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Happy Hanoi Birthday Malcolm!

As far as birthdays go, I think Malcolm had a pretty amazing first one.

As Randy and I sat on the beach in Halong Bay watching Adam play in the sand and Malcolm took a nap on me after exploring a cave on a deserted island with limestone cliffs all around, I turned to Randy and said that I wasn’t sure Malcolm could top this. He sort of hit his birthday peak at one. This was a birthday people dream of. I was feeling a little bad putting all this pressure on him to always have the sort of birthday that takes my breath away. But I take it back. I think Malcolm can do it. I’m going challenge Malcolm to make every birthday as special as this one.

We woke up in our little cabin in the boat and sang Malcolm a couple rounds of happy birthday.

Then we had a yummy breakfast and headed out on a little boat to a little deserted island. Adam of course wanted to sit with his adopted family and wanted to wear the pink life vest chosen by his girlfriend the day before.

The boat docked on a little deserted island and we hiked up a little staircase to a cave. In theme with the whole trip, Adam wanted to climb the staircase “by myseeeeelf”.

Another picture of the four of us that included a bride and an ergo, have you guys had enough of these yet?

Adam and his girlfriend snuck in some PDA in the cave.

When we got back on the boat there was a mini celebration for Malcolm. Lack of cake and windy boat weather resulted in a fruit platter/lantern birthday cake on the deck of the dragon boat. Maybe Malcolm was expecting chocolate?

Big brother came to help blow out the candle and saved the day.

Some cuddles from daddy and some fruit made things all better.

We headed back in the car and three short hours later we were home. Luckily, the drive back was during both boys naps and we had mostly snores. We got back to our beloved Sofitel and smelled some flowers they left for Malcolm’s birthday. Ok, maybe we tried to do more than eat them but hey, it’s the guys birthday, cut him some slack.

We got changed and headed down for a real birthday celebrations. The Ali’s don’t celebrate birthdays with fruit and lanterns 🙂

The Sofitel had an amazing pool side bar so we ordered the most chocolaty, yummiest cake they have and two champagnes for mommy and daddy to celebrate a wonderful year with our little peanut.

Smile Malcolm, it’s your birthday!

That’s better!

Where is my cake!

Here it is!

Guess who loves cake…..this guy!

In reverse order, after our cake celebration we headed off to a nice dinner. Malcolm ordered us some nice appetizers and wine.

Adam took over after Malcolm and ordered us some mains.

After dinner we walked back slowly to soak in our last night of Vietnam and Malcolm’s birthday.

We tried to have these two take a picture but someone was definitely NOT feeling it.

Goodbye Hanoi! We loved you and can’t imagine a better place to have celebrated Malcolm’s first birthday!!

Romance all around

The next morning we woke up, had another long, yummy breakfast and headed out to Halong Bay. Randy had thought it was an hour drive from Hanoi. While I wasn’t looking forward to being in the car again with a one and a three year old I figured an hour would be a piece of cake after our long 3.5 hour drive to Mai Chau. We got in the van and asked the other family that we were sharing our transport with (side note, interestingly you’re not allowed to rent cars in Vietnam, so we had to go through the hotels for all these drives to arrange transport) and they answered 4 hours….my jaw dropped. I definitely was not mentally prepared for another 8 hours round trip in the car. Well, too late to turn back now. So we just rolled with it. Adam luckily will watch the Ipad for infinity. Malcolm with a bit of help fell asleep and slept for most of the trip. We drove down with another family who had two young kids. Everyone was quiet in the car but about 20 minutes after we got on the boat these three were BFF’s and Adam basically adopted himself as their third sibling. It was pretty cute. The little girl loved Adam and watching these two hold hands and hug all day long tugged at my heartstrings

After our long car ride we finally got to Halong City and everyone was happy to get out of the car and stretch their legs. We watched boats until our our ride was ready to take us to our boat.

We took a little boat to our boat, called the Dragon Boat. For Adam, who is obsessed with Dragons this was the perfect boat.

We went to see our awesome room and then it was off to a yummy ten course lunch.

Adam has a new found love of chopsticks and is actually not half bad at using them.

Here is Adam’s ‘I’m angry face’ and this is when chopsticks are used for evil. I think we were past our nap time and Adam wanted to spend all of lunch playing with his new friends so he scowled for a bit. It’s pretty hard sometimes not to laugh at his ‘I’m Angry’ face.

