On Saturday, Maile and I rented a bike with a trailer and went on an adventure. We rode over the Golden Gate Bridge, stopped for lunch in Sausalito, had some ice cream (of course) and then headed home on the ferry. We had a blast! (Oh, and then Daddy took a two hour nap when he got home 😉
The ice cream was, of course, a highlight:
For me, the highlight was most certainly spending some quality time with Maile Girl!
Maile and I on the ferry back from Sausalito…
For the past couple of weeks, Maile has been teaching Christine and I a Chinese word each night at dinner. She and one of her teachers decide on the word each day and then at dinner she teaches it to us. Maile LOVES teaching us and it’s a nice way to introduce some Mandarin on the homefront (and get her more comfortable speaking it in front of us).
Tonight Maile taught us her Chinese name. Christine actually worked with her teachers on Maile’s Chinese name last year – but up until tonight we didn’t realize that she knew it. As the video shows, I’m definitely the weak link on the Chinese speaking front…
(Click here for the video.)
The weather as been AMAZING! So on Sunday, Mommy had a great idea to take Maile’s pool out of storage, put the girls in their matching swimsuits and have some fun in the courtyard.
One of the girls was a bit more excited about the water compared to the other...
.
Hmm ... this pool certainly felt a lot bigger last year..
... yep, definitely time for an upgrade!
Having a little sister is so much fun, I thought we should have another one!
Just kidding! It's still just me and Lauren 🙂
We headed to Off the Grid on Friday night with Sophie. After dinner, we had only one ring pop, but two little girls itching for some dessert. So they shared. One lick at a time. (And did plenty of dancing and giggling in between.)
(Click here for the video.)
Yesterday was a hard day. A day where the place I’m from felt very far away, but even from here you could hear the sigh of sorrow and disbelief. I found myself watching this video of Maile and wishing we could all see the world with her wonder and joy. Or feel the world in a way where our biggest fear was that the wave would come in a little too fast and get us all wet.
It pains me beyond belief that there are children now that have already lost that wonder and joy. That fear much more than the cold water rushing up the sand.
Those are all the words I have for now – I imagine someday I’ll have to find some more to attempt to explain to Maile and Lauren. For now, Christine, Maile, Lauren and I are sending our love back east…
(Click here for the video.)
Today was Lauren’s 100 Day Birthday – a very important milestone for Japanese babies. You might recall us celebrating Maile’s. As we did with Maile we took out the kimonos and dressed the girls up for some pictures. The kimono that Lauren is wearing below is the same one that Maile wore for her 100 day celebration – it was originally Christine’s, made for her by her Grandma Kugiya!
Lauren's Official 100 Day Celebration Picture
Hey, let me in there...
Maile now has a big girl kimono that was also a hand me down from Christine's family - and she has a big girl 3 year old smile to match...
Our girls
Congratulations Lauren on 100 days, I'm so proud of you!
One last shot - the full kimono effect!
The weather was amazing today, so after dinner, Maile and I headed outside to play some soccer in the courtyard. Mommy (as always) snapped some great photos…
Maile has been taking soccer class after school one day a week and is getting pretty good...
Boom!
She still uses her hands too much - hand ball!
Throw in...
Hey giggles, you are never going to get the ball if you are laughing that much!
Maile has definitely patented the laugh-so-hard-I'll-make-Daddy-laugh-too-and-then-I'll-take-the-ball move...
Maile Girl here – I know Daddy has been telling you all about our trip to DC. It was awesome! On Sunday, Mommy, Daddy and Auntie Elyssa took Lauren and me to the airplane museum (Dad note: the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum). It was so cool – there were airplanes and even rocket ships every where! I learned all about how they fly – I think I could probably fly one myself now. Seriously.
Things started off a little slow. Daddy asked me how I thought plans worked and I said you just push. That was wrong.
Daddy took me to the Amelia Earhart exhibit (I knew about her from one of my Fancy Nancy books) and I learned a bit more about how airplanes really work...
I practiced some of the basics a little bit...
... and then I was ready for some practice sessions in a real airplane!
I learned a lot, but the most fun was definitely pretending I was an airplane with Daddy and running all around - the real planes will come later I'm sure 🙂
The main reason for our trip to DC was to visit Auntie Elyssa. Lauren hadn’t met her yet and it had been far too long since Maile had a chance to have fun with her. The girls had a blast with Auntie Elyssa – there were several times during our trip where Christine and I would be in the other room just listening to Maile chatting with Auntie about all sorts of things. We loved it.
And Auntie did a lot of bonding with Lauren too – I think it’s safe to say it was love at first site 🙂
Auntie Elyssa, Lauren (3 months) and Maile (3 years, 9 months)
Lauren meet your Auntie Elyssa - she has lots of experience as a younger sister!
Auntie Elyssa was very excited to introduce Maile to the pandas at the zoo!
