Smurfs!

By MAGGIE WANG

Our dear friend Alice Tu works for Sony, so she was able to get us tickets to watch the "The Smurfs" movie on the studio lot on a Sunday morning. It was Sedona's second time to the movie theater and Maven's first. 

The girls loved the movie and the cute little smurfs -- Smurfette being their favorite, of course, but great appreciation for Papa Smurf, too. Maven had a little trouble going to sleep later because of mean Gargamel, but ultimately, they are obsessed. 

We have become that family that buys McDonald's Happy Meals (16 Smurfs available) to get the toys. Argh! Not good. At least we have limited it to five Smurfs so far. Kevin even considered buying Papa Smurf and Smurfette on ebay to end the cycle and just get the good ones. His latest shortcut was calling the five closest McDonald's to use to find out what Smurfs they have and go only if they have the good ones (they didn't, so we didn't go). Did I say "we" are obsessed? I meant Kevin is. :-)

Here are a couple pictures of us walking through the Sony studio lot, where they film various shows and movies ...

Sedona's Swim Progress

By MAGGIE WANG

This is the same girl who was so afraid of the water last year that she didn't like baths!

It is so impressive how much Sedona has progressed. She can now easily navigate the waters so that when we go out to pools she doesn't need us in the water with her. She is always asking to go the pool or the beach to play with water. She embraces challenges to go off the diving board or flip underwater or learn new strokes. I'm so proud of her.

Santa Monica Pier: Pacific Park

By MAGGIE WANG

The girls' last day at Montessori was Thursday, and as they are taking the summer off from school, it is time for some adventure! I needed to make a trip to Santa Monica to see a client, so the family tagged along and we hit Pacific Park by the Santa Monica Pier.  I thought the girls (wearing their new matching shirts, courtesy of Tru and Annie) would have a blast, so I bought all-day passes for unlimited rides. Um, well, unfortunately that was a waste of money. The girls were afraid of the slightly-too-wild rides and unhappy with most everything but the bumper cars. At least they could do that again and again with the passes!

Happy!

Unhappy. Started to go too high. See Sedona's face.

Again unhappy! The operator stopped this not-high-but-way-too-bouncy ride early for them to get off.

Yay! Happy again on the carousel -- though it wasn't part of the unlimited ride package. So that meant ...

Girls happy. Mommy unhappy. Ha-ha.

2011 Family Portraits

By MAGGIE WANG

We had a few sneak peeks earlier in a blog post, but here are the finished results of our family photo shoot with Natalie Young. We're very happy, as expected!

What I love about these pictures is they truly capture how much the girls love each other -- how Maven adores Sedona and how Sedona enjoys her playmate -- and also their personalities shine through.



Texas Trip: Day 1

By MAGGIE WANG

We jumped on a plane Wednesday for Austin, Tx., to see my college bud, Julie, and her family. She and I coincidentally have daughters almost exactly the same age, and we're trying to start a tradition where the girls get together yearly. Last year, they came to Cali for some Disney and beach fun. This year, we are in their town. We are having a great time despite the 100-plus-degree Texas weather.

We stepped off the plane to pick Julie's kids, Laney and Kira, from school and their girls and our girls hugged, talked and played together within minutes as if they hadn't skipped a beat from their last outing. It was super cute. My favorite part our first day was listening to Sedona and Laney chatting away in the backseat as Julie and I do. 

We hit up Rock 'N River Family Aquatic Center, which is one of the City of Round Rock's water parks. It had two adult/big-kid tubular slides, a lazy river and two beach pools with a little-kid slide. The girls had a blast. The crazy thing is that there are many water parks throughout the Austin area with incredible prices that range from free to the $5.50-per-adult admission we paid as non-residents.

Saying Bye To 'Coupey'

By MAGGIE WANG

I know it seems like we go through cars like we drink water but not in the case of "Coupey," my 2001 BMW 325ci. It was my first car purchase, post-graduation. I sold the 1996 Jeep Cherokee that my parents surprised me with in my garage way back in my senior year of college -- then used my work signing bonus and whatever other money I saved up to go with a lot of negotiating with BMW Santa Monica to buy "him." He was a product of hard work! (His "Coupey" name only came about once we had kids, of course.)

I bought him knowing that a two-door coupe would be out of the question once I had children, and well, I was right. So in 2006 we leased a silver Acura TL, but I got tired of hitting Sedona's head on the car ceiling as as put her in, so I sold it early in a non-smart, non-cost-effective move to get a 2008 green-black Porsche Cayenne. Before the Cayenne lease expired, we purchased a black '09 BMW M3 -- named "Blackie" by me and the girls -- with the intent for me to drive it for a couple years and eventually turn it over to Kevin full-time. But of course here we are, before our planned time and getting yet another new car.

As a Realtor, I can positively say that cars are not a good investment. (Invest in homes!) But I married a guy who loves to drive cars that can really be driven. So here we are in the photo below, selling Coupey to Lexus Santa Monica (they offered more than you'd figure for a trade-in, so we parted with Coupey right there) and buying a white 2011 Lexus RX 350 -- also freeing up the M3 for Kevin. 

The girls were sad that Coupey was gone but are excited to be bringing home a new baby, "Lexi." We were extremely happy with the deal we got on "Lexi" through the broker who handles all the Lakers' auto transactions -- if you're in the market and need some help, lemme know and I'll tell you about him -- and actually set my parents up with basically the same car and deal a couple weeks after our transaction.

Meanwhile, Coupey sold fast via L.A. Car Guy's used-car system, so hopefully he went to a nice, new family that'll appreciate him! The goal now is to keep both Blackie and Lexi for the long haul!

Riley's New Backyard

By MAGGIE WANG

Riley has moved from being two long blocks from us (although uphill and across Pacific Coast Highway) in Hermosa Beach to the far side of South Redondo, but she has gained a nice large backyard perfect for slip and slide!