A couple of weeks ago, my cousin Maggie & her family stopped by and stayed with us for a night, while on their way to Seattle from L.A.

I think the last time we saw them was like 6 years ago, on our wedding day, when their son was only 2 months old! We went back to New York and I think not long after, they moved to Taiwan for a little while before settling in Hawaii; so we haven’t seen each other since.

Although it was the first time the kids have met each other, I was great to see that they had no problem playing together and getting along.

The visit was short, but now that they are in Seattle and we are in SF, it will be much easier to visit them as well as my Grandpa more frequently then ever.

Of course, I’ll need to find a steady job first.

It wasn’t until the last week of April that the weather was finally warm & dry enough for us to go check out the cherry blossom at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The timing was just perfect as the flowers were blooming at its peak. It was our first time as a family so we were pretty excited.
Since the Sakura Matsuri Festival was going to be held there that weekend, we figured we would go on a weekday to avoid the crowd & the extra charge. Well, it turns out that admission was free for the hours on the day that we went, so we didn’t have to pay a penny. In exchange for free admissions, however, we got the crowd.
It was a warm & sticky day so we only stayed for a couple of hours; unfortunately all the pollens also kick-started the Ling family allergy season. But the short trip was well worth it—the garden was beautiful & we had a good time together.
Without further ado, here are some photos we took that day. Enjoy!

Jeremy & Kristie invited us, along with two friends of theirs, to their house for a small but fun Easter Egg Hunt & delicious lunch the day before Easter.
The three of them were almost the same age and all the activities were very well planned, so they had a lot of fun playing together. (Thanks Yau family!)
Here’s a selection of the photos we took that day.
Enjoy!

Always willing to help, Kaitlyn volunteered to help her mom make some dumplings a little while ago. Not exaggerating here, but she really begged us to let her help & didn’t stop until we told her to. Here’s some photos to prove it.

One Saturday in early April we decided to visit IKEA. Actually, Kaitlyn & I first went on a Friday night. I forgot why but I had to take care of Kaitlyn that evening & I took her there. And when Mel found out, she was jealous & wanted to go as well, hence the Saturday visit.

We walked around a bit, bought a few small items & had lunch there.

It’s now June so naturally it’s time to do an April recap… No, not really. I’m just home because I’m sick & Kaitlyn is sick, so I have some time to kill.

Here are some random photos from April of Kaitlyn being silly, being sick at home, being a bunny at school, and being pretty in a pretty dress.

It was an eventful April, so I already have scheduled a few more posts w/ photos for the next few days. Make sure you check back daily for the updates!

Enjoy!

March was all about corn beef, chasing the supermoon, some very good steaks that I butchered (too much salt), sleepless nights (thanks to shadows + imagination), Indian take-out, and a bunch of hair clips. Oh, and at some point last month, it was finally warm enough for us to watch the sun set & have Micky D’s in the car.

Enjoy!

Spring is finally here! I’m sure everyone here in NY is sick & tired of this especially long, cold, & wet winter. We haven’t really gone anywhere, just being stuck indoor or in our car. So, here are some handpicked photos from February for all of you—all taken indoor! Enjoy!

Here are a few more photos from Kaitlyn’s other birthday parties—at school & on the day of her birthday. (Yeah, she’s spoiled.)

Enjoy!

We certainly can’t believe that Kaitlyn is 4 already. As usual, my parents made the trip out to celebrate her birthday with us, along with a few good friends, in our tiny apartment. This year, Kaitlyn’s birthday happened to be on Chinese/Lunar New Year, so she got even more attention than she would have gotten already.

As much as I think that she is spoiled/blessed with so much materialistically & attention-wise, I believe she deserves all of it very much—she has grown into a very mature 4-year-old single child.

What do I mean by mature? Well, if I have to describe her, I would say she is hardworking, honest, very caring & considerate, brave, optimistic, funny, ambitious, fair, a good listener & has a passion for learning; I don’t think many of these traits are considered common or natural in people today (including myself), let alone a 4-year-old girl.

Of course she is still a handful, but she’s only 4 and that’s what great about it.

Besides, Kate has Mel & I—the best parents for her!

OK, enough talk. Let’s look at some photos from this year’s party!

And if you want, before clicking on the photo thumbnails, first click on the arrow below for some background music while looking at the photos! Enjoy!

Daughter — Peter Blegvad