After lunch Adam was able to explore every single inch of the boat with his new friends and play to his little hearts content.

Look who wanted to play too.

As the boat left Halong City and started driving around the bay we were suddenly surrounded by beautiful limestone islands.

The translation of Halong is ‘where the dragon descends into the sea’, and legend claims the islands of Halong Bay were created by a great dragon from the mountains. As it charged towards the coast, its flailing tail gouged out valleys and crevasses. When it finally plunged into the sea, the area filled with water, leaving only the pinnacles visible. This story exemplifies what I love the most about Vietnam, a deep, interesting culture that the people are so proud of and take care of. That and the amazing food are probably tied.

Halong Bay is such a beautiful little place and so peaceful. Even with two little peanuts tearing around the boat you can’t help but feel the beautiful calmness of this little corner of the world.

After lunch we walked around to take in the view and enjoy the boat.

These steep boat stairs were the cause of many many negotiations. Adam’s two new bff’s were older than him and they could go up and down alone but Adam needed some help. We finally all compromised and let him and his new friend go down together.

We are in for it when this little guy can walk too. I think he is going to be just as determined as Adam if not more so! But for now I’m going to enjoy having his close to me.

After exploring the boat it was time for a trip to see the Bay up close on a little boat. Adam would ONLY sit next to his friend. Let me tell you, this boy is going to be a loyal boyfriend.

We had to pry him away from his girlfriend for a quick family pic. Ok, there may have been a bribe of candy involved.

Then it was back to his girlfriend.

At least their first date had a romantic setting.

Then it was home for a yummy meal. The best part of this meal was that halfway through going on no nap this little guy fell asleep.

Then to make the night perfect this little peanut fell asleep too! This was the only meal that we had the whole trip where they were both asleep and content. Something about being away at sea knocked them out and Randy and I were able to enjoy the rest of dinner and our wine in peace out on the deck under the stars. It was romantic even with a one year old on the eve of his first birthday strapped to my chest.

Asleep at midnight

After an early morning bike ride we gathered up our growing collection of bags, balloons and children and drove the four hours back to Hanoi. We got in just in time to check in, change and head for dinner. Both boys took naps in the car so we thought we were safe.

Malcolm decided I should eat most of my meal standing up, followed by a nice diaper present. Let me mention here, that nowhere in Vietnam was there a changing table. This means that changing happens in a bathroom on my lap, nothing like a wriggly one year old who is trying to grab the toilet paper roll while i try to keep both of us clean. But we were successful (this time) and this is the perfect segway to talk about how yummy our meal was. This place was delicious (like most places in Vietnam). We took little Malcolm to the doctor the next day who diagnosed him with a double ear infection. He’s usually such a calm little guy, I knew during this meal that something was wrong. I was happy that we were able to get him on meds and feeling better. And luckily we were still able to eat a yummy meal and have some fun even with a fussy little guy. For the millionth time this trip, thank goodness for the ergo!

The next morning we headed down for breakfast. We stayed at the Sofitel Metropole and I felt like Eloise at the Plaza. I think the boys felt the same. We ate breakfast for an hour each day. This is a personal record for the Alis. All types of yummy juices, muffins, chocolate croissants, eggs any way, fruits and more. I would live in this hotel if I could!

I love how they made Adam’s bed and folded up the boys pajamas and put his book and doll on his pillow. Mr. Rabbit, shown below, we bought for Malcolm and it was promptly adopted by Adam who has slept with him every night since (yes, Mr. Rabbit wears a dress). This is noteworthy because Adam has NEVER wanted to sleep with any stuffed animal ever. In fact he actually throws them off his bed but not Mr. Rabbit. Mr Rabbit is cuddled each and every night. It’s pretty cute.

Back to Hanoi. We had one full day in Hanoi so we decided to pack in all we could. We headed out right after our big breakfast and were immediately loving Hanoi. About a block from our hotel was a beautiful lake.

