complete amazement to be holding a bird. If we lived closer, I would visit the farm often so the girls could spend time with animals and I wouldn’t have to take care of them.
The girls took a train ride and got the caboose all by themselves.
My Princess and A got on the stage of one of the live performances for a dance party. This was so cute.
We ended the day taking a family picture in the pumpkin patch. I was so tempted to use this picture for our holiday card but thought the pumpkins would feel off-season.
Growing up I didn’t really celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival. The only reason I knew it was that time of year is because we would have mooncakes in the house. This year I wanted to celebrate with the girls. Even though they are 5 and 2, I wanted to expose them to the importance of the festival, build our own traditions, and have fun.
The calligrapher, Tianyi Shan, had an activity table where you could trace her brushstrokes. My Princess chose to trace the characters for mooncake. She got to take home her sheet of traced characters and a few messages done by Tianyi Shan for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Tianyi Shan was very patient and helpful with her instruction.
During the Sensory Mooncake Experience, we learned mooncakes are round to symbolize a full moon, usually have four egg yolks to symbolize the four phases of the moon, and helped establish the 
My Princess did a shadow puppet craft of the jade rabbit. According to Chinese legend, a beautiful woman, Chang Oh, was married to Hou Yi, a skilled archer and great general in the Imperial Guard. He shot down eight of the nine suns that mysteriously appeared in the sky and was awarded by the Emperor with a pill of immortality. Chang Oh was envious so she ate the pill and escaped to the moon to hide. On the moon she found a jade rabbit under a tree. The air was cold on the moon and she began coughing, eventually coughing up the pill. She wanted to amend her devious act so she asked the rabbit to pound the pill into many pieces and scatter all over the earth so everyone could be made immortal. Then she built a palace for herself to live on the moon. She is known as the Lady of the Moon and you will see her design on the mooncake crust and packaging.
We made these beautiful lanterns at the Lantern Making Workshop. Lanterns are lit and carried throughout the Mid-Autumn Festival to celebrate the brightness of the moon. My Princess and I had a great time decorating and building our lanterns.
At the 
Mid-Autumn Festival Day, I found a 
This weekend was both my sister’s and sister-in-law’s birthdays. My sister lives in Boston so we weren’t able to celebrate with her but we were able to join my sister-in-law (SIL) and my brother-in-law (BIL) for some of her birthday celebration weekend. We met them at the 
It was a beautiful day and the winery was packed. The options for lunch were pizza from a wood burning oven, hot dogs, hamburgers, pulled pork, sausage sandwiches, and a sit-down cafe. I had heard really great things about the pizza. I don’t think the winery was use to having such a large crowd because you had to wait an hour for the oven to heat up again to place a pizza order and then it would be another hour to pick it up.
We decided to get hamburgers and hot dogs but had to wait in a line for over forty-five minutes, and all of the orders were mixed up so it took another thirty minutes to get our food. Thankfully, the line for wine and beer was a little bit shorter so at least you could drink while waiting. My Grouchy Husband and I are on a 
While the girls waited for lunch, they played with rocks.
When everyone finally got their food, we found a stone wall to sit and eat. The lawn at the winery was filled with people who had brought blankets and chairs to picnic, eat food, and drink wine. There was also live music. It was a perfect day to be outside.
After everyone ate, we jumped on a tractor-pulled wagon to the apple orchard.
Honey crisp apples are one of my favorite apples and they were available to pick that day. Yay!
I love moments like this. My girls love my SIL. My Baby is still saying, “Mama, Oo-Oo Birday” (Oo-Oo is their kiddie way of saying Father’s younger sister).
I love moments like this also. My Grouchy Husband is a tough guy but he has two huge soft spots in his heart for our girls.
This was my Baby’s first experience at an orchard being able to walk. She was so excited to pick an apple from the tree and eat it.
