2008 Summer Trip - Part III

After our early evening of shopping, we phoned the Oregon Emotos. They were out and about, but we got in touch and made arrangements to get to their place in the evening after dinner. Dinner was a quick stop at the Elmer's located near the Woodburn outlet stores. Elmer's is an Oregon institution. They opened in Portland as a breakfast place serving primarily pancakes in 1960.

The next morning we woke up to the arrival of Yuki, Lianne, Ojiichan, and Obaachan to join in the fun to celebrate Alyssa's birthday. Ojiichan had said earlier that he wasn't going to make it so everyone was surprised to see him. So off we went to Meeka Sushi for Alyssa's birthday lunch. Diane's parents were there waiting for us so too was Chuck. He was apparently on his way to eastern Washington for a gig that evening and decided to swing through Portland (never one to pass up good Japanese food).

The food was great just like some of the reviews that we found for the place later on. This was topped off by the traditional singing of Happy Birthday with Ryan adding his own twist as you can see in the video below.



So when will Alyssa be asking for the car keys now?

After lunch we drove out to the Bonneville fish hatchery, where we were able to feed rainbow trout and check out sturgeon. The hatchery is located at Exit 40 east on SR 84.

Spending time with family is always one of the highlights of our trips to the Pacific Northwest. Before leaving for Seattle, we were able to spend a little time with the Lee family (Diane's younger brother and his wife and two kids) from Detroit. Here's a picture that we took of the kids while in downtown Troutdale for an ice cream break.

2008 June/July Swimming

June and July are busy months for swimmers, leading to league and city meets in early August. Naomi and Ethan continue to enjoy their swimming, each progressing at her and his own pace. Ryan continues with his swim lessons.

Here are some photos from the past month.

2008 Summer Trip - Part II

With about 300 miles of driving scheduled for the day, we woke the morning of Day 2 with the aim of being on the road by 9am. We are not the most driven traveling group, especially with three kids in the mix. After the usual hotel continental breakfast fare, we were on the road by 930am.

Now, southern Oregon is one of our favorite parts of our trip to Seattle. We have gotten to know Medford, Ashland, Grants Pass, and Roseburg quite well over the years. One of our finds from the 2007 trip was the Grants Pass Pharmacy. It still has one of those old fashion soda fountains that serves phosphates. This was going to be our first stop of Day 2. Although the downtown was not as festive (there were no bear statues), the pharmacy did not disappoint.

After wandering around Eugene for a bit, we decided on World Favors for lunch. It was right next to the Lane County transit station. Although their menu featured mostly pastas, pizza and salads, they did have a few out of the ordinary items like cream puffs on their menu. The place had a college hole-in-the-wall feel to it. When we were leaving, there was a band showing up to set up for live music.

Eugene, self-proclaimed Track Town, U.S.A., was once again hosting the U.S. Olympic track and field trials on the U of O campus. We saw a sign that said that entry to watch the trials was free to the public. Only if we would've had more time and the kids were older, we would've stayed to take a peek. Oh, well, maybe in four years.

As a substitute, we held our own family track trials around a water fountain in downtown Eugene after lunch. See below.



Could've spent more time in Eugene, but we had to shove on. One thing that we all noticed was that there was something in the air in Eugene that caused our allergies to flare up. By the time we left, we were all sneezing.

Our final stop before Gresham was the outlet malls in Woodburn located about 40 miles south of Portland. We had stopped before, but never had much time for shopping. We actually had time to shop this time.

Here are photos from this leg of our trip.

2008 Summer Trip - Part I

Although this year's trip to Seattle was shorter than the norm and there was no scavenger hunt this year, it was memorable just the same.

Our first day of traveling featured the usual bathroom breaks, pit stops for food, and refueling stops. We detoured to the AAA office in Redding (Ext 678 on I-5) to pick up an Oregon/Washington tour book. Our copy was back at home, not so useful there. With the book in hand, we were ready to book a room for the night. We decided on Medford as our stop, but were chagrined to learn that the Windmill Inn was no more. It was now called the Quality Inn and Suites. We were assured that they had maintained many of the same features of the Windmill Inn so we paid for a room.

After about 333 miles of driving from home, we drove past the sign welcoming us to Oregon. Not soon after, we passed through Siskiyou Summit which at an elevation of 4310 feet is the highest point on I-5.

At the Quality Inn, we were greeted by a large banner that said, "Under New Management." The place did still have the decor and feel of the previous Windmill Inn. None of this mattered too much to the kids. Their main interest was the pool. So while they swam, I went out to get a pizza for us. The first stop was the local Costco's to refuel. The price was $4.19 per gallon, about 20 cents less than at other nearby stations. The pizza was from Kaleidoscope Pizzeria and Pub. Later we learned that this was award winning pizza for the Rogue River Valley area and that the owners are transplants from Alaska. With the swimming, the late dinner and baths taking up time, this was only the first of many late nights on this trip.

Ethan's First Camp Out

Ethan got his first taste of camping with his Boy Scout pack over the weekend. It was just an overnight camp out at one of the several campgrounds (three family campgrounds and five group campsites) located at nearby Mt. Diablo State Park.

We stayed at the Wildcat Campsite, a nice tree covered site with very little parking and very little level ground. The very little parking meant that people had to carpool. The very little level ground meant that we didn't wake up in the same spot in the tent where we went to sleep. Ethan went to sleep in the middle of the tent next to me, but woke up in a ball in one of the downhill corners of the tent. The tree covering was a plus though that allowed us to wake up to some people wearing sweatshirts to keep warm even after the sun had arisen. This was in sharp contrast to the valley below that looked like a sea of warmly-glowing golden yellow hills. Even at 7:00am, the hills below already looked blazing.

The boys were kept busy. They had day time activities aimed at allowing them earn belt loops and badges. The older boys helped with dinner. Our den was in charge of the games. Although there wasn't a campfire, there was a fire pit that the boys used to roast marshmallows and make smores. After dinner, the dens got to entertain with skits and singing. The scouts got an astronomy lesson, got a chance to make popcorn making, and take in an evening hike.

The next morning there were some that were up at the first crack of daylight, which was probably a little after 5:00am. Most of the campground was up by 7:00am. A flag ceremony was held at about 8:00am, right around breakfast time. This was followed by a short drive to Rock City for a hike to Sentinel Rock (need to be careful here as there is poison ivy everywhere).

After most of the group had packed up, one of the dads who is an expert tree person helped a couple of the scouts get a chance to go tree climbing in a harness. This same dad is the one hooked up a tree hammock and a tree swing that were both hits with the scouts.

Ethan is ready to go on his next camp out!

Contra Costa Valley Swim Conference

Win or lose, Naomi and Ethan continue to enjoy swimming. Naomi's in her third year of swim team, while this is Ethan's second year. They've both made good strides since they started swimming with the Seahorses.

