Tag Archive for 'baba'

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

For Love of Chocolate

Published on February 14, 2011 in Family, Japan and Parenting. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and that means chocolate is out in stores all around Japan. This is the time of year where girls (in Japan) go crazy buying chocolate for the men in their lives, and crazy is an understatement. We, of course, have seem to have made it an annual tradition to join in the craziness with a trip to the Takashimaya department store in Yokohama to see the expensive chocolates and try the free samples.

Since Friday was off, we actually headed out that day. It turned out to be the coldest day of the year here, with snow actually falling from the sky. It was almost (but not quite) enough to keep us from our day in Yokohama. When we got there, it was surprisingly not ridiculously busy – only stupidly crazy busy.

We checked around and found a lot of good chocolate. Layla was in super-excited mode as she has a bit of a sweet tooth and loves eating stuff off sticks (toothpicks, in this case). I think we checked out every booth. There was some really cool looking chocolates in some of them, but the prices were enough to scare any sane person away. I’m sure they still sold a bunch this weekend.


Chocolate shaped like crepes!

After battling the insanity, and even taking part of it as Tamie bought a few things, we went shopping for a bit and then for lunch at a small cafe. Chelsea’s Cafe has a decent clubhouse sandwich, for anyone in the neighbourhood looking for such a place. I only mention this because I’m always looking for such a place but never remember them when we find one. Decent sandwich shops in Japan are few and far between.

On the way home, we jumped on a crowded train. We were standing near the door and as we pulled into a station, I noticed two seats open up. We headed over to grab them and some dude from the other door quickly swooped in and took one just as Layla and Tamie were about to sit down. He must have been so tired from moving so fast that he then proceeded to “fall asleep”, not noticing the 3 year old kid wondering why some guy took her seat. Layla eventually sat ON Tamie, crowding the exhausted man. Two stations later he got off.


Doesn’t he look tired?

Saturday we headed to Isehara for a chocolate party that Tamie, Layla and Hamster had been planning. Everyone pitched in and bought some chocolates for all to share… it was ridiculous. And fantastic. Everyone indulged, including Tamie’s parents, but no one could compete with our little 3 year old. Layla out-ate everyone, sampling chocolates from every box before making second and third rounds to the boxes she liked.


Chocolate Party! In full swing!

It was a great time, but not one I think we’ll repeat for a while. We took home more chocolate than I know what to do with, although I’m sure none of it will go to waste… like I said, Layla’s got a bit of a sweet tooth… and as surprising as it might be to some, so do I… I’m sure we’ll find some way to dispose of it. =)

Picture Day

Published on February 6, 2011 in Family and weekend. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Shrine Visit

Julia is just over one month old now, so we had to do the ritual one-month photo shoot and shrine visit. Saturday was the day we scheduled and as plans always have a way of going according to anything but, so did this one.

We all got to the photo studio “on time”, meaning plus or minus ten minutes of the appointment and things seemed to be going well. Layla was very cooperative, even having fun, and neither her nor Julia were crying. The problem turned out to be that not only was Julia not crying, she couldn’t even stay awake.

We got in a few pictures of the whole family but before we were even half way through shooting the pictures, the kid fell asleep. And despite all our best efforts she just refused to wake up. We tried everything, from loud noises that made Layla jump to water in the face to poking and prodding. She was out like a light.

In the end, we rescheduled the last few shots because after nearly an hour I think the photographer was just getting tired. I think everyone was (Julia excepted, of course).

After the photo studio, we headed to the shrine to get a blessing from a monk and a shot of sake. This time, Julia was wide awake. And gassy. As the monk said his prayer in Japanese and we bowed our heads, I held onto the little one. She was getting fussy so I stuck my finger in her mouth to keep her quiet. That worked, in the sense that she stopped crying… but she was far from silent.

When the prayer ended and we left the prayer room, the monk who was conducting the prayer offered us a shot of sake on our way out. Not wanting to offend anyone, I took the little saucer of alcohol and thanked him. Layla wanted to have a try, so we were more than happy to oblige her. Luckily, she didn’t like it.

Outside, we took some shots of the family together in front of the shrine. Check them out in the gallery. As we were taking pictures, Layla decided to show off a few of her new poses… I swear I have no idea where she picked those up from!

Layla posing

We let Layla feed the fish before heading back to the grandparents’ house for a big sushi lunch/dinner.

All in all, a pretty good day. The first of many for our newest family member.

Layla and Tamie
(Pictures From Sunday in Machida)

Hectic Times

Published on January 17, 2011 in Family, Japan and Parenting. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Sisters

Been a bit of a busy time these days with the new baby, the older sister, the hospitalized mama and the return to work after the holidays. Luckily, we’ve been surviving so far.

Tamie and Julia got discharged on Wed, Jan. 12th and have been staying at the grandparents’ house since then. Layla and I have been staying there for most of the time since then, although we are back home for the time being so I can get to work at a decent hour and Layla can go to daycare.

I’ve posted pictures, a LOT of pictures, in the gallery so take a look. They’re all dated so it might take some browsing to find them all.

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Published on December 20, 2010 in Family, Japan and weekend. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Post Title

This weekend we decided since we can’t head to Ottawa for Christmas due to number 2′s impending arrival, we would try to bring Christmas here. We picked up a small (tiny, really) tree and set it up on Saturday…

Layla actually was ecstatic to have a tree of her own in the house – she decorated it and everything! Now whenever she sees Christmas lights, decorations or trees she points out that they are the same as she’s got at home. I’m really happy that she’s enjoying herself and getting into the spirit of Christmas – she’s already started asking for presents!

Tree Trimming
[Click here for tree decorating gallery]

Sunday, we made the annual trek down to work the mikan fields to pick oranges, and oranges we did pick. Lots of oranges! It was cold when we got there but after a hard day’s work, and the sun coming out, we were fine by mid-day. Sorry, Mom – if we aren’t making the flight to Ottawa then the oranges aren’t either. =)

Gallery Link
[Click here for orange picking gallery]