First time camping

Maiya's first time camping.  We went up to Fallen Lake Campground near Lake Tahoe in August in the Prius.  That was pretty cool.  We drove up in a thunderstorm all up the 395 and through the mountains to Tahoe.  When we got there, a flood had gone through our Campsite.  We met Tony's Mom and Don, along with their friends Gretchen and Bill, who fed us and took care of us, and made Maiya's first camping trip an easy one.  After 2 nights camping, Tony flew up and met us in Tahoe and we spent 2 nights in Tahoe relaxing and hanging out before driving back home.

It's as Easy as...

...riding a bike.  So we have been doing the Walk and Roll Wednesdays since last year.  I've been volunteering to help with the kids walking to school, once a month.  But, Maiya hadn't been able to ride her bike without training wheels because we really just hadn't spent much time on the bike.  Maiya had gotten pretty good at riding her Razor scooter.  Anyways in April (yes I know that was 7 months ago), Tony took the training wheels and the pedals off the bike and let Maiya go on it.  I saw online that it said to let them go for about half an hour, and once they got the hang of it, it's time to take off the training wheels.  Well, they remained off for several weeks, or even a month.

She got pretty good at it.

Here she is practicing still... and sporting a skirt on her
shoulders like a shawl, for some reason.

Finally, after CicLAvia in April where Maiya took her scooter, we went home and I figured out how to put the pedals back on.  Much easier than I thought it would be, and immediately she was off!  That's my girl.  Peace. Ride. Out.

NaBloPoMo12 #9
(Backblogging April 2012 posted on 11/10 catching up on 11/9)

CicLAvia @ MacArthur Park - April 2012

For our 3rd CicLAvia in April 2012, Maiya and I drove down to MacArthur Park and again brought our scooters.  Maiya had just learned how to ride a bike that week, and I was concerned that she would be a little unsteady with all the thousands of bike riders en the route.  We joined Great Leap, for their performance of "Cycles of Change," bicycle stories directed by Dan Kwong and based on peoples personal stories created in Collaboratory workshops.

 The performance, "Cycles of Change" with George and Danny on taiko and percussion.

These photos tell a story all by themselves.  

I'm going to call it a blog and sign off NaBloPoMo12 #8!  Peace. Out.

BHSO Week 60!

So last September, my friend Ayako and I started walking the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook.  It is roughly 320 steps (or something in that neighborhood) up a steep hill about a mile from my house and on a clear day, has a 360 degree view, including the Pacific Ocean.  There are switchback trails, if you don't want to do the steps, which are uneven, and some are steep.

Me and A at the top

At first we went a few weeks in a row, we didn't have any plans or goals to make this a weekly thing, it was just kind of a fun thing to do.  I had been taking Maiya, but maybe only once every few months.  Saori, my sister in law said something becomes a habit after 12 or 20 something times.  So at first, we were kind of working towards a habit.  Weeks turned into months.  Seasons changed, and suddenly we were at 20 weeks, then 30.  And we kept going.  Our "guideline" was that we had to find one hour between the two of us every weekend (somewhere between Friday and Monday.  Some weeks were easier than others, but we usually went on Saturday or Sunday mornings.    I did enjoy seeing the physical changes to the hillside.  Definitely Spring was my favorite season, although those weeks were harder on me because of allergies.  Enjoyed clear sunny days, and the occasional beautiful sunsets.

A and M near the bottom of the steps

I knew we were really committed the first time we walked it in the rain, once it was raining pretty hard and we were the only ones there.  A third option is to walk up the road, which is steep, but much easier.  Or the time when it was Spring Forward and we went at 7am.   Or when we went after dark.  Or last week when we went at 6am on a weekday morning.  

A couple months ago, in September, we hit our one year anniversary.  What an accomplishment.  Maiya joined us on maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of them. She tended to go more in the warm sunny days, when we didn't go to early, or when we went in afternoons or evenings.  She prefers taking the street up, but she always kicks my butt on the steps, having to wait for me at every level.

Me and Maiya in our "peace hoodies"
in memory of Trayvon Martin

Anyways, a nice thing that has happened, is that even though it's never easy for me, I am breathing better, and I no longer need the inhaler as I did when we started this weekly walk.

It's also been nice to have a consistent walking buddy in Ayako.  Although we had lost touch for a few years, that hour each week has been a nice time to reconnect.  If it wasn't for her checking in every week about setting the time, I would have never done this on my own.

So, this past week was Year 2, Week 8, or 60 weeks.  And that feels good.

Peace.  Out.
NaBloPoMo12 #3

It's time for NaBloPoMo 2012 again

So, I'm thinking about doing NaBloPoMo, posting daily in the month of November, something I've done the last five years or so, with some success, except for last year, where I only made it halfway through the month.  I was a pretty regular blogger until FB came along and reduced my writing to photo uploads and Twitter-like status updates.  Anyways, for the last week, I have been trying to do monthly updates to catch up on 2012.  I've made it through January, Feburary, and Maiya's 7th birthday, so I guess I'll have that to do.  Anyways, I'm kind of babbling, so I'll just close with a photo.

