29 months old

Dear Elle,

You have grown into a lil' person holding to your own opinion and speaking aloud your likes and dislikes. "It's sooo cute!", "I don't like it!", "Don't touch me, okay?", "I do it myself.", "NOoooo!", "Hmmm... Yummy!", "I make a mess!", "You follow me, okay?".

Aren't you having too much fun during bathtime? You want ALONE time all by yourself. You curl up inside your lil' blue tub, dip your ear inside the water, blow bubbles into water, catch dripping water from the faucet, clean the tub with the towel, swimming and even pretend sleeping.
We're amazed of how much things your lil' brain has absorbed day by day. You surprised us by speaking out the colors in madarine. You started counting. You'd blurt out Eat Fresh, the subway slogan, at the end of its advertisement. You called scooby-doo Scooby ghost since the cartoons featured in halloween theme. Mama was stunned when the word Boo-yah fell out of your mouth the other day.
When you're in good mood, you'd sway your head and body along as you're humming. You're able to reach the light switch turning it on and off. You love stickers of all sorts. You'd show us excitely the sticker rewarded by your teacher for your good behave.
You are a lil' photographer nowadays, wanting to take pictures of dada, mama and everything else. You cry out loud "Where's my camera?" everytime mama is taking out the big camera. Mama let you play with the point-and-shoot digicam and it's funny to see you always press your squirted eye against the tiny viewfinder to take picture, instead of just looking at the big LCD screen no matter how many times we have told you.

You're too precious.

Love,
mama

Autumn Getaway - Day finale

We explored the lake in the morning for a relaxing time afloated on the peaceful lake.
We didn't do much on this day, simply lazed the day away hanging at the house. Elle had heaps of fun playing at the playground and making "cake" on the beach.

Autumn Getaway - Day 3

It was cloudy in the morning and then kept on raining on and off through the day. We stayed inside the house mostly on this rainy day.
Breakfast time! The kids enjoyed their blueberry waffles!
Raya picture taken inside the house.
Elle enjoyed a lazy evening lounging on the couch watching lots of cartoons.

Autumn Getaway - Day 2

Right after breakfast, the guys and the kids couldn't wait trying their luck fishing by the lake. Chandler lake is surprisingly stocked with really nice size bass. The fishing started to kick into high gear that Hin caught three bass this morning. It's funny to watch Elle trying to stand next to Azman as close as possible so that they could fishing together. This silly baby was way more excited catching the "veggie" than the fish. Everytime the "veggie" was reeled in, she shrilled in delight.
It's a pity that the fall color hasn't kicked in much yet at this time. There's some nice yellow color outside the house we stayed.
Elk Rapids is a charming harbor town. We picnicked by the dam, fishing, and strolled around the harbor watching the boats. We met a lady walking her puppy at the harbor. Elle giggled so hard when the puppy licked her hand with its slurpy tongue.
We stopped over at an orchard strolling between rows of apple trees, running in a maze and chilling out. A rainbow galore of chairs surrounded a bon fire pit was really neat.
It was three years ago the last time we drove along the Old Mission Peninsula for the spring blossoms. It has changed so much since, with more traffic, many more houses built and less farmlands. It's a spectacular drive winds through rolling vineyards against a breathtaking backdrop of Grand Traverse Bay.


The sun peeped through the clouds by the time we got back to the house. We leisurely drifted on the lake enjoying its beauty. Hin pulled out another two more bass out of the lake.
At night, we had a bountiful feast. Thanks for the guys bbqing outside in the cold and the ladies working so hard cooking beautiful meals for all of us.

Autumn Getaway - Day 1

We had some very moody weather. It was drizzling, windy and freezing through the day. On the way to our vacation rental house in Traverse city, we stopped over at Benzonia checking out the Betsie river. It's astonishing the amount of salmons passing through this river. We could easily spot the fishes and watch them flip flopping out of the water. There're anglers standing at every river bends with at least a couple of fishes caught. It's funny to watch their faces cracked into smiles when they noticed a little girl (Elle) with her pink barbie rod appeared on this salmon stream. The sky was getting darker as we finally arrived at the vacation house. We rowed the boat out to the lake and got a bite 10 minutes later. Hin passed me the rod and I reeled in a 10-inches bass out of the lake. It's a thrill. Wish I had brought my camera with me.