LA LA LA Day 3, 4, 5

On Wednesday we stopped by at Jim & Cindi's new house to say hello and wash our clothes (thanks very much, Cindi, that was a lifesaver). There are many, many wonderful things about their new house, but this may be the one I like the best: it's a tatami room with a built-in kotatsu over a recessed floor. Maybe someday, if we don't ever move to Japan, and we have a lot of money that we don't know what to do with, we can build a room like this too?!


Izumi and I next to the fish tank built into the wall between the living room and Jim's office. It's a very cool tank with interesting, exotic fish in it, but you can't really see it here so you'll just have to take my word for it. I'm mostly inserting this picture so you'll know that I really was on this trip!


After our laundry was done, we went to spend a little time with Alex, Kristen Joy and Olivia. We had some take-out from El Pollo Loco (yum!) at their house, and then went for a walk to a park. Here's Izumi in mid-crawl in the foreground, with the rest of the gang behind.


There was no question "if" the kids would all end up climbing on Alex, it was a matter of "when"...


Next stop, Alex & KJ's favorite frozen yogurt shop; a necessity on a hot summer day!


Next up was dinner with Cat & Darren but they weren't quite ready to meet us so I took the kids on a quick trip to M & L Fabrics in Anaheim. I was transported back to the day Clehrence (Clarice) and I went there and ended up with some green fur that she made into a stunning jacket. On the other hand, I bought some quilted silver fabric and turned it into a hideous jacket; you can't win 'em all. Anyway, it was just as stuffed with fabric as I remembered, though it was a bit limiting to try and navigate the place with two little kids in tow (I say, as if there are many other places that aren't that way). In fact, I didn't even approach the flat fold stacks, which were much taller than me. I was afraid that I would find some fabric to love at knee-level and never get it out, or worse yet, start a fabric avalanche and crush my children. Fortunately, I discovered the bargain basement back room. Watch this space to see what that fabric will become! Getting to the subject of this photo, we met Cat & Darren at Niko Niko Sushi, which certainly wasn't super authentic but did give us an enormous bowl of edamame for three bucks, and had a really delicious carrot-miso dressing for the salad (note to self: try to make that dressing).


Then Cat & Darren took Koji swimming, and even invited Darren's nephew Dyson along for the fun. Izumi and I played poolside; it was a little chilly for her since she had a runny nose.


Here's Koji and Dyson, and the end of Day Three!


Day Four, we met Cat & Darren again; we went to a park in Brea to play with Dyson and then back to their place for lunch but I didn't take any pictures. Cat did, so maybe someday I'll backpost something, maybe. Then they had to get to a beach party, so we went back to Jim & Cindi's for a swim and dinner.


Jim, Cindi and Chibi, our great friends and wonderful hosts, too!


This was Koji's gang while we were at Jim & Cindi's: Jamee, who's five, Koji, who's four, and Joy, who's three. It worked out very nicely.


Day Five, we just couldn't get enough of Jim & Cindi so we went back to their house again! For hours, Koji and his posse, as introduced above, jumped in the pool and then climbed back out to jump in again.

Back in the day when I used to work for Cindi, Ali was still in high school but now she's a tennis coach AND good with babies, too. Thanks for giving me a break, Ali!

California Adventures

An Open Letter of Apology to Friends Who Live in the Los Angeles Area and are Not Pictured Below:

I'm very sorry that we weren't able to see you when we were recently in LA. Worse yet, you didn't even know we were there. We had no malicious intent; rather, we had very little time and two small children to work with. So we did our best, and we are still regretful that we were not able to see you. We hope you will forgive us, and even think fondly of us and give us another chance if we tell you that we will be back soon, at which time we certainly hope to make up for lost time. Thank you.

Without further ado, here's a pictorial synopsis of the rest of our visit to Southern California:

On Sunday the 15th (a VERY belated but HAPPY 10th anniversary to Laurie and John!), we drove up just north of Ventura to visit Uncle Ken (mom's younger brother) and Aunt Cher. What great hosts! What a wonderful day! Cher, you were so thoughtful to borrow and prepare toys for the kids to play with, and Ken, Koji is still asking to go back to your house to play with you. Being with you at your house was so restful and lovely, and I loved catching up with you after not seeing you for so long. Your copies of this and some other pictures we took that day will be in the mail to you.

Monday the 16th: Koji and Mikayla got along pretty well, maybe even a little better than I thought they would. I was a little embarrassed that Koji couldn't finish having a picnic with Mikayla in the backyard for fear of the gnat that landed on his knee. And I also felt bad to discover that the fever he started at Disneyland had returned... in spite of these little glitches, we had a great day and hope to spend time with you all again soon!

Here's Will with Riva and Tyler: he came home from work early to visit with us, which made our already fun day with the Lees complete. If you check Riva's blog, you'll see that she was prompt to post a picture of our visit weeks ago...no, I'm not beating myself up about not being caught up on my blog, no way...

Koji and Izumi with Maryn, Kirra, Anna and Maya...yes, I know this isn't the best picture of my children, but it might be one of the funniest! I'm so glad that Kara and Mark were able to squeeze us in, it was great to spend a couple of hours with them and meet Kirra for the first time. She was SO smiley and sweet, I hope to see her again soon so I can sqeeze her!

Tuesday the 17th: I have two motives for putting this photo up: one, I want you all to know what a FABULOUS day we had visiting with Grandma (my mom's mom, aka "GG" = Great Grandma). Two, I want Grant to know that Izumi does still do "the eyes" once in awhile. Back to GG: thanks for having us. Our day went by much too quickly. One of the highlights was definitely watching you play hide and go seek with Koji. And I think we should make cookies again; those oatmeal raisin weren't bad for your first attempt in 20(?) years, but I bet we could do better. Also, next time I'm going to take my double stroller so that you and I can walk as long we want without having to cater to Koji! I love you!

Wednesday the 18th: It's been three years since we last saw Alex and KJ, and in that time, God has added Olivia to their family. She's eight months old now, and very cute. Cat thinks so too!

These little chocolates, which we used to hold some 'two days before your birthday' candles for Koji, are the only evidence I have that I actually spent most of the day with Cindi. Seriously, I had such a good time getting caught up that I didn't even think to take a single picture! Let's make up for that next time. Anyway, as I was leaving Cindi's house I realized that I had failed to prepare a cake, so she grabbed these chocolates and candles and set me all up. Phew! Cindi, not only are you fun to hang out with, you're a lifesaver too.

You can tell Aunt Cat has learned well at the "School of Dyson (nephew)". These presents are a hit. In fact, we've been carrying this plane around with us for several days now!

Though I'm posting this chronologically, I guess my comments don't have to be; I now know that Koji loves this game, and well he should. Thanks, Alex & KJ!

Look closely and you'll see that Izumi is modeling a barrette that KJ hand made for her. KJ, you should sell those on Etsy.

Thursday the 18th, er, "today": Flying home, Izumi was tired enough to take a little snooze on Aogu's lap, which is saying something. Oh yes, that is Aogu behind the mask. He's so hygenic.