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.

Weekday Evening in Golden Gate Park

Very seldom do we get a chance to spend time in Golden Gate Park on a weekday evening, but such was the case this past week when Dorothy attended a close friend's father's wake.

The first stop that we made was at Spreckles Lake as we entered the park on 25th Avenue from the Richmond District side. The evening was cool enough to warrant jackets. Ryan insisted on being pushed in his stroller. There was a flock of over 100 pigeons fussing over their evening meal. The kids could not resist the temptation to chase the pigeons who were more worried about not getting their share of the meal.

We came upon two groups of older men huddled for entertainment. "Look dominoes! They're playing chicken foot!"

It was dominoes, but not Chicken Foot, the variation of dominoes that our kids learned from the Portland Emotos. No, these men were playing for money. We didn't stay for too long. "Dad, let's go, I don't like the smoke."

So we continued our short walk around the lake, passing the same older couples that we had seen earlier who were walking counter-clockwise to our clockwise round trip. There was an occasional bicyclist, but mostly it was older couples, bundled, walking or resting on benches, speaking in Cantonese. Some would point to the kids and smile or wave, but I don't think the kids noticed.

The next stop was the buffalo paddock. We found the area with construction underway to install new fencing so the buffalo were all herded into a small area near the roadway. Ethan and Naomi were satisfied with seeing the large animals from the minivan, but Ryan wanted to get out so the two of us went out for a closer look. We counted seven buffaloes, a much lower number than what I expected. My recollection was a larger herd roaming the open field. There were some tourists who were also at the fence. They were speaking in German so I didn't know what they were saying, but I couldn't help wonder if they knew that what they were viewing was not the usual view of the buffalo.

We continued our journey down to Ocean Beach. I knew that Dorothy would be calling us soon so we didn't get out, but the kids were happy just to see the ocean and the waves rolling onto the beach.

We drove toward Geary Boulevard. The phone rang. It was Dorothy. The wake was over and she was ready to leave. Ryan reminded me that he wanted to see the shiny house. What he was referring to was the gold-domed Russian Orthodox church on Geary Boulevard. "Look, there it is!" exclaimed Ryan as we drove past the church.

Dorothy was in front of the mortuary chatting with old friends. We drove off trying to figure out where to eat dinner.

The Pink My Little Pony Backpack

We attended a Seattle Mariners game during our vacation. I think it was before the game started when we saw three or four of the bullpen pitchers making their way across the outfield to the bullpen. My sister tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Take a look at that." Strung across the shoulder of one of the pitchers was a pink backpack. We all chuckled. I think someone even said, "It must be a gift from his daughter."

A recent article in SI explains the pink backpack. It is actually a symbol of the older pitchers "schooling" the younger pitchers on the ins and outs of MLB pitching. J.J. Putz, the Mariners' closer, and another "older" (J.J. is only 30) pitcher on a trip to Oakland enlisted a clubhouse attendant to find a pinker roller bag for the younger pitchers responsible for carting around the requisite munchies (e.g., chewing gum, sunflower seeds, PowerBars, and I'm sure other assorted snacks) for the bullpen. The attendant came back with the My Little Pony bag, which perfectly fit the bill.

So now the bag is passed between Brandon Morrow (former Cal pitcher) and two other rooks, depending on who is on a hot streak. So if you happen to catch a Mariners game and see a pitcher with a pink backpack, you'll now know that it's more than just a pink backpack. Who knows, if you ask for a PowerBar out of the bag, maybe they'll toss you one.

Math Magic

I remember seeing something like this in a Japanese math exercise book that our parents got for us when we were kids. I didn't totally understand it because the book was all in Japanese. It looked kind of interesting, but I wondered if it was really faster to do multiplication this way as compared to the traditional approach taught in school. Now here is a video that shows the entire method.

Ethan the Dancing Machine

Ethan can dance!

Even up on the Space Needle!

