A Little Trip Down South

Rick, Emi-chan, Grandma and Grandpa, and I flew down to LA-LA Land for Mi-chan's belated birthday and dedication. Most of our friends (the So clan, Nate and Selena, and Vince) also joined the us down there.

We stayed at the Radisson, which was CRAZY busy because of a body builder's convention and the cable show, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia was being filmed there, and something else was going on there. I would have been more impressed if it wasn't so STINKING CRAZY trying to get into the FREAKING hotel!!! But once we got in, it was alright.


The next day, the ladies took Yumiko out for a quick brunch and left the kids with the dads and the single men. I think they had fun :) The ladies went out to a eatery called the M Cafe. It was a macrobiotic cafe. Everything was healthy, mostly vegetarian, only fish and fake meat. The men would have starved to death there. The place was very light, airy and the food was good (more on the food blog). Most of all, the mommies were glad to have a little break from the kids and hubbies.

Isn't macrobiotic food wonderful?

After we went back to the hotel for refreshing and a nap, we all went to King's Hawaiian Bakery and Restaurant to make-up for the healthy choices the ladies made earlier in the day. We were able to get into a little room for the 15 (or was it 18) of us. We gorged on good, stick to your ribs food. Carbs and protein rule!

Macadamia Chicken Bowl

Then, we had guava cake to celebrate Mi-chan's birthday. She was a trooper.

On the other hand, Emi-chan was not.

Emi-chan was much better once she found Uncle Vince's earphones and iPod.

Ted and Mi-chan (I think Ted's
ready for another nap)

The next day, we went to Ted and Yumiko's church to see Mi-chan dedicated to the LORD. It was a sweet service. I had to watch most of it from the cry room upstairs because Emi-chan spent the service, well, crying. Actually, she didn't cry much in the beginning. She spent most of it singing songs from Sesame Street and the Totoro movie. She cried when she whacked her head against the pew. I left with her when people began to give us the stink-eye.

After the service, we went out to lunch at the Soup Plantation (like a Fresh Choice).

Emi-chan hanging with Uncle Craig

At least most of us did. Rick, his parents, Vince, and Julie ate at an outdoor cafe because Grandpa couldn't make the walk to the restaurant :( After lunch, the friends left to go back North, and we headed back to the hotel to rest up. In the evening, we spent time with Ted, Yumiko, and Mi-chan. We left for the North the next day. It was sad we couldn't see them again in the morning.

It was a busy, hectic trip, but we wouldn't have missed seeing Mi-chan for the world. And, oh yeah, it was good to see Ted and Yumiko, too.

Last Day of Summer School

Last week...or was it the week before?...I can't remember...was Emi-chan's last day at summer school. It was a 3 week program, two times a day, 2 1/2 hours a day. It was at the school she went for the Parent-And-Me class. It was a lot of work (it's a parent co-op school), but loads of fun.

Emi-chan cried A LOT when she couldn't find me at school. Plus, she couldn't foloow most of the directions, like sit down during circle time, share, etc, but on the last day, she had no problem. Of course, she would finally get the rules on the last day. Oh well. Maybe she'll remember some when school starts again.

Usually, Emi-chan hates making craft items, but she actually made a few items:

An ocean of stickers


A whale
(The original version looked like a whale.
Emi-chan's doesn't)

A fish
Kind of reminds me of
The Simpsons fish

The three weeks went by really fast, although both Emi-chan and I were exhausted on the days we went. I'm actually looking forward to the school year (we'll see how long that lasts).

Happy Fourth of July!

...two days late. We had a good time. The family went down to Monterey to help out a friend and hang out. It turned out that we were pretty late to help out with some manual labor (darn!). We redeemed ourselves by making an offering of food stuffs. The rest of time, we hung out, played with the kids, ate, and goofed off.

Emi-chan and Rick had fun playing dress up with Uncle Vince's "pimp" hats.


Right before we left, Rock Band was brought out and Rick and the boys had a blast playing a few songs on the game.

Notice, Nathan is the only one cleaning up. Everyone else is playing Rock Band, or lazing around. Good man, Nathan.

Hot, Hot, Hot

This past weekend was HOT by NorCal standards. I think it was 106F at one point or another. On Saturday, when we got home from helping my Bro Jeff, we found out that the power had gone out. NOOOO! Our garage door won't open! No air conditioning! No TV! The ice cream in the freezer is melting! What do we do? It's amazing how you can take somethings for granted. Like electricity. I'm a total wimp. Fortunately, the power was out only for about half an hour. I was so embarrassed by my overreaction. Good thing I was screaming only in my head and not out loud. While the power was out, we got the garage door opened, got the hose out and squirted Emi-chan with water, and met some of our neighbors. It's funny. I've been here for over 4 years, and hadn't met most of the people around me until now. I guess that was one good thing that came out the the power outage. We were forced to interact with people.

