kotori family came to visit us in california!

ことりさんファミリーがカリフォルニアまで遊びに来てくれました！

we went to the neighborhood park that day. i thought it was a nice long visit but actually time went by so quickly and it was time to say good-bye already. it was really "time flies when you are having fun" and wish it was longer! i still have lots of pictures to go through so i'll be posting here and there.

この日は近所の公園に夕方遊びに行ってきました。長いと思っていた２週間半はアッという間に過ぎ去ってしまっていつの間にかバイバイをする日に...　楽しい時間を過ごしている時は時間が立つのが早いってこの事をいうんだなぁ〜と改めて実感しました。思い出たっぷりの写真は少しづつ整理しながら更新していくのでよろしくお願いしま〜す。＾＾

daniel took pictures on a walk this time, it's been forever since he've done that! ;)

久しぶりに（何年ぶりかな？）ダニエルがお散歩写真を撮ってくれました。＾＾

kai + me + dogs ;)

sometimes we bring koko along in the car.

たまにkokoも一緒にお出かけ。

kai, first time on a train in tokyo.

カイ、初の電車。

on the way to get on a train.

駅までとことこ。

kai walk around tokyo.

東京歩く。

this is the end of japan trip pictures and will go back to everyday pictures from tomorrow.

これで日本での写真は終わり。明日からまたアメリカでの写真に戻りまーす！

kai and i got ready to play in the snow in the next morning. i think he is still a bit sleepy here... ;)

次の朝はカイと一緒に庭で雪遊び。まだちょっと眠いみたい...　^_-

first, we made a snow man...

最初はスノーマンを作ったけど...

but he wasn't very thrilled.

なんかちょっと物足りなそうな表情。

so i made him a snow bunny!

だからスノーバニーを作ってあげました。

but still, he wasn't very happy about it!

だけど、なに、その嬉しくなさそうな顔は！？！？

then, tada-! i made him his favorite totoro!

じゃじゃーん、大好きなトトロを作ってあげました！

i think this time, he was happy ;) (or i'm tired so can't make it anymore anyways!) actually, he saw snow bunny's ears and said "totoro!" so that's where i got the idea to make him a totoro! i would never thought of making one if he didn't say anything, i guess kid's imagination is endless!

これで満足だったみたい！（っていうか、もう疲れたからこれ以上作れない〜　笑）実はカイがスノーバニーの耳をみて「トトロ！」っていったから「あっ、なるほど！作れる！」と思ってトトロを作りました。子供の想像力はすごいな〜　私だったら思いつかなかった！笑

belle was checking us out too :)

ベルちゃんもちゃんと見てくれてました。　＾＾

we made s'mores for snack with the fire place after playing in the snow.

ゲレンデから帰ってきた後はおやつにスモアー（マシュマロ、板チョコ、グラハムクラッカー）を作りました。

right out of the fireplace, super hot marshmallow!

焼きたてマシュマロ、熱いからフーフー！

he loved it but got marshmallow all over the mouth ;P

すごくべちゃべちゃの口になりながら食べてました。＾＾；

his favorite cars.

息子君とカーズ。

3 of them together, so cute! well, kotori san family, thank you for coming over, we had a very good time! can't wait to do it again sometime soon :)

３人で記念ショット！ことりさんファミリー、わざわざ遠い所から来てくれてありがとうございました。とっても楽しくていい思いでができました！また帰国したときは一緒に遊んでくださいね！＾＾

we went to ski resort the next day.

次の日はみんなでゲレンデに行ってきました。

the wind was chilly but it was nice weather!

風は冷たかったけど、晴れていてグットウェザーでした。＾＾

she was having a blast with sled!

ことりさんの娘さんはそりをすごく楽しんでました！

kai tried sledding with me few times but he cried and wasn't ok with it. he just wanted to watch people slide :P

カイは１、２回一緒にそりで滑ったけど泣いたりでダメ。見てるだけの方が良かったみたい。＾＾；

he tried sledding also but he was having more fun eating the snow!

ことりさんの息子君もそりしたけど雪を食べる方が好きだったみたい。＾＾

when we got home, she taught kai how to ride the scooter.

ゲレンデから帰ってきたら娘さんがお気に入りのスクーターをカイにどうやるか教えてくれました。

she is just so cute!

かわいー！＾＾

kotori family came over to second house this past weekend to visit us from kyoto. she is in a middle of making a snow angel in the backyard!

ことりさんファミリーがわざわざ京都からセカンドハウスに遊びに来てくれました！娘さんはスノーエンジェル作りの真っ最中！

this is kai's first time playing in the snow and i guess he didn't know what exactly so he was crying with this miserable face for a while...