Adam helped us decide where to go. He LOVED looking at the map. In fact we had plans to for the day but Adam insisted that we go towards a red bridge he saw. He was being a bit toddlery and determined. We decided to go with it (pick your battles people) and it ended up being a red bridge full of animal carvings leading over to a wonderful temple in the middle of the lake. It completely threw us off schedule but ended up being completely worthwhile. I think what I learned most this trip is that as Adam and Malcolm get older their voices in our travels really need to be listened to. Sometimes they don’t want to partake in a walking tour of shops in Hanoi. Sometimes they want to cross a bright red bridge and see what’s on the other side. Rightly so Adam. And don’t worry people, I got my shopping in!

After Adam’s temple adventure we moved on with our planned shopping/walking tour of Hanoi. We made it half a block before our first stop. A coffee shop. I was about to protest but I figured much like Adam’s voice needs to be listened to, so does my oldest boy’s voice. So we headed up. This place was way up on the fourth floor of a back alley and had the most amazing view. Another good choice.

After some coffee and a lollipop we headed to Malcolm’s doctors appointment, where she gave us some meds for his little ears and then we were back on our way to my shopping tour of Hanoi. Except we were all hungry so we stopped for lunch. We pulled up to this place and it was a 45 minute wait. I didn’t think any of us would make it but it ended up being only 20 minutes and was worth every second. This place was delicious!

After lunch it was home for a much needed nap. I was supposed to be napping with the boys but I spent the whole time thinking about how this time last year my water broke on New Years Eve and we were heading to the hospital, nervous and worried about this little peanut and now a year later here we are in Vietnam ready to bring in the New Year with our two amazing little boys.

When the boys woke up we all showered and got dressed in our finest for a special New Years Eve dinner.

We headed out to the Lake District to an awesome restaurant. It was such a fun night. The boys loved it and after a yummy meal Malcolm fell asleep and Adam watched Madagascar. Randy and I got to have some New Years champagne and enjoy our meal. We headed home and had big plans to put the boys to bed and stay up on our hotel room balcony for midnight….but we both fell asleep putting the boys to bed. It was sweet to celebrate the New Years with the boys and to be all together at midnight, even if we were all asleep.

Happy New Years! Here’s to a 2015 full of travels, yummy food, time with family and friends, watching the boys grow and learn and become even more special and new adventures!

Mai Chau

Early the next morning we left Hoi An and took a flight to Hanoi. We shopped for some hats in the airport but with limited choices like this one we left empty handed. Well we did pay ten bucks for a book to replace Adam’s balloon that was confiscated at security. In retrospect I guess we should have realized a helium balloon wouldn’t be allowed on a plane. Important toddler lesson learned…do not buy a toddler a helium balloon present 12 hours before a flight.

We then drove four hours to Mai Chau. When we arrived we were in the middle of nowhere. Mai Chau is a little valley in the middle of the mountains and there is nothing around but rice farms. We arrived and I wasn’t quite sure what we were doing there. It was freezing and rainy and I didn’t know how I was going to amuse these two for three days besides letting them play in this enormous wooden bathtub.

How wrong I was. It was very cold (especially for my tropical babies) but this little valley was so interesting and full of life. It was also so relaxing having nothing to do for three days but relax in this valley with no traffic, no pollution and no agendas.

We decided to bundle up the boys and take a walk around the rice patties.

We found this lady and Adam watched her guide her ducks home all the way home. It was pretty amazing. I never knew ducks could be trained. She would wave her hand and the ducks would go that way. It was pretty cute.

Her house was that one in the distance with the orange roof.

The Vietnamese ladies LOVED Malcolm, the young ones, the old ones, all of them. They all wanted to touch him and hold him. I have NEVER been anywhere where they loved babies more. Even when he was covered in snot (which he was often this trip with his cold) they would come over and wipe his nose with a tissue and coo at him. Adam, the little sweetheart, would get nervous anytime anyone came over and stayed close to Malcolm to make sure they weren’t taking him away. Some of the ladies at the hotel would pick up Malcolm sometimes and Adam would ask right away where they were taking him. It’s so sweet and gives me a glimpse into the future. I hope they always protect each other and look out for each other, even when they are older and have families of their own.

The next morning we woke up and asked the hotel about nearby markets. I’m not sure they entirely understood our question (there was minimal English spoken at our hotel) because we proceeded to take a 45 minute cab ride to a local market. This market was interesting and full of very local wares, but it was so cold and rainy it was hard to take any of it in. Things for sale….knockoff sweaters and wool hats (yay, these I bought because we were FREEZING!), balloons (yay for Adam, we were able to replace his lost balloon) and rats…..we did not buy any of these and I’m going to spare you the photos Randy took.

