Tag Archive for 'playground'

Last Weekend Before India

Published on March 29, 2010 in weekend. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Tamie needs to wake up in 5 hours to catch her 6:20am bus to get to the airport to catch her 11am flight. Fun times. Even funner is the week I’ll spend looking after Layla. Tamie’s folks won’t get her until Friday, so it’ll be a busy time for the next few days… not as busy as Tamie will be in India, mind you!

Friday I went out with some former colleagues and had a good time catching up. Tamie ended up staying at her parents’ house due to her dislike of seeing me inebriated, and I ended up sleeping on the couch due to aforementioned inebriation.

Saturday, I ended up meeting Tamie after her dental appointment and we headed to the grandparents’ house to pick up Layla together. Once we were reunited at the house, Tamie suggested we head out for an unplanned picnic up in Shonandaira. Sounded like a good idea to me, not realizing she meant up in the mountains instead of down on the beach. We drove through McDonald’s (what better picnic food is there?) before heading up to our picnic spot. Layla fell asleep on the way, lucky kid.

After we arrived, Layla wasn’t a very happy camper – judging by the volume of her snoring, we woke her up right in the middle of a deep sleep. She clung to me and tried to sleep as we ate, but after that she was quite happy. Especially after discovering a swing set and a double slide! She had a blast playing on the playground equipment!

We ended up exploring the area a little bit, hiking down a path quite a ways. Tamie didn’t want to go too far as she was worried Layla wouldn’t be able to make it back up and I’d have to carry her. We ended up going down a lot farther than I think she’d have liked, but much to both our surprises Layla made it down and back with little trouble. Only at the end of the hike back up did she stop and ask me to carry her — had she gone a few more meters, she’d have done the whole hike herself!

On our way back to drop off the car, we stopped to shop for some more clothes for Layla – she outgrows everything in a matter of weeks sometimes. Right now, it seems like all her pants don’t go down much past her knee! I think there must be a collection of long pants at the daycare or in the laundry, but for the life of me I can’t find it! So we went to the nearby baby store to pick some up… the kid chose PINK pants. I was shocked. PINK! Of all the colours… The only consolation was she also chose some camouflage cargo pants too.

We ended up staying for supper at the grandparents’ house, as they were worried their poor daughter would miss the taste of sushi in her week in India. I was thinking the same thing, taking Tamie for sushi back in Ebina, so it all worked out pretty well!

Sunday was a lazy day, as Sunday’s usually are. We shopped around for some things for Layla’s planned graduation into the next level of daycare and for some last minute things Tamie needed to pick up for her trip. Not very exciting, but at least it was somewhat relaxing.

New pictures, as always can be found in The gallery.

Or specific galleries here:
Puzzle TimePics from the long weekend
Hiking TimePics from Hiking
Thomas TimePics from Sunday

Oops… I Broke My Daughter.

Published on March 24, 2010 in Family, Hospital, Parenting and weekend. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Monday was a day that Tamie had to work while the rest of the country had off meaning I got to spend another day hanging out with Layla. What that means is that we slept in late, played with some toys at home, jammed on the guitar/ukulele for a while with our spiffy new guitar picks before heading out to face the day.

We headed to the park where playing ensued – Layla ended up making some friends. It was so cute – she wanted so badly to play on a kind-of hammock on the playground jungle gym but there were already kids playing so she waited patiently. One of the two kids’ dad saw Layla and pulled his kid off to let her play – I, in broken Japanese, said they should play together and he agreed until his son decided he had better things to do than play with some girl.

Not long after the boy left, several other girls climbed onto the hammock and then a couple boys too. Layla was loving it. I felt like such a mean old Dad when I smelt the package brewing in Layla’s diaper. The kids all yelled ‘bye-bye!’ as we headed to the washroom to change her diaper. By the time we got back, they’d all split back up and moved onto other things. Layla sat back down on the hammock and said she wanted someone else to sit with her… I climbed on, but she told me I was too heavy and she wanted a smaller boy. I was almost offended. :)

Layla eventually moved on, ditching the hammock for the slides, and then playing catch (she can catch! who knew?). At one point we were chasing each other and I was picking her up and swinging her around… the last time I swung her by her arms under my legs, a move I’ve done many times before, and she wasn’t happy. She stood up, then looked at me… and then the tears came! Her arm dropped to her side, limp. I asked her to move her arm but she refused, sobbing. When I touched it she cried out in pain. So I did what any good parent would do — I grabbed the kid and fled the scene.

I guess now is a good time to point out that this isn’t the first time Layla’s had pain in her arm after being swung around. She usually ends up fine after a couple minutes, so it wasn’t that big of a deal… or so I thought. I carried her home and she fell asleep on the way. She slept for a couple of hours after we got back – right up until the time we ate dinner. It was after she awoke and her arm still hung limp that I started to worry… she didn’t cry at all, even when I gently poked and prodded her arm. It wasn’t until I took he shirt off to give her a bath that the waterworks started again. So, again, I did wahat any good parent would do — I put Layla to bed without a bath that night.

