Monthly Archives: August 2011

Five Sesame Street Moments Worth Watching – Even (or Especially) if You Don’t Have Kids

Five Things Friday is a regular blog post where I share a collection of things that inspire me each week. Some weeks are focused on a particular theme, while others are a hodge podge of random stuff from around the web.

I remember watching Sesame Street as a child. It was the same American version of Sesame Street that exists today – there was no special Aussie version. Of course I watched it before Elmo and Abby and the animated version of Bert and Ernie (and WAY before people lobbied for their marriage).

My kids have only recently shown interest in Sesame Street and I am thrilled. The one thing I’ve realized over the years is that Sesame Street is not just for the children. Sure, there’s a lesson or two in there, but the real genius behind Sesame Street is that they know how to appeal to the parents.

So I’ve gathered my five favorite (mostly recent) Sesame Street moments that appeal to three-year-olds and thirty-year-olds alike.

1. A Celebrity Lullaby
Ricky Gervais sings a lullaby to Elmo and my five-year-old rolls on the floor in laughter.

2. What I Am by will.i.am
Just try not to have this song running through your head again and again (and I mean that in a good way)

3. True Mud
Blame this one on my recent discovery of HBO’s True Blood. It’s almost the same  as the show, but with more rhyming and without the sex. The vampire speed entrance is genius.

4. Cereal Girl
A parody of Material Girl by Madonna.

5. Law and Order Special Letters Unit
I am just amazed at how muppets are so closely able to resemble their human counterparts. I guess you know you’ve really made it when they make a muppet in your likeness.

Bonus: Smell Like a Monster
How do you tease a new season of Sesame Street? Only by copying one of the most successful advertising campaigns in recent memory. The kids won’t understand it of course, but I doubt they made this one for the kids.

A Cloudy, Warm, Sunny, Snowy Day in the Gorge: Part 2

Click here for Part 1 wherein we take a longer-than-expected walk to witness my Husband and Son make a daredevil climb (in my mind, anyway) and then visit the Multnomah falls.

After leaving the beautiful (albeit extremely crowded) Multnomah falls, we decided to make our way to Hood River for some food. By the time we got there, everyone had fallen asleep (except Kei, thankfully) and we had the fun job of waking everyone up for lunch.

For those who have not had the experience of waking a three-year-old from a deep sleep, I would imagine it’s something like dragging a bear out of hibernation – lots of moaning and gnashing of teeth.

To make a long story short, we had lunch and then walked around a little before stopping for some ice cream. I failed to take any decent pictures of that part but I can tell you that the view from our lunch spot was great, the food was so-so (childrens’ meals overpriced), the toy store visit afterward was probably a mistake (incredibly lucky to make it away without purchasing a Star Wars watch) and the ice cream was perfect.

By this time it was about 4pm and we had a choice – hit the road for the 90 minute drive home or risk it and take a drive up to Timberline lodge. I am so glad we chose the latter. We were blessed with a perfect blue sky afternoon…

…and the rare (although somewhat tragic given the summer we’ve been having) opportunity to  play in the snow at the end of July.

Kei took the opportunity to build the world’s smallest, most pitiful, snowman.

 

While I took in the view.

The kids soon started whining about their cold feet and cold hands so we headed inside to get a quick drink. Well, that was the plan, anyway.

We headed up to the third floor and placed our order. Our drinks arrived quickly enough and we were about half way through them when Thomas said he needed to go to the bathroom. Kei took him downstairs to the public bathroom on the first floor and then Karin said she needed to go so Mayumi took her. Samuel and I were just hanging out when, you guessed it, he said he needed to go too.

Now, I am going through the potty training thing for the second time so I know how important it is not to play chicken the whole three-year-old who says he needs to go. I looked at the half finished drinks on our table and realized I had two choices – wait until Kei or Mayumi returned, or leave our drinks and other belongings (none valuable) on the table and hope the Waitress would believe me when I said we’d be right back. I chose the latter and, thankfully, we had an understanding waitress.

I dashed downstairs with the knowledge that Kei or Mayumi would be back within minutes. What I didn’t count on was the over-zealous bus boy who cleared the table within seconds. He cleared all of our half finished drinks and we were left with a few children whining for their milk and a bill for the full price. They agreed to replace the drinks or only charge us for half but, by then, it was so late that we thought it was best to feed the children before we left.

