Ski Week Mini Staycation

Last week was our "ski week." A full five days off school for the kids and, with Sumie able to take a few days off early in the week, a chance for the whole family to get out and have some fun. We opted for a staycation this time around. I figured it would be easier for me to fight off the kids at home than in a rental or hotel room.

Even before the ski week hit, we'd been busy. Inspired by the Space-X Heavy Falcon launch, Kuri insisted that I build him his own. Here's our rendition in very, very basic Legos.

 Our Valentine's day was made extra special with a bouquet designed by Kuri.

On the Sunday before ski week, Sumie suprised the kids with chocolate chip muffins and kindly made me some almond flower pancakes. So sweet.

We then headed out for a local park where Mimi and I practiced tennis. By the end of our session, we pulled off an eight hit rally. Huge success (for both of us, honestly).

Of course, Kuri and I got out for the occasional drive.

We watched the Olympics and rooted for Japan...

...and for the US and Korea, complete with flags Mimi made with chopsticks.

 We saved some money making our own pizza...

...and naturally, we did our Japanese homework (there is no ski break for Japanese school).

During our staycation, we attempted to explore some of what the Bay Area has to offer. A trip to the Academy of Science was well received (but so common, we didn't get pictures). We did try something entirely new, though: the Hiller Aviation Museum. Here, Mimi and Kuri got to sit in a Blue Angels cockpit.

All three kids learned how parachutes catch wind using a wind tunnel table...

 ...and learned how to land a 747 at SFO (with a little help from Papa).

The practice was fortuitous as outside the museum, the kids were able to take the yokes of a real 747!

 

Mama and Mari decided to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Later that week, we put our newfound aviation knowledge to use flying our balsa wood planes up at the neighborhood school.

Mimi and Kuri also hit another local park, Memorial Park in San Anselmo, but this time just with Mama. Papa and Mari had decided to take a nap.

Even with all the park visits, there was still plenty of time for snacks. Mimi used a special Japanese kit to make her own waffle treats.

And the sugar intake didn't end there. With the temperature having dropped it was time for an evening fire, and that, at least to the kids, meant marshmallows.

Thankfully, Mimi cleaned up rather well.

Over the weekend I decided to break out my FujiFilm X-A1 camera. I'd never been that happy with it, but decided I'd flash the firmware for the camera body and the lens to see if it would make a difference. It did.

The kids and I had a lot of fun snapping shots in the backyard...

...and, once again, at a park. Mimi had fun pushing her baby sister.

Mari attempted to play in the sandbox, but wasn't that happy with the resulting dirty hands.

She much preferred playing peak-a-boo.

Even Kuri jumped in.

After so much play, Mari needed some re-energizing apple sauce.

That evening, as the temperature dropped once again, we warmed ourselves up with some soup. 

All told, it was a lot of fun. So much we did that wasn't even covered here - a sleep-over and Grandma and Grandpa's, a lunch date alone for me and Sumie. Maybe we'll be better at taking pictures on our next staycation. We'll definitely do it again.

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.