The Ygnacio Wood Seahorses are one of seven teams in the Contra Costa Valley Swim Conference (CCVSC). The CCVSC is a recreational swim league made up of two teams from Concord, two from Walnut Creek, and one team each from Pinole, Antioch, and Brentwood. The number of such swim teams in the area is incredible (see the Aquatic Times site).

The kids practice every weekday and have two meets a week until late July when they have their league, City and County championships. Here's a video of Naomi from their latest meet against the Forest Park Flyers. She's in lane 6, the rightmost lane.

One Sea Pony and Two Seahorses

Ryan likes to tell people, "I'm this many," putting up four fingers as in the picture. Another interesting Ryan fact is that he likes to wear blue jeans even on a hot summer day.

This photo was taken just before the team photo was taken.

Picture Day!

It was picture day for the swim team today. Imagine trying to shepherd over 125 kids onto risers in the bright sun and telling them that they have to sit still. Sounds like an impossible task, doesn't it?

Here's the team picture of the Ygnacio Wood Seahorses for 2008. Ethan and Naomi are in the picture. Can you find them?

Swim Meet Versus Forest Park Flyers

Swim Meet Versus Valley Vista Barracudas

The kids are making progress with their swimming, but most importantly they continue to have great time. Ryan is not swimming yet, but he is their biggest fan. In some of the videos that we have you can hear Ryan cheering on Naomi and Ethan.

Here's a clip of Naomi swimming the backstroke at the meet against Valley Vista. She's starting to get the hang of swimming backwards in a straight line.

Ryan Anderson - NBA Bound

Ryan Anderson, top player for the Cal Bears the last two years running, announced today that he's staying in the NBA draft. No doubt a blow to the Bears, but a result that was not too surprising.

For you Cal fans out there, here are the top ten reasons why Ryan Anderson is moving onto the NBA (play the accompanying video clip for the source for this top ten list):

10. Not only can Ryan shoot, but he can also shoot from the hip!

9. He can dunk! I know that you Cal fans will find this both amusing and amazing.

8. He can go right and left just like Big Bird now!

7. He is a supporter of Rod Benson's "Boom Tho" movement (Benson is a former Cal player who has been entrenched in the D-League, the minor league baseball of the NBA, and is moonlighting as a blogger for Yahoo! Sports through their Ball Don't Lie blogs on NBA basketball).

6. He's ready like spaghetti and in there like swim wear.

5. He is environmentally conscious and recycles.

4. He's like Captain Planet with better footwork (and looks great in tight fitting silks).

3. He can take on Kevin Love one-on-one and defend him outside the arc.

2. He's really 30 years old, not 20 (okay, this was just Benson messing with Ryan).

1. He's a great kid with his head in the right place (he finished up all his class work at Cal this semester, unlike many early entry players who just drop out of school, while auditioning for his next employers in the NBA).

Contract Karma by Fear the Beard

Got this off a site called Fear The Beard that claims to be the East Bay culture blog with a high basketball IQ. I'm not that up on the Warriors, but I think the name of the site is a play on a Warrior slogan. The Beard is a nickname of sorts for Baron Davis, ex-UCLA baller and current leader of the Warriors. It's like saying, "fear the Warriors...they're coming for ya with the Bearded one leading the way!"

Baron is hoping for a contract extension from the Warriors, but it's possible that one might not be forthcoming (they have younger players that could play the same position and he's been injury prone). He still has one year left on his contract for something around $17 million. He could opt out of this contract, but it's unlikely that he would get more than this amount for next season. On the other hand, he could opt out and sign a longer term contract with another club for a higher total amount, but less on an annual basis, but who's counting when you're talking about millions of smackeroos.

The clip below is of Baron trying to do good because he says, "it's better to give than to receive." But the FTB guys know what this is about given the title of the post: Contract Karma.

A Real Life Unicorn...Sort of

At the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato, Italy (a town near Florence), a single-horned deer has been born. Deers with such a single horn are rare. This deer has a twin that has the normal set of two horns.

A Blast from the Past

I came across something the other day that I hadn't seen in quite some time. This is proof (I suppose) that you can find almost anything on YouTube.

When I was in Japan for a year in the 80s, there was a female singer who was all the rage. It was 24/7 Akina Nakamori. You could not escape her music, picture and videos.

We went to a robata one evening and they had a television blaring her video. Later at a kisaten (a Japanese cafe) near the train station there was more Akina on a television. Then at the train station there were near-life sized ads featuring every where you looked.

Another time, we went out and one of the stops was for karaoke. Stopping for karaoke in itself in Japan is not amazing, but seeing the same song sung over-and-over-and-over was bordering on too much. The Japanese pop idol wannabes that took the stage to be like Akina had their pop idol's every move down, able to exactly mimic Akina's every movements as they sang her hit "Desire."

Here's one of her many videos for the song "Desire":



And here's a site that has an English version of the same song: Desire

Swim Meet Versus Antioch Delta Skimmers

June 7, 2008. The swim season continues onward.

Naomi swam the freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly. Ethan swam the freestyle and backstroke. The following are videos of Naomi's breaststroke (in Lane 5) and Ethan's backstroke (in Lane 1).

"I Am From" by Ethan

I Am From

I am from China, Japan and Berkeley.
I am from visiting my cousin, our grandma and grandpa's,
going to karate and being at Boy Scouts.

I am from building a derby car with my dad,
going swimming in the summer and going to Seattle.

I am from chow fun, mochi and butter noodles.

I am from hugs, how was your day and poems before bed.

I am from Ojiichan, Obaachan, Casey and Dorothy.
I am from Naomi and Ryan.
I am from E.E. and Buddy.

I am Ethan Avery Emoto

The End of Another School Year

The end of the school year comes with a flurry of field trips and end of year activities. For us, the activities have included a visit to the Smith Family Farm, the Exploratorium in San Francisco, Los Vaqueros Dam and Reservoir, the 3rd graders' flute performance, the 1st graders' "How Does Your Garden Grow" musical, a preschool musical parade, the Boy Scouts bridging ceremony for Tiger Cubs to Wolf Cubs, and the Girl Scouts bridging ceremony for Brownies to Junior Cadets just to name a few. Now bring on summer!

Swim Meet Versus Pinole Seals

We had our first swim meet of the year today at our swim club against the Pinole Seals. Both Naomi and Ethan swam, with Naomi swimming the butterfly (also known as the fly) and the backstroke. Ethan was even busier, swimming in the breaststroke medley relay, freestyle, breaststroke, and backstroke.

Here's a video of Naomi's backstroke. She's in the second lane from the right (lane #2).

Summer's Here...Sort of!

We spent one day of the recent three-day weekend at a Six Flags amusement park in nearby Vallejo. Although it was not a scorching day, the water rides were still quite popular. You can't see her, but Naomi and some friends are on the boat in the video below. Yes, there were more than a few people who got soaked.

Mom's Going on a "Retreatment"

Ryan: I'm going to miss mom.