The next morning, Layla got up still with one gimpy arm. We figured it’d be best to take her to see a doctor and get a professional opinion of just how badly I injured the poor girl. Tamie called a couple clinics to see which we’d go to – none took reservations and the one closest opened at 9, so we headed there as quickly as we could.

When we got to the medical clinic, it looked more like a senior citizen country club or something. There were old people overflowing out of the waiting room, and most of them were chatting away with each other. I couldn’t help but think it must be their usual Monday morning gathering place – it was certainly cheaper (and probably more convenient) than going to Starbucks. We ended up getting a number and told it’d be a long wait. We went home until around 10:30 or so, heading back when we thought our number would be called.

Back in the waiting room, we sweated it out with the golden oldies for at least another hour before we were finally called in to see the doctor. I don’t know if they don’t do reservations or they were just full up for that morning… it seemed like the numbers only got called one out of every four or five callings. The rest were called by name… my thought was they were the same Monday morning crowd with their same weekly reservations at the country club.

When we went in to see the doctor, I was pleasantly surprised when he asked if I preferred Japanese or English. Surprised by the simple fact he even acknowledged me given the fact Tamie was in the room, I answered in perfect Japanese that I preferred English. I said “英語” (that means “English”, surprisingly enough :) ). He asked me to sit on the bed, holding Layla with her bad arm pointed out towards him. I figured he’d want to take a closer look, poke around a bit, or at least ask me what happened… instead he grabbed her arm, bent it at the elbow, and in the blink of an eye said “Okay, she’s fine. I heard it. It clicked.”

“What the… ” I sputtered.

He explained that it was quite common for young kids to dislocate their elbows or shoulders and he, being the all-knowing doctor, knew how to fix it. I asked if it was something I could do at home and he shook his head. Parents are too emotional and afraid, he explained – we’d best take Layla in to see him if it happens again. Like that’s going to happen… At the very least, if it happens again I’m going to see if I can’t reset her arm before writing off an entire morning to bake in a stinky sauna full of sick, gossiping, old people…

Long Weekend, At Least For Some…

Published on March 22, 2010 in weekend. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

This weekend was (still is =) a long weekend here in Japan. At least, for those of us not working on a very busy project for a car company that shall remain nameless… Tamie had to work on Saturday and she has to work again tomorrow (Monday), so while the rest of the country gets a special 3 day weekend, the employees in her group get a special 1 day weekend. Nice!

So Saturday, I got the opportunity to take care of Layla for the day. I took her to the park because she wanted to go on a big slide, but she never actually went on it. Instead she discovered that she is able to jump across the tires that are set up that she’d been, up until Saturday, afraid to attempt. She was so proud that she made it across that she did it four or five times in a row. On the fifth time, she fell and cried something fierce, but eventually got up and played again… on another part of the playground.

Eventually, the kid got hungry and we were off to grab something to eat. I offered everything from rice to burgers to waffles to pasta but she wanted Starbucks. I’m beginning to think we go there far too often. Regardless, I took her there and we sat and watched people walk by as I took about a million pictures of her eating and sucking back her frappuccino.

When the music started playing from the band downstairs, we bailed on the chilling and went to take a look. It was a band who’d played Ebina before, but for good reason – the crowd seemed to really get into it, singing along, waving towels and dancing! A much livelier crowd than I usually see at the free concerts every weekend.

We met Tamie for dinner later that evening, yakiniku was the meal of choice (ladies’ choice, and a good one at that!). We bbq’d up chowed down on a lot of meat that night. We even a bit of vegetables too — to satisfy Tamie’s momly instincts.

After dinner, we headed home. Climbing a set of stairs, Layla nearly passed out. I don’t know what they put into her orange juice, but the poor kid collapsed as Tamie caught her. It wasn’t until I asked he if she wanted some chocolate and to be carried that she came to and promptly climbed up into her mom’s arms.

Sunday was a day for the family, albeit a lazy one. It wasn’t until the afternoon that we even got mobile and headed out to do some shopping. As Layla is getting older, she is getting into the more advanced stages of daycare — the strict requirements are getting even stricter. We need to get a bunch of supplies, things such as bags of various sizes, play-doe with associated tools, and SIXTEEN different colour crayons. Why sixteen? Because it seems like they only get sold her in packs of 12.

