Top shelf!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
We enter the end of November with an empty top shelf. Yes, I am referring to Luke's upper jaw. 
Due to serious thumb sucking in his early years these two were aching to fall off and again like the little warrior he is..out they came.

All Smiles

Closeup!

The fused ones

Some sisterly love

Shakas for everyone!

Classic Silver Bullet

If you don't already know, I purchased a Classic Silver Bullet 2 weeks ago.  OK..it isn't really w bullet but it sure looks like one.

It doesn't cease to amaze me how  much technology is packed into cars these days and the Toyota Prius Hybrid is no exception. It is literally a computer on wheels so you can understand my affinity.

It is battery powered for fuel efficiency and gas powered for speed or performance when you need it hence the 'Hybrid' label.

At the risk of being labelled a 'tree hugging socialist', I have gladly traded HP (High Performance) for MPG (Miles Per Gallon) and yes I am a tree hugger but certainly not a socialist!

Backyard Peddle Boating

As far as weekend ratings go, this past weekend was a 5 out of 5.  I highly suspect that I am biased because whenever I have an opportunity to share a water themed family activity, I am brimming with joy!

Right after Luke's baseball game, we drove to our back yard beach, the Redondo Beach Pier.
The smell of the ocean and seafood got Luke into a very excitable state.  If you don't already know, Laila is allergic to seafood so we avoid it at all costs.  This time though, I decided to take Luke into the Quality Seafood Inc and get him half a dozen fried shrimp and a slice of fried fish.
He proceeded to annihilate the plate with a gusto reserved only for favorite foods.

Right after that we rented a peddle boat and headed out to sea for an hour.  What an under estimation of effort!  Our road bicycling days are so far behind us that it took all 3 pairs of legs to get us going forward.  Laila sat back like a princess but occasionally lent a hand literally.  The video below is compressed version.  Enjoy!

Jiko Cooking

Today we decided to use the Jiko that Smita insisted we buy and bring all the way from Nairobi in December last year.We just returned from Deepa and Marcel's wedding not too long ago so the vibes were just right.

The pictures below tell the story better than words could.

Jiko!

Jiko with Coals!

Ready to go! 

Chicken! 

Spray bottle with good stuff!

Chicken!!! Chicken!!

and everyone was happy!

Smita decides to pile on more stuff on the Jiko!

October Wedding

Update:  Dr. Alexander sent us more photos of the wedding which I uploaded here.  Or you can see the slideshow below

The trip of a lifetime was completed this October when we went to Clarens, South Africa to attend Deepa and Marcel De Kocks wedding.  It was exhilarating, rewarding and lovely to see my sister in-law exchange vows with my new brother Marcel.  Congratulations to both of them.

While we had booked our tickets for this trip in June 2012, we were completely blind-sided by the expiry of Lukes passport (July 15 2012....yes that is Laila's birthday).  So we did some last minute harried and hurried expedited passport renewals and itinerery changes (2 days in South Africa!) to make sure we made the trip.

We took a few photos and some video of the event which we shall always remember and cherish.  Meeting Marcel's wonderful parents Anna and Arno De Kock and his Aunts and Uncles that came from Cape Town and Pretoria was a genuine pleasure.  The Alexander's extended family was very well represented by Suchi Aunty, Leslie Uncle and Ajoy Uncle.

Luke had the august responsibility of ring bearer and Laila was the flower girl. They both performed their duties as best they could.  (Laila didn't drop flowers as planned!)  Smita was a stunning bridesmaid although I doubt she approves of the word 'maid' or 'bride' associated with her. :-)

We were on the same flight from Bloemfontein to Johannesburg with the newly weds Marcel and Deepa De Kock who were on their way to honeymoon in Italia.  We are now back in Los Angeles and while we are glad to be home, we also miss 'home'.  

Congratulations again Mr. and Mrs. De Kock!

Back to School

What a summer!  The kids are back to school as of last week and the official end of summer was Labor day (September 1).

Here are some back to school shots.

Mini Vacation - San Diego

This weekend we went to San Diego to say bon voyage to the summer holiday as schools begin in a few weeks.  A mini vacation of sorts if you will.  All planned and organized by non other than Smita.  I know, I am a lucky guy.

This video of Shamu is quite long but probably worth it.  Lots of air tricks and splashing.

The video below was a 5 minute ride after a 30 minute wait.  Worth it?  I don't know

A few photo shots below.

Kisses

More Kisses

Girls chilling

Boys throwing Shaka's

The heat is unbearable but we must see Shamu!

Toothless Polar Bear?!

Killer ElRollo #1

Killer ElRoll #2

When we got back, I asked the kids to express their thoughts on paper about the vacation and the result was hilarity!  Short video below.