Dad: She's still here.

Ryan: But she's going to go away for her retreatment.

What Ryan was referring to was that Dorothy was going to be gone for a women's retreat for the weekend. He probably heard us use the word "retreat," and for some reason thought that he would add his own touch to the word.

When I told Dorothy about this, we had a good laugh! I suppose it is a treatment of sorts!

Oregon, where boys are boys and...

...girls play basketball.

Here's a story about a 12-year old girl in Beaverton, Oregon who has been banned from playing in a private boys' basketball league. The league cited an obscure league rule prohibiting mixed gender play saying that rules are rules. When asked why she had not been banned previously, the league said that they are under new management that enforces policies. Of course, policies are policies just like how in Oregon boys are boys, unless it comes to basketball.

In case you're wondering, the inspiration for the title of this blog was Susan Butcher. Over one five-year span, she won four Iditarods. This spawned the saying, "Alaska, where men are men and women win Iditarods,"

Skyping

We had our first experience earlier this week with video calling. In the words of our kids, "It was cool!"

Auntie Yuki has been trying to convince us to sign up with Skype for maybe a couple years now. Well, we finally signed up and placed our first call using our new web cam.

The web cam has a few other capabilities like being able to take pictures and save video clips. It's also possible to enhance photos. We used the web cam to take the picture below impossibly showing Ryan with facial hair.

3-2-1 Go, Race Cars!

Ethan is in his first year of scouting. One of the big events for Boy Scouting is pinewood derby cars. The scouts are given basic materials to build their own cars to enter in a race. Our Pack had its race earlier this month.

Ethan picked the colors. I tried to sway him away from Stanford colors to no avail. It's the only car with these candy cane colors. Ethan also helped with some of the sanding, painting and installation of wheels. He was also the official decal affixer. There is some science to this "kiddie" fun. It turns out, the real serious racers likely spend much time correctly weighting their cars and polishing and lubricating their wheels and axles. These are probably the keys to winning.

This was our first time racing pinewood derby cars. We did not really know what to expect. We did learn a lot for next year. We didn't win, but had a great time.

The video below was shot by one of the fathers in our den. Their car finished in 3rd place. Another car from our den won the top prize. We almost won a prize too: the Turtle Car Award for the slowest car able to make it to the finish line. After seeing the video, you'll probably agree that calling these "slower" cars "turtles" is a misnomer. We had "victory" snatched from our grasp when the winning car just barely rolled across the line a few second after our finish.

If you watch the start of the video closely, you'll see Dorothy.

New Soul

The MacBook Air commercial features a catchy tune. It's a song called "New Soul" by Yael Naim, a French-Israeli singer/songwriter. Here's the link to her web site: http://www.yaelweb.com/

And here's the video for the song. Enjoy!

What's a Middle Name Worth?

Today, we learned what Ryan thinks about middle names.

We have a picture of the family taped on the door to one of our bedroom closets. I pointed to the picture and asked him who was in the photo.

Me: Ryan, is this Michael?

Ryan: No, that's me.

Me: Yes, it's Michael.

Ryan: Please don't call me that. That's what people call me when they need to call me three times.

I Don't Like to Dress Up!

We were eating at a restaurant yesterday when my salad arrived ahead of the main course. Of course, the kids were clamoring for their food.

Ryan: I'm hungry. Where's my food?

Me: You want a crunchie (crouton)?

Ryan: Okay. [so I give him a few]

Ryan: Thanks, but you can have these back.

Me: Why?

Ryan: They have dress-up on them.

I figure out what he means. He didn't want the pieces with salad "dressing" on the croutons!

Electioneering

Much is made about the American public not turning out to vote. Given the many arcane and ridiculous voting rules in place, it's a wonder that fewer people don't decide to stay home.

Here's a case in point: The state of Washington has both a caucus and a primary. This one makes no sense. Their caucuses are today. Voters don't really know where they are suppose to go for their local caucus location. This is compounded by the fact caucuses start at 2pm when many people are out for weekend daytime activities. What's important is that it's these caucuses that are used to select delegates in Washington. The odd thing is that Washington holds primary elections on February 19. Since their delegates are selected through the caucus process, the primaries are essentially meaningless. This hasn't stopped the state from mailing out countless mail-in ballots.

Another case in point: An issue has surfaced with Washington's mail-in ballots. In order to vote through the mail-in process, voters are to mark their party affiliation on their ballots. The ballots are deemed invalid if this is not done. It turns out that a high percentage of ballots have been returned without such an indication. Although it's been noted that the place to mark the ballot is buried in fine print on the outside of the ballot, the real issue is why this is even necessary. Isn't vote counting automated these days? Shouldn't the election office already have information on voter registration? Why is there a need for voters to state their party affiliation?

Number of the Day: 3984

The state of Montana has its American Legion White Cross Highway Fatality Marker Program that has been around since 1953. The program was initiated as a way to remind motorists to drive carefully following the 1952 Labor Day weekend when six lives were lost in the Missoula area. The program has continued to the present, with the various American Legion Posts around the state responsible for posting white crosses to mark the location of traffic fatalities. Not all fatalities get marked. Due to a federal ruling, these white crosses are not allowed on interstate highways, although they are allowed on other federal and state highways and along forest service roadways. Since the inception of the program, it's estimated that over 2000 white crosses have been planted. This translates to about a five acre cemetery.

The photo above is not from Montana. It's not a reproduction of all the white crosses from Montana. The number of crosses on the hillside in the picture numbers nearly twice the number of white crosses in Montana. These crosses in the photo (Chronicle photo by Paul Chinn) are located along a busy stretch of State Route 24 across from the BART station in Lafayette, California. I observed the number 3984 on a large white board amongst the white crosses from the BART train today on the way home from work. Each cross represents one American soldier killed in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003. This number was 3173 on March 5, 2007.

Critics say that this display disrespects the memory of the soldiers killed in combat in Iraq because it was erected as a protest to the war. The other side says that this is a protest against the president and his staff who planned and executed the war, not a protest against the men and women serving in the military.

Meanwhile the number of crosses in Lafayette, California continues to increase and will likely surpass 4000 soon.

Flying out of Sand Point

This is a video clip showing a Lockheed Electra flying out of Sand Point, Alaska. The plane taxis down to the south end of the runway and then takes off north toward the mainland down the 4000-foot runway. The plane takes most of the length of the runway before it lifts off, then flies over the strait between Unga Island and Popof Island.


From merculiv on YouTube

Santa Claus at Six Flags

We went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom to see Santa Claus. The kids were not disappointed although it was a bit chilly. The hot chocolate came in handy.

We had a first time experience: being one of the first in line to see Santa Claus. We expected a much larger crowd to see Santa, but were surprised to see only one person in line. Maybe it was this lack of a crowd that lowered our expectations, but in the end our visit with Santa was much better than expected. We even got to see Mrs. Claus.