A surprise to the day was picking pears. They were high in the tree so we had to use this long stick with a metal basket at the top. My Princess found her own stick to pick the pears.
There weren’t that many pears in the trees to pick but we were able to pick almost a whole bag.
My Baby just finished her first week (3 days) of toddler school. Since this is a class for 2 year olds, the transition period is longer then most other classes. This week we went to school for one hour, next week is two hours, and the following week starts the regular schedule of two and a half hours a day. I stay with her during the class until the teacher feels she’s ready for me to leave. I was the only parent in the class all week. I’m ok with that, she’s my youngest, and I hope she needs me forever. The class is at a Montessori school. I really like the 
This week the class started in the back playground where there is a huge sandbox. My Baby loves sand so we were off to a great start.
After playing in the back playground, all of the children went to the bathroom to wash their hands. The toddler class has their own bathroom with everything at their height. It was so adorable to watch my Baby get soap, wash her hands, get a paper towel, and step on the trash can to throw away the paper towel. She didn’t want to wait in line so she grabbed a stool in one of the bathroom stalls and put it in front of the sink. She loves to play with water…clearly.
After washing their hands, they head to the classroom for “work” time. During this time, the children have the freedom to choose something to play with or work on. The classroom is setup into individual stations to make this decision specific for the children. During “work” time, my Baby did some puzzles. Ms. Katalin, her teacher (who was also my Princess’s teacher), was helping my Baby and her classmate, G, work on the puzzles. I absolutely love Ms. Katalin. She is so nurturing and patient. My Princess still remembers her and the experience in her classroom.
My Baby loved this little slide. She does not like to go on slides at the playground so I was surprised she was on it, but I think this one was little enough for her to not be scared coming down.
One of the teachers aids, Camelle, was helping my Baby name the plastic fruit. Cleaning up your work before choosing something else to do is something that is enforced starting the first day of school. From experience, this is something they learn to do in the classroom and doesn’t necessarily transfer to how they play at home.
My Baby’s favorite part of “work” time was getting her own snack. The tray, paper towel, tin cup and plastic cup are all at the station and she needs to put it together and then find a seat at the snack table before she starts eating. She was in heaven.
After “work”, it is circle time. During this time, Ms. Katalin, played a recorder, handed out stars and sang “Twinkle Twinkle”, then played a ball rolling game. My Baby was very interested in the whole experience of circle time. She sat right next to Ms. Katalin.
The class ends with each child popping bubbles and then they are dismissed to go home. This so far is my Baby’s most memorable part of school. When I ask her what she did at school, the first thing she always says is bubbles.
The day after 
My brother also made his famous sangria.
My brother had catering help, but like all other Wong family parties, some guests (my Dad’s friends) like to get involved. Uncle Jay and my father-in-law helped cook the 27 chickens cut up for the fried chicken.
Besides the amazingly tender fried chicken, the star of the BBQ was my brother’s paella. He cooked it on a 35″ pan on top of a homemade wood fire pit. I have to admit, I had my doubts. It would be the first time he cooked on this huge pan.
My brother making the paella was a spectacle. Adding in each ingredient one by one, lining up all of the seafood. You could not help but watch this crazy guy making paella in this enormous pan.
Not only was making the paella entertainment, it was absolutely delicious! We literally ate it as soon as it was cooked. I’ve never had paella like this.
My Baby waiting in the grass to play cornhole with someone. She was one of the youngest “walking” kids at the party. At times it’s hard to find a play buddy and mama isn’t always cool enough to play with.
I took a picture of the back yard setup from my parent’s room. The day started out pretty rainy so we had to borrow a few tents. I still cannot believe we (and I say that loosely since I didn’t help much because I was busy with the girls and the wedding) fed over 80 people at the house.
This past weekend my sister, Kimbie, got married! She lives in Boston but wanted to get married in New York because we have so much family in New York. It was a beautiful wedding full of details that my sister and her now husband, Mike, customized to make it a very personal event. She wore my mom’s wedding dress and had the sleeves removed because my mom got married in November. My mom only spent $200 to buy it over 35 years ago. The dress turned out amazing.