2007 Road Trip Stats and Photos

Our road to Seattle was a memorable one, but then again all of our road trips are memorable. Here are some stats about this road trip:

1. Included a scavanger hunt as part of our travels.
2. Took over 770 photos with our 2 digital cameras.
3. Stayed overnight in Red Bluff, Roseburg, and Portland on the way north.
4. Saw Mt. Lassen, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Hood, Mount St. Helens, and Mt. Rainier.
5. Took in views from the top (or near the top) of the Smith Tower, Columbia Center and Space Needle in Seattle.
6. Saw the 4th of July fireworks over Lake Union.
7. Saw the statue of Lenin and the Troll.
8. Stayed overnight in Albany and Medford on the return trip.
9. Traveled about 2120 miles over 10 days.

Here are some of our photos:

Seattle Trip 2007

Road Trip Stats and Photos

About 770 photos and 2120 miles later we were home.

Here's a link to some of the photos:

Seattle Trip 2007

Road Trip Stories - Volume 07a

Ethan's Mets blue and orange baseball cap and mit caught my attention. "We're going to an M's game so maybe we should bring these on the trip," I thought. So I grabbed these last two items on my way out the door as we departed on our road trip to see Ojiichan and Obaachan.

Arriving home nine days later, we checked the front steps for delivered packages. There weren't any, but Dorothy and I were hoping that there would be one.

We had called once while in Seattle to ask if a small boy's baseball cap had been turned in by one of the cleaning ladies. The front desk person who answered Dorothy's call was not too pleasant. Dorothy did not want to call again, but she relented to my prodding. She placed a second call to the Windmill Inn of Roseburg the next day and was greeted by someone who seemed to care that there was a heartbroken little boy who missed his hat. She noted our name and address and said that if the hat was found it would be mailed to us.

In Seattle, to make up for the lost cap, Obaachan bought a new M's cap for Ethan at the ballgame. He did not let this cap out of his sight.

We said our goodbyes and headed home on Friday exactly a week to the last day that we could remember Ethan with his Mets cap. Driving through Cottage Grove about an hour or so north of Roseburg, we stopped to check the Dairy Queen. This was the only other place between the Windmill Inn and Portland where we could've left the cap, but we didn't have any photos from the Dairy Queen to verify if Ethan was wearing the cap. He definitely was not wearing the cap during our short visit at the fire station in Cottage Grove because we had photos from the visit. It was the same staff at the Dairy Queen. They only had a red cap.

So we arrived home on Sunday night after two day of traveling. We reasoned that maybe someone would have a good heart and turn in the cap. After all, it had his name written on the inside and even his uniform number, #1. But it had been a week now. Who would turn in such a small seemingly meaningless item?

We get packages from time-to-time. Sometimes we have to sign for the package. Other times the delivery person just knocks on our door and leaves the package for us. This time the UPS man just knocked and by the time the door was answered, the only item remaining was a Otis Spunkmeyer box. This looked odd, but on closer inspection there was a Windmill Inn return address. Dorothy's immediate thought was, "It's the cap!" And so it was.

Ethan was away to his karate camp so he was not able to have this same immediate sense of recovery at the package's arrival. However, later in the day, Ethan was grateful that there was someone at the Windmill Inn in Roseburg who cared about his cap just as much as he did.

A Little Visitor

You never know what you'll find in your garden. Today, Dorothy came back into the house with a little friend on her shoulder - a young praying mantis. Check out these photos.

We're happy to report that the praying mantis was returned to the garden.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Hank Medress, who sang lead vocals with the Tokens in 1961 on their hit single "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," passed away this past Monday.

This is a catchy tune that is a favorite of our kids. See our earlier blog post on this from October 2006:

The Lion Sleeps Tonight video clip

Our kids especially like the part that goes "wimoweh" that is apparently from a traditional Zulu melody. The song was first sung by the Weavers in the 1950s.

The Midnight Sun Game

This game has seen major leaguers the likes of Barry Bonds, Tom Seaver, Dave Winfield, Bob Boone, and Rick Monday play in it. Current A's player Bobby Crosby has played in it. So has former A's player and current Yankee Jason Giambi.

This year marks the 102nd time for this game that starts at 10:30pm and usually finishes around 2am. The sun is to "set" at 12:47am, but the game will go on without lights as has been the tradition since the first year the game was played to settle a bar bet by a man from San Francisco. The game has grown to where it is now televised around the world by Internet.

