10.08.2017

Summer 2017










Lots lots things happened in this summer in 2017. It was busy but fun summer. Now, the wind is getting cooler, it is getting darker sooner every day, already in October.

I am going to summarize what we did in this summer.

Camping! We could go to camping more than last year. The kids stayed in Seattle this year not going to Japan, so we had more weekends to do camping. Here the places we went to camping in 2017.
- Alta Lake on Memorial day
- Mt. Saint Helens
- Jarrell Cove
- Somewhere in Montana on the way home from Idaho after the total solar eclipse.

There are so many things that I wanna talk about each camping trip, but highlights are we could finally go to Mt. St. Helens, where first, Yukine told that she wanted to go after she studied about the Mountain in the elementary school. We didn't hike to the mountain but went to one of the observatories, Johnston Ridge Observatories. It was very informative and I enjoyed learning about the eruptions.
That was second time to re-visit Jarrell Cove States Park. The last time we went to there, we fell in love with the camp site. They have a glassy area and there are many apples trees. Therefore, many animals are coming out to eat the apples in later Aug, early Sep. One of animals we encountered last time we went was deer. That was one of reasons we loved there. This time, we couldn't see deer in the campsite, maybe because it was in early August. There were a big group in the campsite so it was more crowded and noisy than last time... That was a bit disappointing. Yet, we had still a lot of fun. We went to the dock and Kanata fished, a lots of small minnows. It was not really real fishing but he was happy, so all good. Yukine is not really a outdoor girl but I think she had fun too, especially, when we could down to the shore when it was very low tide. We could see a tide pool. It was interesting.
The camp site in Montana was where we just slept on the way to get home from Idaho. BUT the main reason we went o Idaho was the totol sun eclipse. The total sun eclipse was amazing, literary, phenomenal, marvelous experience you could have in your life. It was just breathtaking. I will never ever forget the experience. The moment that the world around you got slightly dark and cooler. The moment that the sun was completely covered and you even see the total sun shape with your bare eyes. The moment the sun came back, seeing the one sharply bright, strong beam of light. It was just like a biggest most beautiful diamond ring. And we could see many Brittain's family members there in Idaho, that was so nice.

Another big event we did for this summer was... going to Maui Hawaii! In addition, we spent time with Kirino family, My mom, bother and one of my aunts (My mom's oldest sister.) and Brittain's mom in Maui! I was a bit worried how it would go with so many people with different opinions but it went well. I think everyone had fun. Maui is absolutely beautiful place. Just being at the beaches and seeing many fish, sea turtles and other creatures is worth to visit there. But we did more that that, eating good seafood, land food, seeing traditional dancing, shopping, seeing sunset from the tallest volcano.....and more and more.

My mom came again to Seattle to stay with Kanata and Yukine for the the last summer break. We went to Portland during the labor day weekend with her. Port land has very fashionable stores and vintage clothes and stuff. I feel Portland is more sensitive to those kinds of culture than Seattle but not sure... I realized that I really didn't have a chance to explore those small shops in Seattle so..Anyway, we had fun there. She had stayed for 2 weeks. It's pretty long for her, compared to the past she came, but it was still short for us..but she couldn't abandon her dog and her garden...I get it but always very sad and hard to say good bye at the airport on the last day. I hate it.

Oh wait! And Yukine did summer dance intensive program this year. 5 weeks from 8AM - 3 PM everyday 5 days. It was a big for her. She doesn't like wake up early in the morning, but she had to, because of the logistics. ( Thanks to the another family who lives close to us, we could car pool but the mom had to pick up Yukine at 6:40 AM.) She did it! She completed the whole 5 weeks. On the last day, they had a small show that showing the choreography by the girls and boys. She had 3-4 pieces with her peers. I saw her growth and passion for the dance. I am very proud of her.

2017年のバーバ家の夏も相変わらず忙しく過ぎていきました。
今年の夏をちょっとまとめてみようかと思います。
キャンプ
今年は、夏に日本に行かなかったので、週末に結構キャンプに行けました。どのキャンプも楽しかったけど、今年は毎年行きたいねと話していた2か所に行けた事、それから、アイダホで、完全日食を見に行ったことは忘れられない経験でした。
完全日食が、たまたま、ブリ豚の実家で見れるという事で、行くことにしました。完全日食を見たのは人生初めて。シアトル付近でも95%くらい見れると言っていて、それならそこまで変わらないんじゃないの?と侮っていたけれど、完全日食は全く違った体験でした。写真をうまくとることはできなかったけれど、あの一瞬の薄暗くなって、寒くなっていく大変、そして、日食用の眼鏡をつけなくてもその間だけ、完全に太陽が黒くなっている瞬間、それから、日食が終わり、少しずつ日が戻ってくるときの、一点から差し込むすさまじい強さの光。太陽って本当に偉大な存在であり、宇宙の神秘を感じた瞬間でした。この体験は一生忘れないと思います。

