Pismo Beach

This week we were lucky enough to have JuJu and Poppy G come to stay with Ashley so that we could take a little trip by ourselves. We went up to San Luis Obispo and stayed near Pismo Beach. Just a nice relaxing couple of days. Ai went to the spa, I did some surfing, we went to Sycamore hot springs, and we saw lots of whales from our patio. Thanks JuJu and Poppy G! Ashley really had fun with you.

Memorial Day Weekend

April Wedding

I've been really slack about getting these pictures up... Last month we attended the wedding of our friends Mike and Jacquelyn at the Ritz Carlton in Dana Point, CA. They live in DC but, lucky for us, they decided to have the wedding in CA. It turned out to be an incredibly fun and beautiful wedding. Ai and I had a wonderful time and Ashley really enjoyed herself as well. Here's a video of her dancing at the wedding.

Japan 2009

I just returned from our bi-annual trip to Japan. I was there for two weeks and Ai and Ashley are there for one more week. We had a great time and managed to squeeze in a bunch of stuff. The first day we were there we had a family trip to the temple in remembrance of Ai's father. Ashley was reunited with her cousins and loved playing with them. The next day we met up with some of Ai's friends and discovered that most department stores have play areas for kids... score one for Ashley! Then, on Sunday, we hit the rails and headed up to Nagoya to visit with the Raphalens. On the way up, though, we stopped for a few hours in Osaka to visit Nao, Luku, and family. Not knowing what to do, we headed to Umeda station (in the heart of Osaka) and found a kids play land on top of a department store. Ashley and Luku were so excited I thought they would explode! Unfortunately we had to tear them away and hit the road again all too soon. We made it up to Nagoya and waited for the Raphalens to show up the next day. Ashley really liked riding on the shinkansen choo-choo trains, by the way. Yohann, Mitsuko, Awena, Kaito, and Kentaro arrived via bus the next morning and Ashley was once again psyched to have playmates. She must have said Awena's name 75,000 times in two days! The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and we managed to find a very nice park to hang out in and let the kids run wild. That evening Masashi's parents picked us all up and took us to eat in a really nice restaurant. We can't thank them enough for their hospitality! We sadly said goodbye the next morning and headed back to Fukuoka. Once back we slowed down a little, but still managed to stay busy. Highlights included a day trip to a very nice onsen with a full kaiseki dinner, a great sushi dinner in Ai's neighborhood, family time around the house, an afternoon and evening in Tenjin to ourselves (thank you, Kozue, for babysitting!), a trip to see Makiko and her new son, and a family trip to the local izakaya. Then it was time for me to leave and come back to work and reality. It was hard to say goodbye to Ai and Ashley but they will be home soon. I'm sure that they are continuing to enjoy time with the family. And I'm sure Ashley is learning more and more Japanese. She was practically fluent when I left!

Many more pictures here.

B is for Boy

That's right... We're at about 18 weeks and just found out that we're having a boy. Ashley is going to have a little brother to push around. And Daddy will have another guy around the house to help the balance of power!

Griffith Park

The Cherry Blossoms Are Out...

...so that must mean one thing: It's time to go to Japan! We're looking forward to a trip to the other side of the Pacific Ocean in just a little over two weeks. Hopefully we can enjoy some real hanami!

Oh, and one more thing... Does my wife look a little fat?

California Adventure

2 Years Old!!

Ashley celebrated her second birthday on Sunday. We had a party for her in the park and ALL her friends came. Thank you so much to everyone for coming and making the day special for us. And a special thank you for all the presents. Ashley has REALLY been enjoying them! She has definitely learned what "presents" are. In fact she now likes to say, "I need more presents!"

Disneyland