Most people don't associate baseball with Alaska, but the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks are one of the most successful amateur teams around. They've won six National Baseball Congress (NBC) titles over the years, and they've been runner-up another six times. Their last title was in 2002. In the early 70s, the Goldpanners won back-to-back-to-back in 1972, 1973 and 1974. And they aren't the only Alaska Baseball League team with an NBC title. Other champion AK teams include the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, Mat-Su Miners, and Kenai Peninsula Oilers.

The Midnight Sun Game has been tabbed as the #8 ultimate baseball experience by ESPN, on this list with baseball experiences like visiting spring training (#3 on the list), visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown (#2 on the list), and an evening at Fenway Park (#11 on the list).

The current manager of the Panners, Tim Gloyd, sums up the long daylight that is summer in Fairbanks best in a recent article on Yahoo! Sports. "Your mind doesn't comprehend it at first," Gloyd said. "You may be sitting at Denny's, just talking, and next thing you know it's 3:30.

Having been born and raised in Alaska, the long summer daylight experience is not new for me. I remember playing our version of stickball in our yard well past 11pm on some summer nights. These games would usually start in the middle of the day and continue through dinner with people leaving for dinner and returning to join in the game. We would keep score and I remember scores that ran into the 100s for just one game.

On a trip to Alaska with Dorothy several years ago, we had the same experience mentioned by Tim Gloyd above. It never got pitch black dark, just a very dark blue hue. We were just sitting around talking getting caught up with friends after arriving in Alaska. Before we knew it, it was 3 or 4 in the morning.

The Last Day of School!

Here's what Naomi has to say about her last day of 2nd grade:

The last day of school was very busy.Miss Andrews put lots of old crafts and writings in bags for us.We got to watch a video.We went into the office and gave her a book with writings that my class wrote.Then we went into Miss Catalini's room.In Miss Catalini's room we got to watch cartoons and eat pan cakes.When we got back to the class room,Miss Andrews gave flowers to the parents that helped.We played two different games Zip-Zap and The Boss.At The end of school I couldn't carry all the stuff I needed to take home.My mom had to help.When I went out I knew she would come to my swim meet.I had fun that day!

I Love Me!

Every child thinks he/she is at the center of the universe. This video is from the summer of 2006 on our trip home from Seattle. We were near the end of our drive home and Ryan decided to express how he really felt.

I Love Me!
Uploaded by CEmoto

Riddles, jokes, and giggles - Part 2

Here's another installment of giggles, this time brought to you by Naomi and Ethan.

Q1: What do you call a stolen yam?

Q2: How do you fix a broken pizza?

Q3: What do you call a joke book about eggs?

Q4: Why didn't the hotdog star in a movie?

Q5: What do you do when you run out of ranch dressing?

Q6: Where do sheep go to cut their hair?

Q7: How do you ask a horse what his/her name is?

Q8: What does a lion say when he's mad?

Q9: What does a riddle say when it hits its funny bone?

Q10: Why didn't the dino cross the road?

Naomi actually was the one who typed in the last 4 riddles. Her first blogging!

(scroll below for answers)








A1: A hot potato.

A2: With tomato paste.

A3: A yolk book.

A4: The roles weren't good enough.

A5: You buy more ranches to make the dressing (Ethan's own creation).

A6: At the baaaa-ber shop.

A7: You say,"What's your naaaa-me?"

A8: "I'm roaring mad!"

A9: "I feel funny."

A10: It was the chicken's night out.

Magic Trick

I wonder how he does this?

Grandma's Song

Here's a song to all grandmas out there.

Grandma's Song
Uploaded by CEmoto

Brake Lights to Clogged Speakers

Ethan is convinced that he will grow up to be an inventor. He has the right characteristics. He's always asking how things work. I asked him to help me change a burnt out brake light bulb. He learned how the brakes light up with just a tiny little bulb. I let him be the one to verify which light was out. I let him step on the brakes while I made sure the light was working once again.

Later the same day...

Our new computer came with a wide screen monitor that has speakers built into the monitor. The monitor was part of a package with the computer. In theory this sounds good, but the speakers in the monitor are quite underpowered and tinny sounding. So I connected the speakers from our old computer to the new computer. Upon hearing the new sound, Ethan asked, "are these speakers (pointing to the now disconnected speakers on the new monitor) clogged?"