Extraordinary Ordinary Week

The last week, and two weekends, were nothing out of the ordinary. There were no vacations. There were no parties. Sumie even had to work on Saturday. And yet, looking back over the past nine days, they were oddly rather great. It's a bit baffling, though in retrospect, I think I have the kids to thank for making our little adventures - nothing more than 20 minutes from home and most of them taking part in our family room or back yard - memorable.

Two Sundays ago, we decided to head out Tennessee Valley Road in Mill Valley for a short hike to the beach with friends. Mari, noting the sunshine before we left, prepared herself.

It's rather astounding that after four years in Marin we'd never taken this roughly two mile hike out to a gorgeous, secluded beach that is only 15 minutes from our home. We'd been missing out. The trail was even, easy, and smooth enough for our little stroller. Reaching the beach, we came across a swift stream that had cut its way through the sand to the ocean. This was a perfect playground for the more adventurous among us. It's amazing how cold simply does not matter when you're presented with a beach... and you're seven.

As Mimi gamboled in the sand and water, Kuri and Mari huddled under their jackets, snacking on the sandwiches we'd prepared and spilling goldfish crackers everywhere. 

The beach really was a stunning sight - one which my pictures do absolutely no justice. We'll be back soon, with sand toys and kites.

Back at home, and bathed, we prepared for the week ahead. It would be a standard one. Sumie would work, the kids would have school, and I would continue my role as the child wrangler / chef / mr. fix-it. There were a few fun surprises throughout the week, though. Kuri spent an afternoon lining up his cars - showing off his ocd side. He was quite proud of the final presentation, though also rather devastated when Mari destroyed it.

Mimi is becoming a better big sister each day. In the midst of preparing dinner, I stepped into the family room to find that Mimi, unprompted, had decided to guide Kuri through a color-by-numbers workbook. Over half an hour of no arguing and no screen time. That's priceless.

On another night, Mimi and Kuri took inspiration from Mari, who likes to wear her favorite blanket as a cape, and they all became superheroes. Mimi, as she is wont to do, took the imaginative play a step further, forming a superhero school, complete with jumping off the couch exercises that would make your cape flutter in the breeze like a Teen Titan.

The weather, which had been a bit cold, finally swung back to traditional Marin February: sunshine and highs in the mid 60s to the low 70s. And that meant bubbles in the back yard (though not for Mari - I can only take so much mess).

The week done, we headed for Saturday. Sumie had a work conference in Berkley, and Mimi, as always, had Saturday school. Mari, Kuri, and I pottered around the house and then packed up for a trip to the small farmer's market at Larkspur Landing. There we bought some incredibly fresh, sashimi grade fish and some smoked salmon. After returning home, and a nice long nap for Mari, we then set out to retrieve Mimi in San Francisco. All morning, Kuri had been badgering me for a trip to the park. Upon our return home, I obliged.

I can't help but think of "A Hard Day's Night" when I look at this picture (and remember all the running around and rolling down the hills).

Mimi, continuing her big sister development, took Mari down the slides and pushed her in the swings.

And we all went down to explore the creek, our favorite part of the park. Sadly, it was still too cold to jump in the water and hunt for fish.

Earlier in the week, I made stuffing for gyoza (Japanese potstickers). On Tuesday, after Sumie came home from work, she gathered her helpers...

...and together they constructed 50 gyoza as their papa cleaned up in the background. 

We only got through about half of them for dinner that night, which worked out perfectly for our Saturday dinner. Hamachi (yellow tail), Sake (salmon), Maguro (tuna), and fried salmon skin paired with rice and gyoza. The only thing we were missing was miso soup.

For once, the kids ate all their food.

Sunday, our only genuinely free day, started out right with our monthly papa-son outing to Cars and Coffee. Mimi declined to go with us this time, saying Mama and Papa's bed was just too warm. It was definitely Kuri's lucky day at C&C. A Lamborghini afficionado, he was overjoyed to find there were no less than five there that day.

While a massive Lambo fan, Kuri definitely didn't turn up his nose to the Ford GT we saw...

...and he even appreciated the symmetry of our parking space. Two 911SCs sandwiched between a trio of BMWs. Not bad.

That afternoon, the whole family headed down to Tiburon to walk along the water at Blackie's Pasture. Mari and Mimi took a photo on Blackie's memorial statue...

...but Kuri just wanted to sit on a rock.

At least his sisters eventually agreed to join him! 

All told, it was two weekends and a full week remarkably like any other, but also remarkably memorable. Again, I know I have these three to thank for it. I just hope they're as well behaved this week. We'll see.