On Sunday, after church and our naps, we took Emi-chan to the pool and let her play in the water. We thought she might be shy about going into the pool, but she kept wanting to jump in. We were happy that she wasn't afraid, but worried because she didn't want to be held while in the water. A couple of times, she went under for a second or two. But she wasn't fazed by it. What a trooper. She liked it when Rick held her so she could "swim".

Swim, swim, swim

Emi-chan made a friend

Sesame Street Live!

I'm way behind in posting. Hopefully, I'll be caught up by next week.

Last weekend, we took Emi-chan to Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Green Thumb. She had no idea where we were taking her, despite the fact that Rick and I kept telling her we were going to go see Elmo, Big Bird, Abby, and etc. She was ECSTATIC when we walked into the lobby and saw the Sesame Street souvenir stand PACKED with overpriced Sesame Street items (...at least I thought they were overpriced...and guess who bought a bunch of stuff for her little girl).

Emi-chan had fun looking at her overpriced...I mean precious show program and running up and down the aisle to look at the stage.

Hmmm...very interesting

How can they dance in those costumes?

Once the show started, she was mesmerized. I thought she would be scared with the lights out, crazy lights flashing around, loud music, and seeing her friends not on TV, but live. Rick and I thought it would be too overwhelming for her, but she loved it...at first. She was so excited that she peed on me (I wasn't very excited about that).

Bravo!

By intermission time, she had had it. She missed her nap time, and I think the show was a little too overwhelming for her. She had a tantrum. Good thing the music was so loud, no one could hear her scream. We left about 20 minutes early. I noticed we weren't the only ones leaving with weeping children.

Although we had to leave early, I think Emi-chan had fun and we'll probably try again next time they come around. This time, I bring an extra change of clothes for me!

The Birds

During one of my fevered moments, I called my Bro Jeff to check in on him. He was his usual chipper self (I am being sarcastic). During the conversation, he mentioned he was attacked by birds in the garage. I said something brilliant like, "Eh?" I wasn't quite sure if I had heard him correctly. Birds in the garage? Attacking Jeff while he did the laundry? Where they crows? No. Seagulls? No. Sparrows? No. So what were they? Doves. I told him that maybe they were hiding in the garage because it was windy (at least I think that's what I said) and hung up. I still wasn't sure if I heard him correctly and that night, I had visions of Jeff being pecked at, a la Hitchcock.



A couple of days later, when I was less fevered, I spoke to Jeff over the phone again, hoping the doves were gone, but nope. They were still there, and they attacked him again. Poor Jeff! The birds were constantly in the garage, and periodically he would hear scratching on the walls. I told him that once we were better, Rick and I would help figure out what was going on. I told Rick what was happening and he was afraid that not only did Jeff have unwanted birds, he also had rats. Great.

The following Saturday, we went up to check up on Jeff and his squatters, and didn't find any rats (whew!) but we found this on one of the shelves:


Jeff is going to be a landlord to a family of doves!

A few days, later, I found one of his "tenants":


She/he flew at me while I was taking pictures, as if to say, "No paparazzi!"

Still Sick...

In my feverish state, I forgot these video gems...



This song is embedded in our brains. I think Emi-chan has a crush on one of the puppets.



Emi-chan loves this video. The funny thing is Emi-chan still can't speak more than 1 1/2 words at a time, but she can quote this video verbatim. Scary...

Sick...

Emi-chan was sick most of last week, and now Rick and I are down with the flu. Until we're up and running again, please enjoy these videos:



Currently, this is Emi-chan's favorite video. The poor folks who had to sing and dance in this kids' video. It's about a dolphin (iruka) and a squid (ika) and how their names are similar, but they're different species.




This is Rick's favorite video. So cute. So simple.





This is my favorite video. The words mean absolutely nothing. The beat and the blocks are mesmerizing. I love it.

Mother's Day

I hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's Day. Mine was a little weird. It's been 2 months since my mom passed away, and it was the 16th anniversary since my dad died. He died on Mother's Day. On the flip side, I loved the fact that this day was really for me.

Rick asked if I wanted anything special. Jewelry? Books? Flowers? I said I wanted pancakes for breakfast. So the dear guy made some for me. The first time he's ever made pancakes.


He did alright :)

He's also a mind reader. I wanted a pizza for dinner, but didn't say anything. He went out and got me a pizza. What a guy.

Outside!

Emi-chan's favorite place in the world is, "Outside!" As long as it isn't inside, it doesn't matter where she is, or what she's doing. Unfortunately, mama isn't an outdoorsy-type, so it's a constant battle between the wills. I'm more of the lets stay inside where the bad pollen and ultra-violet rays can't get us.

