2009 May

Archive for May 2009

Riverfest Fireworks Get Less Impressive Each Year

Posted on May 17, 2009 by Ching under Life, Things to Do.

Cory’s sister Christy was nice enough to allow Brian and I to join them at their saved spot for yesterday’s fireworks show. Brian and I brought our travel games set so we would have something to do while we waited. The four of us (Cory, April, Brian and I) ended up playing “Kings and Threes,” which Brian got super lucky and won.

The Riverfest fireworks were so-so. I think the highlight of the entire evening for me was Christy’s five-year-old kid Marshall and his zingers. Earlier in the evening, Brian and I had to move our blanket. Marshall wanted to know where we were going. Brian wanted to play a trick on him and told him that we were leaving because the fireworks were over. Brian tried to convince Marshall that he missed it because he was too busy sliding up and down the hill. I got a real hoot out of listening to the two of them talk. Brian told Marshall about how he missed all the booming and crashing and now that it’s all over, it’s time to go. Marshall, who seemed to be an experienced fireworks spectator, was not going for it but you could tell he was confused. He was like, “Na-ah.” When Marshall saw me laughing he exclaimed, “That wasn’t funny!” while giving Brian a stern look. It was adorable.

My butt hurt from having sat on the hard ground so long, but Marshall’s zingers made it all worthwhile. As Dancing Queen started playing during the fireworks show, he shouted very proudly “I know this song! It’s from Mamma Mia!” So cute!

Getting out of the downtown area was mayhem per usual. It is one of my least favorite parts of Riverfest, and post fireworks activity. I was immediately reminded of why we skipped watching the fireworks in years past. Anyway, we managed to get out of downtown somehow and met Cory and April for munchies at IHOP. Everyone had the same idea, apparently, because they were packed last night.

Cory finally got a hold of Jay and Becca. We thought they were going to join us for fireworks, but they opted to play poker instead. In hindsight, that might have been a better idea. LOL.

Kidding aside, Jay had mentioned to Cory that he wanted to play as much poker as he can so he can make some money before his trip to Boston. I have a better money-making idea for him…

I think we should sell light sabers at next year’s River Festival. You can get these things for a mere $2 each online and they were selling them for $10 a pop. I bet these dudes made a killing!

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Steffano and Cameron at Sport Stacking Competition

Posted on May 17, 2009 by Ching under Things to Do, Videos.

This is a video that Clayton Orbase (Sheryll’s husband) created of the photos and videos taken during the 2009 Sport Stacking Competition held at the Canadian International School in Beijing, China. Cameron and Steffano are both really good. Steffano, specially. Sheryll says that he will get to compete in the WSSA World Sport Stacking Championships next year. The one for this year was held last month in Denver. If it is held in Denver again next year, Brian and will need to make a trip out there to show our support.

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Eli’s Birthday at Tita Dina’s House

Posted on May 17, 2009 by Ching under Family.

We had fun at Eli’s birthday party yesterday. It was held at Tita Dina’s house because there is a small lake out back for the kids to fish. Cannady Girl did a fantastic job of planning and decorating. She was very ambitious and made pancit, which was yummy.

Unfortunately for her, now that we know we know she can make pancit she might just very well be put in charge of making it for every family gathering. Sorry, CG.

I think I was most impressed with Eli’s cake, which CG decorated masterfully. It was delicious to boot! How often do you encounter beautifully decorated cake that is edible?

By the way, in case you noticed, the fact that my outfit matched my gifts was completely unintentional. I may be geeky, but not that geeky.

Speaking of gifts, kudos to Amazon and Baby Age for getting Eli’s gifts to me on time. Well, 2 out of 3 gifts because one is still on its way. Both items from Baby Age (the scribble center and the extra sticks of chalk) arrived last week. I think the extra eraser I ordered was through Amazon only (and not Baby Age). I told CG that I still have one more thing coming so I may just deliver that to their house whenever it arrives.

Anyway, here are some choice photos from yesterday…

The look on Logan’s face when Brian told him there was nothing left in the pinata. Priceless.

A picture of the mischievous birthday boy himself.

Jenni looking pretty, naturally.

Mom and Bella, looking cute together.

Jenni, Matthew and Jennifer (CG): adults somehow always manage to outnumber kids at children’s birthday parties.

It was fun watching Eli not want to unwrap the rest of his presents, which is typical. Usually, kids will just want to play after they unwrap the first toy. There were so many Kodak moments yesterday. The boys were so precious.

Speaking of precious, check out the picture on the right. It was CG as a little girl. How cute! I think seeing old photos of CG might have been one of the day’s highlights. Of course, I took photos of the photos. You’ll never know when they’ll come in handy for blackmail or other purposes. Just kidding. Check out the slideshow below or our Flickr to see more.