Maiya and I have been doing puzzles lately which we got from Auntie Keiko.  When we visited her this summer after picking up Maiya from her Buddhist summer camp, we stopped by Keiko's house and did puzzles with her.  They are so addicting.  This one is the first one we did, and was a 500 piece puzzle, pretty easy.  We bought a 750 piece kids puzzle, which was quite fun, and then I did a 1000 piece Kincaid puzzle, which was not easy at all, and took quite a bit of time and many late nights.  I think I like that even though they're tough to do, all the pieces will eventually fit together, which I like. Since there's a lot of chaos and gasa gasa in my life, I find puzzles oddly comforting and relaxing.

Peace. Out.
NaBloPoMo12 #1

Santa Barbara Overnighter for MLK Day

More backblogging... on the Kuida-Osumi family trip to Santa Barbara for Martin Luther King Jr Weekend.  How much playtime and activism can one family fit into a one night trip?  Lots!

$1 Tacos in Carpinteria

Santa Barbara Zoo

50 degrees outside in January, but the motel has a pool!

How Mom dresses at the pool when it's cold outside

March on State Street for MLK Day 

Marching with Daddy

What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now! 

March ended at the Arlington Theater 

Stearns Wharf, Santa Barbara

Funny faces at the Aquarium on the pier

Ooh jellyfish!

Kuida-Osumi Mini-Vacation

MLK Sand Art

Peace. Out.

NaBloPoMo#1

Well here it is November 1st, the first day of National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) for my 5th anniversary of participating in this blog-every-day-for-a-month event.  Hmm, what would you like me to write about.  I could write about Halloween, and how Maiya was the only one in her class not to wear a Halloween costume in the parade this morning, or about how cute the toddlers are at my work who went trick-or-treating today at the office, or about going around the neighborhood with 6 girls and 6 adults, or how cute our yard decorations were (pictures possibly to follow).

Instead, since I haven't blogged this year, I'm going to go all the way back to January (2011) and share some photos.  Looking back at them makes me realize how valuable days off are.  I recall this is one of Maiya's furlough days (where I decided to also take my own furlough day on the same day), where we ran like 8 or 9 errands, and we were both a little cranky, but took the time to stop by the park for a few hours (yes, it was about 2 hours) to check out the new play area at Glen Alla Park near our old house.  It was one of those cool, beautiful January days in LA.

 

 

 

But seriously folks.  30 days is a lot of blogging for someone who is as out of practice as I am.  So if there's something you'd like me to write about, send me a sweet comment. I know it takes longer than clicking "like," but we bloggers feed off of oldstyle feedback.  NaBloPoMo#1.  OWS & LA.  Peace out.

Seeking Playdate for Maiya's Japanese Restaurant (#28)

Help us please.  Anyone want to come over to Maiya's Japanese Restaurant?  Maiya asks us to come to Maiya's Japanese Restaurant every day, several times a day. Please come to our house. Tony and I would appreciate it.  The menu is consistent.  We will even give you some homemade cash to pay for your food.  Irrashai!

Then afterwards, you can play with her and her friends (see purse below).

NaBloPoMo#28

What happens in Vegas...

After not taking any trips the last two summers, I was determined to go somewhere this year for vacation. So, me and Maiya went to Las Vegas with Grandma Machi and Grandpa Walt for 3 days in August.

We did this alot.  Can you say that 3 times fast? 

 "Flamingo Las Vegas. Flamingo vas legas, Famingo fos faygas."

Enjoying the 3 pools and giant slides at the Flamingo Pool while grandpa gambled.

15 acres of pools at the Flamingo.

I think this is the Mirage, no?  And yes, we saw the volcano, 

and the Treasure Island show in 105 degree weather.

Walking in the sauna called the Venetian at dusk.

More pool time.  I mean, really, what else do you want to do when you're 5?

We went down the big slide.  Maiya loved it.

Photo Credit:  Maiya.  (Not bad, huh?)

We loved "Love" the Beatles show by Cirque du Soleil.  

Worth every penny, ahem I mean, dollar.

A new Beatles fan is born.

Guess who?  Storm trooper and R2D2 will take pictures for tips.

We did do a lot of eating.  This is Maiya's first-ever rootbeer float.  

This expression was her response after the first sip:  "Awesome!"

It was nice to spend time with grandma and grandpa.  Every night when Maiya and I went back to the room to get ready for bed, grandma and grandpa would go back out on the casino floor for more video poker, and get back long after we went to sleep.  After being in the sun all day at the pool, and walking around the Strip in the evenings, we were exhausted.  Grateful to Tony (and Hector) for staying home working on some home improvement projects.  Maiya really missed Tony a lot.  She wrote him a postcard and waiting for it to come in the mail was almost as fun as the trip itself!  She got to pick out a souvenir (budget $5) to take home... it took her about 20 minutes to select this pink Flamingo Las Vegas keychain.