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.