Christmas and Holiday Cards

A funny thing happened today. We got four cards today that were obviously made at the same place. They were those photo cards where you supply the photo and choose the framing and a catchy holiday quote. Funny, huh?

Cal Bears Basketball - Game #3

Bears 77, SDSU Aztecs 69 on Saturday at Haas.

This was the toughest game in what has been a pretty weak schedule to date for the Bears, but 3-0 is better than 1-2 or 2-1. So I'll take it, especially with the Bears still on the mend. And besides, come Tournament selection time, this win against what was a 5-0 Aztec club could be viewed as a good win.

The player of the game was Jerome Randle who scored a career high 21 on his return game from a kidney biopsy. Without him, the Bears probably lose this game. I don't know what he does on his dribble, but he got whistled on a carry once again. He's got to get this corrected. This was also a common occurrence last year.

This was another game that the 2006-07 version of the Bears probably would've lost. The Bears were down 26-40 with about 3 minutes left in the first half, but fought back to 33-40 at the half. This 7-point run featured 3 lay-ups and a FT. This was a key sequence. The Bears did not panic and start hoisting threes, but scored inside. The last was a breakaway by Antioch's own Eddie Miller that went in even though it looked like goal tending by one of the lanky Aztecs. There was no whistle by the refs.

The 2nd half was dominated by the Bears. The Bears finally caught the Aztecs about 10 minutes into the second half on a 3-pointer by (yes, you guessed it) Randle. It finally got the somewhat subdued crowd into the game. SDSU never regained the lead after this although they did tie up the score once.

The tie score was at 66-66 with just over 6 minutes left in the game. Game symmetry: from the time the score was 26-40, the Bears countered with their own 40-26 run to tie the game at 66-66.

The Bears finished on a 11-3 run to finish the game, including a 7-point run to 73-66 to put the game away for all intents and purposes. This run featured Hardin's first basket of the game to break the tie. Followed by 2 clutch FTs and another layup by Christopher. This was followed by 1 of 2 from the charity stripe by Ryan. The Bears need to work on their FT-ing.

The Aztecs had a couple of amazing performances themselves. Kelvin Davis (#40) reminded me a lot of Ed Gray in his hey day with the Bears. Not only because of his build, but also the way he was hoisting and sinking threes, many with a hand right in his face. There was one where he fell back into his bench, with the shot hitting nothing but net. Another similarity, they both attended that junior college basketball outpost, College of Southern Idaho.

Part of the reason for the less than enthusiastic crowd was there was no band, no cheerleaders, no yell leaders, no nothing. At one point in the game, there was Jamal Boykin (former Duke Blue Devil sitting out a semester according to the NCAA transfer rules) jumping up and down trying to get the student section into the game. It looked out of place. I could see him thinking, "oh, wait, these aren't Cameron Crazies."

I have to give a shout out to Fondue Fred's on Telegraph for letting us use their restroom going against the grain that is "our restrooms are only available to paying customers."

Next up is Nevada on Wednesday, the Bears first road game. Will be a good test for the Bears, but it should be a winnable game for the Bears. The Wolfpack lost at UCF who lost to K-State (in the Old Spice Classic) who the Bears will see in December.

Stats Redux - November 22, 2007

Here's an update on stats first posted in November 2005, updated January 2006, June 2006, October 2006 and March 2007.

Price of Gas: $3.39 per gallon (up $0.26 since the March 2007 check-in; the price has held steady for the past week or so with crude oil prices hovering around $100 per barrel; reports yesterday indicated that the price go up another $0.75; and another sign of the times perhaps: one of the new sit-coms this year is one about carpoolers)
Price of Milk: $3.99 for hormone free milk at Trader Joe's ($1.00 price increase since March 2007)
Bridge Toll: $4 as of January 1, 2007 on all Bay Area bridges except Golden Gate Bridge
Today's High Temperature: 64 degrees F (overnight low of 38) and sunny!
Dow Jones Average: 12,799.04 (up 688.63 since March 2007); and this is with a 211 point drop yesterday
Shopping Days to Christmas: 32 days (http://eclecticesoterica.com/xmas_cnt.html)
Dinner Tonight: Thanksgiving dinner (turkey, ham, asparagus dish, salad, corn casserole, rice, and soup to name a few items)
Average Commute Time: still over an hour (in a 3-person carpool MWF and a 2-person carpool TuTh; added 1 person to MWF carpool and TuThu carpool is a new one with a fellow employee)
Cost of Area Homes: the median price has dropped from $620,000 to $556,000 in Concord since March of this year
Movie Ticket: still $9.50;
Time with My Kids: visit with Santa planned for tomorrow

Also, today is my parents' anniversary. Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad!

Daylight Saving Time

This year, changing from Daylight Saving Time back to Standard Time occurred on the first Sunday in November instead of on the last Sunday in October. The impact for us was that instead of darkness falling a little after 5pm on Halloween, darkness fell after 6pm. This meant that trick-or-treating at least for our kids started a little later than in past years.

The following is a video that was shot at about 2am of our auto-setting clock running forward to adjust backwards by one hour.

Daylight Savings Time
Video sent by CEmoto

Great Road Trip Scavenger Hunt - Items 15 to 20

Item #15: An odd drive-through service

We thought that a drive-thru pharmacy to be an odd service, but guess what? Now such services are making their appearance in the Bay Area. This picture was taken near ojiichan and obaachan's place in Kent, WA. This pharmacy with its drive-thru window has been in business for several years now.



Item #16: The travelers playing a miniature golf course

The miniature golf course that we played was at the Seattle Center. Ryan didn't quite get it as he insisted on playing the same hole over and over and then thought it was a good idea to try to collect all the golf balls.



Item #17: Smokey Bear

Did you know that there's not a single National Park in the state of Oregon? This is what we learned during our search for Smokey Bear while in Oregon. We have to give kudos to the very friendly volunteers at the visitors' center in Medford, Oregon who directed us to the Oregon Department of Forestry building on the outskirts of Medford. A call was placed to verify that they had cut-outs of Smokey Bear. Not only did we get cut-outs, but also coloring books.



Item #18: A menu or sign selling root beer floats

This photo was taken at an A&W in Kent, WA. The place even had drive up service where you could place your order while parked in a parking space. No waiters on roller skates, but still retro. We couldn't think of such a drive-up restaurant near our home.



Item #19: Something very unusual not on this list

We had our choice of items that we could use just from the Fremont district of Seattle. The Fremont district of Seattle is the self-proclaimed Center of the Universe. There's the giant troll under the bridge.



Or the statue of people waiting for a bus (I think that's what this is).



But the unusual item that we submitted with our entry was the statue of Lenin. The story goes that the statue was rescued from Slovakia by a man from the Seattle area. The statue is believed to be the only one of Lenin surrounded by guns. The more usual statues show Lenin as an intellectual, carrying a book or two. The statue is now actually on sale for $250,000 by the family of the man who brought the statue back to the U.S. The proceeds of the sale are set to go to community art activities in the Fremont area.



