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.

Cousins Come to Town

Regular readers of this blob probably never think about what our morning routine is like. And I'm sure that occasional readers have never given it a second thought. However, I'm going to share it all with you anyway to kick off this blog post because I have some cute pictures.

Every weekday begins at 6:05 when my iPhone alarm goes off. It then begins again at 6:14, and on most days one more time at 6:23 when I finally stop hitting snooze and decide to get myself, and the rest of the family, out of bed. As Sumie steps into the shower, I check my work email and then begin heating up Kuri's morning milk. After a quick shower, I wake up Kuri (who is always happy to see me and raring to go) and wake up Mimi (who is, shall we say, less than enthusiastic to wake up) and get them going. 

My job is to dress the kids, feed them, prepare their stuff for school/daycare, etc. while Sumie gets ready for commute into the city and her long day at the hospital. It's a pretty good system. The last step is "KIDS IN CAR!!!", which I generally shout around 7:30. When Kuri jumps in, he needs to have at least one of his Thomas toys and his favorite Thomas book. He's now able to hold it up the right way on his own.

Mimi watches over Kuri, making sure everything is ready.

Of course, jumping into the car isn't as easy as it sounds. On most mornings they enjoy chasing each other around the front yard and peaking through the front fence to say "Hello, Papa!"

A couple weekends ago we enjoyed a special visit from my sister and Mimi and Kuri's cousins Alder and Brynn. Alder is just a month younger than Mimi and Brynn is only 3 months younger than Kuri. They don't get together as often as they should (which is partially our fault for not getting up to Oregon as often as we should), but when they do, they always have a fantastic time. All four of them made use of the trampoline.

Mimi, Alder, and Kuri were especially fond of their time on the tramp.

I think you can see the family resemblance in all three in this photo, but there's no denying that Mimi and Kuri are related.

The kids played pinball in the bedroom.

Which occasionally meant sitting on top of the pinball for a better view.

They also went for a swim in the wading pool in the back yard. This was great fun for all, save Kuri. He decided he'd cry through the whole thing...

 ...except for the 12 seconds he was distracted by a bubble wand. At least Mimi and Kuri had a great time.

During our weekend together we were even honored with a visit from Sumie's cousin - all the way from Taiwan - and Sumie's sister and her family. Saturday night found a very busy dinner table.

As the younger kids napped, Mimi and Alder would enjoy a movie together. Here they are completely immersed in "The Incredibles."

They at least had the courtesy to look up from their movie and peanut butter sandwiches to smile for a picture.

On Saturday, Mimi, Alder, and I made a trial shopping run in the Porsche for groceries. I needed to see if they'd be OK in the back before we made a longer journey the next day. As I suspected, they loved it. Porsche 911 back seats were made for kids under 12. It's a fact.

On Sunday the two kids again bundled into the 911 for a trip to the Larkspur Ferry. We were taking the ferry out for a day in San Francisco!

When we arrived at the ferry building, we weren't sure what to do, so we walked around. The large fountain downtown was turned off thanks to the drought, but that didn't keep Mimi and Alder from exploring it.

We gorged ourselves on burgers and shakes at Gott's Roadside. Very, very good.

Sadly, Alder, at least in this picture, reflects the general mood and the oppressive heat we faced before our food came.

 After lunch, we headed out to see if we could do a San Francisco specialty Mimi has never taken part in - riding on a cable car. Somehow, my sister and I, with two kids apiece, made it work.Mimi and Alder loved looking out the windows.

Mimi was impressed by the slope of the hill.

 She was so impressed that by the end of the ride, she'd slid right into her cousin.

Kuri sat on my lap the whole way.

He had a great time taking in all the sights.

Our time with the cousins was a ton of fun and over far too quickly. Before we knew it, we were back to our small family, making the most of the evenings we shared together. One night, Mimi decided she'd be a professional artist, complete with improvised beret.

And Kuri, though virtually naked, insisted on joining in.

 A few days ago, Mimi decided that Mama and Papa needed a special ring to share. She measured Mama's finger and then created this ring all on her own. She then put it in a jewelry box - incidentally, the same box that once held Sumie's engagement ring.

Despite the busy schedule, Kuri and I still found a few spare hours to make it over to Cars and Coffee. I really can't wait until he's a few years older and can run around with me, probably with a camera, ogling all the cars there. We saw a few amazing ones, including a Maserati Bora...

...and a V8 Daimler, direct from England, which I'd never even heard of.

Life has been filled to the brim these last few weeks between work, family, and friends, but we wouldn't have it any other way. With Mimi starting Kindergarten in a few weeks, we're going to try to eek out a very short vacation before the storm hits. I have a sinking suspicion it is about to get even busier over the next few months. Kindergarten is a big deal! At least I remember it that way.