To say it has been busy since my last post would be an understatement of gargantuan proportions. Such is life with two kids under the age of five, especially when birthdays, Halloween, and a Mama and a toddler under the weather collide.
Our first challenge came with Kuri being sick in the middle of last week. That meant Papa was on duty, once again, to watch the feverish little tyke as he slept, whined, and was generally grumpy. With our fingers crossed, he was able to get better by Halloween. Unfortunately, he passed it to his hard working Mama, who is only now feeling better.
Nonetheless, with Kuri feeling himself again, it was time to jump into the Halloween spirit, Japanese style.
At her preschool, Mimi created a cupcake costume. Here she is as a delicious cupcake, complete with cherry hat and a "Happy Halloween" pennant.
For regular trick-or-treating, Mimi insisted on going as a princess, despite her father's objections. She is going as Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" in the pic below. Kind of of amazing the pull princesses have given that she's never even seen the movie.
Kuri went as a dinosaur. We're not sure if this is what he wanted based on his request of "DA-NO-DA," but it's the closest we could get.
He also enjoyed dressing up in Mimi's witch hat headband, complete with pink sunglasses.
On Halloween, Mimi went trick-or-treating in JapanTown, then at her school, and, finally, back at home. Here's the gang. Mimi insisted on wearing a fleece jacket the whole time. I think most of our trick-or-treatees were a little unsure who she was, but at least she was warm.
When we got back home, Mimi had been inspired by some of the older kids she met standing in front of their homes with bowls of candy. She decided to do the same thing herself. For about 15 minutes she stood on our porch, bowl in hand, screaming "Trick-or-Treat" to anyone who would walk or drive by.
After collapsing Halloween night and sleeping in (which, for us, is 7:30am), we began to prepare for Kuri's proper birthday party with friends and family. Mimi and I made a Costco run with the Porsche. Perhaps a silly idea, but I wanted to prove just how versatile this completely needless car could be. We packed it full with cases of juice, water, food, and even a complete set of paper towels.
Here's another shot. I have to say with all that weight in the back, it didn't handle well, but it did get us home with enough food to feed a small army.
Mimi, as readers of this blog will most likely expect, was not impressed.
For Kuri's birthday, his cousins and step cousins came out, as well as his Grandma and Grandpa. We even invited one of Mimi's best friends from preschool. The party was a great success. Sumie thought ahead and provided the materials for a lot of games including a potato sack race...
...and a donut eating contest. This last one was absolute, high-calorie, carnage.
After games, it was time to cut the cake. I thought a half-sheet cake from Costco would be more than enough, but I never dreamed that 20 people would only devour 1/8th of it.
One of the highlights of the party was drawing time with Uncle Jeff. All the kids sat round the table with pens, markers, and pencils flying.
When it came time to open Kuri's presents, Mimi was on top of it. I think she still thinks all birthdays are really hers.
Kuri, however, caught on and soon wanted to join in the action.
It was a fantastic event with friends and family. We were very thankful to be able to share Kuri's special day with so much cheer. Kuri and Mimi both slept very well that night.
In other news, Kuri has been growing up by leaps and bounds over the past two months. He now loves to completely empty the Tupperware drawer.
He also loves his beach ball, which he can't quite catch, but he can definitely hug.
Lastly, I think he's developing an understanding that his big sister isn't quite exactly normal. Normally this would be a big step for someone only one year of age, but given Mimi, I can kind of understand the early recognition.
These past few weeks have been tough with so many events and with a cold running through the family, but they've also been wonderful. My two kids definitely wear me out, but at the same time, they also keep me going. Looking forward to seeing what happens in Kuri's next year.
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