Item #20: Farm machinery in a field

We had a great time hunting this one down. We got several photos of farm machinery, but what made this one unique was that the person driving the farm machinery in this case was a woman. We waved to her and she waved back!

Second Best to No One, Not Even Mona Lisa

Ryan: I was so tired that I pictured my self asleep. And that's what happened. Preschool is tough, but still lots of fun. I get to make cool stuff like picture frames. That's where the frame on my face is from. Mom told me not to play with it, that it would lose its adhesiveness. Well, I couldn't help my self. After all, I am only 3 years old.

The Ryan Chronicles 1

Let's check in to find out about the latest on life from the point of view our three-year old Ryan.

Kids seem to need shots about as frequently as cars need oil changes. Almost every "well" visit to the doctor's office involves some sort of shot. The most recent visit included flu shots.

The usual routine goes something like this. The nurse shows up with the needle. Child gets frightened and tries to squirm away. Parents help to expose area to be shot. For toddlers like Ryan, the area is usually the upper thigh. The child continues to struggle while the parent and nurse hold the child down while the shot is administered. Child continues to cry while the nurse tells the child that he can get a prize for being so brave.

Here's a recent conversation between Ryan and Dorothy.

Ryan: Where did you go?

Dorothy: I went to get a blood test.

Ryan: Did you have to get a shot?

Dorothy: Yes, they poked me with a needle.

Ryan: Who held you down?

Not Really a Deepak Chopra Fan, But...

I saw the following list on a recent blog attributed to Chopra about ways to slow down aging:

1. Change your perception of time. Don't be in a hurry.
2. Get restful sleep.
3. Eat fresh, nutritious food.
4. Take at least two multivitamins with minerals every day.
5. Practice a mind body technique such as yoga or tai chi.
6. Exercise regularly.
7. Don't put toxins in your life, including toxic food, toxic
emotions, toxic relationships, and avoid toxic environments or toxic relationships.
8. Have a flexible attitude to minor hassles.
9. Look at so-called problems as opportunities.
10. Nurture loving relationships.
11. Always have an attitude of curiosity, learning, and wonder and spend time with children.

These seem to be sensible points to follow whether you are striving to live longer or just living life to its fullest. Here is what a six-year old might say about the above list:

1. Are we there yet?
2. Do we have to go to sleep already?
3. Yea! Chicken nuggets and fries again!
4. Can I have another vitamin (gummi-vitamins, emphasizing the "gummi" part)?
5. Look at how high I can jump on your bed!
6. You can't get me! Na-na-na-na!
7. Is it okay to eat this? (crawling up from under the dining table)
8. I guess reading just one story tonight is okay.
9. You mean if we walk home now, we can watch some tv?
10. But I wanted to feed Mimi (our goldfish)! I never get to feed her.
11. Can I have a play date with Ben today?

We Will Rock You

Ryan's current favorite song is "We Will Rock You." He picked it up from one of the Disney "Move It" CDs. The song again matches his personality.

Here's an animation that moves to this song.

Now You See Me ... Now You Don't!

Wild and Reckless

Sometimes actions that are random do not seem to be so. Take what happened this evening when we went out for ice cream.

The place that we frequent under went a renovation some time earlier this year. They installed new ice cream counters that have a rail along the bottom to allow kids a step up to see the various canisters of ice cream. The kids think it's great that they can see the ice cream.

The minute we go into the ice cream shop, the kids are busy trying to check out all of the ice cream flavors. Naomi is usually deliberate and low-key in her search for the right flavor for the moment, but usually settles on some chocolate variation. Ethan often picks some variation between vanilla and strawberry. Ryan is a little more unpredictable. Sometimes he copies one of the other two kids. Other times it seems he bases his selection on color.

This evening, he settled on a flavor quite quickly. When he pointed out his selection, we had a good laugh. He was pointing to a flavor of sherbet called "Wild and Reckless."

Great Road Trip Scavenger Hunt - Items 13 & 14

We had lots of fun with the next two in different ways.

Firefighters having a meal in a fire station. In hindsight, we really didn't have much to worry about. The winning entries had photos that were not much different than ours. There were a couple photos that showed a table full of firefighters sitting down for a meal, but more often the pictures were like the one we took.

Our photo was taken with Fire Captain Paul Eckstein of the South Lane County Fire and Rescue station in Cottage Grove, Oregon. He almost looked lonely in the fire station as most everyone else was out on calls. We pulled up to the station mainly because we smelled food.

Turns out the Fire Captain was at the station working over a BBQ. So we had food on the grill but no crew to eat it. We didn't have a lot of time either so we improvised. That's how we got the photo.

Before getting the photo, we toured the station. The grill in the back "yard" of the station was a giant Weber appropriate for a fire station. Off to the left of the garage was a narrow hallway leading to a room where all of the chairs were lazy boy recliners. The recliners were lined up facing a wide screen flat panel television mounted on the wall. Immediately behind this room was the kitchen counter and in the kitchen were two fridges side-by-side. It was not fancy, more functional and had a feel that it was a boys' place.

What they say about fire fighters being really generous turns out to be right on the mark.



So what do you picture when you hear "merry-go-round"? Here's what we found.


The photo was taken at a local park in Albany, Oregon. I think we were trying to find farm machinery that we had seen from the freeway when we found the park. It's not often that you see an old-fashioned merry-go-round in parks these days. I can't think of any parks where we live that have such a play structure, but when we were kids it was one of our favorite.

Gone in 59 Seconds

Spit! Ethan is on a fluoride rinse program prescribed by his dentist. The poor guy. Last year he had a dental visit where we were told that he had 8 cavities. He just has teeth susceptible to cavities. He and Naomi brush the same way each day. Naomi's had nary a cavity.

Rinse. Rinse. Rinse. This goes on for a minute. Ring. Ring. Ring. We have a timer that goes off after a minute signaling that the fluoride rinse can be spit out.

At dinner last night, we were talking about telling time. This is something that we've had to really work on with the kids. They still have trouble sometimes telling time from a clock with old fashioned hands. I think that this is so because most of the clocks they see are digital clocks. It's pretty easy to tell time if the clock says: 7:45. You just have to know if it's 7:45 AM or 7:45 PM.

So at the dinner table last night I asked the kids, "How many seconds are there in a minute?"

Without hesitation, Ethan answered, "59 seconds."

"Why 59 seconds?" I asked.

Ethan was giggling, "I don't know."

Then I realized why. "Is it because of the timer we use to rinse?"

"Yeah, Dad. It says "59" whenever I rinse."

"That's really funny. Is it because when I start the timer it always starts with 59 seconds on it?"

What happens is that the timer starts with 1:00 on it, one minute, but the second that I start it, it shows 0:59 and continues to count down. Ethan had associated the 59 he was seeing as the time for one minute.

The Seal Dribbler Kerlon

Check out this video.

