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.

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.