Recently, Emi-chan has had her wish come true many times over. The weather has been warm and sunny. I've been convicted that I need to get my rear end in gear and enjoy the outdoors, even when my allergies threaten my life. Plus, when we're inside, all Emi-chan wants to do is watch Elmo DVD's. Although I love the furry, red guy, I can't watch him hour after hour after hour after hour...

Two weeks ago, the Parent-And-Me class Emi-chan and I attend went on a field trip to the Emma Prusch Farm in San Jose. It's a cute little farm/park. There were bold chicken running around the place, little duck pond, and a pretty rose garden. In a barn, there were cows, pigs, and sheep. Although I didn't see any, people said that there are peacocks on the grounds. There was also a neat play area and lots of grassy area to run around on. Emi-chan loved it, and despite myself, I really enjoyed the park. Emi-chan especially loved chasing after the chicken. She thought they were great. She also loved the barn. She kept trying to climb into the pen where the sheep were kept.

All I kept thinking was, "Oh Lord, I'm so glad you didn't make me a farm girl." All that poop. I'm such a wimp.

"We own the joint!"

Emi-chan did get into a little trouble. She got into a shoving-pulling match with another little girl over who was going to sit on a tractor, and I got mad at her when I caught her trying to get into some of the landscaper's tools. Other than that, it was a busy and fun morning.

Ahh, that hits the spot!

Last week, Rick invited me and Emi-chan to a going-away picnic for a co-worker. The picnic was at the Ed Levin County Park. The park is on a two-way road, with no real cross-streets. We kept getting lost. Actually, we kept passing it up because the map directions we got off the internet was a little wonky, and we kept driving up and down the road, until one of us (I forget who) decided, "Hey, lets check out the park we keep passing up." And there we where. It's a nice area to hike and picnic at. Lots of shade, a nice and easy walking path, and a little pond. There were some bold little ducks, much to Emi-chan's delight. She spent most of her time running after them. A few times, she tried to get into the pond to get closer to the ducks.

One of the ducks trying to get away
from Emi-chan by retreating to the pond

It was a nice afternoon eating and getting to know some of Rick's co-workers better. There was a lot of good food. My favorite was the grilled mini-bell peppers. They were so sweet and juicy! Emi-chan forgot she was on a strike against strawberries and gorged herself on them. And like a good Japanese American girl, she ate 2 slices of Spam musubi.

Yummm!

I guess I'm getting used to being outside. I enjoy it, most of the time now. Now that I'm spending more time outdoors and bonding with my little girl, I'm going to have to invest in some good sunscreen and shorts (Egads! The horror!).

After a long, tiring day running around
outside, it's nice to come
home and relax with a book and
sit in your box.

Happy Easter

We went to church today for Easter service. There was also a Easter egg hunt for the kids before the service.

We thought Emi-chan would enjoy it but unfortunately, she didn't.

Eventually, I got her to get interested in some of the eggs.

Git yer paws off me eggs!

Help me, Papa! Mama's trying to
make me act proper!

Almost...there...!

I'm free!

Good-bye, Mom

On March 12, 2009, mother passed away from cardiac arrest. It was quite unexpected. We're still dealing with the shock. Ironically, she died on my dad's birthday.

She lead quite an eventful life. I might write about some of her exploits one day.

Kazuyo "Lucy" Higashi

I love you mom, and miss you very much.

Girl's Day

I'm a little late in posting this, but March 3rd was Girl's Day in Japan. After last year's fiasco (see March 3, 2008) with the dolls, I decided not to put out our Girl's Day dolls, but instead we went to my friend's church that was having a Girl's Day celebration.


Although it was cold and rainy, I dressed Emi-chan in a new jimbei (she's out grown most of her other ones). Usually one wears a jimbei during the summer months, but since she/mom doesn't have a chance to show off all the nice Japanese items people have given Emi-chan, she gets to wear them (mom gets to show off) when ever possible.

At the celebration, we sang some cute songs, danced around, ate snacks, and basicallly socialized for a couple of hours. Then we went home.


It didn't feel right not having the dolls out, so I gave in and let Emi-chan play with the least fragile dolls I had: a Hello Kitty Emperor and Empress set. They're sealed in a plastic box so that should deter Emi-chan for about a week or so.


I also tried dressing Emi-chan up in a cute yukata I found at a children's clothing swap. It was cute, but Emi-chan didn't like it at all. I wish I had the yukata I wore when I was a toddler, but NO. I found out earlier this year, my mom gave away all of our (me and my bro) baby and toddler yukatas years ago. I guess she thought no reason to hang onto them when there's no grandbabies who can wear them. I'm so hurt. I think I'll go drown my sorrows with puffed sugar rice and See's chocolates.

