Father's Day Extravanganza

So last weekend was Father's Day weekend and it was a wonderful time of celebrating the best father in the world aka Eugene Kim. So to show appreciation for all that Eugene does for the children we went to Blue Water Grill. It was also the first day of Kids Restaurant Week where you only pay for your children's age. In our case, we paid $2 for Justin and $4 for Tyler and a reasonable price for adults for a 3 course gourmet meal. It's cheaper than a happy meal so we couldn't miss a deal of a lifetime. This is just one of the highlights of living in New York City, that's for sure.

Justin with his father

Tyler with his chicken lollipops (appetizer). It was so moist and delicious. We don't even have pics of the other appetizers and entrees because we couldn't wait to eat. Eugene had the filet mignon which he absolutely enjoyed. I had salmon which was good.

Dessert time = my kids' favorite part of the meal. "Fruit pizza with bananas and strawberry jam"


Justin enjoying his dessert, smores lollipop.

Look at the satisfied look on Eugene's face. You can't beat good food and good companions.

Justin and my father-in-law's birthdays are one week apart and we celebrated their birthdays together on the actual Father's Day. We love our extended family and we thank God for their presence in our lives.

Justin and Grandpa. See any resemblance?

On Father's Day morning, Eugene was treated to homemade french toast bake with fresh berries and our family favorite, veggie sausages.

Here is the card that Tyler colored for his dad. Thank you Eugene for truly being such a sacrificing and loving father. Tyler and Justin are very lucky to call you "daddy". You've already taught them so much in this short period of time. I'm sure you have so much more to share. May God continue to guide you as you lead our family. Happy Father's Day. We love you very much!

Rain, Rain Go Away

I was watching the news and they reported that until 6/17, there were only three days that it didn't rain for the month of June in NYC. Unbelievable right? So as the old saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Luckily Tyler had a pair of galoshes and He LOVED the fact that he was allowed to jump in puddles. What child would resist?

Tyler had so much fun that he was wishing it would rain today so that he can go out and jump in puddles. I'm sure there will be many more days of puddle jumping in the summer ahead.

Happy 2nd Birthday!!!

Justin's birthday is June 17 which was this past Wednesday but we celebrated his birthday on Thursday with good friends from our church playgroup. It was a nice cozy celebration with his good friends, Marcus, JJ and his brother Tyler. The kids and the moms had a really good time. Thank you again for coming. Justin is very lucky to have you as friends and family.

We attempted to play the game "pin the nose on the lion". Tyler showed the most enthusiasm and the best accuracy.

JJ having fun with the party decoration. My apologies to Marcus for not including a picture. It was really challenging for me to take pictures and host at the same time.

Chocolate cupcake with whipped cream frosting with the coordinating lion candle.

Justin loved blowing out the candle that we sang happy birthday three times. Happy 2nd Birthday Justin! Time flies so fast when you're having fun. We are so thankful to God for you. You have made our lives brighter and our family so much happier. Love Always, Tyler, Mommy and Daddy.

Afternoon Indoors

Last week was very rainy and we had to stay indoors. That usually means I have to be very creative to keep the boys entertained and not go stir crazy. I was desperate and pulled out the finger painting set. Justin was elated since it was his first time to play with paint. Now I know why I waited so long. Justin had paint everywhere including his face, arms and legs (good thing for the smock) and he loved every minute of it. Here is Justin enjoying painting with a sponge but he preferred using his own fingers to paint the masterpiece.

Here is a brief conversation between the boys.

Tyler: Justin, I'm going to teach you how to fingerpaint ok.?

Justin: ok

Tyler: You first have to put some paint on your fingers and draw on the paper.

Justin: ok (as he's painting the paper and the rest of his body).

Tyler having a great time expressing his artisic side.

The clean up afterwards took longer than the actual painting but what a wonderful time the boys had. Now, let's go outside!

Two of Mets' Biggest Fans

If you know our family, you know that Eugene is a die-hard Mets fan (more like fanatic if you ask me, just kidding honey). A couple of weeks ago, there was an opportunity from his workplace so he took Tyler to Citifield to meet some players and to watch batting practice from the field. I think this was a dream come true for Eugene and Tyler had fun as well.

David Wright signing autographs and Tyler proudly holding a baseball with his autograph.

Tyler posing with bench coach Sandy Alomar Sr.

Chillin' with milk

Watching batting practice.

Tyler has been to more Mets games than I have including a playoff game but I think he still has a great time going to the ballbark with his father. Eugene ranks this day as one of the top 10 days of his life around #5. I wonder what #1 is? haha.

Strawberries Galore

So since I had so much strawberries from picking them (see the next post for info and pics) I had to use them before it went bad. I love strawberries in every form and fashion so here are some ways that I used them. I made strawberry jam and it's so good stirred into yogurt, on top of pancakes and waffles and on toast. The possibilities are endless. My new favorite discovery courtesy of Martha Stewart is ricotta cheese and strawberry jam on toast. It's so tasty because the cheese is so mild. Justin loves eating the ricotta cheese with the jam on top. I think he thinks it's ice cream. He couldn't get enough. I highly recommend it for kids and everyone else.

You can't resist fresh strawberries with homemade whipped cream. It's a good thing I didn't have enough strawberries to finish the whipped cream or I would need to run another half-marathon. :-)


Strawberry shortcake cookies (a very yummy and cakey recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart)

Strawberry smoothie courtesy of Eugene Kim. :-)

Here is a jar of the homemade organic strawberry jam. Since I made two jars and they don't last too long I thought it would be fun to give a jar away to one of my friends. So in honor of Justin's 2nd birthday next week please leave a comment stating his exact birthdate to "win" a jar. I'll personally deliver the jar and if you live out of the city I guess I'll have to give you something else. ;-) Good luck.

For The Love of Strawberries

Since the boys are older, Eugene and I thought that they would love to go strawberry picking. We went to the Golden Earthworm Organic Farm in Riverhead, Long Island and had a blast picking strawberries off the vine. It was a first for all of us so it was even more special.

Did you know that June is the only month you can pick strawberries here in NY?

Justin was busy eating strawberries than actually picking them. He was in heaven.

Here is Tyler in action. He did a wonderful job picking the best strawberries to fill his basket.

Taking his job seriously. I think Tyler appreciated where the fruit comes from now.

Tyler with his bounty. What a delicious way to spend the day.

I love anything to do with strawberries so when I heard about a Strawberry Festival I had to check it out with the family and fellow friends. So it was basically a carnival on a field at a high school in Long Island. The strawberry theme was apparent throughout the festival with lots of dessert featuring the fruit.

I never saw a strawberry ride like this before.

A balloon in the shape of you guessed it...a strawberry!

I don't know what came over me but I took Tyler and Justin on the ferris wheel by myself and it was the longest 5 minutes of my life. Justin kept getting off the seat and I was so afraid that he would jump off the ferris wheel whenever we got to the top. Reminder to self, never let Justin go on a ride without a seatbelt to strap him down.

Tyler loves carnival rides.

Tyler and Ella (a good friend of Tyler's since he was born) enjoying a ride together.