My sister had her reception at the 
My sister was also wearing a traditional Chinese red dress (cherngsom, 長衫) worn at weddings at the reception. She wanted pictures with it in the garden so she put it on before the ceremony.
All of us bridesmaids helped her into the dress and put on all of the gold heirloom jewelry from our family. My sister let us pick our bridesmaids dresses. Her only requirement was it had to be red. I really liked this because you could go out and find the best dress to fit your figure and style. My sister’s bridesmaids were her three best friends from college, Mary Kate, Teydin, and Vanessa, my sister, Bet, and me.
After she got dressed, we headed to 
Here she and Mike are getting together for a picture with his family.
My Princess really wanted to be friends with Mike’s nephew. Little ones always find other little ones and instantly want to make connections.
Here Mike and my sister are taking pictures with the girls. They were their flower girls if they wanted to be. My sister knows how unpredictable the temperament of a 5 and 2 year old can be. Thankfully, they were into being flower girls that day.
My sister had a list of all of the photos she wanted the photographers to take. She wanted pictures with the families, friends at the ceremony, and individual pictures with all of the bridesmaids.
If you weren’t taking pictures, you sat inside the main house in the air condition. My mom initially didn’t want to wear this red dress because she thought it revealed all of her imperfections. Since it was a hot day, she had to wear this sleeveless dress instead of this other dress with a scratchy jacket. She looked amazing.
Here is one of the rooms in the main house people were hanging out in.
My sister and Mike had a commitment document for all wedding guests to sign. By signing it, we committed to stand beside them, offering love and support to strengthen their relationship.
The ceremony began with Mike and his parents coming down the gravel path.
The girls and I were next. It took a little coaching to keep them on the path and not wonder off or pick up rocks on the ground. My sister made little wands for them to hold while walking.
Then finally my Dad walked her down. She looked so pretty and grown up.
Mike and my sister sat next to each other during the ceremony.
Only immediate family and close friends were invited to the ceremony. It was very small, less then 20 people. There was a little drama in my family because of the limited attendees. My family is big so drama is inevitable. We sat in a semi-circle around them. Their friends, Chris and Phil officiated the ceremony. My Dad is pretty conservative so he was freaked out about a non-religous leader marrying my sister. After hearing how personal they were able to get, he understood why my sister and Mike wanted this.
My sister and Mike spoke about their relationship, when they first realized they wanted to marry each other, wrote their vows, and how each of us were important to them. It was extremely personal, they wanted to express their love for each other and to each of us.
Mike is a really emotional guy. He had a hard time getting through all of his speeches. My sister had to finish some of them for him. It was a little funny hearing her say, “Kim, I love you”. Seeing him so emotional was really touching.
My sister and Mike asked each couple to speak on a topic related to marriage. Mary Kate spoke first and her topic was happiness.
Mike’s mom spoke next. She did a playful, light-hearted speech with Mike’s dad on partnership. I spoke on selflessness. Before the ceremony I asked my Grouchy Husband to listen to my speech. He was upset it was so personal and included examples from our marriage. I had to quickly edit my speech to keep the peace between us this big day. What a great example of selflessness!
The cocktail hour was on the back porch at the Kittle House. My sister and Mike built cornhole, bean bag toss, boards for people to play.
This is the only picture I have with my Grouchy Husband.
Here is my Dad with his friends. He’s known everyone in this picture from either elementary school or college.
There were no booster seats or high chairs at our table. The girls were grown up that night with full size silverware and glass cups. Thanksfully(!) , nothing broke.
My Baby is obsessed with babies. She wanted to hold Baby Jacobi all night.
