Hell Week and SMART Train Weekend

Last Saturday (was it only last Saturday, a scant eight days ago?), our family began what we thought might be one of our Hell weeks. These come from time to time for us - Sumie will be on call with a tremendously hard patient load, the kids will be sick or daycare will be off, and there will be little opportunity for us to connect outside of the five minutes before falling asleep. Well, we did indeed just get through one and, happily, we got through relatively unscathed.

The Saturday before last began normally, with Sumie taking Mimi down to Japanese school, but would end in something Sumie had never undertaken - a camping trip on her own. That morning, with Mimi and her mother in SF, I took Mari and Kuri down the street to our local car show. This was Mari's first ride in the Porsche, and she absolutely adored it! And Kuri loved the fact that, for the first time, he got to eat in the car (sadly, it ended up being popcorn. Ugh.).

If you look closely, you can see them both in there!

Mari's trip inspired her to relive the journey in her own way. Before we knew it, medical droid 2-1B and his charming lady Squirrel were heading out for a date in the 1980s Carrera speedster.

Sumie and Mimi survived their camping trip (having a great time along the way), and I ended up enjoying a night goofing off with Mari and Kuri, who have their own very unique dynamic (they tend to run very hot or very cold together). Sunday eventually came around and we attempted family nap (though that was less successful).

On Monday, I sadly had to attend a funeral for a family member up in Sacramento. I couldn't bring the kids, or get them to daycare, so Grandma and Grandpa kindly filled in for us, driving out early on Monday morning. It was a fortuitous arrival, though, as they learned it was Grandparents Day at Kuri's preschool. They returned about an hour early for pick-up and got to seem him receive a Mori-Mori Badge for good behavior...

...and they got to watch Kuri and the other kids sing songs, eat lunch, and share the cookies they'd baked earlier that day.

We closed out Monday night with a family dinner for which Grandma and Grandpa had brought all the fixings. Poor Sumie, whose call list was brutal, didn't make it home in time, but at least she got to kiss Kuri and Mimi goodnight. Little Mari was worn out from her first day at back-up care and wanted bed, loudly, by around 7:30.

With Mari's daycare off for the week, we'd managed to secure back-up care on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but that left Tuesdays and Thursdays as Papa and Mari days. These are actually quite a bit of fun, at least until our somewhat manic after-school schedule kicks in. Wrangling a 1.5 year old while your other two kids are swimming, doing gymnastics, or singing is not the easiest job. Thankfully, at least at swimming, Mimi was able to keep an eye on her baby sister.

Mari also became fascinated with her sister's goggles, both up...

...and down.

The week wore on. The days were, overall, manageable, but only just. I have to thank my kids for helping us through, though. Here they are after Mimi's gymnastics (which was 1.5 hours of Mari chasing for me), all cuddled up on the couch as I cooked dinner. Overall, they tend to offset the challenges they throw at us with ridiculously redemptive moments of cuteness.

By the time Saturday rolled around again, Sumie (after a tremendously tough week) kindly granted me a kid-free reprieve. She offered to take all three kids into SF with her and to hang out with Mari and Kuri while Mimi studied hard at Japanese School. Mari and Kuri were fascinated by the lining up process at the start of the day...

...and found plenty of things to do on their own in the school library.

Even Mari worked independently (for a while).

And me? I was left to my own devices here in Marin. I decided to hit up a bunch of garage sales (no real luck there) and then, struck by a wild hare, set out for Sebastapol for some of the best bread in the world at Wild Flour Bakery. That meant taking out the 911SC. And that meant coming home the long way on Highway 1 past Tomales Bay. Couldn't help it. After all, my license plate reads "SC4HWY1," so I had to go out there. It was a three hour drive, without music. Just me and the road (and delicious carbs on the passenger seat). My kind of zen. 

We all arrived home around the same time, took a short rest, and then headed over to a friend's house for a pool party. We'd only planned to stay for a short while, but as these things often go, we ended up having a bit too much fun and before we knew it, our dinner plans were out the window. That was OK. Marshmallows, the wonderful food they'd prepared, and the bread I'd bought earlier that day, readily filled the gap.

On Sunday, we decided to take the kids on a bit of an adventure. The Sonoma-Marin Area Rapid Transit (SMART) train was finally up and running and the kids, who happen to be citizens of the most train-crazed nation in history, couldn't wait to try it. Our initial plan was to ride up all the way to Santa Rosa.