The Hawaii Slideshow

Here are some fun photos from our trip to Hawaii.

Great Road Trip Scavenger Hunt - Items 10 to 12

The next three items were each: one that would be easy to find, a second that was a head scratcher, and a third that was "what is that?"

The one that would be easy to find was a machine that flattens pennies. Our kids have a very large collection of such pennies from several places in Japan and the U.S. On this trip we documented our find at the Seattle Center in the shadows of the Space Needle. Lianne, Yuki's daughter, joined us for the photo.


The next one was a real head scratcher. A vehicle unique to the region that we would be visiting. We thought, "maybe we need to drive to Pennsylvania so that we could photograph ourselves with Amish driving horse and buggy." The best we could come up with were triple trailers. Triple trailers are illegal in most states. Oregon is the only state on the west coast that allows triple trailers. The other places where triple trailers are allowed are: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana Toll Road, Kansas Turnpike, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio Turnpike, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.

The photo is one that Dorothy took during our drive on the road to Portland, Oregon. I'm in the foreground of the picture because one of the requirements of the hunt was that a member of our traveling party needed to be in each photo. We ended up with this moving photo because for some reason the only place where we could find triple trailers were while we were on the move. At the truck stops where we stopped, we found only single and double trailers. We wondered, "Do they have other stops just for triple trailers?" Fushigi datta (Japanese for "it was a mystery").


This next one was maybe the one for which we did the most research. We only had vague notions about phosphates. The scavenger hunt only said, "An old-fashioned soda shop that serves phosphate."

We did most of our research only after we had reached Seattle. We could not find any soda fountains serving phosphates in the Seattle area. The closest locale that held some promise was a soda fountain in Wenatchee, the apple capitol of the world in central Washington. We thought about driving there, but then we found two possibilities in Oregon.

The first one in Albany was a strike out. It turned out to be a candy shop in Albany called The Velvet Touch. Would we really find a soda shop in a place called The Velvet Touch? Sounded more like an adult entertainment establishment. It turns out they had great ice cream. So there we were at 10 in the morning eating ice cream. It was not a total loss.

The Grants Pass Pharmacy was our last chance. This was not our first visit to Grants Pass. The last time we found statues of dogs dressed up as batman and robin in front of a motel. This time it was all of the bear statues on the downtown street corners. San Jose had their shark statues. Seattle had their pig statues. Santa Rosa, home of Charles Schultz, has the Peanuts character statues. And Grants Pass has their bear statues.


The pharmacy did have a real soda fountain. It was a small soda fountain right in the middle of the pharmacy. And it did serve phosphates! The price was right, too. Twenty five cents. We pulled up to the counter and asked for a phosphate. The soda jerk said, "what flavor?"

"What are the flavors?"

"Anything on the board."

There were something like 20 flavors (coke, diet coke, Dr. Pepper, sarsaparilla, sprite, diet sprite, root beer, orange, grape, cherry, etc.) on the board. We had no idea.

The soda was made by mixing flavored syrup, soda water and what I assumed to be phosphoric acid. We ordered grape. It lasted just like a regular grape soda pop.

Great Road Trip Scavenger Hunt - Item 9

This is the item that prevented us from having a chance to win the scavenger hunt. Of the over 300 hundred entries received by the paper, well over 100 were for entries where all 20 items were found. We found but 19.

We just ran out of time on our trip to Seattle. We needed to return by July 8 to the Bay Area so we departed Seattle on July 7, Friday. We reasoned, since Saturday would be 7-7-07 there would be some wedding in one of the towns that we would be driving through.

Also, we still needed to make it to Grants Pass and the the Grants Pass Pharmacy in the hopes that it would have a soda fountain serving phosphate. The pharmacy was only open until 600pm or so on Saturday.

So here we were driving down I-5 in Oregon on Saturday trying in vain to find a wedding. We even stopped and asked people if they knew of any weddings in their towns. Maybe belief in lucky numbers is not important in small towns. We couldn't figure it out. We thought, "there's got to be one wedding some place."

We placed a call to Yuki during the drive. She reported to us how a church in Seattle had been performing weddings every 15 minutes since midnight because of the demand for weddings on 7-7-07. Just our luck. Maybe we should've stayed in Seattle.

Wedding Bash

Tonight wrapped up the Jen and Matt wedding miniseries that started for us with our departure to Honolulu on September 3 to attend their wedding. Jen is Jennifer, Dorothy's niece.

The wedding was a small affair outside of Honolulu at a country club on the Pali Highway. It was attended by about 50 family and close friends, some traveling from as far away as Florida. It was a beautiful setting for a wedding, nestled in amongst the lush hillsides of the windward side of the island. Everything was green, from the groves of trees to the green lawn to even the bride's maid's gown. Naomi was the flower girl, which she thought was really cool. Waking up early to get hair done and dressed up for the wedding made it extra special for Naomi, and her first ride in a stretch limo wasn't too bad either.


Tonight's affair was the traditional Chinese wedding banquet. However, it also served as the main wedding celebration for most since attendance at the wedding was made available only for a small number of people. And it was quite the affair too. One of the largest wedding gatherings that I have ever attended, perhaps over 500 people.

Banquet Video
Video sent by CEmoto

This wedding was special for our kids also. It's probably the first one where they were interested in the cake cutting, the bouquet toss, the garter toss, and the other activities associated with the event. The following are a few of the sights and sounds from the wedding banquet from the point of view of our kids:

The Garter Toss

Dad: Were you able to see what they did?

Ethan: Yeah it was funny. Matt threw the headband and it landed on Bill's [Bill is Jen's younger brother] back. Bill didn't even try to grab it. Someone else took it off his back. It was really funny!

Wedding Favors

Dad: Ryan, why do you have two favors?

Ryan: Someone gave me hers.

Dad: Are you sure it's okay?

Ryan: No, it's okay. It was our other cousin who gave it to me.

[Later during the good-byes.]

Aunt Josie (Dorothy's Aunt): Did you see that I gave Ryan my wedding favor?

Dad: Oh that was you. I didn't know who gave it to him. He told me that it was our other cousin who gave it to him.

Left Over Food

One of the things that's done at Chinese wedding banquets is that the servers pass out take-out boxes for those who want to take home leftovers. The other family seated at the table with us did not want the leftovers so we packed what we wanted. The amount of food that is served is usually for 10 adults per table. Given that our table had one empty seat and three smaller children, we had plenty of leftovers. So we even filled up two boxes to give to Auntie Josie.

Dad: Ethan, can you take these boxes over to Auntie Jo?

Ethan: Okay.

Dad: Do you know which one she is?

Ethan: Yes, Dad. She's the nice lady who came over to see us. The one who has that thing [a cast] on her hand and blond hair. [Auntie Jo is recently retired and has graying hair. I guess to Ethan it looks blond. Maybe it was the lighting in the restaurant.]