With the daycare shopping out of the way, we let Layla check out the kid’s arcade that houses rides and games for young kids. They must make a killing there as it’s always busy and the games and rides are a minimum of 100 yen and last about a minute. I see some parents in there with there kids for a lot longer than a couple minutes (ie. they are there when we get there and still there when we leave). Luckily Layla isn’t the type of kid to make a fuss after only one ride… at least, not yet. After riding the Thomas the Tank Engine ride for 45 seconds, Layla was happy to go. She was even happier when one of the employees gave her a snack on the way out.

We ended up at Vina Walk shortly after shopping. There were kids playing in the small water pools there, despite the strong, cold winds blowing that day. Of course, seeing those kids, Layla wanted to take a turn. We sat by the pool as she debated whether or not she really wanted to go in. She slowly took off her jacket and socks and rolled up her pants. By the time she got down to the water and touched it, 15 minutes must have passed. Once she was in, though, she had a blast!

Check out the pictures here:


Saturday Pictures
Saturday Pictures
Sunday Pictures
Sunday Pictures

This video was taken Sunday night, after we got a diaper delivery. Layla loves playing in the box and I love playing with her. I got a kick out of the video, I hope you do too. Click on it to go to youtube to see it larger/higher def.



From Parks to Aquariums

Published on February 21, 2010 in weekend. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

This weekend was like any other weekend with the exception of an early(ish) checking of the status of a server at work. Everything looked okay, thank goodness, or this weekend would not have been nearly as good as it was!

Saturday we called my folks, who just returned from a trip to Calgary, and they seemed quite happy. It was a rare Friday night that they were home and not out gambling (or something). Auntie Gina was there so we got a chance to talk with her as well. Layla impressed all by folding laundry for the webcam — you got to start them young!

Tamie had a dentist appointment so I chilled with Layla while she headed off to get her teeth checked. We met up afterward at the train station and headed off to the park for a day of letting Layla play, and play she did. Hours passed before we finally headed off for “lunch”, which ended up being an early dinner at the Outback — hamburgers all around! Even Layla had a Joey burger and ate almost most of it, earning a balloon out of the deal.

Sunday, we Tamie’s sister came to pick us up and head in to Tokyo to see an aquarium. The plan was to leave at 8:30~9:00, but as is often the case, we didn’t get away until 10ish. After a long drive but a quick nap in the car later were arrived at Tokyo Sea Life Park! The nearly full parking lot was a bit intimidating, but thankfully, it wasn’t so bad inside the aquarium.

Overall, I’d say the aquarium did provide some entertainment but it was a bit lacking compared to the Enoshima aquarium we frequent. After being impressed with the shark tank that greets you, the main tank (judging by size) was nearly void of fish. There were a lot of smaller tanks with interesting creatures to see, but none of them really interested Layla — she got it in her head she wanted to see penguins… so off we went to see the penguins! The poor penguins… as we approached the penguin pen, the smell was a bit off. We quickly realized it was because they were doing some kind of maintenance on their pool so they didn’t have anywhere to swim! 10 days without a pool! They should have dumped them into the main pool.

We spent a lot of time around the touching pools where Layla tried hard to be brave. She did make progress though – she touched the water on more than one occasion. Her penultimate achievement for the day was after a presentation about star fish, they offered to let kids touch them and she actually got in line, went right up to the front and poked one! Once! It was a crowning achievement and one she looked so proud of.

Right before we left, I saw the fish in the shark tank were swimming about, all over the place. When we first arrived all the fish were at the top of the tank while the sharks were at the bottom… I was hoping to see some feeding but the sharks seemed to be on a diet or something. As I was busy taking bad pictures, Layla got mad because I wouldn’t let her play with my camera… I told her to wait a minute – her response? “Time to go!” before grabbing her Mom’s hand and heading for the exit. She’s soooo cute, eh?

On the way back to the car, we stopped to catch a show by a street juggler, Sobuki. He put on a good show for the large crowd and had my camera batteries not died I’d have a picture of him juggling knived while balancing on multiple boards/blocks on top of a cylinder on a trunk. Hard to explain, but there are pictures from right before the batteries died so take a look. =)

Back in the car, it was another long drive/short nap before we were home putting together the 108 piece puzzle Layla insisted she wanted from the gift shop.

Playground Fun
Playground Fun
Tokyo Sea Life Park
Tokyo Sea Life Park

Shopaholics Anonymous

Published on November 8, 2009 in weekend. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

To say that this weekend was a bit lazy would be an understatement. In fact, to say that this weekend was a lot lazy would still be an understatement.

Saturday we woke up around 1… in the afternoon. Layla was up until 11 the previous night, but she’d never slept in this late. I would have gladly slept in another hour if I wasn’t worried the poor kid was dead, or worse. Luckily she was still sawing logs, sweating up a storm in the process. I think she might have had a bit of a fever early in the morning and had sweat it out by mid afternoon. It’s why we kept her up late the previous night — score one for forward thinking parenting!