Kuri eagerly looked for the train, like a typical New Yorker.

Mimi proved herself an old-hand at riding standing up. Maybe all that time in Japan and New York has left an imprint.

Mari, though, wasn't quite as experienced as her siblings. We quickly decided to cut our trip in half and stop in Petaluma.

Lucky for us, though, there was a massive antiques fair going on.

That meant plenty of browsing for Papa, but more importantly, shaved ice for the kids...

...complete with umbrellas. Mimi and Kuri were ecstatic. Well, at least until Kuri spilled his halfway through.

Mari, always the precocious one, was far more interested in her mother's Arnold Palmer.

We had lunch (which is always a mixed experience with these three) and then continued to browse for a bit. Mimi and Kuri found a perfect set of Adirondack chairs for themselves. Thankfully, we took the train, so Sumie and I had an out.

At the end of the day, we boarded the train and headed for home. We'll probably take it again, but maybe wait until Mari's a bit older. We'll see how Japan goes in November.

It was a bit of a hell week, but when all is said and done, it's a hell I can definitely contend with. It's not always easy guiding these three kids along their little paths, but it's always rewarding, and surprising. Thank you Mimi, Kuri, and Mari for helping your parents make it through.

Back to School and Project Play

It's official (and the announcement a couple of weeks late), Mimi and Kuri are both back in school. Mimi kicked off her second grade year with a send off from her siblings.

With Mimi off at school, Mari and Kuri were free to spend quality time, just the two of them. Mari is fascinated with Kuri. He's always the first person she asks for when she wakes up (even before Mama).

A few days after Mimi kicked off her school year, Kuri reached a major milestone: he had his first day of Japanese preschool. There were a couple tears at drop off the first few days, but each of these ended with Kuri proudly stating, "Papa, actually, I really like Japanese school."

We've been tremendously blessed, and surprised, to find a Japanese preschool just five minutes from our home. When we first moved to Marin, we were worried that there wouldn't be a Japanese community here. How wrong we were. Right now, Mimi is in a class that has four Japanese speakers. Kuri is attending not just a Japanese preschool, but one with a full-immersion program. We couldn't have asked for more.

Before school started, Sumie had one project for me to complete to make the transition a bit easier, at least for us. Because we keep a semi-Japanese home, shoes are always taken off inside. This inevitably led to our small entryway being littered with shoes, sandals, and slippers for five. With no closet in the hallway as well, backpacks and jackets migrated around the corner and started taking over the living room. Sumie demanded a fix. A quick trip to Ikea, some measuring, bolting, and minimal swearing later, we had ourselves organized.

There were other projects that needed attention as well, especially now that the kids were back in school. The steering wheel in the 911 had cracked, making it a chore to drive quickly. This was remedied in the driveway late one night with a Momo wheel.

I also decided to replace the speakers of my main stereo (ones I'd had for 20 years) with a pair of Klipsch Fortes I found on Craigslist. These being 30 years old, I couldn't help but give them a few upgrades. First came new titanium tweeter diaphragms...

...and then new capacitors in the crossovers. This last job meant a lot of de-soldering and soldering, something I hadn't really done for about 15 years. It all came out OK, and the speakers sound amazing, but man, my handiwork could easily be the dictionary picture for "amateur," if not, "incompetent."

I'm not the only one of the family who enjoys the odd project. The kids all love them, both academic projects and construction ones. Just before heading back to school, Mimi finished up her Kumon subtraction book. Papa proudly completed her certificate.

Mari also found some time to study between her demanding of cookies and giving of hugs. For some reason she adores working in the middle of the kitchen floor.

Kuri, as readers of this blog already already know, is obsessed with transportation, particularly cars and trains. For projects, there is his ever-growing train set...

...his intricate "car parking" displays...

...and his beloved collection of Lego vehicles.

Several of the vehicles above had to be scrapped so we could pull off Kuri's dream project: a Lego Big Rig with a multi-level Car Carrier. He'd been asking Papa to build this for him for weeks, usually just before we had to take Mimi to school. A while back we had a free morning and so we tackled it together, Kuri finding pieces and Papa trying to figure out how to build it from the Lego scraps of his childhood. 