The dance floor was packed. My sister and Mike picked all of the music for the party. It’s a little controlling but they felt very strongly they didn’t want 
Both my girls were dancing queens that night. I knew my Princess loved to dance but was totally surprised my Baby didn’t want to leave the dance floor. My Baby wanted to be by my sister’s side all night. I think it’s because so many people were coming up to her she thought that’s where all of the action would be, and she was right.
There was one mishap on the dance floor. My Aunt Martha fell while dancing with my cousin (her son) David. There are conflicting stories between the both of them of what happened. She had to leave the wedding early because her wrist hurt so much. The next day she went to Urgent Care to get x-rays.
For my maid of honor speech my sister made me write it down because when I drink I tend to forget what I want to say. I had been drinking so it was a good thing I had the written version. People laughed, Mike cried, so I was happy.
It was a day filled with so much excitement. Too much excitement. Not everyone could make it to the end.
Today was a special day…the first day of kindergarten for my Princess. It’s been a chaotic couple of weeks with moving, my sister’s wedding, and now the first day of kindergarten. Before this crazy time I thought I would be very emotional kissing her good bye but I didn’t shed a tear. I think it’s because of the lack of sleep and the anxiety of her having a meltdown (like the ones from last week at tennis camp). She was nervous when she said good bye but all smiles when I picked her up….phew. We took this picture right before going into the classroom.
My Grouchy Husband joined us on this big day.
This is her cubby. I told her she had the best spot being at the end.
Here is her seat. Everything is labeled with her name. She has many friends from preschool in her class so it’s really nice to see so many familiar faces. I love that the classroom has so many windows.
The other day my Princess and I, her good friend M, and M’s mom went to have the 
The tea room is part of the Eloise shop in the basement of The Plaza where the food hall is located.
The Fashion Room in the Eloise shop has costumes, a piano, a stage, and lots of mirrors for performing or walking the cat walk when you try on the clothes.
In the tea room, there are about eight tables that seat up to four. The staff pre-sets the tables for you according to the number in your party.
For drinks, you have a choice of tea (of course!), pink lemonade, and water. We ordered all three for the girls to try.
We were served cucumber, jam and cream cheese, and egg tea sandwiches, and fruit kabobs. For dessert, brownies, cupcakes, and cookies.
The food was tasty. I loved the Eloise plates.
Since Eloise could not join us for the tea party, the girls had a chance to write her a letter asking a question and I gave my email address so Eloise could respond back. We’re still waiting for our response. My Princess asks me everyday if Eloise has emailed back. I think this is the cutest idea.
After we ate and the girls wrote their letters, they headed into a room where they were read an Eloise story.
I really liked woman reading the story, she was very animated.
My Princess received a special gift at the end of the tea party. In the bag was a $10 gift card to spend at the shop and some stationary. The book was, 
Last Saturday my Grouchy Husband and I took the girls to 
The girls wanted a balloon from one of the balloon artists. I found the shortest line and while we waited, I went to the food court and bought lunch. Yes, the girls are eating hot dogs and waffle fries, the Carnegie Deli had the shortest line at the food court. I sacrificed a healthier meal (though I do question if a hamburger or pizza is that much healthier) for waiting in a long line.
And after an hour and a half (!), we finally made it to the front of the line. My Princess wanted a rose, and my Baby wanted a dog, but since the line was so long, the balloon artist was only making flowers and swords. So the girls got two flowers and they were thrilled.
We entered the stadium about a half hour before the show started. At first we sat in a section directly across from the stage to get the best view of the performance but it was too sunny. Then we moved in the shade behind the stage. This was much more comfortable and we could see the show from the huge screens in the stadium. The girls are still too little to understand the concept of waiting so we left after hearing 
A 140 foot steel Unisphere is at the entrance of the NTC. It was built for the 1964-1965 World’s Fair as a symbol of world peace. We’re on our way out and bought ice cream for the ride.
My Baby couldn’t stay awake long enough to finish her ice cream. Too much fun at Arthur Ashe Kids Day.