Archive for the 'Parenting' Category

Old and Broken

Published on January 22, 2012 in Family, Gallery Update, Japan, Parenting and weekend. 0 Comments

Happy New Year! 2012 is really starting off with a bang. Not only did the NAS kill the newest hard drive in the RAID array, but my camera gave up the ghost too. Meh, guess we’re going shopping next weekend.

This weekend was cold and rainy so we stayed mostly indoors. We took the kids to the fantasy world that is on the 3rd floor of a nearby shopping center and Layla enjoyed. Julia also seemed to have a good time but she was a bit small for most of it. Soon enough, though, those two are going to be running around together having fun and making trouble.

Check out the pics in the gallery.


Layla and Julia playing

Layla and Julia starbucksing

Cake Day Weekend

Published on November 21, 2011 in Family, Gallery Update, Japan and Parenting. 0 Comments

First off, Happy anniversary parents. Hope you had a good one!

Secondly, thanks for the great weekend Japan family. Despite the rain, it was a good one.

I came home Friday night and we had a nice sit-down dinner with the girls before Tamie unveiled a cake she and Layla put together.

Cake Day

Saturday we headed to Yokohama with hopes of checking out the amusement park but the weather didn’t co-operate. Instead, we found that Christmas has invaded Yokohama and wandered the malls checking things out. The singing Christmas tree is back in fine form again this year.

Christmas Tree

Sunday, the sun came out and it felt like a Summer day – it worked out well because there was an agriculture festival taking place that we checked out. The highlight of the festival for Layla (and Julia too, I think) was the tractors that were set up that the kids could climb and play on. Many pictures were taken.

Tractor

We eventually went to Isehara where we went to dinner with Tamie’s family. One good yakiniku dinner later and we were back at their house eating cake and having fun.

As I said, overall it was a great weekend. Looking forward to doing it again next year! =)

Watching Out For The Seniors

Published on September 17, 2011 in Family, Parenting and weekend. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

On the way to see her Jiji in the hospital, Layla noticed someone had dropped an empty can on the train.

“Dad! That girl dropped her garbage on the ground!” she told me.

“That can has been rolling around on this train since we got on it,” I answered.

“But somebody should pick it up. It’s by the door.” she replied.

“Yah, somebody should, eh?” I nodded.

“Can I go pick it up?” she asked. I gave her a plastic bag that her cheese bread had been in. She happily ran over and picked it up, putting it in the garbage. She proudly walked back and sat down with her prize. “Now no old people will trip on it.” she said proudly.

Sharing, Layla Style

Published on September 12, 2011 in Family and Parenting. 0 Comments Tags: , .

On the way home tonight, Tamie told Layla she bought her favourite croissant for breakfast tomorrow. Layla was delighted and told her Mom that she would share with her.

“What about me?” I asked.

“We can make smaller pieces,” she grinned.

“Great!” I answered. “You mean we’ll cut it into 3?”

“No!” she laughed. “You can have a small piece and Mom can have a small piece and I’ll have the big piece.”

Gotta love her.

Isehara Weekend

Published on September 12, 2011 in Family, Gallery Update, Japan, Parenting and weekend. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Tamie’s Dad is checking into the hospital tomorrow to have surgery this week so I decided it’d be nice for the kids to spend some time with him before then. Tamie is still working Saturday and Sunday because of the power saving schedule so the three of us headed there early in the afternoon on Saturday… and Sunday. It turns out that we spent most of the weekend there, to the delight of the grandparents.

One of the things Layla likes to do in Isehara is visit one of the department stores because of the trampoline. What used to be a quick, 200 yen for 5 minutes of bouncy goodness once in a while is turning into 600 yen for 15 minutes every time we are in Isehara! After 15 minutes, she’s exhausted – I’m tempted to get a trampoline for home =)

On Saturday, after the trampolining, we went to the grandparents’ house and had a snack before Layla’s battery got recharged and she wanted to visit the local park. Jiji, always game to take Layla anywhere, agreed. Not even 35 degree heat could deter those two. Somehow I got roped into going too, so I grabbed my camera and we headed out.

The park was a blast right up until Layla was on a swing and fell out. She scraped her elbow, cried a bit and then we headed home. She stopped crying at the mention of buying cake on the way back home, so I guess it couldn’t have been that bad.

We went out for a good Yakitori (chicken on sticks) dinner that night before meeting Tamie at the station and coming home.

Sunday was similar to Saturday in that we headed to Isehara and had to stop at the trampoline store. Baba and Jiji met us there this time to see the kid in action. They weren’t disappointed – Layla gets more adventurous/confident every time she’s on the trampoline. We spent a long time in the store, checking out different games and things.

After the store, we headed back to the house where the two girls fell asleep in short order. Julia woke up after 30 minutes so I picked her up and held her and she quickly dozed off again. This time, I did too.

When everyone woke up, we headed out for dinner – Mama Grazia, the local Japanese Italian family restaurant chain. They have a special on for all-you-can-eat pizza and we did. After a decent meal, we headed back to the house to pick up a few things before meeting Tamie again and coming home.

All in all, it was a good weekend. Lots of trampoline pictures this time.


Saturday
Saturday

Sunday
Sunday