Browse Category: family

Family Day at the Movies

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The last movie I saw in a theatre was “Finding Nemo”. When did that come out? I can’t remember but it was a looooong time ago. Well, I broke the dry spell by going out to El Capitan to see “Ratatouille”. We also broke my mom’s dry spell of over 30 years. She never goes to the movies because it usually makes her sick. I think I have something very similar but not nearly as bad. Anyway, I drove my mom and dad to Hollywood and met up with Brother and Joy. With all the traffic and Harry Potter Premiere chaos, we made it just in time to see the pre-show.

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Disney certainly knows how to put on a show for the kiddies. They had singing, dancing, and the beloved Disney characters on stage. They also introduced Remy, the main character of the movie. It’s funny that Disney actually managed to make a rat seem cute. In fact, when he popped out of the pot on stage, you could hear everyone say “Aw!”

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Well, the movie was as entertaining as I had expected and the short film at the beginning was a real treat. Going out with the family was also a nice treat. Thanks for planning it, Brother! And nice job on not getting sick, Mommy!

Big Boys

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Today was Cole’s first day of school.  On Friday, I went with Marie to take him for his second “trial day” and was so excited to see him in a school environment.  I think he’s going to have such a good time.  I’m just worried about the separation from Marie for such a long period of time.  So, today came and from what I heard from Marie, he did rather well.  Marie said that he cried a little as she was leaving but by the time she got outside and peeked through the window, he was over it.  I guess it sounded like his biggest challenges were lunchtime (wanted to steal everyone’s food) and naptime (it took him about 30 mins to fall asleep).  Overall, it sounded like quite a success and it’s good to hear that he’s adjusting.

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On Sunday, I drove to Cerritos to unload a bunch of boxes.  Since I knew I’d be gone all day, I brought Koa along.  Since the entire back of the car was full, he rode up front with me.  I was pleasantly amused at how well-behaved he was.  He just sat there like a passenger quietly watching the cars on the freeway.  In fact, I put the seatbelt strap across his chest for fun and he just sat there!   I can still remember just a year ago when he was constantly standing up at the window, sniffing the vents, and pushing the window button.  Boy, things have certainly changed.

Virtual BBQ

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I spent my July 4th with Marie, Cole, and Kenji. The day started at Marie’s house where we had an udon lunch together at Cole’s kiddie table. Afterwards, I played with his new toys – a bunch of different characters from the movie “Cars”. I also brought my laptop and did some work while I was there. In the meantime, I introduced Cole to the internet. We played some online Elmo games and messed around with the Photo Booth program on my macbook. He certainly got a kick out of seeing himself on the screen.

Meanwhile, Jes was preparing some ribs for the BBQ that they were having at Jimmy’s house. So, we turned on iChat and Cole got to wave to Jesse. Eventually Cole got pretty grumpy and we decided to put him down for a nap. Unfortunately he was so excited by the internet games and everything else that was going on that he wasn’t really cooperating. Before he could start climbing on the furniture again, Jes got back online, looked him straight in the eye, and said “Hey, aren’t you supposed to go neh neh?!” Cole was so scared of him that he walked himself over to the futon with a really guilty look on his face and asked Marie for a pillow. He kept looking over to my laptop to check if Jes was watching. Since Jes was still watching him, it was only a matter of minutes before he fell asleep. It worked like a charm! Marie was so shocked since it usually takes at least 30 minutes or lots of coaxing to get him to fall asleep.

Once people arrived at Jimmy’s house, they came by to say “hello” to me. It was pretty neat being about to talk to see and talk to them. In fact, Jes put the laptop (me) at the dinner table with everyone. It was as if I was seated at the table with them. I could see who was there, what they ate, and could hear what they were saying. All I was missing was a taste of the ribs and a beer in my hand. Virtual BBQ!

The evening ended with dinner at On the Border, a walk around the shopping village for a balloon sword for Cole, and then a nice long walk down to the local park. We sat on the grass and watched the fireworks. We also witnessed a huge car crash involving at least 6 cars and a turned-over truck. Crazy.

Here are photos from the day’s events. Enjoy!

missed again

dsc_7110a.jpgLast night I had dinner at Debbie and Pish’s house and they made tasty carnitas. Thanks, guys! It was nice to hang out with family and to see Katie again. It’s crazy how fast babies grow. I didn’t notice it before when she was still a newborn but when she scowls she reminds me of our grandmother. It’s pretty neat!

Unfortunately for me, I came right between her two naps and only got to hang out with her for a few minutes before she had to go to sleep. This is one of the photos I got of her napping in the swing.  What an awesome life…sleep, eat, poop, sleep some more.

half gone

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On Sunday, we had our Family Fire Sale. We’re moving to a house that doesn’t fit all of our furniture so it was time to give stuff away. After our Father’s Day breakfast, Brother rented the U-Haul and we packed up half of our belongings into the truck.

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Brother got a new dresser, bookcase, chair, and futon. The parents got a new dining set and full bed. We also dropped off our entire office set at Jes’ parents’ house. Phew! To top it all off, Marie and Kenji have agreed to take the plasma for an undisclosed bargain price. Awesome.

It was pretty liberating getting rid of our stuff but it was also a little sad. The best thing about moving it all out is that I can now do a cartwheel in the dining room! Haha. But really, it’s just nice to have more room to clean, pack, and reorganize. Hanging out with the family all day was also a special treat and made the move much more memorable and bearable. Thanks for all your help, everyone!!

almost a month old

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We had a family lunch today at Pish and Debbie’s house. My uncle and aunt were in town to visit their granddaughter so we all gathered to have some of my mom’s yummy chicken rice together. Little Katie is almost a month old and looks like such a happy baby. So far she’s been on a pretty regular nap, feeding, and pooping schedule and growing quickly. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to get some photos of her before it was nap time but I managed to capture this one. I think she’s going to be a fun subject to photograph over the years. I’ll just have to find another day to continue our photoshoot.