カイは初めての雪遊び、なんだか分からなくて、冷たくて、情けない顔して最初の方はかなり泣いてました。

he loved snow and was eating lots of snow. ;)

息子君は美味しそうに雪をたくさん食べて...＾＾

she was having a blast with snow.

娘さんは最後まで楽しそうにずっーと雪遊び。＾＾

after a while he was getting used to snow a little...

カイもちょっとずつ雪に慣れていって...

when he got used to it, he was throwing the snow around...

でもちょっと慣れたら雪をなげたりも... ＾＾；

brother and sister snow fight!

姉弟のスノーファイト！

continue tomorrow...

this is actually a little bit ago when we went shopping. kai got a stuffed dog at build-a-bear and he had to carry him around the town ;)

ちょっと前の事ですがショッピングに出かけました。その時build-a-bearというお店(説明は↓)でカイは犬のぬいぐるみを選んで作りました。もちろんその後ワンワン君を持ち歩きたかったみたいです。＾＾

build-a-bearというお店は自分でぺったんこのぬいぐるみのもとを選んで、中のコットンや自分で願いをこめたハートを目の前で詰めてもらい、ぬいぐるみ専用の洋服を選んで着せてあげられるお店です。（でもその洋服が高いので家は裸なんですが。笑）　出生証明書も付いてきます。＾＾

lights on the street was so pretty!

夕飯の後はイルミネーションが奇麗だったのでちょっと散歩してみました。

i wish everyone a happy, healthy, and successful new year!

we had a xmas gathering at our house with daniel's family. we exchanged presents, watched a movie, and ate dinner together. here is kai "resting" with one of grandma monica's dog, chloe after opening tons of presents!

クリスマスの日は家でダニエルのファミリーとプレゼント交換、映画、ゲーム、ディナーを食べたりしました。カイは自分のプレゼントを全部あけて遊び疲れたらしく、クローイ（ダニエルのお母さんの犬）と一緒にお昼ね中。笑

seems like every time he opened his presents, he was taking a picture of them! lol

カイは一つ一つプレゼントを開ける度、自分のカメラでおもちゃの写真を撮っていました。笑　

one of the present he got had a toy glasses and he was trying them on.

プレゼントの一つはおもちゃのキャラクターの眼鏡と帽子、眼鏡が大き過ぎて笑っちゃいました。

kai was actually trying to put them on dede, so we helped him with it ;)

カイは眼鏡をディディーに掛けさせ用としていたので手伝って上げてみました。笑

kai + his b-day cake (i guess i was running around the house so that i wasn't taking many pictures besides this time :P).

カイとケーキ。この時以外はバタバタと忙しくてあまり写真を撮っていませんでした。反省...

yummy?

a huuuge bite! ;)

すごい顔して食べてる〜！　笑

looks a lot but he actually only ate this much!

たくさん食べたように見えるけど、ほんとはこれだけしか食べませんでした。＾＾

he got lots of birthday presents and he was so excited!　thank you everyone! :)

カイはみんなからたくさんプレゼントをもらって大喜びでした。＾＾

↓　this is his last year b-day and it was a mess! he looks so much younger here!

↓　おまけにこれが去年のケーキの写真。かなり顔がべちゃべちゃになってます。笑　でも顔がまだベイビーって感じがするな〜　

i asked BabeEllycious family all of a sudden "do you wanna come over this weekend?" and they said " yes!" so they came over to second house after work from mie prefecture and arrived around 10 pm. we went to our favorite pub and had few pints of guiness to start! ;)

家の得意な突然プランでBabeEllyciousファミリーに「週末、来る？」と聞いたら「うん、行く！」という事になりました。＾＾ 仕事が終わってから四日市から着てくれたので到着したのは１０時頃。とりあえず行きつけのパブにギネスを一杯飲みにいってきました。

this is the irish pub called bull & bear near second house.

八ヶ岳にあるIrish Pub, Bull & Bear, 12時過ぎまで飲みながら話しちゃいました。＾＾

for the last day in yosemite, we went to see the giant sequoias at mariposa grove. these sequoias were huuuuuge and just amazing!

ヨセミテ最終日はマリポサ　グローブのジャイアント　セコイアを見に行ってきました。名前の通り、すごくデカくてビックリでした。

before the tour, kai was having fun playing the pine cone soccer by himself ;)

ツアーの前は松ぼっくりを見つけて一人で松ぼっくりサッカーをしてました。＾＾

these are the pine cones that you can find at mariposa grove. the long and big sugar pine cones are about 16 inches long!