Here I am…um…enjoying the market. So glad I wore my white pants. That lump I’m holding is Malcolm. I have him wrapped up in there like a burrito trying to keep him warm.

So serious even post balloon and warm wooly hat purchase. I think maybe he was just cold.

Here is our outfit. It is clearly laundry day. With very cold weather we were wearing three layers at a time, and going through clothes very fast. Adam insisted on wearing his horse shirt over his already odd little outfit, I think it kind of made it cuter. And in case you couldn’t identify it, that’s his dinosaur balloon.

We headed to lunch and warmed up with one of these. Our hotel had the most amazing Pho. I had this for every meal the whole three days. Even Adam and Malcolm loved this (without all the chili I added). Having this bowl on a cold, cold day in the valley of Vietnam I understood exactly why this spicy yummy soup was made. It really does warm you right up.

Yes, it was this cold in the restaurant.

The next morning we bundled up again and took a bike ride around the valley. In case you haven’t realized yet, I only packed one sweater. The bike ride was great. We got to see so much more of the valley.

This little tropical baby DOES NOT like to wear a hat. He kept yanking it off and throwing it away. Thankfully Randy was behind me and caught on. I was NOT going back to that market for another hat.

This little guy loved his hat and he LOVED the bike ride. It made me wish we lived someplace where we could take regular bike rides.

After our bike ride it was back for some Pho to warm us up. These two loved the restaurant, once I convinced the waitresses to close the doors it got much warmer and we spent loads of time there letting these two burn off some energy and make friends with other kids that were staying at our hotel. It was the first time Adam and Malcolm really played together and entertained themselves.

So.Much.Snot

Then, something miraculous happened….the sun came out! It was the first time in a week! It immediately became about 20 degrees warmer and the valley was already beautiful but it became about 20 times more beautiful bathed in sunlight. We went right out for a walk.

The next morning we woke up and decided to take another bike ride. The sun was back behind the clouds again so my one cream sweater had to be dug out of the dirty clothes pile.

According to Randy, Adam looks like Yasser Arafat in this getup. He kind of does.

With that last bike ride we packed up our stuff and moved on with our Vietnamese adventure. As we drove to Hanoi through the mountains and the streets became more and more crowded and the stores became more and more crowded I missed the quietness and stillness of Mai Chau. It was almost jarring how quickly it changed and we came back to civilization. We will miss you Mai Chau and your peace and quiet and your chilly, chilly walks and bike rides.

Santa and his buffalo

After Ho Chi Minh we took an early flight to Hoi An. Ho Chi Minh was the most southern city on our agenda so we knew that the weather would get cooler from here on out. Although I think we all have become truly tropical and while it was probably around 50 at the coldest it felt cold! I had to boys in two shirts, sweaters and jackets and kept trying to talk Randy into buying them hats. It was nice to be somewhere cool for Christmas. It sometimes can be hard to get into the Christmas spirit when it’s 90 degrees and 80% humidity.

Besides the weather this little town was the perfect place to spend Christmas. There are lanterns everywhere and they float hundreds of little candles in the river. There are no cars allowed in the center of the town which is right on the river and when you walked around you could almost imagine what this little town was like a hundred years ago. This town was is such a fun place to walk around. There are so many nooks and cute little stores, markets and alleys.

Out of 20 pictures here is the best one.,..We are no engagement couple standing in a boat. You think Malcolm was a little tired?

We placed two candles in the river, one for each of our boys, which Adam loved!

Two little santas selling candles.

Christmas Eve day was one of those traveling days where everything goes perfectly. It must have been a Christmas miracle!

We took a boat ride up the river which was the highlight of Adam’s trip I think. He LOVED every minute of it. It was pretty cold out there but this little guy didn’t care or complain once. We just bundled him up and Malcolm was sleeping on me and all cozy. The minute we got off he asked when our next boat ride would be.

Then, just to make his Christmas eve even better, the boat captain let Adam drive the boat! This may have been the best Christmas present Adam received this year.

