"Fishboy" Family Adventures

OBX 2008

Another year and another adventure at the beach with the Sawyer-Brown-Nguyen-Nguyen-Butcher clans.  This year was a little different because we booked a house for in-season instead of off-season. This is due to the fact that some of the kids are now in elementary school and they cannot go to the beach when school is in session. There are positives and negatives with this.  The big negative is that we get less house for the same amount of money.  The big positive is that we actually went when the weather was nice and hot!

So the house for this year was not nearly as palatial as years before: Sunshine Daydream. Instead of oceanfront, we got sound view. Instead of 8+ bedrooms, we got 5. Instead of 2 dish washers, we got a crappy one. Instead of free high speed internet, we tried to steal our neighbors' wireless signals. Instead of the beach right at our back door, we had to lug all our gears and take a shuttle to the beach. Instead of a large wide pool, we got a pool the size of a jacuzzi.  Instead of a big screen TV, we got a 32" one with hardly any channels. Reading this, you might think we are spoiled rotten from the amenities from previous years and you are CORRECT!  You need full luxury when taking care of 9 wild kids.  Even with our disappointment for a more pimped house, we all had a blast as usual.

The daily ritual of the kids waiting for Uncle Skip's meat and fried oil friendly breakfast.  BACON, BACON, BACON, fried donuts, fried eggs, bacon, sausages, bacon, fried donuts, bacon. Did I mention bacon yet?

 

The look of a satisfied meal of bacon and side items. Wait a minute! Do I see some green on their plates? Who did that? Surely, the vegetables were not from Uncle Skip!! 

  

Our shuttle stop that is right across from the house. Attack the shuttle and take no prisoners!

The kids at play with their scooters.

"Don't you dare take a picture of me!," declared the paparazzi unfriendly Charlotte.

The annual family picture of us at the front of the house.

Moments like this is why we go to the beach.

To see more pictures, click here.

So cute!!

If this picture doesn't warm your heart, then you shouldn't be reading this blog!

Pumpkin carving

I was never into Halloween.  Decorating the house, dressing up in costumes, and running around to get candy were never my cup of tea. Yes, how can a person that loves action figures and comic books not get into Halloween? So when Margaret brought home a couple of pumpkins and a carving kit, I stayed far away.  So guess what kind of carving kit did they get?  Yep, damn princesses.  Argg!

.....i must admit, she did a great job and the pumpkins look great even if they are princesses.  I wonder if they would allow me the joy of smashing the pumpkins later on? hahaha

A budding artist?

Hazel loves princesses and she loves to draw them.  As bias parents, we think her drawing of people are unique and beautiful.  The picture below represents seven princesses. As Hazel explained to us, the two on the left are pregnant with baby girls.  The father of the babies are in the castle between princess "green" and "orange." Pretty impressive huh?

"Me eat your food, ha ha!"

We celebrated Uncle Duc's birthday at a nice seafood restaurant. The restaurant just opened 7 weeks ago and luckily for us, it was completely empty.  No long lines, no wait, and personal service for the family.  Of course, it is always a crap shoot when we take the girls out for a nice dinner.  How much time do we have at the table before all hell break loose? Luckily for us, they were model citizens!  Promising cakes and desserts always help the cause.  So for dessert, we ordered a banana split and a chocolate lava cake to share.  The girls jumped on both of them right away.  Uncle Duc was enjoying his banana split when they jumped on his lap and proceeded to "share."  It was more like Hazel and Charlotte getting 80 percent of the dessert while the birthday boy got 20 percent.  When the plate was completely void of anything edible, Charlotte turned around to her uncle and said "me eat your food, ha ha!"

Hazel, the neighborhood watcher

Now that Hazel has her own room, her bed is right next to the window facing the front of the house. Tonight, I was going through the van looking for Margaret's keys and came back inside the house.  We were discussing something at the door when we heard Hazel mumbling something from upstairs.  We thought she was asleep already so I thought she needed water or something else.  When we asked her, she said "Popa, you forgot to close the door."  I was confused at first but then realized that she peaked outside the window and noticed that I forgot to close the mini van doors.  Smart, perceptive, kid unlike her forgetful Dad.

The great deluge

Everyone knows about Hurricane Gustav this year. Hurricane Hanna though, was the one that gave us a lot of rain.  Behind our house is a lake that is dam controlled and so we never worry about flooding. That changed somewhat when Hanna came in and dumped tons of rain on us. For about 6 hours on Saturday morning, we watched the lake swelled closer to our house.  Margaret never believed me that one year when she was away, the bench and the trash can near the lake disappeared but she saw it with her own eyes this time.  As you can see from the pictures, it was pretty near our house. Luckily, the water level went over the dam so we were never in danger. 

Where is the trash can (neighbor having fun)?

Where is the path?

notice the path and the bench?

Finally, the monsters are asleep

Every night ever since Charlotte got mobile, it is a chore to get the girls to settle down during bed time.  The major problem was that they love each other so much that they cannot stay still in bed.They need to play with each other constantly even if the other one is ready to settle down.  So 8pm bedtime becomes 9pm, 10pm, or even 11pm with us yelling at them to settle down.

The seminal event came when we reclaimed the room that was occupied by Ba Sau, our nanny.  The girls were just too much for her to watch so we decided not to retain her services anymore. This allowed us to have the 3rd bedroom back. We decided to have Hazel move into her "own" room and the problem went away instantly! Now, it is such a joy to say goodnight and watch them settle in quietly right away. Hip Hip Horray!

"i Have a long penis"

I bet that got your attention! I haven't made an entry for a long time and thought it was appropriate way to announce my comeback.  :-)

The title is not really what you think and the explanation is really quiet simple: Hazel and Charlotte.  As most parents can attest, when they ask question about body parts, you tell them the facts.  There is no point in telling them anything else.  A penis is a penis and a vagina is a vagina.   Well, grandpa and grandma bought them a toy golf club set over the Summer.  The other day Hazel and Charlotte was taking a bath and was running around naked.  The next thing I knew, they walked in to the bathroom while I was cleaning up and told me "Popa, I have a long penis."  I looked over to them and tried not to bust out laughing. There in front of me were my two girls with the golf clubs between their legs.  For the next 5 minutes they ran around with their "penis" giggling and yelling that they have a long penis.  'nuff said.