When you have kids, especially multiple children, the terms "break" or "vacation" that used to cause such excitement when they followed "spring," "summer," or "winter" take on a very different meaning. They require quotes when said by parents. Observe:
Parent at School: How was your Spring Break?
Mimi: Good! I went to the museum, and then skiing, and then I played outside. No homework!
Steve: Spring "Break?" Yeah, uh, it was good. Yeah, good. I think. We did a lot of stuff. Um, is today Tuesday? I honestly don't know anymore.
While school breaks and vacations no longer hold the same excitement for parents as they do for their kids (the week after the week off ironically becomes the week off), they remain just as much of an adventure.
Our Spring Break began early, but just on Saturdays. Mimi had recently graduated from Kindergarten in her Saturday Japanese school. That meant she had a few Saturdays free.
We took advantage of this with a family hike to Cascade falls here in Marin. Kuri and Mimi did a great job scampering up the hills. Sumie, strapped down with a baby, still managed to take her tea with her. There's no stopping certain addictions.
With Mimi off Japanese school, that meant her cousins in Japan were free as well. And they were on their way. Sumie's brother arrived with his wonderful wife and four kids. It's always a special time when the cousins get together. For some reason, they liked staying in our house. I can't imagine why...
The weather was gorgeous, but it still got a bit cold at night. It's amazing how many kids can fit under a kotatsu when the temperature drops.
We took advantage of the great weather with a trip up to Napa and picnic out at Paradise beach.
Christopher, Shuhei, and I even woke up early on Sunday to take the Porsche to Cars and Coffee. This was really special for Kuri. Not only did he get to see cars, he got to enjoy them with his cousin idol. They really earned those cookies that morning.
Mimi still had school while her cousins were visiting. As they took a trip down to LA, the family gathered together at Mimi's school to share in Author's Week.
And, of course, with the sun out and Spring finally in the air, we had to take the top off the car..
...and ride bikes in the back yard.
Just before Mimi was set to go on Spring Break here in the states, her Japanese school started back up. We went to Mimi's entrance ceremony for first grade...
...and then went home and played with Ooblick!
Before we knew it, Spring Break started in earnest. It wasn't just for Mimi. Mariko had a week off from daycare and Kuri, well, there was no way he'd go to preschool if both his sisters were at home. The only one who didn't have time off was Sumie, at least until Thursday and Friday. On Tuesday I took all three kids up to Sacramento to visit their Great Grandmother. Unfortunately, with just me on duty with three kids, I forgot to take pictures!
The following day my mom came over to celebrate her birthday a few days late. We decided to go down to the Discovery Museum...
...and fill up on fish and chips at Fish in Sausalito.
Mari approved of the restaurant choice. She was particularly fond of the chips.
We finished off the day with cake back at home. Mari had had so many chips, she passed out before she could get to the cake.
We'd definitely been on the move the past few weeks, but there was still more to do. Early Thursday morning we packed up for a one-night trip to Tahoe. One thing I learned from doing this: if you're going to pack three kids for a trip to the snow, you might as well go for a week. It takes the same amount of time. I took less luggage when I moved to Japan than I did for the family for one night 200 miles away from home.
10 miles from Donner Lake, where we'd be staying, we found Highway 80 closed thanks to yet another significant snow. We decided to brave waiting it out for an hour with three kids who needed to pee, but were rewarded with a warm lodge room and a beautiful view of the wintry storm.
Our room had a great little breakfast nook...
...where little girls could pout for no particular reason.
After dinner, Mimi and Kuri insisted on a snowball fight. Papa obliged.
In the morning we woke to a crystal clear day.
Mimi and her Papa headed to the ski resort, where Mimi had her first lesson and her Papa, who hadn't skied in 20 years, managed not to kill himself.
As Mimi skied, Mari cuddled with her Mama back at the lodge and Kuri focused on making more snowballs.
Just before we left, we picked up a sled and found a hill. Again, we had to split up. Sumie took the two oldest while I hung out in the Pilot with a tuckered out baby.
We returned late Friday night, but rest was not on the schedule for Saturday. Mimi had Japanese school and I, well, I'd earned a reprieve. Bidding the family an early goodbye, I hopped in the Porsche and joined some friends for an, um, "spirited" drive out on the coast. It was my first child-free moment in almost two weeks.
Normally Sunday would've been our family day of rest, but the Cherry Blossom festival was wrapping up in San Francisco and Sumie had been asked, for the 6th time, to speak at the Japanese Senior Brunch in Japantown. It also being Easter Sunday, we dolled up the kids, cleaned up ourselves, and went to brave a formal brunch and awards ceremony with a six year old, a three year old, and one hyper-squirmy one year old. Here's a spot of Mari, who I had taken out into the lobby so she could point virtually everything and comment in lively babble. It's her favorite hobby.
All three kids made it through the brunch!
In fact, we all made it through not only the brunch, but through what amounted to two jam-packed Spring Breaks. We even still looked somewhat presentable.
To call the past several weeks to a vacation, or even a break, would be a bit of a misnomer. They were, however, quite an adventure. I'm not quite sure where our next round of time off will take us, but I'm sure it's going to be an exhausting, rewarding, memorable time.
No comments:
Post a Comment