So I learned tonight that Jen had a headband on her leg that Matt retrieved with his mouth and that Auntie Jo has blond hair and is really our cousin.

Great Road Trip Scavenger Hunt - Items 5 to 8

The Contra Costa Times showed some photos earlier this year that showed families posing in front of famous trees with bark seeming to show a face. There was one from some place in Indiana. Something tells me there was lots of research done to find some of these items. We did a little too, but not nearly enough to find all of the items prior to our trip.

The picture of the fifth item was taken outside the Charlotte Martin Children's Theater at the Seattle Center. The scavenger hunt did not say that the tree had to be a real one.


The next item was difficult to find at the time of our trip. We were able to find gas for less then $2.75 based on a tip from my brother. The picture was taken near Wood Village, Oregon on the Columbia River Gorge.


This year is the 40th anniversary of the writing of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road." This explained the lack of copies of this book at several libraries. We finally found one at the Burien, Washington library and Stephen the librarian was kind enough to pose with us.


Finding a red caboose was one of the easier items to find. The photo shows a red caboose in downtown Albany, Oregon that had been remodeled into a pet grooming shop. We were actually looking for a soda shop serving phosphates when we came across this caboose.

Great Road Trip Scavenger Hunt - Item 4

We had to reach for this one. We found that all sheriffs at least along the west coast are County sheriffs. The scavenger hunt specified a town sheriff. We did the best that we could by going to the Tehama County sheriff's office in Red Bluff, California, only to find that the sheriff was not in the office.

However, a very personable public relations officer came to our rescue with trading cards with pictures of the sheriff and other goodies for the kids. We learned that the sheriff was Clay Parker. The back of his trading card says that he is a 5th generation law enforcement officer with 27 years of experience. It also says that he enjoys outdoor sports and is an avid bowler.

This definitely was one stop that we would not have made without the scavenger hunt.

Great Road Trip Scavenger Hunt - Item 3

Did you know that there is a covered bridge association in Oregon? We did not know this. Always pictured covered bridges as an artifact of other parts of the country. Think "Bridges of Madison County."

The one that we found was located in Cottage Grove, Oregon.

Cottage Grove has special meaning for us. We first stopped there in September 2001. Ethan was not even a year old. Naomi was just past two. We were scheduled to fly up to visit Ojiichan and Obaachan, but 9-11 cancelled all flights. So we decided to drive. We stopped to get gas in Cottage Grove and were invited to join a candlelight vigil. We couldn't stay because we were trying to make it to Portland, but the image of streams of people passing through downtown Cottage Grove to a candlelight vigil will be something we will always remember.

Great Road Trip Scavenger Hunt - Item 2

The second item that we were to find was "an unintentionally funny sign." We actually thought the message on the back of the sign from the Eastern Orthodox church sign might be our entry until we realized that we took the picture sans a family member. Oh, well...

So we continued our scavenging. We found several signs that were funny, but they were intentionally funny. Finding an unintentionally funny sign was difficult.

Then we came across the sign below in Albany, Oregon. The picture shows Ryan and me. The other kids were not interested in leaving the car.

Bakery Thrift Store. "Does this mean that they sell used pastries? Are they half eaten?" The kids and I thought that it was funny. Dorothy was not completely in agreement, but went along with the majority. After all, we weren't having much luck finding a sign that fit the bill.

Next stop, the Emoto house in Gresham, Oregon.

Great Road Trip Scavenger Hunt - Item 1

Our road trip north this summer had a new twist. We visited places to find items for a road trip scavenger hunt by the Contra Costa Times, our local paper. There were 20 items that we were suppose to find and include in a photograph with one member of our traveling party.

We just submitted our entries as they are due this Monday. We were able to get pictures to cover 19 of the 20 items on the list, although a couple of our "gets" were questionable. The kids joined in the spirit of the hunt for the most part. There were times when their response was, "Do we have to get out of the car for this one?"

One thing we learned was that people are really very friendly even if you approach them in a library with camera in hand (see future post for Item 7). Here's the first item that we were to find:

Item 1 - A building shaped like something else

We didn't really get too creative with this one. The picture below was taken in Rogue River, Oregon. We were actually driving back from checking out a blue-domed churchy looking building that can be seen from I-5 when we stumbled across this, a drive-thru coffee stand shaped like a red caboose.


We just had to see the blue-domed churchy-looking building that we would see each year on our drive to Seattle. We knew that it was an orthodox church of some kind because of the cross. Well, turns out that it's an Eastern Orthodox church. As we were getting ready to leave the place, we noticed an interesting quote on the back of the sign to the church (see below - it says, "It's later than you think" Perhaps someone with a sense of humor? There was no one home so we did not get a chance to inquire.).

Obaachan, Auntie Yuki & Lianne Visit

Roaster Coasters and Other Fun for Kids

We had a weekend with enough kid-friendly activities to last a whole year. This was due to a visit by our niece Lianne. I think we adults were just along for the ride.

In reality, we probably could've spent the entire weekend in our house and the kids would've been able to create enough activities on their own. There were times when our house did resemble one of those amusement parks that we visited.

Our first stop was Pixieland, which we blogged about in an earlier posting: Moshi Moshi Kame-yo!: Pixieland - A Hidden Gem

Another stop was Children's Fairyland in Oakland. This was courtesy of our friend Celia who had given to Naomi passes as a birthday gift last year. Celia and her husband Joe even joined us for this excursion that had Celia remembering back to her childhood memories of Children's Fairyland (see her comments to our Pixieland post above).

The Lindsay Wildlife Museum was another hit for the kids. Seeing local wild animals up close at this museum is always an adventure for the kids.

The kids also got a chance to burn off some energy at Matteo's Playground, an accessible playground in Concord. Much of the construction was conducted by local volunteers. It was a hot day so we didn't stay for a long time, just long enough for the kids to build up an appetite.

The weekend also had the 51st Annual Japanese Summer Festival at the Diablo Japanese American Cultural Center. We took in some great food (my mom: the food selection here is even better than at the Obon Festival in Seattle!), Bon Odori dancing, kids' games, and taiko drumming.




The one nearly daylong outing that we made was to Gilroy Gardens, touted as California's only horticultural theme park. It is an unusual theme park with rides and attractions built around a horticultural theme featuring what they refer to as circus trees. The park is definitely geared to a younger crowd. Buying tickets on-line will save you $12 on a regular adult ticket and $2 on a kid's ticket. Maybe it was because we visited on a Monday, but the parking lot was only about a third full and many of the rides did not have a wait.

On the way back home, we stopped for dinner at Tobie Tyler's. This is a Japanese restaurant in a Ramada Inn close to my work place. Dorothy's always wanted to check it out since she hears me talking about eating lunch there on a work day.

So what is this about roaster coasters? Well, that is what Ryan calls roller coasters. Ryan was even able to go on the one at Pixieland with me. As he told all of us, "you have to scream when you're on a roaster coaster."