Our plan for the day was to go out and get some shoes. Big plans, to be sure, but we were already behind schedule. After getting cleaned up and having breakfast we were off to Machida for some shopping fun. If there’s one thing I love, it’s shoe shopping. Especially with my two favourite girls…

Surprisingly, we found Tamie’s shoes at the first place we hit. It was amazing, like nothing I’d ever seen before. She didn’t even need to try on more than three pairs of shoes before deciding. Twas’ a sign of things to come, or so I’d hoped, as we headed off to find my shoes…

The last pair of shoes I got here, they didn’t have my size so I had to get it delivered through the mail. I had tried some on for size, and they fit pretty well, so thought the ones coming in the mail would be as comfortable. After a couple days of wearing them, trying to break them in properly, I found they still were a bit small. To this day, they are still one of the most uncomfortable pair of shoes I’ve ever bought. With that in mind, I was determined to find a pair of shoes, in stock, that we could try on and buy… no matter how long it took.

I found a pair that seemed decent, and we asked the salesguy for a size 27, the sizes here being the size of your foot in cm… I’m still not exactly sure what the size 10 I wore in Canada actually represented, as my foot is neither 10 centimeters or 10 inches. He brought them and they were a bit snug, to say the least. We tried a 27.5 and again they were a bit small. Finally the guy looked at my current shoes, which were supposedly size 10 and said that should be a 28… I tried on a 28… and voila – a much better fit. Especially compared to the torturous shoes I’d been wearing. We walked out of that, the first store we hit for my shoes, successful in our search for shoes. Two for two!

To celebrate, we headed off for some ice cream. Layla told me she didn’t want a big ice cream, but she wanted me to have a big ice cream. How could I say no to that? She ended up taking all the parts of my parfait that she wanted, leaving me with her leftovers. Regardless, it was a decent snack and turned out to be most of our dinner. It turned out to be later than we thought and we were a bit stuffed, even after looking around for a while after the ice cream. We ended up at the outback for some steak salad… and some ice cream (for the kid) for dessert.

Today, we headed off for another trip to the park. Layla seems to love it there, and we love to take her. It’s the only grass field for miles, so it’s kind of a special place here… making it kind of a busy place too. One interesting thing about the grass park is the hill, where kids use cardboard as toboggans and slide down it. It sure looks ghetto, but I guess when there’s no snow you have to make do with what you got. One lady even tricked out her cardboard by putting plastic handles on it. Very impressive, indeed.

At the park, we kicked a ball around before heading off to the playground for some slide fun, only to close out with a terrifying steam spray. The same steam spray Layla used to love to run through as a young(er) kid, she’s now deathly afraid of. I ended up carrying her through it, which is more than she let me do last time, so progress is being made, albeit slowly. Maybe someday she’ll be as brave as she was when she was a year old. Maybe.

As we were leaving the park, the chipper youngster chirped up with her suggestion of what to do next. “Starbucks!” The call for the green tea frappuccino was message enough that we go there far too often. Regardless, we went. Some parents mark lines on a wall to watch how their kids grow up — we take pictures at Starbucks. I figure in five years, I’ll send the pictures in to the marketing department and see if I can’t make a few bucks on all the money we spent there. It’s really more of an investment, in that respect.

While we were sucking back our drinks, Layla pointed out that we dress her like a bum. The knee of her pants, already sewn up once, had another hole from her skinning her knee one of any number of times. She was adamant that we buy her new pants, and we were more than happy to oblige. We went to the Gap where a nice saleslady got to practice her English with us. She showed us a great deal on a new line of pants — buy 2 pairs and get 20% off the purchase. Sounded good. The only problem — there’s no way I am going to shell out 9200 yen (100 bucks!) on pants for my kid that she’s either going to outgrow or rip in two months. Even with a 20% discount.

I checked a few other places while Layla played, but I couldn’t find anything decent for a decent price. Tamie took a look and found a couple options (I’ll admit, she’s a much better shopper than I am). Layla picked a pair, tried them on, and was so happy with them that she ended up wearing them moments after we bought them.

Not having spent enough money yet, we headed off to buy a new vacuum cleaner. It wasn’t exactly a spur of the moment thing, as every time I vacuumed Tamie would complain about the quality of my work, and I would complain about the quality of the tools I was equipped with. The fact that she complained about the tool whenever she vacuumed too was a clear indicator it was less the blame of the operator as it was the fault of the machine. One new vacuum cleaner later, and I have a happy wife and a cleaner apartment. How’s that for win-win?

The last thing we wanted to buy, a Google phone for Tamie, had to be put on hold because by the time we actually got around to it, the store had closed. It wasn’t a total loss, though, as it will give us something to do next week, if we don’t find something else to do first.

Pictures from the weekend are here:

Saturday
Sunday