My Maui Vacation!

Ooh, looky! It's a slideshow of my vacation!

Time to reflect

Daddy, Mommy and I went to Hawaii. We stayed at a cool house. The closet doors were mirrors. Look how fun mirrors can be!

Spring Break

I'm in the middle of Spring Break. I know it sounds crazy... but... I kinda miss school.

Happy New Year!

It's a new year. Good bye 2010! Hi 2011! Sometimes I write the wrong year on my papers at school. Here are some things I did before the year ended.

My class sang at the Fairmont Hotel. I am embarrassed to sing in front of people, but I did it anyway.


I built a gingerbread house at school.


Then it was vacation! No school for 16 days! I did lots of fun stuff like go to the Nutcracker Ballet with Mommy. We celebrated Christmas. I got fun presents, like rock climbing gear, stuff for my bike, books, and games. I ate a lot of yummy treats.

Then I went to Hollywood! We stayed where there were a lot of stars with names on them on the sidewalk. When I stay at hotels, I test out the beds by jumping on them. It's especially fun jumping from one bed to the other. This hotel had very nice beds and lots of fluffy pillows.



And trying out the round chair.



I went to Venice Beach. There were a lot of people working out. I worked on my balance.



Part of my Christmas present from Mommy and Daddy was a trip to the Lego Store to pick out some legos. We found a store while on vacation. I wanted to take this giant one home, but I don't think it would fit on the other lego bricks so I decided to leave it at the store and get some smaller ones.


And of course I had fun being with Ellie Belly!



I rang in the new year with my walk-to-school-buddy and his family. We played Wii. And I tied balloons in everyone's hair.

I can tell that 2011 is going to be a great year.

I love to swim!

I'm pretty good at it too!



When Mommy and I went to Orange County we swam almost every day. Even my baby cousin Ellie got in the pool. She can't swim yet, so she did some happy splashing on the step.



Uncle Eric and I swam around. We had fun being silly.



Mommy was silly too. I took her picture when she wasn't looking.



Yay for swimming!

I'm back!

I had a great time in Orange County visiting Uncle Eric, Auntie Wendy, and baby Ellie Belly. Here they are in case you don't know what they look like.



Lots of fun. I took their doggie Sami out on walks. I went swimming almost every day. I even went to the beach and made a fancy sand castle with seaweed and shells.



I played a lot with Ellie. She likes when I make funny faces and sounds at her. I met my other cousin Cali. She's fun too!



I also spent some time with Auntie Wendy's family. They are very nice but I'm very shy around them.

We visited a placed called something like Mission San Juan Capastrami. It's an old building. There is a Mission near our house here in San Francisco. But the one we visited in Orange County was a little different. I liked jumping around.



I also did a little photo shoot with Ellie. A photo shoot is where Mommy fiddles with her camera for way too long to get "the perfect shot" and I get impatient. How hard is it to press a button? I've been pressing buttons since I was a baby. Just take the picture already. But I do love holding Ellie.



I love a vacation, but I also love being home. I really missed Daddy when I was gone. Mommy missed him too. I think Daddy was bored without us. When he picked us up from the airport, I gave him a super big hug.

Later that night we went to watch the Persied Meteor Shower near Mt. Diablo. My friend Izzy and her mommy came along. We got to lie in our sleeping bags and stare up at the sky. We saw some really neat shooting stars with long tails fly across the night sky. So cool! But Daddy got really sick and threw up a lot. He mostly looked at the ground while we looked at the sky. I don't think he saw many shooting stars.

Two days later, I got sick. No fun. It was pretty miserable. I threw up a lot. I cried a lot. I stopped throwing up yesterday, but I'm still tired. I've been keeping busy by sleeping through. I told Mommy that I wish people never got sick. It really hurts.

But I'm feeling much better today. And did I mention that Ella is visiting again from Israel? My best friend is back! We have a sleepover planned for this week. Yay!!!!

I love Ellie!

She's so cute. I love giving my baby cousin hugs and kisses.

Inauguration, chapter 2

Day 2
January 18:
D.C.

Daddy woke up first. He made coffee and started to pack up our things. Mommy woke up next. She drank the coffee Daddy made. Then she started to gather up our things too. Then they woke me up. I was happily snoozing in dreamland. But then I remembered that today was the day that we take the train to Washington, D.C. Yay! I got up. I got dressed. Soon we were on our way.