A funny story about my Girl's Day dolls. According to ancient legends, once Girl's Day is over, you have to put the dolls away right away, or your daughter(s) will not get married. My mom kept the dolls out for decades, because she didn't believe in the superstition (we live in the US. Japanese supersitions shouldn't apply to us here, right?) and it's a pain to unpack and pack the dolls up just for one day of the year. So, what happens? I never really dated or had a boyfriend. Finally, after about 20 years or so, she decided she's going to put the dolls away because she was tired of looking at them. Within a couple of months, I meet Rick, and the rest is history. I guess there's some truth to the legend...

Birthday Parties!

I realized yesterday, that I posted Emi-chan's birthday one day late. Oops! Oh, well. She won't mind.

She had 2 little parties to celebrate her birthday. The first one was at her Parent-And-Me class. Both she and another little girl turned 2 years old a day or two apart, so I made some mini-cupcakes to celebrate (see the other blog for the trials and tribulations of making these cupcakes).

It was a nice relaxed day. We had a visitor who brought in a lizard and a parrot for the kids to see. At first, the kids, except for Emi-chan, flocked to look at the animals. Then they kinda wandered away (toddlers have a short attention span - so do some adults). When the young man was getting ready to go, then Emi-chan started showing interest in the animals.


The cupcakes went over well with the kids, except for Emi-chan, of course.


Then it was recess outside. The teacher tried to take a picture of the kids and moms, but Emi-chan wouldn't (couldn't) co-operate. She was more interested in being a firefighter. Why, oh why, does my little one have to do things differently than the other kids?


On Saturday, we had a family birthday party for Emi-chan. Grandma and Grandpa came up and we had dinner at Gran-Gran's place. Emi-chan had 1) temper tantrum and then 2) had a good time ordering everybody around. She did a good job blowing out the candles on her cupcakes (I knew she'd learn something useful from the Elmo DVDs).


We had a good time eating and socializing, and watching Emi-chan opening her presents. It was a busy weekend.

Happy Birthday!

Emi-chan is 2 years old today! How time flies.

Outing

Last Friday, Rick and I took Emi-chan to the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose. It's a hands on museum for kids. After nearly getting run over by an earth mover and getting lost for a few minutes, we finally got to the museum (I was reading the map wrong. Oops). We were greeted by a enormous purple building and a giant rubber ducky on the roof. We got there late, so we had only a couple of hours to see the museum. From the outside, the place looked a little small, so I thought we could cover the place in that amount of time, but I was wrong. When we got in, the first thing I noticed were the happy, hyper kids having fun, and the dazed, glassy-eyed parents stumbling after them.

Initially, we didn't know where to start, so we just started wandering around and found some really cool exhibits. Emi-chan didn't want to try anything out at first, but she quickly got the hang of the place. In fact, there were a few exhibits we had to drag her from so we can check out another one. Here are some highlights:


The Merry-Go-Round room. One of Emi-chan's favorite sections.

Waterways: she cried when we left (i.e.dragged her screaming).

This contraption shows how bubbles move through liquid. Mathematians and scientists use this to study bubbles. The only thing I could think of when we were playing with this thing is, "Is that what it looks like when you have gas in the bath."

Firefighter Emi-chan!

Finally, Emi-chan's favorite display, the ducky on the roof.

Happy Valentine's Day

Art by Emi-chan, with help from Teacher Kris and Mama

Date With Emi-chan

A few days ago, after feeling a little claustrophobic cooped up in the house for days, I decided that Emi-chan and I need to go on a "date" and get out of the house for awhile.

Since we hadn't had lunch, we went to Burger King (I know, I'm a horrible mom - feeding my precious child junk). I got her a BK meal with mac-n-cheese, french fries, and apple juice. I had a Jr. Whopper, fries, and iced tea. I wolfed down my whole meal and wished I had more. Emi-chan daintily ate her fries one by one, and spilled most of her apple juice on herself.


Then, I took her to a new park. I think she was a little spooked. There were a bunch of men playing soccer, which was fine, but also there were a couple of shady looking men watching the soccer players...then us. Eeew.

Once at the playground, Emi-chan and I loosened up a little bit and had fun climbing on the play structures and digging in the sand. I was chasing Emi-chan around when she stepped in some dog doo. I saw it a tenth of a second before her foot went in. Yuck! (No photo. Didn't think you wanted to see that). I picked her up and put her in a swing to try to clean some of the poo off her shoe. Couldn't get most off, so decided that was the end of the visit to the park. Emi-chan decided she wanted to be carried to the car. Great. I'm hauling a 30-lb toddler in my arms, and she's kicking me with her pooey shoe.

After we got home, I cleaned her up, cleaned myself up, and then had to clean her shoe and wash my clothes. After Emi-chan got up from her nap, I thought it might be fun to do a craft. I gave her some stickers and her favorite can and showed her how to put the stickers on the can. The stickers ended up on her. A quiet ending to our date.