Social Life in full swing

As the weather gets nicer out, our social life has suddenly taken a turn and going full speed ahead. Doesn't help that it's badminton tournament season. So, we've been doing badminton tournament for the last 3 weekends(including tomorrow). We have next week off and then it's our annual tournament for our club. So much so, it now takes me more than a week to catch up with blogging, not to mention housework!!!

Last weekend we went to Laramie for badminton challenge by the University of Wyoming Badminton Club. After suffering a humiliating loss last year, we were less cocky on our drive up this time around. There was even an air of slight trepidation. And for me, after my horrible and disgusting performance in New Mexico, i vowed to play a little better, harder from now on. Maybe because of that or maybe because I have a husband who gave me the easier games, I actually managed to win all my events! hehehe.. not bad, not bad at all. Alan, who was one of the strongest players there, also won all his events. Anyways, to make the story short, our club managed to snatch back our trophy and we went home all happy!!


Tyler and I eyeing the trophy!


Wyoming-Boulder Challenge Group Photo

Tyler who is unofficially our club Mascot enjoyed being carried around by random people who found him quite funny as he charms them with his smiles. He's also crossed off another state off his list. 3 down, 47 to go.. (though he did go to Alaska while he was in my belly, Chicago and San Francisco on transit..)

We've also have quite a few events coming up that needs to be planned. As I missed out quite a bit last year due to being preggo, I'm trying to make it up this year by doing more, so i should start planning and not let any weekends go to waste. So, weekends, here we come! This time with Tyler!!

Tyler photoshoot II

Well, while the in-laws were in town, i thought it'd be a good time to have Tyler's 2nd photoshoot, so that we could sneak in some family portraits. I was going for a casual look for this session, so Alan and I were donned in black tops and jeans.

It was a nice day out, so we had a chance to get some outdoor pictures as well as indoor pictures.


Tyler and I getting set up for pictures

I managed to remember to take some pictures of the session itself which i think is quite funny.


Mommy and Tyler pictures..


Alan encouraging Tyler to smile and look at the camera


Playing airplane to distract Tyler

We took some last minute pictures of the grands with Tyler after the shoot. By then, Tyler had used up his smile quota and was probably sick of hearing "Tyler Tyler Tyler.. !!!" and we couldn't coax a smirk out of him.


Tyler sick and tired of pictures...

Anyways, here are some preview pictures from the photographer


Outdoor picture


Indoor picture

Call me biased, but i think these pictures are pretty darn cute!!! Well, cuter than my troll look for sure!

While mummy is at work..

Hiya, this is Tyler!! I had a great week with Dada, Grandpa and Grandma last week while mommy was at work. We had so much fun.

This was what i was up to this past week:


Sharing funny secrets with Dada about mommy...


Practicing my camouflage act. Dada bought me the camo suit. Can you still see me?


Geocaching with Dada, and the grand-ies


After driving a car, flying a plane was the next option..


And of course, enjoying my time with the grand-ies

I still can't believe they were gone so soon.

Trip to New Mexico

Disclaimer : Very long blog

On Friday April 11th, a bunch of us(11 in fact) took a trip to New Mexico for a badminton tournament in Las Vegas, NM and a bonus trip to my favorite city in the world - Santa Fe! As many of you may know, this is where Alan and I got married, so any excuse to visit this beautiful city is a good excuse.

All cozy in our 15-seater van...

We rented a 15-seater van and packed all of us in the car and started our 9 hr drive to Las Vegas!!! We did stop for a long dinner in Pueblo and had to drive 10 mph over Raton Pass due to a snow blizzard. But we did eventually get there after 1 am. After a quick unload, all of us scrambled into bed to catch some much needed sleep.

Tyler testing out the hotel bed...

Morning came too soon(especially for those who had to sleep thru some loud snoring!!!) and after a quick breakfast at the hotel, we headed to the badminton tournament venue.

Group picture of the Boulder Badminton Club contingent

Once we got there, after a quick pre-tournament picture of the group, we settled down and started warming up. Tournament soon started and we realized that for once the competition was quite stiff. With the elevation difference and the use of plastic shuttles, it really made a big change to the playing conditions that we're used to. I played particularly badly that day and even lost to women more than twice my age!!! Shame on me!! Alan and Steffen who played quite well, in the end, lost to the opponents whom they had to play 3 times due to some stupid double elimination rule. The rest of the gang did much better than me and went away with some medal of some sort.


All the girls..

Tyler attacking aunt Addy...

The tournament finally ended at about 6:45 pm which didn't leave us much time to drive to Santa Fe(an hour away) and make it to our dinner reservation at Geronimo's at 8:30 pm. But Steffen "Speedy Gonzalez" got us there anyways. We had a really good meal at my favorite restaurant and came up with a whopping bill of $830!!! But it was worth it.. :) We barely made it back to our rooms and I was out like a light.

Some of us can really clean up good with just 5 mins in the bathroom!

We had a lazy morning on Sunday and enjoyed some instant coffee at our fancy little apartment. I discovered this cute little place called El Rey Inn a couple years ago and have always wanted to stay there but it was always full. This time we were lucky and got it. It's got plenty of space and is beautifully decorated in Sante Fe style.