There was a cab in front of our hotel. The man sitting in the driving seat was sleeping. Daddy knocked on the window and woke him up. He took us to the train station and we hung out there for a while. It looked very fancy there. I was really too tired to explore though.



After waiting for a while, we stood in line to get on the train. When the train came, we looked for a car that had room for all of us to sit together. We finally found one near the end. We got on and Mommy and I fell asleep. Daddy told us afterwards that everyone on the train was really excited about the Inauguration. He said one lady was at the train station the day before when Barack Obama took the train. Obama waved at everyone and everyone waved back. We took the same train as Obama, except we took it the next day.



We made it to DC and then had to take the Metro. It's another train, like BART. We took it to a station near Daddy's friend Cailin's place. First though, we decided to see the White House. I wasn't impressed. On account of I lost my stuffed Knuffle Bunny Baby that Mommy made me. I dropped it somewhere. I wanted to find it. So we went back the same way we came. And I found Knuffle Bunny! Yay! I was very relieved. I have lost two of my Babies on trips before. I never found them.



We made it to Cailin's house. Cailin is very nice. She also has a lot of yummy food. I specially liked the berries.

There were some other grown-ups at Cailin's house. We went with them to the Washington Monument to watch the Inauguration kick-off concert. Lots of famous singers were there... Stevie Wonder, U2, Beyonce...



Barack Obama talked. I saw him on the Jumbotron. That's like a super duper huge TV screen. Everyone cheered. Then everyone was quiet so they could hear what he had to say. Then one little girl, about my age, screamed "Obama!!" Everyone laughed. And then clapped and cheered. Me too!



There were so many people there! Daddy said there would be even more people for the Inauguration. I couldn't imagine. After the concert, we walked to a restaurant because we were hungry. It was too crowded. So we went to a grocery store to get some food. But it was crowded too. So we went back to Cailin's and munched on sandwiches and had a snacky dinner. Then we went to bed.

Inauguration, chapter 1

Day 1
January 17
Philly

I woke up Saturday morning very excited. Daddy, Mommy and I got our bags that we packed the night before and put them in our car. Then we put ourselves in our car. Then our car took us to the airport.

At the airport, we checked in our big, red backpack. The one we take on our big travels. We kept the small, green back with us. That held my plane activities like my books, my babies (grown ups call them stuffed animals), some crayons.

We had breakfast at the airport. I wanted to have red and green jello, but Mommy and Daddy said that wasn't a good idea for breakfast. It seemed like a good idea to me. We had dim sum and shared a croissant and some juice.

On the airplane, I kept myself busy. I'm an only child, so I'm good at entertaining myself. Mommy and Daddy played some puzzles, but not the kind with the pieces that fit together. The kinds where you write letters or numbers in squares in a magazine. Then Mommy and Daddy took turns reading to me.

The plane ride was long. By the time we landed in Philadelphia, the sun was already going to bed. And it was cold, so, incredibly terribly cold. Brrr. I was not prepared for the cold. I told Mommy, "I didn't realize it would be so cold."

We rode in a cab to the hotel. Daddy asked the nice driver, "Is it always this cold in the winter time?" The Cabby guy said, "No. It's usually colder." Yikes. How do people not turn into popsicles here?


Uncle Woody lives in Philly, and he came over to our hotel to see us. Uncle Woody is nice. He grew out his beard to keep his face warm. He looks sorta like a bear with glasses.

We walked outside to get another cab. Daddy said it was less than 10 degrees outside. That must mean super duper wuper cold.

We went to place called Pat's for Philly Cheese Steaks. It's a sandwich with cheese and steak. The guy at the window where you order the food called Daddy a Butthead. I'm not sure why.



There is no inside eating area, so we eat outside in that super cold weather. Instantly my food turned not hot. I ate French Fries.



After we ate, we walked a half a block and ran into another restaurant to eat more food. The real reason was just to be indoors and warm up. But I decided that pizza sounded good so I had a slice.

Then we went back to the hotel. Singing in the Rain, my new favorite musical, was on TV. I watched it. Mommy and I sang and danced around and jumped on the beds while Don Lockwood sang and danced around on TV.