After the boat ride we came across a cute wholesome bakery where we all had some treats and yummy Vietnamese coffee. Maybe everyone was still in a good mood from our successful boat ride but everyone ate, drank and had smiles on.

After our stop we headed out for a walk. The weather was nice for a change. It was rainy and very cold for most of our time in Ha Noi so we took advantage of the good weather.

We stopped for a Banh Mi, a Vietnamese sandwich which was delicious!

We headed back to the hotel and put the boys down for a nap. We even hired a babysitter and were able to sneak out for a massage and a Christmas Eve toddy.

When the boys woke up we went to the Hotel’s Christmas party and it was definitely memorable. Adam was very excited to see Santa and get a present.

Then Adam got to sit on Santa’s Buffalo. I was slightly nervous about this but everyone seemed comfortable. My nanny told me she finds horses scarier than buffalo….not me. I find buffalo way scarier. But it went off without a hitch and Adam loved it. He’s braver than me!

Bye Santa! Off to deliver the rest of his presents on his buffalo.

Adam spent the next hour running around the lobby with his new friend Aiden while they set up for the entertainment. They had hired some dancers and had this really fun lion dance as well as some ladies who danced an interesting sexy Jingle Bells. It went right over Adam’s head who loves that song and sang along.

It was very sweet of the hotel to host all this and it was completely free for guests. There was an amazing buffet dinner too. Malcolm who was sick with a stuffy nose and cough went to bed with the babysitter and we took Adam. We didn’t last very long as we were all exhausted but it was a nice end to our day.

Christmas Day was the complete opposite of Christmas Eve. Both boys were super cranky. Malcolm was not feeling well and when we headed into town threw up all over me. We headed back to the hotel and didn’t leave again. We let both boys sleep as much as they wanted and use the play room there. We ventured out after a wonderful family nap for a dinner in town. It was a much needed day of rest.

All in all, we really liked Hoi An. Even with the rain and Malcolm’s never ending cold it was a really nice place to spend Christmas. For our last night there we went to a really nice restaurant that was set off from the main street, called Hidden Valley. The food was great and there was a great guitarist playing. Randy and I even managed to finish our wine, a miracle when traveling with two little ones!

Ho Chi Minh – we love you!

Randy has wanted to go to Vietnam for so long and I just didn’t really get what all the hype was about. Well, now I know. Vietnam was amazing. Every single place we went to was beautiful, interesting, full of yummy food and warm people. I loved every second of this trip! Even when it was raining and cold and the boys were sick and cranky and we were all tired, I loved every single second!

After an early flight we dropped our bags off at our hotel and headed out to our first Vietnamese restaurant. We were all a little tired though so we didn’t appreciate it as much as we should have and had to go back to the hotel for the first of many Vietnamese family naps.

Well some of us enjoyed it a little.

Some of us didn’t want to nap….so Randy kindly took this little peanut for a walk to the Reclamation Palace and Adam and I slept away.

After our naps we went up to the Saigon Saigon Rooftop Bar in our Hotel. As we sat there enjoying a beer and a glass of wine Randy told me the history of the bar, how it was the location of the daily war correspondents briefing during the Vietnam War and we talked about the history of Vietnam and the city. Oh wait, we have two little ones….let me try again. We ordered a beer and wine, that part is accurate. I followed Adam around and kept him away from the railing as Randy tried to feed a cranky hungry Malcolm a pouch of food. Randy relayed that story to me at some point but I couldn’t tell you when. I finished my drink standing up holding Malcolm who squeezed the pouch all over my shirt and we debated maybe just ordering room service. BUT we decided to do what we always do on vacation (kids or no) and rallied and headed out to dinner.

Adam, maybe one day you’ll be a correspondent who comes here for a drink.

We were so happy that we chose to go out to dinner. The restaurant was in a beautiful old building and had so much style and great food. After smelling the flowers a bit Malcolm fell asleep pretty quickly and Adam got to watch a movie. He doesn’t watch a lot of TV but when we’re traveling all rules go out the window and Madagascar is the new favorite.