これがここのマリポサグローブで見つけられる松ぼっくりの種類。いちばん大きいのはシュガーパインのパインコーン、大きさは４０cm前後です。

the clothespin tree, countless fires throughout the decades nearly severed this tree's trunk and created a space in it large enough for a pick-up truck to drive through.

クロスピントリー、何十年というあいだに何回もの山火事で木の幹に穴が開いてしまい、それでも生き続けている木。穴のサイズはトラックや車が簡単に通り抜ける幅です。

the grizzly giant, probably 1900-2400 years old and is the oldest and the largest tree in the grove. it's 210 ft. tall, i mean, look at the size of people at the bottom!

グリズリージャイアント、多分1900〜2400歳で、このグローブの中では一番古く、大きな木。高さは約64m、木の前にいる人がかなり小さく見えます。

those pine cones next to kai's hand is the giant sequoias pine cones. they are just so small compare to what the tree is!

海の手の横にある小さい松ぼっくりがこのジャイアントセコイアの松かさ。木はすごく大きいのに松ぼっくりはかなり小さめでびっくり！

we hiked a bit and kai was exploring as he collects branches!

ちょっとその辺をハイキング、海はかなり探検しながら枝を集めていました。

we saw lots of squirrels and chipmunk, so cute! :)

この辺ではリスとシマリスがいっぱいいました。かわいい〜　＾＾

last stop was to walk around the historic wawona hotel, built in 1865. my parents stayed here 33 years ago when they last came here in yosemite. unfortunately we couldn't make reservations this time to stay :(

最終ストップは歴史的に有名な1865年（江戸時代末期）に建てられたワオナ ホテル。家の両親は前回ヨセミテに来た時（それって３３年前なんですけど...）に泊まりました。今回も予約をとろうとしたけど満室で残念という事でぐるっと一周散歩してきました。

finally, this is the last post about the yosemite trip, thank you for looking! :)

これがやっと最後のヨセミテ記事です。長かったけど見てもらってありがとうございました。＾＾

we went to the glacier point at the right time to catch the beautiful sunset. just love how the half dome becomes so pink by the sun!

グレイシャーポイントというビゥーポイントにちょうど夕焼けが良い時間に行ってきました。ハーフドームがみごとにピンクですごく綺麗でした。

we went to see the yosemite falls next (this is the upper fall). it's a bit log post...

次はヨセミテ滝に行ってきました(上部の滝です）。ちょっと今回は長いです。＾＾；

shuttle bus stop.

シャトルバスの停留所。

other side, you can see the half dome.

反対側はハーフドームが見えます。

saw a deer when we were walking on a trail to go see the lower yosemite fall.

鹿が滝に行く途中のハイキングコースの横で何か食べていました。（ちょっとピンぼけで残念＾＾；）

lower yosemite fall.　it's pretty big, you can kinda see the people at the bottom.

下部のヨセミテ滝。かなりおおきい滝、人がちらちらと下にいるの見えますか？

kai's one step rock climbing ;)

海のロッククライミング。＾＾

walking back on a trail with grandpa + grandma.

じぃーじとばぁーばと一緒にハイキングコースでの帰り。

the famous el capitan (3000 ft.). rock climbers climb this for like 4 to 5 days straight to get to the top!

ロッククライミングで有名なヨセミテのエル　キャピタン (910 m)。4日から5日かけて頂上まで登るらしいです。

so we looked for climbers and found about 5 people climbing with 400 mm zoom lens.

で、４００ミリのズームレンズで探したところ５人くらい発見！これがそのうちの二人。凄い！空中でキャンプとかするのかなぁ〜？考えただけでもゾッとします。

when we were walking back, the park ranger had the bear skin laying on the bench.　

帰りの途中、パークレンジャーが熊の毛皮をベンチで見せていました。熊の毛はかなり固かったです。

+ bonus pic +

squirrel scored the french fry when we dropped one during lunch.

おまけ、お昼でテーブルの下に落としたポテトをリスがゲット！

next stop was yosemite creek. leaves turning color was just so beautiful!

次のストップはヨセミテクリーク。紅葉の黄色い色がすごく綺麗でした。

kai and i are going to japan with my parents tomorrow morning. i don't think i can blog for another day or two again (sorry!) but i will continue again by the end of this week.　i'll keep you posted ;)

私と海は明日の朝、実家の両親と日本に帰るので、またブログが１日、二日できません。＾＾；　すいませ〜ん。でも今週末にはまた更新をする予定です。それでは、次回のブログは日本からです。(←でもまたちょっとヨセミテの続きなんですけど　＾＾；）

this was our first stop for the yosemite trip. we were driving on tioga pass rd. and happen to run into this pretty pond (? don't even know if it has a name).