But as there was much more to see in Santa Fe itself, we unwillingly packed up and left. We headed to another favorite eating place of mine - Guadalupe Cafe where they serve the best blue corn enchiladas in green chile(and for spice crazies -- red chile). As the wait for a table was 45 mins, we decided to take a walk into downtown to knock off a few sights before brunch. We made it all the way to Hotel Loretto before getting summoned back by the restaurant.

All snuggled up at Guadalupe cafe..

I was slightly tempted to sell Tyler, but one look at his sad face brought me back to my senses.

As usual the food was fantastic and the company hilarious. With our tummies full, we continued on with the tour of Santa Fe visiting Loretto Chapel where we got married and other sights downtown. It was nice for us to be back in Santa Fe and everybody else seem to find Santa Fe equally delightful.

Family picture at Loretto Chapel

Soon, it was time for out long haul back to Colorado. Alan decided to take the scenic route home thru Taos(though most of us slept). It was a looooonnnnggg drive home and halfway thru, Tyler who had been doing well with the travelling, finally decided he had enough and started to protest, so, we had to let him out of his car seat for a bit. He even said he wanted to drive, so here we go...

Tyler taking the wheel..

We got home at about 12 am and after a quick goodbye and a quick feed.. i was dead to the world.

Family photo at the CO-NM border

All in all, though a little hectic, it was a fun trip for all of us and a new state for Tyler!

MIL & FIL gone home

I can't believe how fast the last 10 days went. I barely had 2 minutes to sit down with my in laws and they have gone home. We must have really been having fun!!

But really, it's been a crazy 10 days and I can't believe it's over. I thought I'd think it through and see what we've been really up to because I'm still waiting for my brain to catch. Maybe this will help it a little. Let's see..

Tuesday - Mil & Fil arrive late-ish, had dinner, slept.
Wednesday - I work, they babysat Tyler, can't remember anything beyond that.
Thursday - I work, they babysat, went to badminton, had farewell dinner with John T.
Friday - I took day off, went cloth shopping, packed, drive for a long time to Las Vegas, NM(more blog later). Got to LV at 1 am. Passed out...
Saturday - Badminton tournament, got our butts kicked, ate at Geronimo's. Passed out...
Sunday - Spend the day in Santa Fe, drove back to CO, also too long... Passed out...
Monday - I work, they babysat, went out for Chinese meal.
Tuesday - I work, they babysat, I think they also went shopping, Halden's b'day party
Wednesday - I actually went to work early, they babysat, Alan and I had a date night and although i was tired as hell, I actually stayed awake the entire movie!
Thursday - I work, they babysat, badminton, last dinner with Aditya as a single man.
Friday - I tried to work but didn't, photo shoot(more blog later), drop Tyler off at Veronica's, drop them off at airport, went to a play - Falsetto

So, there you go. Oh, they also went for a few geocache hunts and a day at some Museum. Apparently not too impressive. Oh oh oh.. i forgot to mention, while they were home they were helping me make breastfeeding privacy blanket and help Alan shorten his pants.

And Tyler had a great time with them. MIL has also somehow trained Tyler to like his cereal and now feeding him takes 1 person and usually is done within a few minutes. I was watching like an amazed hawk how she did it. Amazing what a little bit of experience does!

OK, i'm about at passing out stage. Will blog more with pictures hopefully tomorrow..

MIL & FIL in town!

Evelyn and Patrick are in town for 10 days. Tyler gets 2 weeks out from daycare which probably will help us both stay healthy for a short while!!!

Alan and Tyler went to meet them at the airport and Tyler and Grandma had a nice little reunion and he was thrilled to bits to meet Grandpa.


Hi.. You look familiar..


Who's that nice man??

And with grandparents, there came toys!! Tyler got a bunch of new toys and had a blast checking them out. Who can blame him? We've been giving him the same old toy for the last 5 months!!!


Oooh.. what's this ...

Tyler's High Chair

Feeding Tyler rice cereal is a 2-person job. One feeder and one jester - just like a King. Anyways, to help with the whole feeding routine, we bought him a cool, retro-looking high chair.

It was quite funny when we first put him in. He was grabbing the sides of the chair like "What is this? Why is this so high? Why do i need to be strapped in? What's going on?" But once we had the tray in, he looked a lot happier.


Huh??


Oh.. this is quite cool...

Didn't really help with the feeding though.. :(

Tyler's view on rinsing

There's always been a debate in the Mills' household on the topic of rinsing. (OK, since we had the dishwasher, we haven't had a debate). What rinsing you say? If you're not English and you married an English person, you'll know what I'm talking about(right, Cristina?).

In a nutshell, the English people don't believe in rinsing soap of the plates when they do dishes. WHAT??! Uh huh.. dirty plate.. hot soapy water.. drying rack... In their defence, they do wipe it dry while it's still dripping with suds. *roll my eyes* Anyways.. as I said.. debate....

Anyways, since i like rinsing plates, i also like rinsing my baby.. and Tyler seem to like it too.. yay!!