After a restful night of sleep we headed out refreshed and ready to see Ho Chi Minh. Oh wait, we have two small children. Let me try again. Malcolm spent most of the night in our bed and Adam spent half the night in our bed. Malcolm was up at 4am, in his defense this is 5 am in Manila, so normal time for him. Once again my wonderful husband took Malcolm for a long walk all over Ho Chi Minh and Adam and I got to sleep in. I don’t know what I did to get so lucky. Randy later told me he actually really appreciated walking all over with Malcolm and seeing everything. They even went to a coffee shop and Randy taught Malcolm to drink from a cup. Those two are so cute! All while Adam and I snored away.

Once they were back we all rallied and once again it was such a great decision. Right when we walked out of hotel we saw this. An entire band playing right there for free for the public!

Adam loved it and made friends right away to dance with.

Oops! Don’t worry no kids were injured in the taking of this picture.

Malcolm was snoozing away already after his cavorting all over Ho Chi Minh with his daddy the night before.

After the band stopped playing, everyone stood up at once and collected and stacked their yellow chairs and were finished within 4 minutes and headed home. It was really the most organized cleanup and exit of a concert I have ever seen. We tried to be organized and collected our kids and took off on a short walk to a great little coffee shop and eclectic shop. I found a cute necklace, Adam found a delicious cupcake and Randy found a yummy Vietnamese coffee.

This little nugget was still asleep. He actually spent 60% of his Vietnam days in there snoozing away. Even at a year, the Ergo is by far the best traveling tool ever. As we walked around the store looking around the Chipmunk Christmas song- Don’t be Late came on and Adam took my hand and started dancing with me. “Just like we do at school” he said. It was one of those perfect moments, Malcolm was sleeping on me and I was dancing with Adam. It made me smile so much and made all those moments where traveling with kids is so much harder than you think it will be, worthwhile and then some. I looked up at Randy who was enjoying his coffee and watching us and I realized I was exactly where I wanted to most be in the whole world.

For the rest of the day we walked around and shopped and took in all the sights of Ho Chi Minh. We had another yummy dinner at a restaurant Randy found on his early morning walk and headed home for a good night sleep before our next stop.

Merry 'Christmas' from the Alis!

Is there anything better than watching children on Christmas morning? I think not!

These two cuties woke up on the late side which was a Christmas miracle in itself!

A little peanut in our big bed,

that doesn’t seem so big when these two are in it.

The first thing these two ran to when they got to the living room is this ball pit. We’ve been to a couple birthday parties recently where they had these and they were loved by both boys so we decided to get it for Malcolm along with a tunnel and Adam likes them as much as Malcolm. It’s good that Malcolm has some leverage now, because he wants ALL of Adam’s toys ALL the time! Meanwhile today Adam went ahead and moved it into his room, leverage…gone.

Surveying their goods.

Then it was over to the train set that ‘Santa’ brought but mommy and daddy painstakingly put together.

Next we went over to check out the letter from Santa and the ‘eaten’ oreos and carrot. Thank you Santa (aka daddy) for eating those up!

Then it was back to presents. Here is a fan favorite from Aunt Das and Uncle Nooj. A huge crane truck! Many hours have been spent since trying to pick up anything and everything with the hook.

So.many.toys! We are so lucky to have such generous families who sent the boys way, way too much from so far away!

We had trains,

sharks,

Happy feet!

This Hess truck from Grandma was a big hit!

A quick wardrobe change after a big you know what.

Here was another fan favorite, a ball twirl thingie that Aunt Das and Uncle Nooj sent. Adam immediately ‘borrowed’ for life the purple ball. I love how Adam helped Malcolm open his presents. He was super sweet about it and really helped, letting Malcolm take the lead. I also love how were excited they were about each other’s presents. They’re close enough in age that I can really see how it’s right around the corner that they will be playing together even more and sharing toys.

Opening a great present from the Roman and Isla, a Staten Island Ferry! I can’t wait to take Adam and Malcolm on it this summer. Also from the Leys, an awesome Mets jersey with Adam’s name on, pictures coming!
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Helping daddy open his present.

A Nespresso machine! Malcolm, I think you’re a little young for a coffee. Cute bear bag in the background from Aunt Kate.

After all our presents were opened we got some yummy pastries from Wildflour!

For a special Christmas Dinner we made Barefoot Contessa’s Beef Fillet Bourguignon. It’s such a nice recipe for a special occasion. And by we, I clearly mean Randy. Recipe below.

We used our new candlesticks, These were my grandmas and my mom sent them to me for Christmas. My grandma was very special to me and I love that these were passed down from her to my mom to me.