これはヨセミテトリップのファーストストップ。タイオガ　パス　ロードを走っていたら道路沿いで綺麗な池（？　名前も分かりません＾＾；）見つけました。

just in case, kai was leashed up so he won't go in the water.

危ないからカイには紐をつけておきました。

small pine cones around the pond.

小さな池の周りにあった松ぼっくり。

kai found them too and he was so happy to play them.

カイも見つけたようで喜んで遊んでいました。＾＾
ヨセミテトリップは毎日ちょっとずつ整理しながら更新する予定です。
この２、３日はヨセミテになっちゃいますがよかったら見てください。＾＾

we came back from yosemite tonight around 9:30 and we are really tired! looks like we took around 1000 pictures (not looking forward to go thru them...ha ha). i'll try to post some tomorrow.

＊　this pic is from evening walk around the house, not from yosemite!

夜の９時半頃にヨセミテから帰ってきました。どうやら写真はあわせて１０００枚ちょっと撮ったみたいで、整理するのに大変そうです。＾＾；でも明日時間があったら少しアップする予定です。

*この写真は夕方の散歩のでヨセミテのではありません。＾＾：

we are going to yosemite this weekend and leaving tonight so i won't be blogging next few days. hopefully i can post few pics on sunday night!

we had a small bbq with both sides of the family. we made lots of kabobs!

家族みんなでのファミリーバーベキュー。シシカボブをたくさん焼きました。

i baked spiced apple bread using the mix from trader joe's.

トレーダージョーズというスーパーで売っていたアップルスパイスのパウンドケーキミックスを使って焼いてみました。シナモンが結構きいていて、しっとりとしあがってGood!

remember? in july, we did this but i said we were missing my parents iphones? well, we got all of our iphones this time ;)

７月に一度 みんなのiphoneの写真をとったけど、私の親のが抜けてましたが今回はちゃんと入ってます！　＾＾

went to pick my mom up at the san francisco airport. weather was cloudy/partially rain, not a best first day.

母をサンフランシスコエアポートまで迎えにいってきました。天気は曇りのち雨とあんまり良くない日に到着。

took few pictures with my iphone.

iphoneでパチリ。カイは探検状態でいろんな所を走り回っていました。＾＾；

here are the things he found on the walk...

カイがお散歩で見つけて物は...

found a small white flower.

小さい白い花。

walking with the little flower in his hand for a while.

小さな花は結構長く持ち歩いていました。

found a random stick that was poking out of the ground.

地面から出ている棒を発見！

found a leaf from the tree.

その後は木からとった葉っぱ。

at the end, he sat down and watched some birds flying around. it was nice but turned out to be a very long walk :P

最後は座りながら周りにいた鳥などを見ていました。カイの探検のおかげでこの日はかなり長い散歩になっちゃいました。

when we go on a walk, kai finds lots of things around him. looks like he found something on the side walk...

カイはいつも散歩中にいろんな物を見つけます。なんかまたサイドウォークにあるものを発見！

here is our gang :) kai is running around crazy so the dogs going crazy to chase after him...

いつもこんな感じで散歩しています。カイはどこでも走りまくり、カイを一生懸命追いかけようとする犬たち...いつもひっぱられてばっかりで大変です。＾＾；

this was awesome! i asked him to jump and he did it! super cool :)
i took way too many pictures on this walk so it's gonna cont. tomorrow...

「ジャンプして！」と言ってみたら本当にしてくれました。ちょっとビックリ！　でもその瞬間が撮れてラッキー。（＾＾）V
この日はちょっといっぱい写真を撮りすぎてしまったので整理に大変　＾＾；　残りは明日に続きまーす！

went on a nice "before dinner" walk. the sun was going down so it really had a pretty orangy colors on everything! daniel pushing kai's stroller and here is the gang...

夕飯前の散歩に行ってきました。ちょうど太陽が沈む時間帯だったのでオレンジ色っぽい日が綺麗でした。ダニエルがストローラーを押し中、でこれが私達...

didn't know we have looooong legs! and our dogs looks like crazy creatures! ;)
early evening walk continues tomorrow...

こんなに足が長い！　＾＾　犬達はすごい怪物みたいに見えます。　笑
明日に続く...

after the zoo, we went over to the water park and played for a while.