Rinsing off.. good for plates and babies!!


'cuse me Dad.. a little bit of privacy maybe???

Hmm.. Art.. oooohh.. FOOD...

Well, that was exactly what the weekend was all about. We made plans to go for a swanky Art Walk event in South Denver on Friday and to the Denver Art Museum on Saturday with some friends. On Friday, we met up for food at this restaurant called Santa Fe Tequila Company that had awesome New Mexican cuisine. By the time we were done with food, so was the Art Walk!!!


Family picture outside DAM

Then on Saturday since we were going to the DAM first, I thought we were safe. In fact, we even actually managed to see some art exhibition but we didn't last very long before all of us were dying of hunger and went to stuff ourselves silly with Japanese food.


Picture with Hish(Damith's sister)



My sexy pose... ha!

Anyways, it was Tyler's first introduction to Art and we thought who else is better than the Old Masters of the Impressionism. But this was what he thought:


Tyler listening to the audio tour... zzzzzzz....

Later that evening(Sat), we went over to Rohit's for some super hot Indian food. Was good, but hot. I was by then catching another darn cold(don't send your kid to daycare if you want your health!!) and the rest of the weekend was spent nursing my very fragile nose and getting some rest.

Bon Jovi Concert

Last Monday, my friend Delina called me up and invited me to go to a Bon Jovi concert with her. After spending some time looking for tickets, we were on.

I didn't really want to go as I've already seen him in concert but she wanted somebody to go with her and was willing to pay for my tickets, so i went! hehehehe...

Delina and I at the concert

Anyways, despite my initial reluctance, i had quite a nice time. His older songs like Blaze of Glory, Bad Medicine, I'll Be There For You etc. brought back sentimental feelings of my youthful years.

Picture of stage setup

Alan who volunteered for baby-sitting duty ended doing a double duty when Delina told me that her mom was going to be at the mall while we were at the concert. I said to her, "But the mall closes at 9 pm and we won't be back till at least 11 pm". So we arranged for Alan to go pick her up so that she doesn't freeze to death. However, some lines must have crossed and Delina's mom ended up leaving multiple messages that says "Delina's mom" on some random person's phone, froze for 1/2 hr and was harrassed 3 times by the police before finally getting a hold of us. I called Alan and he went to her rescue and got her to our house and provided her with water and some risque Spanish soaps(this sentence sounds wrong, but you know what I mean, on tv).

Delina and his mom doting on Tyler

Introducing David Chua

Our newest little addition to the Chua clan.. check out the hair!

I called my Dad last week and was told that my sister-in-law had delivered and we have a new member in our family - David!

This was one of the few pictures from my sister's blog. I stole it because she was supposed to send me some pictures but hasn't.. ahemm...

Congratulations Kor and Chin Chin!!

Hanging out with Daddy

I saw this scene and couldn't resist taking a picture of the father and son chilling out in front of the computer watching some British program...



Alan introducing British humor to Tyler..

The rest of the weekend

Well, Alan came home on Friday. Tyler and I thought it would be funny to surprise him in pink pants. We had a good laugh about it. But i screwed up. Didn't get home in time!!!

Anyways, we had a badminton tournament on Saturday. Alan played in Men's Doubles while I played in Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles. It was a nice tournament with good turnout. But neither Alan nor I managed to snag any medals. This is what happens when you have no say in the tournament draws!!!

Tyler was with us the whole day. He was very popular at the tournament and I was relieved from baby sitting duty all day. Quite a good deal. After the tournament, we attended a little banquet to honor a few people who made it to the Badminton Hall of Fame..




Rare occasionm - Alan and I get our pictures taken together.. without Tyler!!!

Then on Sunday, a bunch of us met up at Super Star for some dim sum. Some of us may have overdosed and was semi-comatose for the rest of the day(me)..


Dim sum ....




Steffen and Tyler(in the mirror) passed out after the meal...

Mommy and Me

Alan was away in Shanghai the whole of last week and Tyler and I had a relatively good week. I managed to waltz in to work at past 10 am every morning.

The thing is, I thought as the days go by, i would get more efficient at getting out of the door but alas, each day i was 5-10 mins later than the day before!!! I blame it on Tyler of course because he kept waking me up at odd hours and he tells me it's my fault coz i left the light on.

Anyways, it had been a good week while Alan was away. We were both NOT sick, I managed to cook a few times, read Tyler some books(never actually made it to the end of the book, very long book) and even went to badminton!!

Tyler and I having a goofy picture taken of ourselves.. couldn't find our party hats though...

Pink - the new black

This actually happened last week but I didn't have time to update the blog. I walked into Tyler's daycare and thought that the caregiver carrying a little girl. But at a closer look, i realized it was Tyler - in a pair of pink pants!!!

I immediately burst out laughing and asked why my son was wearing pink ruffled pants. She explained that he had a big "blow out" and ran out of pants to wear. So, they looked in their stock of leftover clothes and found a pair of pink pants. They thought it was better pink than cold, i guess.

Anyways, here's my son in pink!


Tyler all smiley in his pink ruffly pants.. i'm pretty sure this is going to haunt him for the rest of his life!