この夏の他のハイライト、ハワイ、マウイへの旅。しかも、うちの母、兄、そして、叔母が日本から、アイダホからブリ豚のお母さんも、団体旅行となりました。みんな色々違く旅の仕方をするのを知っていただけにどうなるか、かなり心配でしたが、なんとか、楽しく、マウイを満喫しました。マウイはもう一つのお気に入りに追加。ハワイにそこまであこがれのある私ではないのだけど、マウイは本乙に綺麗だ。大自然、青い海、ウミガメ、熱帯魚、ほかのいろんな生き物たち、もう本当に息をのむほどのきれいな場所。私は、ただただ、ビーチでスノーケルしてるだけで幸せだったかも。でも、ハレアカラ火山からの夕日、ワイナリー、ルアウ(晩餐)、食べ物、もちろん買い物もとりあえず全部、死ぬ気でやってきた感じ。今度はもっとゆーーったり海を楽しみに行きたいな。

夏の最後は母がもう一度私たちの家まで来てくれました。子供たちの最後の夏休みの2週間、一緒に過ごしてくれて、ご飯作ってくれて、庭きれいにしてくれて...もう感謝しきれない。仕事で疲れっちゃって不機嫌だった私、ごめんなさい。でも本当に感謝してるし、来てくれて一緒に居られて本当にうれしかったのだよ。これに懲りず、また来てほしいな。子供たちも中ばあがくるのはいつもすごく楽しみ。ありがとう、ありがとう、お母さん。

おお!忘れてはいけない!今年の夏、喜音はバレエの集中レッスンをとりました。5週間、週5日、朝8時から3時まで。送り迎えの関係で朝6時半には家を出なかった喜音。朝がこれでもかってくらい苦手な彼女がこの5週間、ほとんど文句も言わず、ちゃんと自分でスケジュールを管理した。本当に偉いなと、大人になってきたなと感じた、そんな夏でもありました。

もうこちらは風も冷たく、日も短くなって、秋になっております。バーバーへ相変わらず忙しい新学期をなんとか生き延びております。








5.14.2017

Mother's Day 母の日 2017

Breakfast in bed made by Yukine. I felt so loved :) Her cooking skill is getting better for sure!
喜音がベッドまで持ってきてくれた朝ごはん。こっちでは、こうやって子供が母の日の朝に朝ごはんを作って、ベッドまで運んでくれるのが伝統です。
Mother's Day Present from Kanata. He said it's not my face. I am glad that. LOL He wrote a poem too.  He also wrote a poem. He didn't want me to read it tho,  奏大からの母の日のプレゼント。少なく私の似顔絵ではないらしい。よかった。笑 そして、よく意味が分からなかったけど(笑)詩も(学校で書かされた。)書いてくれました。    

 






 









そして、これを機に、Barber Pile(Barber 積み重ね)をもう一度再現してみましたー!上が今日、で、下が9年前。子供たちは重くて、もう乗れない。。。こうやって重ねてみると二人とも大きくなったんだねー。
 And since it was Mother's day and we all had time to spend time together at home today, we took Barber pile picture first time since 2008. The first picture was from today, and the picture below of it was from 2008! I can't believe that the kids grew so much! They are now too big and heavy to sit top on us anymore... Time indeed flied...


  May 2017


 May 2008






母の日は、私もこんなにお祝いしてもらえるけど、私は私の母にそして、ブリ豚のお母さんにも心から感謝しています。いつも、私達のことを気にかけ、手伝ってくれて、アドバイスをくれるお母さんたち、そして、こうやって私たちが幸せな家族でいられること、ブリ豚に会わせてくれたこと、それはお母さんたちがいかなったらなかったから。本当にありがとう。これからもどうぞよろしくお願いします。
I have a great Mother's day. My family treated me well and I felt so much love. I also want to celebrate for my mom and Brittain's mom! They both always think about us, help us, so many things they have been done for us. Since moms had us, and they raised us, Brit and I could meet and got married and have such wonderful beautiful kids!! I thank them from bottom of my heart. Thank you and love you, the moms!

Happy Mother's day!!




Lastly.... Kanata's funny (or normal) faces :)
そして最後は、奏大の変な(いや、普通か?)顔特集(笑)