Busy Weekend Part 3

Sunday was the final party. It was a friends luau themed baby shower at Kenny and Lisa's home. Rick and I went a little later (the shower started around noon) because Grandma and Grandpa were packing up to leave, and we wanted to see if Emi-chan would nap. Ted and Yumiko went to the party on time.

After lunch, Rick and I left for the party (Emi-chan wouldn't nap) and got there around 3 PM. People were playing a game where each person receives a bowl full of uncooked rice with little tiny safety pins mixed in. The object of the game is to try to pick out the safety pins out of the rice with your eyes closed within a minute. Sounds simple? No it isn't! It's hard to feel the pins. They're almost the same size as the grains of rice and slippery. Some people were pretty good at the game. Others weren't. I was one of the worst ones. I think I only got one safety pin.

A fun but messy game

Then, Ted and Yumiko opened their gifts. It was fun to see what they received. We gave them a Pikachu pillow, a Miffy doll and DVD, and a cute little baby outfit.

Miffy vs. Pikachu: Who Will Win?

There was tons of Hawaiian food at the party, although looking at this picture, you'd think there was only cake, but they were all good.

Emi-chan did fine at the party. She ate all the rice on a Spam musubi (she didn't like the Spam) and played nicely with Hannah (for once, we didn't have to worry about her gouging some other child's eyes out).


Ted and Yumiko stayed until Monday morning and drove home. It was a busy, crazy, and hectic weekend, but it was so much fun and it was wonderful to celebrate with so many people the life of Ted and Yumiko's baby.

Busy Weekend Part 2

After the last post, Rick asked me if I was doing okay. He said it was a little dark and sarcastic. I think I was still recovering from Emi-chan's illness and was a little snarky. Sorry if I offended anybody. We all had a blast that day. Anyways, on to the next post...

On Saturday, we had the official family shower for Yumiko and Ted. It held at Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant in Cupertino. With only a few gaffes (the helium tank for the balloons was empty; Starbuck's coffee lost my order for coffee for the party - grrr!), the party was a success. One happy surprise was that the cakes showed up on time! I had some problems with the bakery, so I was a little nervous that they wouldn't arrive.

About 60 - 65 people came. There were Yoshida's, Hanaki's, Nagatoishi's, and Texiera's. They came as far as Sacramento (or somewhere near Sacto) and Los Angeles area (sorry. I can't quite remember where people came from). Grandma's Auntie Lily, who was visiting her daughter Brenda, was able to come. She's from Hilo, Hawaii (I remembered one place :D). It was nice to see people we haven't seen in a long time. One of the aunties I haven't seen since our wedding. Actually, there were a lot of relatives I haven't seen since our wedding so it was nice to see them again. Good thing Auntie Susie had us wear name tags. I couldn't remember a few people's names and how we're related.

Since Yumiko and Ted didn't have a cake to cut at their wedding, we made them cut the cake like at a wedding reception.

Aren't they cute?

Aww. Very cute.

It felt like we spent hours and hours eating and chatting. After the party, the Hanaki side of the family went out to eat, again. This time to China Stix restaurant. This was only an hour or two after the first party ended. We thought no one would eat because we were so full, but no one had any problem eating. I think it was the good food enhanced by the good company.

Even after we ate at China Stix, we still
hung out a little bit longer

We were pooped!

Busy Weekend Part 1

Finally I'm getting around to writing about Ted and Yumiko's Baby Shower weekend. It's been a hectic couple of weeks. When Rick and I thought we were finally rested and back on our feet, Emi-chan got sick and we all had a miserable time. She's finally on the mend, and so are we.

On Friday, most of the Hanaki side of the family (Grandma's family) were in town, so it was decided for the people who could make it, to get together for dim sum on Friday. We were told to meet at the Koi Palace in Daly City, near Serramonte Mall. Unfortunately, we got our directions mixed up and ended up at the wrong side of the mall. Oops. After a few frantic phone calls, Rick's cousin, Kim, got us on the right tract (I want to know, whose bright idea was it was to build a bunch of restaurants around a dinky parking lot behind an office complex? Huh? But I digress from the main story).

Koi Palace was PACKED. And NOISY. Emi-chan didn't like the place at all (Why are all the good dim sum places PACKED? And NOISY? I guess they wouldn't be if it wasn't any good. Another digression). We had a little trouble trying to figure out how to order items (Where are the carts with the bamboo baskets? We have to fill out what? Why do the servers keep asking us if we wanted food if we didn't order it? What's that? What are we eating?). I think the servers were annoyed with us, but who cares. The food was good (I loved the sesame seed balls!) and we all had a good time, except, of course, Emi-chan.

After we ate and squeezed our way out of the restaurant, the clan moved on to Golden Gate Park, specifically to a section called the Koret Children's Quarter. It's an awesome kid's playground! So much to see and do. The carousel was close by, so a we took Emi-chan on her first ride (thanks Kim!). The carousel is beautifully restored and I was really excited to ride it. Of course, Emi-chan loved it.

Here is her look of sheer delight and joy.

Actually, she HATED it and tried to climb off a couple of times. A sad thing. A child hating her first carousel ride. A sadder thing is both Rick and I got really, really sick riding the darn thing. I thought I was going to hurl, pass out, or both. Both Rick and I were so sick, we had a hard time walking after we got off. So sad. I used to have no problems on fun rides, like roller coasters, but now I can't even handle a carousel. But here are some pictures of people who had fun:

Here is cutie pie Ellis and his cute mama, Kim

Yahoo, Uncle Ken!

When we felt better, we made our way to the park and Emi-chan had a great time there (another digression: the people who run the park need to put in better restrooms). She was fascinated by these funny little seats that you sit in, and using your body weight, it spins around and around. She refused to get on, but loved it when other kids were on. She cackled the whole time while she watched.


Emi-chan and I had fun climbing around the toddler-sized play structures and going down the slide (I didn't get stuck! Yeah!).

Okay, so I had fun on the play structures and going down the slide.

Here's Emi-chan checking out her competition, Molly and Connor

After an hour or so of hanging out with the kids, and catching up with some of the cousins, we all had to leave. Getting out of the park was a little tricky (whose great idea was it to put a parking lot on a freaking cracked, slanted driveway with a big old freaking tree in the middle of it? Why didn't they chop down the tree, or better yet, find a better place for a parking lot where disabled people and baby carriages won't roll down the stupid hill? But I digress yet again).

It was a busy but fun day. Now, onto the next day...

Happy Mother's Day

The tea roses are blooming in our "garden." Rick is making dinner. Emi-chan is napping. I ate a brownie, 3 pieces of chocolate, a bowl of ice cream, and meat loaf and mashed potatoes, in that order. So far, so good.

Burnt Out

This past weekend Ted and Yumiko's baby shower, belated wedding reception, and family reunion. Plus there was a couple of family get togethers and another baby shower for them. I'll be posting about them soon, but right now, I'm pooped. Plus Emi-chan's molars are coming in and she's pretty miserable, and in turn, is making mama and papa miserable, too.

Until I'm able to post again, please enjoy these videos (the things I find while looking around in YouTube):