He wanted to go on the ones at Gilroy Gardens but he was not tall enough. Maybe next year.

Neighbors 1

As was stated in the previous posting, this week was Spirit Week for the swim team. The final event was last night. It was the pasta feed. Almost every type of pasta one could imagine was on display. It was a potluck with all of the dishes lined up on a long series of tables as if they were being prepared for a parade. Of course, this is bound to happen with a potluck by a swim team of over 160 kids and their families.

Anyway, let's get to the story about neighbors...

I walked to the club after work so we wouldn't have two cars to take to our home which is no more than about 10 minutes away by foot. Ryan, threw a wrench into our plans to drive home together when he took up my not too serious comment to walk home by saying, "Yes, Dad, I want to walk home. Let's go."

So we were on our way to walk home, when we heard squeak, squeak. Squeak, squeak behind us. It was Naomi. She wanted to walk home too. A few minutes later mom and Ethan rolled by when we were trying to cross the street. We continued on our way.

An older man appeared about 100 yards down the street. He was wearing a red 49ers cap. He waved to us when we were nearer. We said the obligatory "hellos" as we started to pass, but this time I decided to say, "Hey, kids, say hello to the nice man. Look, Ryan, I think he wants to give you a high five." They proceeded to low five one another.

This started the following conversation:

Me: We're just returning from a pasta feed at the swim club.

Man: What, did you say that you were down at the field.

Me: No, we were at a pasta feed. You know, down at the swim club.

Man: Oh, the swim club. That's a great place. A great place for kids. You know, we grew up in the club too.

Man: Did you see all the cars down the street last weekend? I think they had the big meet at Woodlands (the swim club on the Walnut Creek side of Citrus Avenue).

Me: That was the Woodlands Invitational.

Man: We swam in that too. Woodlands was not in our league though. Or should I say that we were not in their league. They were very good. Much more competitive. This was over 40 years ago.

Me: It's still the same. Woodlands is still much more competitive, but now we're in the same league.

Man: We've lived in the same place now for 43 years. I'm 84 years old.

Me: Maybe if I'm lucky one of these I'll make it to 84.

Man: We live right down this street at XXXX San Gabriel. Things have changed quite a bit around here. Back then, they only let certain people live here. It was quite different.

Man: My wife is not doing too well. She almost had renal failure. She's suppose to be going in for an operation. My daughters will be here to help out. Can you believe that she might not be able to get a new kidney because she is too old? I think that this might be it for her. She has diabetes too.

Me: I'm sorry for that.

Man: How long have you lived here?

Me: We've lived here now for almost seven years.

Man: You're an old timer now, aren't you (laughing)?

Me: No, you're the real old timer (laughing).

Man: Yes, in more ways than one (laughing).

Me: We live around the corner on Joshua Woods.

Ryan: Can we go now, Dad?

Me: What's your name, anyway?

Man: My name's Gene. Gene XXXXXXXX. What's yours?

Me: Casey. Casey Emoto.

Gene: Casey? What's that Moto?

Me: Emoto.

Gene: What's your name (gesturing to Ryan)?

Ryan: My name's Ryan.

Gene: What was that?

Me: His name is Ryan.

Gene: That's a great name. Give me a high five (they proceed to give one another a low five). What's your name (gesturing to Naomi)?

Naomi: My name's Naomi.

Gene: That's a beautiful name.

Ryan: Let's go Dad (tugging on my arm).

Me: Okay, okay. Okay, Gene, nice talking with you. Hopefully we'll see you around.

Gene: Yes, take care.

Contra Costa Valley Swim Conference

Our swim team, the Ygnacio Wood Seahorses, is one of seven teams in the Contra Costa Valley Swim Conference. There is one other team from Concord, 2 teams from Walnut Creek, and single teams from Pinole, Antioch, and Brentwood. The league season concludes with the championships held at Los Medanos College.

The week leading up the championships is called Spirit Week for the Seahorses. Last night was movie night at the swim club. Kids are encouraged to bring sleeping bags and their own munchies. Although movie watching is a main activity for the night, so too is painting nails and hair blue (the team color). Our Ryan even got into the act, painting blue the nails on his left hand. Here's a picture of Ryan with Coach Russell Mikuni.


This year Naomi and Ethan are each swimming freestyle and backstroke at the league championships. Good luck to all!

Conversations with Kids - Part IX

Dad: Hey, Mom look at us. We're trying to swat flies.

Ryan: Yeah, look at us. Oh, look! Fly! Fly!

Dad: Where is it? I can't see it.

Mom: He has quite a keen eye.

Dad: I think that he can see the fly better because he is lower to the ground and can see it buzzing around above his head. [so I kneel to get down to his level]

Ryan: Yeah, let me get down to see better too. [as he proceeds to kneel down next to me]

This may not seem funny, but seeing him kneeling just like me with an impish grin on his face had both Dorothy and me keeling over in laughter.

Six Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon

During a recent commute home, the subject of six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon made it into the carpool conversation. The premise of the play "Six Degrees of Separation" that generated the Kevin Bacon game was that everyone in the world can be linked to anyone else in a chain of no more than six people. The Kevin Bacon game posits that any actor can be linked to any other actor through a chain of no more than six actors.

I told our carpool that I could link everyone in our carpool to Kevin Bacon by a chain of no more than six people:

Carpoolers ==> Casey ==> Kiyo Ushino (principal planner at VTA) ==> Gary Ushino (Kiyo's brother who is a cameraman in Hollywood who worked on the film "Old School") ==> Luke Wilson (who starred in "Old School" and "My Dog Skip") ==> Kevin Bacon (who also starred in "My Dog Skip")

I guess this is what is known as mindless trivia.

Naomi's 8th Birthday

Naomi has what's considered a good swim birthday. The cut-off for the swimming age groupings is June 15. This means that next year even though she will be 9 before the end of the season Naomi will still swim with the 7 and 8 year olds.

However, having a summer birthday when many families are setting off on their final vacation before school starts is no piece of cake. Further complicating matters for swimming families such as ours are the twice a week swim meets. This will be the second year in a row that Naomi's birthday party with friends will take place well into August.

This evening after a swimming team event at the swim club we bought pizza and a cake to have a small family celebration at home. Earlier in the day we went to the newly renamed Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. This was part of our birthday gift for Naomi along with the first two Harry Potter books. Yes, we're one of those families who had not yet been bitten by the HP bug.

We've been to Discovery Kingdom now on two consecutive weekends and have probably only seen about a third of the place. This is mainly because we've gotten late starts for both visits. The good thing is that it's only about 30 minutes away and we do have season passes so we'll likely be going back. They do have a new attraction featuring Thomas the Tank Engine. We (including Naomi) were slightly disappointed with Thomas Town. Maybe we were expecting too much, but it seemed to be geared to the under first grade crowd and was smaller than what we expected.

Taiko Drumming

Ryan says that he wants someone to teach him how to taiko drum after seeing video clips such as the following.