Mapengo!

In Kiswahili, mapengo literally means gaps as in toothless gaps!

Luke lost another tooth today.

Putting your mind to it!

People say you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.  Today I witnessed a six great old put his mind to conquering his skateboard and I was humbled!

These clips are Luke's first effort on a skateboard I bought him when he was 2 but has been gathering dust in a corner until today.  He just decided he was going to skateboard today and voila.

Laila's 3rd Birthday

Once again, Smita went 100% with her party organizing skills and put together a fantastic party for Laila at the local My-Gym.

Here is a link to all the photos of the day or you can check out the slideshow below.

We also went to the Santa Monica Pier on 07/15/2011 for a company sponsored picnic which was perfect because it felt like Laila had 2 birthdays. She topped off the evening with a dance on the balcony.

Laila and Luke Swim at the Torrance Plunge.

Songbirds & ColdPlay

If you havent heard of the song Viva La Vida by ColdPlay, you should.  The kids learnt the words for the Spring Concert and every time we play it the sing along.  I thought you might enjoy seeing it so here goes.

Here is a different version that the kids absolutely love.  The kids in this one REALLY feel the music!

Luke can Ride!

Luke finally learnt how to ride a bicycle.  Sounds like a simple thing but I can assure you it isn't.

We struggled to find the time and method that would work so we transitioned from all sorts of tricycles to a bicycle with training wheels but he was still very cautions.

One of the parents in the group offered a simple solution:  "Remove the pedals and let him use his feet on the ground to push forward.  Soon enough he will want to go faster as soon as he finds that he can balance without putting his feet on the ground."  Sure enough, It took 1 day of practice and he was off.  Enjoy!

Spring Concert - Closeup

This is a little old but worth it.  It is the closeup version of the concert.

Luke Graduated Kindergarten!

We are so proud of this boy!

Yesterdays fun

I was up at 5, in the water by 6 and stayed till 8. 
Good clean fun!  This picture is courtesy of Lee of teamstoked.com.

Happy Father's Day!

Luke's 6th Birthday

This is a video clip of Luke's 6th birthday.

Luke Honor Roll - Again

Luke made the honor roll again.

Spring Concert - Long

This is the long version of the Spring Concert that Luke's school held last week.

Time Flies..

When you are having fun, time just flies!  Apparently this happens because you are so engrossed in your activities that monitoring the passage of time is not the primary focus.  It has been exactly one month since my last blog posting and I can only say it is because I have been having so much fun!

With the kitchen complete, I have been surfing for 3-4 hours everyday at local and distant spots.  We also celebrated Luke's 6th birthday which he enjoyed thoroughly.  Two days ago was Smita's birthday and that too was fun.

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day which is important by itself but it is also the unofficial beginning of Summer.  Summer is synonymous with FUN!  Get my drift?  Now for some photos and videos.

The Birthday Boy!

The Transformers Cake!

The Gang!

Kitchen 2.0

I thought it would be fun to see two video clips of the before and after so here goes.

At the risk of boring you with more remodel madness, I have also linked to ALL 300+ photos of the remodel process.  I also just realized that by reorganizing my photo's I obliterated the photo links in the previous blog post title Remodeling Overload so please disregard if you get double email notifications.

Remodelling Overload!

As you might already know, we are remodeling our Kitchen.  We are not exactly displaced because we have moved stuff around to accommodate the reconstruction but it is an inconvenience.  Fortunately, since this was caused by a water leak, our insurance is doing all it can to take care of the problem.  We cannot wait to get our Kitchen back and we know it will be worth it in the end.

In the meantime, here are some shots of what has happened so far in a "before"...."fixing"...and "after" type of sequence.

"Before" - Garage with torn down drywall and no insulation.

"Fixing" - Garage with insulation.

"Still Fixing" - Garage with dry wall!

Fixed!

"Before" - Cabinets Torn Down.  That bar counter is next.

"Post Demo" - Containment barrier with bar counter gone!

"Fixing" - Gas line capped off and hole sealed.

"Before" - TK+Jim helping re-frame where the can lights will be. 

"Fixing" - Can lights soon to be drywalled.

"Fixing" - Can lights and Insulation.

"Fixed" - Can Light + Drywall.

"Fixing" - Added Insulation after electrician added electrical.

"Fixed" - Drywalled and Mudded.

"Fixing" - Primed and Painted Ceilings and walls myself.

"Fixing" - Guadalupe's husband Jesus painted the rest of the house. 

"Fixing" - Hung the top cabinet boxes with Jim and TK's help. 

"Fixing" - Laminate floors removed

"Fixing" - New wood floors going in

"Fixed" - Wood floors done..next base cabinets.