100 and Counting

Avery's school recently celebrated the 100th day of the school year. To commemorate the occasion, the students were allowed to dress as if they were 100 years old. Avery had so much fun pulling her outfit together. 

Wearing her "fancy" track suit complete with blouse, pearls, corsage and white gloves

Pantyhose and tennis shoes

Lots of cats, of course 

Somebody call Willard Scott. We should all look this good at 100!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

From Our Family To Yours, Best Wishes For A Prosperous New Year!

To kick off Chinese New Year, we went to the local Chinatown for shopping and lunch. We bought a couple new decorations, some red envelopes and cute little light up lanterns for the girls. Then we treated ourselves to a wonderful Cantonese dim sum lunch. This restaurant (recommended by Li, our favorite cashier at our grocery store) is definitely off the beaten path for anyone who is not Chinese and is as authentic as you can get in the U.S.  We stuck out like sore thumbs, but we didn't care. The food was delicious -- shumai with shrimp, steamed rice and pork in banana leaves, steamed buns with red bean paste, and more and more and more. The carts just kept coming out of the kitchen and we would try something new every time. It was great fun and we won't wait until Chinese New Year to go back for more!

Making The Grade

Avery brought home her first semester report card and we couldn't have been prouder! We celebrated with a trip to Cold Stone for ice cream. We told Avery that she could get whatever she wanted, so she ordered dark mint chocolate ice cream with sprinkles in a chocolate dipped waffle bowl. This is quite a departure from her usual mango sorbet with Snowcaps (gaaahhh). Louisa didn't care to have any -- too cold!!

Good 'til the last drop!

Well, almost the last drop. I took this picture right as Louisa bumped the table and knocked Avery's ice cream masterpiece to the floor. Look at Avery's sad expression! She was actually fine with it and said, "It's ok, Lulu. I was done anyway."  

Breakfast Club

A Coke and A Smile

It was kind of cold and dreary this weekend, so we checked out the World of Coke. Did you know the Coca Cola script logo is the most recognized trademark in the world? And that the iconic bottle shape is one of the few packages that has a registered trademark? There are soooo many fascinating soda facts out there (yawn). 

Who knew? 

And, hey -- does anyone recognize this song?

Trying to uncover the secret recipe.

My mom's never going to let me drink this.

What? They have a tasting room?!!

And you're actually letting me have some? Somebody PINCH me!!

Me too, Mommy. Pleeeease. 

(This Energizer-Bunny is, and will remain, caffeine-free as long as I can help it).

Here's Avery getting a high-five right after she won a ball toss game in the tasting room. She won a vintage Coca Cola bottle. Great.

She was so excited, she couldn't stop jumping around. Or maybe she just had the shakes from all the soda.

The tasting room features sodas from around the world and are separated by continent. Here's Avery going nuts in South America.

The best ones, in our opinion, were from Asia. To our surprise, Charlie and I liked Veggiebeta from Japan. And Avery's favorite was Sprite Ice from Taiwan. It's your basic Sprite but with a delightful hint of mint. She tried it when we were in China and loved it. 

Jessica - 

We did try Beverly. Disgusting stuff. Really awful. Our tour guide told us it was her favorite, so Avery and I took a drink rather than a sip. Ha ha. Really funny, lady. Blech.

So beware. Beverly from Italy. Consider yourself warned.

The Warm Fuzzies

International Night

Our local high school holds an international night every year featuring music, dancing, costumes, food and more. This year, Avery was one of the children from her grade school who participated in the show-opening flag ceremony. She initially wanted to carry the flag of China, but took a back seat to a little girl who is actually Chinese. In honor of her classmate Oskari (who recently moved back to Helsinki), Avery carried the flag of Finland proudly. I couldn't get any shots in the theater. It was packed!

Go Big or Go Home

Recently, I handed Louisa a roll of paper towels and asked her to put it on the kitchen counter. She had something else in mind that was probably along the lines of, "Hmmm. White paper on a roll...I know exactly where this goes!"