Memorial Day at the Philadelphia Zoo 5/29/05

Memorial Day in Philadelphia. What a great day to go to the zoo. But we were hardly the only ones with this idea.


















So many different animals. Right in the middle of the city. They had the right idea. Build the zoo. Then fill the city in around it.

Probably my favorite shot of the day.































Not sure if he was yawning or yelling for his friends to slow down.

























































































































An interactive day.

























Thanks for the great weekend, Rachel and Corvus!

Sunday in Philadelphia 5/28/06

Sunday morning Hiroe found herself delving deeper into the craft...



















Later that same day...

...we went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.












































































We did go in. Really. However, I only have photos of the outside. It's a beautiful location to visit. And it's obvious that the city residents are proud of the place. A picturesque setting for a wedding...



















...or to cool off.

























Hiroe and Rachel outside of the Museum.


















A big spider. Stalking it's unknowing prey...












...then posing for a photo with Rachel.












Philadelphia is filled with amazing murals. My understanding is it's a way of focusing energy that might otherwise go to graffitti. The murals are everywhere, each both spectacular and tasteful.


















After the museum we visited Logan Park. It was still hot.


















































So cute!


















It was hat day.


















Then, on to Love Park.


















Playing over a subway ventilation grate.


















Another great day.

Saturday in Philadelphia 5/27/06

In an effort to get the heck away from life as we know it... working, studying, cleaning, cooking, and all of that, we decided to visit our friends Rachel and Corvus in Philadelphia for the weekend. Being that it was Memorial day weekend I got an extra day (Monday) off from work. Taking 1/2 day of vacation on Friday gave us most of Friday in Philadelphia too. Still not enough time, but it's a start.

We did some sightseeing and had fantastic Indian food on Friday night.

And on Saturday, we slept in.

Later that morning, or maybe afternoon (we didn't pay much attention to the time), we learned some of the craft that Rachel and Corvus enjoy. Both enjoy knitting and everything about knitting. Starting with a choice of many fibers, Rachel spins her own yarn.

























Hiroe had a chance to give it a try.














Rachel, Hiroe, and Corvus on a street near their place. He's in the picture, really. We were on our way to take the train downtown.


















Makes one wonder how you'd order a glass of wine at this place. Gravity must be involved.


















Out for a stroll.


















During our trip downtown, we stopped at the Magic Garden on South Street. It's the creation of an artist named Isaiah Zagar. The residents are currently trying to raise $200k to save the garden from going condo. It was more amazing with every step deeper into the place. One starts at the front gate and ends up deep in the basement...




















































































































































































































































At the end of the day we strolled the streets of Philadelphia. A good day.

breakfast 5/21/06

Thought I'd share a photo of the pastry I picked up yesterday at Turtle Bread Company and saved for breakfast today. It's a chocolate frosted pretzel. Part of our quest to find the perfect pastry.



















By the way, I've figured out the guy / space alien in the posting from yesterday. Leave a comment if you want to know what it is...

Saturday 5/19/06

We started off the day in search of a good pastry for breakfast. That search led us to Turtle Bread Company on Chicago Avenue with thoughts of chocolate bread. So many other tasty treats were waiting for us when we arrived. They even have opera cake.












Below is another shot of the bakery. Only after preparing this photo to post did I notice the man(?) in the background at the top left.












Here's a close-up. Who or what is it? I did not manipulate this photo. Creepy.


















Fortunately, we made it home safe and were not taken to the alien mothership. And just in time to enjoy the bread. Yes that is carmel corn and chocolate corn in the background. We found a carmelcorn shop yesterday in a neighborhood by Cedar Ave. We'll go back there too, for sure.


















This afternoon was beautiful. It gave Hiroe a chance to clean the inside of Bastie the VW.












Our neighborhood, finally green.












And Hiroe's flowers are doing nicely.

koi picnic 5/13/06

On Saturday we were invited to an afternoon picnic at Koi Acres, where Hiroe teaches on Wednesdays. It's run by a father and two sons... or should I say two sons and their father. It was started by the two sons when they were about 14 and 15 years old. Now it's the largest Koi importer in the midwest. They have four tanks and sell both Koi and all of the equipment required to keep your pond water clean. Not that everyone has a pond.

























