Starting a New Year in Search of Snow

It's January. You'd think there'd be snow in the Sierras by now. But you'd be wrong. So wrong. Well, unless you're talking about man-made snow. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself...

Here we go. Appetizers. Shrimp, salami, cheese, bread, and chips. We're ready to to kick off the new year with our traditional New Year's Eve party with the cousins.

Now, some of you might now that my birthday is December 31st. And I'm sure I've mentioned in the past that this day is known as the "big cleaning day" in Japan. This year was no exception. We cleaned and cooked and by 5:00, when the cousins arrived, we were ready. This year we did hot pot on our portable Iwatani stove. These things are fantastic. 

After eating our fill, the kids all gathered under the kotatsu (Japanese heated table) to watch a bit of Kohaku (the annual Japanese singing competition). Oh yeah, we also had a cake for me!

If you read my last post, you'll know that Sumie was on call through Christmas. With the start of the new year, though, she had a few days off so we could take a family mini-break. Thanks to the tremendous charity of a friend of ours (who amazingly offered his condo up in Tahoe to a family with three kids), we had a place to stay up in the mountains. But there was one hitch: it hadn't snowed in a month! It was eerie heading up highway 80 in January and seeing only the bare hills of brown dirt and granite. 8 months previously, we'd nearly needed to put chains on our four wheel drive Pilot to make it up the same road.

Still, upon our arrival, we found just enough leftover snow for a quick snowball fight and a tiny snowman.

Thanks to some man-made snow on the slopes, Mimi was able to get a ski lesson in. By the end of her session, she was making it down the bunny slope independently. I'm looking forward to our next trip up when we can actually hit the slopes together!

With so much going on, the kids slept well, despite being in a new place.

The following day we took some time to explore downtown Truckee...

...and fill up at a local diner.

For some reason, Kuri decided to channel 1970s John Travolta before we headed out for the park.

The kids got a bit of play in...

...but their main goal was to do a bit of sledding. Snow was at a serious premium, so it took quite a bit of searching until we found a suitable hill.

No, it wasn't that steep, and yes, the snow was basically ice, but it provided more than ample thrills for Mimi and Kuri. Mari chose simply to watch. She wasn't so sure about this snow stuff.

Back at home after a great trip, we finally had a little time for decorating some Christmas cookies...

...and to tackle our disorganized kitchen. Sumie went full KonMari on it. We now have storage again and even an entirely clear counter. Our 2018 challenge is to keep this counter actually clear. It's been a week, but so far, so good.

This week all three kids went back to school. For Kuri, that meant a special day of Japanese New Year activities. He got to wield a massive wooden mallet to pound out mochi and even took part in a game of hanetsuki (it's a bit like badminton).

When he lost a point, he had to have his face painted. 

With his black nose, he ended up looking a bit like a raccoon, but was quite happy about it all.

This new year, of course, includes cars as well. Unfortunately, that meant some work on the Porsche. While driving it up to Chico for Boys' Christmas on the 23rd, I noticed it was making a strange sound and idling a bit high. Ticking. Awful, awful ticking coming from the passenger side bank of cylinders. Oh dear. Thankfully, it was just a broken valve spring! It also gave Kuri and me the opportunity to see the engine out of the car for the first time. Kuri was fascinated. 

Back at our local market we came across an old Land Rover is beautiful condition, a car I definitely covet. What I loved most about this one was that the owner had installed a child's car seat in the middle of the front bench. It's always wonderful to see there are a few dads out there (or maybe a mom?) who are sharing their passion for vintage cars with their kids just like me.

And, of course, we attended the first Cars and Coffee of the year, where Kuri fell in love with a Ford GT 40. This almost made up for there being no Lamborghinis this time out.

2018 will assuredly have its challenges, but we're looking forward to a lot of new adventures, particularly with Mari. By the end of the year she'll be transitioning from daycare to Japanese preschool. If we can convince her, Mimi may be taking her first trip to Japan to stay there on her own. And Kuri, well, I'm sure he'll surprise us. Hope you all have a wonderful 2018.

New Year, New Friends

It's been a busy New Year so far.

We spent New Year's Eve day in Sacramento visiting friends and family, and today, January 1st, we headed up the coast to Muir Woods (which was far too crowded, so we settled on a very windy Muir Beach).

Why all the driving?  Well, we had to break-in Sumie's Christmas present.  More details on that in a later post, but I will say we averaged 45mpg on our Sacramento trip and it's not a Prius.

Before heading for the beach, we started the New Year with "Ozoni," a traditional Japanese soup with mochi.

Mimi loved the soup, as you can see, but unfortunately she decided she just wanted broth.  No chicken.  This toddler is getting picky.  

On Thursday we had a visit from my cousin, Gina, and her two boys.  We headed over to the Academy of Sciences and had a great time.  While Gina, Ethan, and Noah were hanging out in the planetarium (Mimi was, wisely, not allowed entry), Mimi decided to climb some cats outside.  This meant pushing some older children aside, but that's her forte.  She's small, but tough.  At least until she realizes that she can't get down on her own.  She shifts from tough-girl to cry-baby quite quickly.  

We've also been busy at home during the break.  Yesterday Mimi insisted on playing a few rounds of pinball.  She's getting good at loading the pinballs into the chute...

but her favorite thing is watching them tumble down the playfield.

Mimi's also getting better at keeping herself busy.  She's starting to recognize numbers (even out of sequence) and attempting to sing the alphabet song on her own.  I'll often find her flipping through her number book, shouting out numbers in Japanese (some right, some a bit off, some woefully wrong),  or toggling through the songs on her play kitchen to get to the alphabet song.

The biggest change in the past few weeks happened when Mimi started bonding with some of her toys.  Mimi's had preferences for certain toys since she was only a few months old, but now she has a few definite favorites. 

Several weeks ago Mimi started carrying her stuffed kitty, Nyan-Nyan, with her around the house.  Eventually she wanted to take him on walks, trips to the store, and even to bed.  Nyan-Nyan was special.  We have no idea why she chose Nyan-Nyan.  She still prefers real dogs to cats and she has a cuddly stuffed dog, but for some reason Nyan-Nyan won his way into Mimi's heart.  But now, after Christmas, he has a bit of competition.

We did not buy Mimi many presents this year.  Just two.  A small snow globe and a baby doll that, unlike so many others these days, didn't look freakishly evil.  Unfortunately, Mimi's doll was "commandeered" by her cousin Lucey at the Christmas party (Mimi was too busy playing playing in the cardboard spaceship we'd set up) and became her favorite toy of the night.  We didn't have the heart to break them up, and given that Mimi didn't remember getting the doll, we let it slide.  The following day Mimi decided to fling her snow globe on the tile.  The snow globe did not appreciate this and decided to crack in half.  So, by the day after Christmas, Mimi was left with no presents from her parents.

I remedied this two days later with another baby doll.  Mimi found her before I did.  "Baby!" I heard as I was walking up the aisle, Mimi holding my hand.  And she was right.  There in front of us was the same baby Mimi had received on Christmas Day.  We brought "Baby" home and by the end of the night, Mimi had two best friends instead of one.  Sumie and I were amazed.  We'd never seen her take to anything so quickly and with such abandon.

Now we go everywhere with Nyan-Nyan and Baby (I'm hoping Mimi will get a little more creative with her names in the near future).  Mimi even takes both of them to bed with her.  In the past, Mimi would normally squirm and scream a bit after we'd put her down and closed the door.  But now, cuddled with her friends, she tends to drift off with minimal fuss.

I'm looking forward to that first night I hear Mimi "talking" with her friends as she drifts off to sleep.  With such busy days, I'm sure she has a lot to share.