Tag Archive for 'Tamie'

Page 2 of 7

Another Birthday Weekend!

Published on June 6, 2011 in Family, Japan, Parenting and weekend. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Just wanted to send a Happy Birthday to my old man back home – Layla was so excited it was her Chinni’s birthday that she wanted to call to see what presents he got… and to wish him a happy birthday too, of course!

After the conversation, Tamie went to meet a friend and I got to look after the girls. She was worried, I was thrilled. I took the two to the park, letting Layla get some more bike riding experience under her belt. She still loves to ride the thing so I am trying to get her on it as much as possible.

On the way to the park we saw a big snake in one of the rice fields. Despite my immediate urge to go Crocodile Hunter and make a grab for it, the smarter part of my brain told me to leave it be… that, and the fact Layla was pedaling like crazy to get away from it.

When we got to the park, I took Julia and followed Layla around as she ran, jumped, climbed, bounced, slid, etc. on everything and anything she could. Where she gets the energy, I wish I knew. The kid is also growing quite fearless, happily climbing up things that just a few months ago were terrifying for her. I’m quite happy to see that, although now feeling a bit useless. At least now I don’t have to try to squeeze in any kiddie doors to accompany her anywhere. =)

Around 3:30, we headed home to clean up, feed Julia and prepare to meet Tamie. Tamie had met her friend in Yokohama, so we went down to meet her. Once there, we decided to take Julia on her first boat ride. We took a “Sea Bass”, which is essentially a bus on the water to Yamashita Park where Layla and Tamie raced around like school girls on a field trip. Julia and I coolly followed behind taking in all the sights and sounds.

On The Boat

After the sun started setting, we decided to grab some grub and ended up at a restaurant in Chinatown where we had a small 8 course meal. We ate our fill and weren’t even hungry an hour later.

Today, the Canucks won so we could do anything Tamie wanted. We ended up in a rose garden in Mukogaoka Yuen, a 30 minute train ride followed by a 20 minute walk away. Despite the cloudy weather and chance of rain, it turned out to be a nice time.

In The Garden

Best part of the day was dinner – after much debate, we decided that Tamie would make pizza! Despite the pizza being really good, that wasn’t what I was referring to. Instead, take a gander at this video of Layla, experiencing her first fizzy drink that she didn’t immediately reject for being “too spicy.”

All in all, another great weekend with the family. For more, check out picture in the gallery!

Yokohama
Yokohama Gallery

Garden
Garden Gallery

Julia And Layla Pictures

Published on February 15, 2011 in Family, Gallery Update and Japan. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Tamie was at home with Julia today and was feeling photographic. Julia, luckily, was feeling photogenic. So with a camera in hand and a smile on face, they whiled away the day. What a pair, eh? They even took some video.

When Layla got home from daycare, she joined in on the fun. I’ve put all the pictures of the day up in the gallery. Click the image below (or press the Gallery link at the top. =)

Girls
Click here.

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)

Home Sweet Home

Published on January 31, 2011 in Family, Japan, Parenting and weekend. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Family

Finally, after nearly a month, our family is whole again. Julia and Tamie moved back to Ebina on Saturday afternoon and I couldn’t be happier. Or tireder.

It’s been a pretty tame weekend, as we spent most of it moving and hanging out in Ebina, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. We braved going out to a restaurant for dinner last night, and Julia slept on me the whole time we ate. We ventured out today for a day of shopping and eating and again she slept through the meal. 2 for 2 so far in attempts at eating out with the new kid. I like her already. =)

Layla, ever helpful, even pushed the stroller when we were out today. She got downright angry when Tamie pushed it instead of her. She was absolutely livid when we chose a different blanket than the one she wanted for Julia. Yep, big sister was sure happy little sister was around this weekend… it was her parents she wasn’t too happy about.

One of the things we picked up for Julia was a pacifier. There were two kinds – silicone or latex. What’s the difference? Who knows… The silicone package had 2 in it and the latex only had 1 for the same price. That must mean the latex one is twice as good, right? Luckily, I had my google phone and it told me. Apparently silicone is easier to maintain and keep clean. SOLD. The fact that there were two meant Layla could have one… apparently. When we got home later that day, she took over the one that Julia didn’t use. Having said that, she’s been eying the blue one for a while now…

Tonight, I got to work on the applications for the kids’ passports and Julia’s Canadian citizenship. I’ve gotten pretty good at writing my name, address and phone number. Next time, we’re having the kid in Canada.

Anyways, that’s a random rambling of our weekend. I’ve posted some pictures in the gallery, take a gander.