Dinner was a big success. You can see we brought out the fancy tableware. Both boys loved the dish.

For dessert we had some strawberries. Now this may not seem like a big treat but here strawberries run about 10 dollars for a small box so it’s a big treat around here!

I already knew Adam loved strawberries but it was fun to see how much Malcolm loved them too. This was his first time eating strawberries, since we were waiting until he was a year old and he loved them!

We finished dinner and next thing we knew we turned around and Adam was doing some yoga! He does yoga at school and he’s really gotten good at it. That is a pretty impressive tree pose.

Merry Christmas from the Alis!! We had a great Christmas and we love and miss you all.

Filet of Beef Bourguignon

Ingredients
1 (3-pound) filet of beef, trimmed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning plus 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 to 4 tablespoons good olive oil
1/4 pound bacon, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups good dry red wine, such as Burgundy or Chianti
2 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 sprig fresh thyme
1/2 pound pearl onions, peeled
8 to 10 carrots, cut diagonally into 1-inch-thick slices
3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced 1/4-inch thick (domestic or wild)
Directions
With a sharp knife, cut the filet crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices. Salt and pepper the filets on both sides. In a large, heavy-bottomed pan on medium-high heat, saute the slices of beef in batches with 2 to 3 tablespoons oil until browned on the outside and very rare inside, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Remove the fillets from the pan and set aside on a platter.

In the same pan, saute the bacon on medium-low heat for 5 minutes, until browned and crisp. Remove the bacon and set it aside. Drain all the fat, except 2 tablespoons, from the pan. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Deglaze the pan with the red wine and cook on high heat for 1 minute, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add the beef stock, tomato paste, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered on medium-high heat for 10 minutes. Strain the sauce and return it to the pan. Add the onions and carrots and simmer uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes, until the sauce is reduced and the vegetables are cooked.

With a fork mash 2 tablespoons butter and the flour into a paste and whisk it gently into the sauce. Simmer for 2 minutes to thicken.

Meanwhile, saute the mushrooms separately in 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil for about 10 minutes, until browned and tender.

Add the filet of beef slices, the mushrooms, and the bacon to the pan with the vegetables and sauce. Cover and reheat gently for 5 to 10 minutes. Do not overcook. Season, to taste, and serve immediately.

Santa's Elves

I’m going to out of order here a bit and skip Vietnam just for a couple of days. There are just so.many.pictures I need to go through. Some great ones and I can’t wait but in the meantime I figured I would jump to Christmas.

Before we left for Vietnam we made sure to celebrate Christmas in small ways, cookies, special pajamas and opening a couple of presents from friends.

Here is Malcolm’s face when he realized I had the camera out and came charging to try to wrestle it from my grasp and gnaw on it.

We were in Hoi An on Christmas morning and traveling with two small ones and already lugging around a whole lot of baby paraphernalia which meant we had to leave the Christmas presents at home and so we decided to delay Christmas present morning to January 4th. We figured we might as well take advantage while we can of the kids not being able to read a calendar. This is the first Christmas Adam really got into Christmas and Santa so I wanted him to experience leaving cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer and waking up on Christmas morning to Santa presents. After all, in Greece they celebrate Christmas on January 6th so we’re really two days early.

We flew in Saturday, January 3rd from Vietnam landing around 5 and we were ready to hop in our car that we had left in the parking lot (yay for diplomatic parking 🙂 since we knew we would be tired and want to get home quickly. It was about the moment that the plane touched down that we looked at each other and realized that our car was at the other terminal. Huge fail. Oh well, we took a taxi home (the other terminal was 40 minutes each way out of the way) and figured we would get our car another day. We headed home, unloaded all our bags, got the kids ready for bed, read books, sang songs, sang more songs, got some water, said goodnight three times and finally started to get Christmas together. Let me just ask, why oh why must every child toy come in a million pieces!? We had ordered Adam a train table and I (not so intelligently) thought it would come in five pieces and take about 30 minutes to assemble. Two hours later Randy and I had accomplished this:

We were pretty pleased with ourselves even though it was already 10 and we still had to get the rest of the toys ready, but in then end we must have had some elf powder on us and it didn’t take that long and soon Santa’s helpers were off to bed with this ready to greet the boys in the morning!

