Junior videos 6/22/09

Seems a good time to post some Junior videos. In the first one Junior decided to help mom with the laundry.

Junior and Soba get along quite well.

Lastly, Junior helps mom practice on the piano.

Boat trip to Wisconsin 6/13/09

Today I took a day off from work (sadly, I've been working a lot of Saturdays) so we could go on the boat. We decided to take a trip on the Mississippi River, starting at Hidden Falls which is near Highland Park and the Ford Dam. Our destination was Prescott Wisconsin. This is the beginning of our trip.












There is an offleash dog park along the river that attracts a lot of dog owners on days like today. We could bring our dogs, but we'd never see them again since the park is so big.

























Junior likes the boat! He didn't really mind the life jacket either.


















There were lots of boats, including river boats.












Yes we made it to Prescott. This is the town's public dock. Our boat is tied to the dock on the lower left. In all, our trip was about 70 miles round trip.


















And the purpose of our trip? To have an afternoon ice cream at the Prescott Dairy Queen, of course. Junior had watermelon.


















I was surprised by the number of boats on the river. I had always thought that the river wasn't really used for recreation. I was wrong. We went through a lock by Hastings and there was a big boat in front of us. The lock master (I don't know what else to call him) asked the woman on the boat why they don't have that big boat on Lake Minnetonka. She responded, "Because you can't go anywhere!" That's very true. If we wanted to, we could have headed for New Orleans today by boat. That's cool. Not practical. But cool nonetheless.

Summer 6/1/09

Now that summer is finally here, we can play outside.













We've been spending a lot of time in the front yard, enjoying the warm air and green grass.

Memorial Day 5/25/09

On Memorial day we went to lakeside cemtetery by Lake Calhoun to see the memorial services. Though we missed the services, the memorials were still present.












Junior was curious. But then, he's always curious.































The police band was packing up. We missed it.












Memorial flowers were on most all graves.

Junior standing 5/09

So Junior is standing at every opportunity he gets. He still needs something to hold on to.



He's getting pretty good. His support for standing doesn't even have to be stationary...

Photo Day 5/09

Last month Hiroe had her friends over for a photo day. Hiroe and Junior are not camera shy!

Art-a-Whirl 5/09

The Art-a-Whirl art gallery tour is going on now. There is one shop that serves crepes. We come every year. We'll likely go back tomorrow night.


















Hiroe enjoyed her crepe so much she took this picture...

Hiroe's assistant graduates 5/09

Hiroe's assistant Gwendolyn (on the right) just graduated. She was great. She covered for Hiroe at work throughout Hiroe's entire pregnancy, and beyond.

Junior's lunch

Every day Hiroe sends a little lunch with Junior to daycare. She took this photo, and I thought I'd share.

Raccoon 5/09

Spotted this raccoon in the tree in front of our house. Guess we live in the woods.

MAy Day Parade 5/09

On May 5th we went to the May Day parade in Minneapolis. It's a big event hosted by the same puppet and mask theater that does the Halloween show in Hidden Falls. It was pretty busy, so we couldn't see the show very well.












































At the end of the show, the sun crosses the lake signaling the beginning of summer.

























































Hiroe gets to enjoy the first corndog of the summer!

Kodomonohi 5/09

On May 5th we celebrated Junior's first boy's day, known as Komonohi in Japan. There is a special meal for the day. It was the first day Junior got to try fish.

























This is from Junior's grandparents in Japan. He'll display this every year at this time.

































































He even dressed for the occasion.

Gratuitous Junior photos 5/09

The purpose of this post is simply to share some cute photos. Yeah... we're normal parents.














He's in to climbing now.














With papa!














And grand-papa.













Always looking for the next thing to get into.

Grandpa's birthday 5/09

For grandpa's birthday in April, the family went to the Lake Elmo Inn for a fantastic breakfast buffet. I think grandpa liked it...

Junior driving 5/09

It seems that every time Junior goes to Grandma and Grandpa's house he gets to try driving a new vehicle. When he finally gets a little car of his own we're thinking he can use it to commute to his daycare.

Hiroe and Junior in New York 5/09

Hiroe, Junior, and Hiroe's friend Ellen went to New York last month for a conference. All that I know is that there are these pictures on Hiroe's camera. I'll let her fill in the details...

Swim Lessons! 5/09

Every Monday we get to go to the school in our neighborhood for swim class. It's quite excellent because they keep the water at 92 degrees. We need one of these pools in our house!

mobile junior! 4/23/09

In case you didn't know that Junior is now on the move...