Hockey 2/20/09

On Saturday night Hiroe went to a hockey game with the Tandem Plus group. It sounds like it was a great time... and that the arena has good hot chocolate.













Today we went to Edinborough Park in Edina. It's an indoor park with lots of trees, plants, fountains, and things for children to do. There's a climbing area, a large play area, and a swimming pool. There's even a place for a childrens birthday party.































We didn't stay too long since Junior was sleeping.


















Still sleeping.












They have apartments or condos that are attached to the park, so your balcony is actually indoors. Good if you want to have your windows open in January... but bad since you'll hear children yelling all day. I noticed that all of the windows were closed.


















Back at home it was a nice time to wear a hat.


















And take a nap. This photo was actually from a few days ago.

Valentines Day 2/14/09

Valentines Day around our house is always a sweet time. There's plenty of chocolate. Plenty of color. And lots of together time.
This year Hiroe made Bailey's truffles for me. They were coated in lovely chocolate coating. Amazingly delicious. She also made a fantastic card for me... the one on the lower left.
I gave her flowers and two additional place settings for her Wedgewood china. And a handmade card and cystal heart dish as well. Last year I wanted to make chocolate truffle cookies for her, but she was pregnant and trying to avoid chocolate. I got to make them this year. Hiroe also made chocolate muffins with peanut butter frosting. Delicious!
And Junior gave Hiroe a valentines day card. He even signed it.












Hiroe is working on adding to the valentines day decorations at our house...












... including some hearts floating over the puppies. It was a very nice day!

Vika at MOA 2/12/09

Last week Hiroe and Junior were able to meet Hiroe's friend Vika at Mall of America. A nice day!





































And with valentines Day approaching, Junior got a balloon to commemorate the event! He really, really likes balloons.

Savoy Pizza 2/8/2009

We went to Savoy Pizza tonight. Supposedly one of the best pizza places in the Twin Cities. The place looks just as it probably did back in 1950. Vinyl seats, dim lights, gold walls, old paintings. But that's pretty cool. Today, Junior seemed a bit thirsty.


















But I don't think he's quite ready to manage on his own yet.


















We were sooo hungry that when the pizza came we didn't care that we thought we had received the wrong pizza. About 1/2 way through the waitress came over to let us know about the mix-up and that our real pizza was ready. Whatever... we were happy finishing this one! It was excellent!

Jianhua 2/7/08

Today we went to an art exhibition for a Jianhua artist that we met on the airplane when returning from Japan.














Jianhua is the name of the process of cutting paper art. This is some of her work...





































It was fun to talk with her and learn how the art is made.















































Afterward, Junior had home-made apple sauce for dinner for the first time. He really enjoyed it.

Setsubun 02/03/2008

Tonight we celebrated Setsubun whereby you get rid of all of the evil spirits in the house and invite in good fortune. Before we did a lot of the improvements to our house, this holiday seemed appropriate. There were a few scary areas to take care of. Maybe doing Setsubun in the past helped our little house become home? But today, we need to keep Junior safe. Evil spirits be gone!
Setsubun involves some peanuts, sushi rolls, and masks representing the evil spirits.












The sushi roll included tuna, crab, and avocado. It was great!












Junior's first setsubun. He took it very seriously.


















And, in tradition, one member of the household becomes the evil spirit. This year it was me. The rest of the household throws peanuts at the evil spirit, to chase them out. The mask didn't seem to bother Junior.



























On another note, I found these photos I took during a recent trip to Mall of America. Sushi pants!

junior play area 2/2/09

Tonight I set up a dog-free play area in Junior's room. The thought is to give him a nice soft low place to play, crawl (soon?) and learn. He was kind of tired, though... not in the mood to smile.













Guess I have to work on making funnier faces to get that smile. :~)

St Paul Winter Carnival 1/31/09

Last night (Saturday) we went to the St. Paul Winter Carnival parade. And me without my camera. Yes, in the confusion of getting Junior ready to go, I forgot my camera. So I missed all of the cool low light shots of the parade. We only have the photos from Hiroe's point and shoot camera...
Like Hiroe and Junior in the skyway watching the parade. It was a bit cool and windy outside, so watching from the skyway was nice.



















We weren't the only ones with that idea.


















The parade lasted about 1/2 hour. Don't have much for photos.













But Hiroe got her corndog(s).













And Junior envied my noodles.