Happy Farm Birthday!

We are so behind! I have so much to catch up on, especially our trip to Vietnam (oh Hanoi Sofitel, why do I not live permanently in your breakfast buffet), but let’s start off where we left off. Adam’s third birthday party!

For Adams third birthday we decided to combine all of his loves: horses, big red barns, fishing, animals and sugar. We had his party at St. Helena fun farm and it was a huge success! Adam didn’t stop moving from the second we arrived and loved every second of his birthday party.

We had some farm decorations which Adam helped us set up. Oh wait, he just ate candy canes 🙂

The farm was pretty well decorated all on its own though.

And of course Adam’s favorites were all there! This little three year old LOVES horses and must have taken ten horse rides.

Adam seriously didn’t stop moving the whole time we were there! After all there were tractors and trucks to be climbed, rabbits to be fed, fish to be caught. Lots of work to do as Adam says.

We’ve been to this farm a couple of times and I really never believed there were actually fish in this pond. I guess it was Adam’s lucky day and I was proven wrong! Look who caught a fish (no fish were harmed in this birthday party production, the fish was returned to the pond to be caught by someone else).

We made animal shirts for all of Adam’s friends, we had horses, tractors, barns, chickens, goats! It took Randy and I a couple of work hours to figure out how to print these but we eventually got it. We are no iron on farm design experts!

Then it was Adam’s favorite time. Dessert time.

Ignore my look of concentration, this was my determined ‘I am not going to let the candles blow out again’ face. And I’m pretty sure that’s Randy’s I think my wife is going to drop this chocolate cake face 🙂 We had cake and cupcakes and the cutest farm cookies my friend Jill made that I of course took no pictures of.

We are so lucky to have such great friends after such a short time in Manila. Here are a couple of mommy favorites, Allison and Jackie. Their three year olds, Devon and Victoria are two of Adam’s best friends. Jackie recently had Natalia who is destined to be Malcolm’s bff.

And in case you were wondering, this little peanut had a great time too.

Happy Birthday Adam! We love you!

Firework Claps

Adam’s school celebrates birthdays with a birthday walk. They have a sun with the twelve months of the year. Then for every year of the child’s life they walk around while a parent reads about that year in the child’s life. I’m lucky that Adam’s school is (traffic permitting) not too far from work so I was able to go and read his birthday walk for him. He was SO EXCITED to see me. He told all his friends, ‘This is my mommy!’.

All his friends were so cute and so excited for Adam’s birthday walk. Can’t you just feel the excitement 🙂

Adam was so happy and showed everyone where his birthday was and how it said Adam Malek Ali’s birthday!

He listened to all I had to say with this adorable face on. His friends were all such good listeners, maybe they just knew I had brought a cake but I think they really were genuinely interested.

Apparently this is what I look like when I talk to little toddlers, they didn’t seem scared….I swear they like me. One of Adam’s friends even said he wanted to come home with me. So the hunched shoulders thing maybe works?

Showing everyone a picture of ‘Year two’

Here is what I read:

Year one- Adam Malek Ali was born on a cold winter day, on December 6, 2011 in Washington DC. Adam was a whole 9 pounds when he was born and we loved him so much right away. He loved to explore things and climb up and down our stairs over and over again! Adam was a happy baby and he loved to smile. We used to call him the Mayor because he loved to smile at everyone. He loved when we would read him books and used to rub our ear when we fed him his milk. His first word was dada. When Adam was just one year old we moved to the Philippines.

Year two- Right after Adam’s second birthday Adam became a big brother! His brother’s name is Malcolm and he loves Adam very much. When Adam was two years old the whole family took a big trip to Greece for a whole month. We played on the beach and got to see our Aunt Das and Uncle Nooj.

Year three- Adam just turned three. He loves to read and sing. His favorite animals are horses, sharks and dinosaurs and his favorite song is Happy Birthday. He has lots of favorites books but some of his favorites are It’s Christmas David, Little Blue Truck and Horton Hears a Who. His favorite goods are gummy bears, chicken soup and fish.

We love him so much! Happy birthday Adam

Then it was everyone’s favorite time, cake time!

After Adam blew out his candles his class gave him some fireworks claps. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen and Adam loved it.