We met many of their clients. The ones with the ponds. One wonders how a fish attracts that much money.












Yeah, they're nice to look at but...












Anyway, the buyers of these fish are so excited about them that they started a Koi club for the Minneapolis area. They were talking about how they each chipped $250 into the club to get it going but that they have no expenses so they don't know what to do with the money.












Anyway, the upkeep of the fish isn't easy. They require many filtration processes including sterilizing the water using ultraviolet light.












One event of the afternoon was Japanese lessons and proper pronunciation of the types of Koi.


















Hiroe did the pronunciation and Devin explaned the meaning.












This is the pond that the boys built. Two waterfalls and two ponds. The pond in the foreground is 8 feet deep. They can swin with the koi. Not a bad way to spend your teenage years.

gnocchi's birthday 5/7/06

It was Gnocchi's birthday on Sunday. There were 5 puppies in his litter and Juan (who got the puppy named Derby) decided to invite everyone to a birthday party. Here'e Gnocchi proudy displaying a birthday hat.












Many of his friends came.












And then more came...












And then even more came. 10 American eskimos were there.











Even Gnocchi's grandma was there. My favorite part of the day was when grandma was running around the yard followed by all of the other Eskies. A very cool grandma.












And there were lots of kisses.












And story-telling...












We enjoyed a homemade three-milk birthday cake. It was fantastic!












Juan threw the party.












His family was there too. They're from Colombia. His mom made the cake.












And more people.












Soba helped celebrate.












This is my favorite picture.












Gnocchi's mom... and trainer.

Farmer's Market morning 5/7/06

This morning we went to the Farmers Market in search of more garden goodies: flowers, fruit, veggies, and herbs.












I always enjoy our trips there. Maybe it's because we usually go when it's beautiful outside. I've never been there after a snowfall.












Hiroe's hat is in the foreground.































































Even Santa shops here...

garden 5/6/06

Spent the day working the the garden. We have so many hastas and flowers on the side of the house where no one can see them. It seemed so appropriate to move them out front. This guy was moved along with his friends who are still just bulbs in the ground. I think he's watching for them.

Festival of Nations 5/5/06

Hungry, up for something different, and curious we headed off to the Festival of Nations in St. Paul on Friday. I think the last time I was there was in junior high. We were fortunate to catch it at a somewhat slow time, allowing us to see most everything without having to deal with the crowds.












It was laid out with three main areas: food, merchandise, and performances. We hit the food first.












































Our favorite dish was curry chicken and rice from Nepal.



















































Saved a creme puff for Saturday morning breakfast.












Hiroe bought a great hat.


















There was lots of dancing.




























































But the most entertaining part was the people. The young people. The high school people that I haven't been exposed to for so long. All struggling to be different. Like this guy... wearing the Japanese headband upside down. Doubt that was on purpose. Sorry for the method used to obtain the picture. I had planned to crop down to just the upside-down headband guy, but the other boys were almost as entertaining.













Or the boy in black on the left. Black shirt, black pants, black lipstick, black eye shadow, black hair. We saw him frequently as we walked around. He looked so fragile.












Is this greek? Hawaiian?

grocery shopping 5/1/06

Today was a good day to go to the grocery store. We needed food, they wanted our money. It was a good fit.












So, I thought I'd bring my camera in search of some cool colors and a few unique shots for readers in other countries. I hear everything here in the states is considered big.

























Lots of dogs.













Unfortunately, this is all I was able to photograph. I had hoped to pick and choose which photos I liked. Make some selections. Delete a few. However, I was asked by two separate employees not to take pictures. Apparently it's against store policy. They must have some trade secret they don't want recorded. Nevermind the thousands of people that frequent the store daily. Cub must assume they're not paying attention. I had a big desire to take out a sketch pad and start drawing what I saw. But I didn't have a sketch pad. Or a pencil. That ended that.

cabin 4/29/06

Went to the cabin this weekend to help Dad with some of the spring chores, one of which is putting the pontoon in the lake. When we pulled off the cover we found this little home. I wanted to leave it there because what bird wouldn't want to live in a boat house. Dad didn't agree. And it's his boat.














I also gave Soba the chance to be off-leash all weekend, with close supervision. I spent the weekend with her running up the driveway on an exploration adventure. Then I'd call her back. It was continuous.