Daddy's friend from collage was visiting her parents in a place called New Jersey. Her name is Dee. She's fun. She came over to visit. She asked me to be in her wedding. Yay!



Then Uncle Woody and Dee left.

Then we went to sleep.

Yes we can, yes we did, yes we are...

...going to Washington DC for the Inauguration!

Tomorrow morning, Mommy, Daddy and I are going to fly to Philadelphia where my Uncle Woody lives. We're staying one night there in a hotel and then taking a train to Washington D.C. to see Barack Obama become president. Daddy says there will be millions of people there celebrating. I have no idea how many people that is, but it sounds like a lot. At least as many people as there are kids in my school. I'll have Mommy and Daddy take lots of pictures.

Yay!

O Canada!

I took Mommy and Daddy and some of our friends on a vacation to another country called Canada. The town we stayed in is called Whistler. Daddy says the Olympics will be there in 2 years. I asked if we can go back then but he said probably not. Party pooper.

Canada is a lot like America and less like Japan because people speak English in Canada and not Japanese.



In Canada, I also heard a little bit of French. In Canada, they also have quarters, dimes, and pennies, but the pictures are different on the coins. And the paper cash is a lot prettier than the boring green paper we have. In Canada, kids can drive, or at least pretend to.


In Canada, you can pick your nose.


You can eat onigiri rice balls for lunch (okay, so maybe it's a little like Japan too).


And best of all, you can go tubing! It's super fun. First you have to get an inner tube and then stand in line:


If you're small like me, the nice man lifts you up and plops you in the tube. He checks to make sure it's all clear down the track.


Then he pushes you down. Wheee!!!


Get out. Repeat!


We stayed at a cabin, which is like a house, but in the snow. This place was very big. 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. And a hot tub! I went in the hot tub every day. Here is a picture of our cabin. We took the picture from the Gondola lift that takes us up the mountain.



It was especially toasty after playing hard in snow building snowmen.



Next time, you should come to Canada with us!

I went to Japan!

Konnichiwa!


This is me in Kyoto at the famous Fushimi Inari Shrine. I had lots of fun in Japan. They sai "Hi" a lot. I rode super fast trains, rode the subways, travelled on buses. I met family. I ate a lot. And I got lots of goodies from family, including Japanese candy!

My favorite parts of the trip was the Pinky mint party we had in our hotel room one night. We all dressed up in robes and ate mints.


I also had fun with Uncle Eric, Auntie Wendy, and Bachan and Jichan. They made the trip extra fun!


I'm jet-legged though. I don't know what the means, but it must have something to do with why my feet feel tingly. I can't wait to go back and visit again. Next time I'll know more Japanese to help Mommy and Daddy since I now go to a preschool where everyone speaks Japanese!

Happy New Year!

It's a new year. The old year went away. It's now 2007. And what does that mean? I'm not sure. I can only count up to 13 before I start making up numbers. Eleventeen is my favorite. It comes after 19. Anyway, there was a holiday called Christmas where Santa breaks into our home and eats cookies and leaves presents in socks that hang up on the wall. Weird. He left me these funny little candy hamburgers. I wonder if Santa realizes that I can eat bigger burgers.



Mommy, Daddy and I went to visit Grandma and Alex. They live where it is very cold. I went sledding. Whee! All the way down a hill by myself going fast, fast, fast! The next day Daddy dug a big hole and buried me. Here I am eating my way out.

Peek-A-Boo...

I see you!

Hamburger

On a long, long, very long drive back from visiting Uncle Eric and Auntie Wendy yesterday...

Daddy: Wake up Yoshi, it's time to get lunch.

Me (rubbing my eyes): huh??

Mommy: Do you want tacos or hamburger for lunch?

Me: Hamburger!

Daddy: Okay! Burgers it is.

Me: Yay!! I want the hamburger with the black thing in it.

Mommy: You mean the meat?

Me: Yeah, the meat. And two breads--one on top and one on the bottom.

Mommy: You mean the buns?

Me: Yeah, the bread buns. And Yellow cheese.

Daddy: Okay, a cheeseburger.

Me: And with pointy sides on the cheese.

Mommy: We call the pointy sides corners.

Me: I call them pointy sides!