Whenever  a box arrives at our house, Mimi makes a bee-line for it. She doesn't really care about the contents. She just wants that box to build something. This time, it was a car for Mari.

Mari enjoyed it quite a bit...

...but, as is her wont, quickly destroyed it. So, it was back to the pillow-stuffed, wheeled toy box for Mari.

So proud of what these kids have been accomplishing, both in school and at home. Can't wait to see what the next box will become, what the next Lego fascination will be, or what they'll share with me about their school adventures.

Marin Summer: A Look Back

Today marks the official end of our summer. Both Mimi and Kuri are in school and Mariko is in daycare. That means four hours per day of relative quiet after the morning rush and before the manic after school schedule. I finally have a little freedom to look back on what our summer was like up here in Marin.

Summers in Marin are generally mild, but for a few weeks this year, Marin made NYC in July seem downright balmy. As a result, we spent quite a bit of time inside. For some reason, Mimi and Kuri both got into bathing their toys. Kuri would wash all his cars each time one of them crashed. Mimi took to bathing her dolls. Even those with mohawks.

It was a Disney version of James Brown's Celebrity Hot Tub Party. Yes, it was too hot in the hot tub.

The kids found time to attack their mother's hair...

...Kuri took a break from Hot Wheels to read with his baby sister...

 ...and Mimi practiced her singing with Mama.

And Mari, she decided to rock out 80s style.

There were also tons of craft projects. Every box that came to the house would be immediately turned into something unique. I love that the kids like to create things, but man, there's nothing worse than cleaning up after a child's art project.

They also turned every closet, crawl space, set of chairs, and table in the house into a fort, hideout, or reading nook.

When the kids got a chance to get outside, the often wanted a place to cool off. Luckily there are a few parks around with water features, and our neighborhood park has a creek with fish! A few of which we brought home. Mimi and Kuri learned their first lesson in the sometimes short life of pets.

But most of the time, once they got outside they just wanted to run...

 ...and run...

 ...run some more...

 ...and finish with a flourish.

That last pic above took place at our neighborhood Friday night concert in the park, where both the food and the tunes were surprisingly great!

For about three weeks this summer, Mimi and Kuri got to take part in camps. We've been tremendously blessed with this neighborhood as the summer camps are epic. And for these kids, they even end with ice cream (just on Fridays, though). They definitely preferred the camps to days spent just with dad cleaning the house and doing math, Japanese, and English worksheets each morning.

Afternoons after camp were always busy. So busy that we sometimes had to stop by Super Duper Burger just to recharge. 

Tennis was off for the summer (Mimi started back last week), but we still had gymnastics and music. The biggest change for the summer came with swimming. We found a wonderful Japanese swim instructor who, in her back yard pool, has made tremendous strides in making Mimi and Kuri more confident in the water. Kuri becomes adventurous with fins...

...and Mimi loves coaching from the sidelines.

Of course, there was plenty of time for cars. Kuri came with me to multiple cars and coffees, and we even hit up the Nostalgia Days car show in Novato. Kuri got to be the Bandit...

 ...as well Smokey.

By the end of the day, the kids were looking pretty tough in their Novato Police sunglasses.

The kids also saw "The Love Bug" for the first time over the summer. This led to a fascination with Herbie. A fascination that a simple Hot Wheels car could not satiate. We don't have a 1962 white VW Sunroof Beetle, but we do happen to have a Grand Prix White 911 Targa. It would have to do.

I had magnets made for the effect (the magnet below was too short, so they made another one that fits perfectly). Now, whenever Kuri goes for a ride in the 911, he insists that I "put on the stripes!"

Though we didn't travel much over the summer (we're saving up for a future trip to Japan), we did take a few day trips. Berkley has been one of our favorites. Good food and steam trains!

We also made our way out to the beach a few times. Stinson Beach proved a wonderful place for Mimi's friend's 8th birthday.

Of course, a beach day always requires a bath afterward. And a chance for Mari to let down (or, rather, out) her hair.

This summer, with two weeks of Japanese school, regular school off, camp, plenty of heat, and the kids old enough to really get out and play, felt like the first "real summer" our family has had out here in California. Though most of it was spent near home, it was uniquely memorable. Looking forward to next year for more camps, outings, and adventures.