ミニ動物園の後はすぐ隣にあるウォーターパークにいって遊んできました。

he is not scared of water anymore, he just runs into it!

今年は水など全然怖がらず、直進して入っちゃいます。＾＾；

splash! splash!

having fun with jordynne.

there were lots of geese next to the park and kai was checking them out.

ウォーターパークの横の池にはカナダガンがたくさんいてカイは興味津々でした。

canadian geese. i like their neutral color scheme. ;)

なんとなくこのカナダガンの色の組み合わせがデコレーションとかにはいいかも？

kai and i went to mickie grove regional park with our neighbor for the first time. it's only about 45 min. from our house and we had such a fun time! part of the park has a small zoo, so we went there first.

this is kai's thing to do these days, just points and say stuff or laugh like crazy. he was pointing at...

ミッキーグローブリージョナルパークにお隣さんのお友達と一緒に行ってきました。ここに行くのは今回がはじめてで家から車で４５分位のところです。パークに入るのは車一台＄３ドル、ミニ動物園は大人＄３ドル、子供＄２ドル、２歳以下はフリーと安かったです。動物園は猿と鳥ばかりでその他の動物はあんまりいませんでした。＾＾；　これはカイの最近の得意なしぐさです...何をみてわらっているかというと...

monkey!

walking around with jordynne.

then runs back and intentionally goes in the puddle...yes, he was soaked after few times.
わざと水たまりにはいるカイ...もうびしょびしょ！着替え持ってきてよかった〜！

bald eagle, huge!

rooster walking around the zoo.

forgot this bird's name...

lorikeet.

lazy iguana.

kids on a big turtle statue!

after the zoo, we went to play at the little water park...continue!
この後は軽くランチを食べて小さいウォーターパークに行きました。続く。

omg! this weekend was super hot! look at this bright sun!!! today, it went up to 104 F (40 C) during the day so we turned the air conditioning on and tried to stay cool. we noticed that the fountain at near by park is finally on from yesterday so we decided to take kai there for the first time this year.

there were lots of people/kids there...of course, we all think about the same thing, right? hot day, fountain at the park (free, of course), on the weekend... kai was having lots of fun today.

it's amazing to see how kai was enjoying himself so much today...last year this time, he was totally afraid of the water and wasn't walking yet... kai is growing up!! ;)

found this water squirt gun (pretty much everybody had it and had no idea who it was!) so he was tying to copy what big kids were doing and playing with it.

i have a feeling that you gonna be seeing lots of fountain pictures this year since it's like 5 min. walk from our house and kai's loving it ;)

today is our 3rd "official" wedding anniversary...we got married in court 3 years ago today. we also have our "regular" wedding anniversary which is in july when we had the ceremony. we are indecisive about which one to make it as "the" anniversary, so for now, we celebrates it twice a year (or maybe just an excuse to go out to dinner twice). ;)

since it's monday, and we were busy doing the easter stuff this past weekend, we were thinking of postponing the celebration until this weekend. anyhoo, happy 3rd anniversary daniel!

we went to kai's grandma's house in north bay for the easter weekend. we had easter brunch in st. helena and walked around in down town calistoga. there wasn't much to do there, just one main street, that's about it.

cont. reading for random pics of our trip.

this sign was inside of the restaurant where we ate brunch in st. helena. just caught my eye.

had coffee at the calistoga roastery, coffee was pretty good, reminded me of stump town in portland (but of course, it wasn't quite as hip and yummy).

very old ace hardware store front in downtown calistoga. just liked the aged wood.

this hand written type was on the side of the train, i guess name of the train?

we went to northstar at lake tahoe for the first time to go snowboarding on saturday with bunch of our friends. it's been actually 3 years since we last snowboarded (last time was in oregon) so i was totally nervous doing it again :(

northstar was awesome, and really big (compared to mt. hood), we happen to go probably one of the busiest weekend because dew tour was there. we kinda wanted to see some famous pro snowboarders but we never did... today, our "out of shape" bodies are sore from it but it was definitely worth it!

cont. reading to see more pics.

lots of people in the early afternoon near the lodge!

beautiful view of lake tahoe from top of the trail!

one of the long flat part of the trail, off of this trail, there's lots of steep trails, of course, i stayed here ;)

we took a little trip to southern oregon to visit kai's great grandparent's for his first thanksgiving.

wild turkeys came in front of grand parent's house in the morning. there were actually 8 of them.

leaves are turning color in their backyard.

deedee was running around having fun in the backyard. she spotted squirrels and birds, you name it, she was chasing them around.

kai was running around too.