Heading home

C decided to try standing on her own yesterday... things are about to become a lot more dangerous.... So amazing to see her already standing though.

We are heading home from Japan today. Overall a great trip. We saw so many interesting areas of Tokyo, went to some great museums, palaces, parks, saw cherry blossoms and tried to visit as many shrines as we could fit in despite rain the entire time we were in Kyoto. There were so many things to do we would have needed a month more to see everything.

We had a lot of great meals of soba, sushi, Thai, Indian and Vietnamese... It was all in all wonderful. Our favorite meal was a very traditional Japanese restaraunt on the Gion... a very cultural experience!

K was a great sport about everything and C tried as best as she could... She is really into crawling so the trip was a bit tough on her as there was no where to put her down... This made it hard for her as she was always in someone's arms, the bjorn or the stroller... However the evening romp arounds in the hotel were well received by both kids. Definitely a good learning experience for the next couple trips until C is two and more comfortable sitting and less interested in walking all the time.. The other issue was no highchairs with seatbelts meant she couldn't enjoy her favorite activity... eating.. she had to be held for this as well and that didn't make her the best eater... Luckily travel is about being flexible and seeing new things and both girls did amazing with being game for both.

Glad the flight home is two hours shorter and we have a full day to get the girls back on track for another quarter of school and of course work. Another wonderful trip.

Travel

So we made it... our trip to Tokyo was designed to be an easier glimpse into international travel with two... C did great on the first part of the flight, but by hour nine she was done... most of this comes from the fact that she wants to be on the ground crawling and our flight attendants wanted people in their seats... at all times unlike most international flights where it is expected that this is a long trip and people need to move around... The second travel part was the bus to Tokyo... over 2.5 hours due to traffic... that was also tough... the rest has been great... K was outstanding... not a peep ever. She is definitely an incredible traveler. The jet lag has been ok... we did a two hour wake up the first night and wandered around Tokyo at 2, but were able to get everyone back to sleep. C did a wake up the second night but is doing really well considering the time difference is considerable.

Everyone in Japan has been so helpful... on the bus ride a 20 year old guy sitting next to me played with C and pulled out little treats when she started to fuss.. he didn't even complain when her wet hands touched him... he just kept trying... so nice.

People keep coming up and commenting on the kids... some people have filmed C.

We were saved at least an hour on our travel journey as we were allowed to skip lines at security and in the hotel in Japan...

Our first day was great.. it was almost 70... we weren't quite oriented as we had no time for research prior to the trip so although it was nice to be together not an optimal day in seeing sights. C crawled all over Ginza as the streets were closed off... K followed behind and wowed us and everyone around with the caring loving sis she always is. We went to the traditional district and explored the streets had vietnamese and thai... both really yummy especially as rice noodles passed as pasta.

Some funny comments by k
In prada in ginza "I love this dress it is so beautiful it could be a wedding dress"
On all the masks "What the heck are all those people wearing mouthguards for"
On heated toilet seat in the hotel "Be right back going to the bathroom on the hot toilet seat, LOVE IT"
On our check in to see if she wanted ice cream after lunch... "I don't want ice cream, I just want to go shopping" She loves souvenir shopping... we always end up with one random thing on any trip.
She is also quite taken by the traditional costumes spotted..

Very excited about the family time.

Kain

We had all been trying to convince C to say Mama, Dada or K first....last night T was looking at a pic of K when she was C's age and showed it to C explaining the picture to her... C looked at it and said Kaitin.. T was so surprised he checked again... she said Kate... and went on to make the K sound... We are so excited!

Japan bound...

We are six days away from our first international trip as a family... we will see if we were completely crazy or just adventurous after we return... but for now we are excited to be leaving for a ten day trip to Japan next week... The goal of the weekend... figure out how to buy just the right amount of stuff and pack it in three hours the morning we leave as I am heading back east tomorrow night after finals... Exciting!!!

Aunt J came down yesterday... C appears to be as in love with Aunt J as K is... they grinned, laughed and snuggled as Aunt J played with them... I have been remiss with the camera lately... must get back on board...

C is chattering away... her favorite sound ba... balloon is still a word she uses a lot, but also for balls... She said bath a few days ago and tries her hardest to mimic her cool big sister's sounds...

Missing my family...

The week of finals always brings a similar feeling.. WTF am I doing this for? I miss my family like crazy and can't take another minute of finals, papers and school... Thank goodness for all of us this week is only a week and is followed by a holiday where we all hang out, reconnect and if we are lucky enough... travel somewhere awesome and amazing!!! For the first time ever work and school collided at the same time making this a crazy and horrible week... Three papers, one final, one presentation and I am home free. And soon.. I will be back together with the family... and we are going to Japan where if the internet is right we will catch cherry blossom season... so the reward is out there... just got to get to that point!

The wedding

K requested we play wedding today while T was out golfing and C was napping... She married T in a beautiful ceremony with lots of baby dolls... in fact she had a few babies of her own that attended... The dress... had a horse on it... and the cake... all frosting no cake and caramel sauce on top... and the honeymoon... Asia or Peru... or maybe even Hawaii... no wedding party... they were all working... funny to listen to her scenarios play out...

Circle time

Today K requested I take C to school with her... I agreed and so we all piled in the car... K had spent most of the day following C around... and had already had one round of tears because she wasn't big enough to take her sister down the stairs...

K requested that C join her at circle time... so down they sat for circle time after visiting Chirpie the bird... K snuggled in and sang to C while they were in the circle.... so proud that she is a big sister! That girl rocks...

We didn't get the transfer we needed and the PACT school is a lottery so we might be looking at private K... Now to go figure out the best one. Argh.

C's second word... kick! She likes to kick balls... so cute!

Glowing...and five!

K finally had her awesome and amazing bday party at Gold Star this weekend… It was fantastic, awesome and wonderful! We were lucky enough to share the party with Fi making the event even more awesome… two big girls turning five and celebrating together… And needless to say it was outstanding for a number of reasons such as: two girls turning five is much better than one, four parents really can make planning and executing much easier, it is a lot of fun to plan with another mom, it is so much less stressful… and great to have so many more kiddies running around…

She told me that this was the best party of ever… coming from a five year old… well that was quite the compliment… therefore nothing else to write about the event..

The rest of the weekend was lovely.. her spanish lessons are going really well and keeping her spanish up, playdates are amazing when the weather is great, warm and sunny... and T and I had nice dinners with friends on Sat and Sun...

First word

C said her first word this weekend…. Balloon. So although T, K and I all were trying to get her to say Mama, Dada or Kaitlin first… C our very wise girl went with none of those and has been saying boon all weekend…. Clearly the influence of her big sis as she would have never seen balloons if not for her sister loving them and always keeping them in the house… Unfortunately for C she spent the rest of the weekend having balloons shoved in her face just so we could all hear that magic word… it was magical and so sweet to see her point and say balloon… it is getting even more fun! And she turned ten months yesterday… hard to believe how fast her first year has gone…