About 30 minutes later, we finally left the lodge to catch one last look at the view…

…which we looked at for two minutes before Kei realize that he’d left his vest upstairs and ran back to get it. The bus boy had already handed it to the lost and found. You know, he looked middle aged but it seems he moved like lightening.

After one last check to make sure the bus boy had not taken any of our kids, we got back in the mini van and headed home, returning about 11 hours after we left.

A long, fun, exhausting, only-in-Oregon, day.

Friends? More Like Siblings.

The photo in this post is my entry for the latest I Heart Faces photo challenge, “Friendship”.

It’s interesting to look back over the last month and see how things have changed since Mayumi and Karin first arrived.Karin is not a shy child so, from the very first moment they stepped off the plane, she seemed comfortable in our house and with our children. But being comfortable and feeling at home are two different things and I think we can now safely say that Karin feels right at home.

This past weekend was the first time that Samuel and Karin really connected. And when I say “connected” I mean fought like siblings. Until now, Thomas and Samuel have kept up their constant bickering but Karin has largely stayed out of it. Now she is right in there with them, sometimes purposefully causing problems between the boys or trying to play on her cuteness. And I see this as a good thing. It means she’s comfortable. It means she can be herself with us, which I love.It means she treats our boys as she would a brother.

The challenge, however, is that the same rules don’t apply with Karin as they do with other children. When Karin takes a toy away, I can’t just ask Samuel to tell her how he feels and ask for it back because she doesn’t understand him. Of course the same is true of Karin – when she is upset she has trouble expressing her feelings in words unless Mayumi is close by to translate. Unfortunately it has resulted in a little more frustration and sometimes they act out that frustration by hitting. Still, I see this as a good lesson in patience (theirs and mine) and communication techniques when words don’t work.

So, where’s Thomas in all this? Well, he’s experiencing his own frustration. He doesn’t like it that the two little ones copy everything he does or when they take things away from him. He’s also having trouble finding his own space which is something we need to work on.

At the end of the day, though, the first thing Thomas and Samuel say when they get home is “where’s Karin?”. And Karin is all smiles the moment they walk in the door and they’re pretty much inseparable from that moment on. Maybe it was just a case of too much time together this weekend. Or maybe we just all need a vacation (coming soon!).

One thing’s for certain though, they are going to miss each other like crazy when Karin and Mayumi head home. Maybe, by then, I’ll manage to get a picture of the three of them together without the funny faces – or maybe this photo is a better reflection of real life right now, just a little bit crazy.

Five Things Friday Includes Smarter Food Labels, Fun Photo Ideas and More

Five Things Friday is a regular blog post where I share a collection of things that inspire me each week. Some weeks are focused on a particular theme, while others are a hodge podge of random stuff from around the web.

This week is completely random. Scroll to the end for the obligatory photo of the kids. Enjoy!

1. A smarter food label – great idea!

2. Love these Vector portraits of cultural icons 

3. Some really fun street art.

4. 5 fun DIY ways to use your cellphone photos

 

5. This interactive iPad Book that I really want to get for the kids (but secretly want for myself).

Plans for this weekend include cleaning, preparing for a camping trip, cleaning and maybe a visit to the Obon festival so I don’t feel like our entire weekend will be spent cleaning.

Also looking forward to a little more sunshine and some quality time with these crazies.

Happy Friday!

A Cloudy, Warm, Sunny, Snowy Day in the Gorge: Part 1

A couple of days ago Mayumi and Karin hit the half way point in their visit – which means they have been staying with us for a whole month.

A month!

On the one hand it feels like we have known them forever but, on the other, it feels as though the past month has gone by incredibly quickly. Mayumi and Karin have quickly become part of our family and I am trying not to think too hard about the fact that they will have to go home one day. Still, we will make the most of their visit while they’re here.

So far we have shown Mayumi and Karin around the Portland downtown area, given them a fireworks show, taken them to a local street fair, visited the Japanese Gardens and spent a lot of time at the park and in our own yard.

Last weekend it was time to finally leave the city so we headed into the Gorge for the essential waterfall/Hood River/Timberline road trip. We left the house at 9am and returned at 8pm exhausted, but satisfied with a day well spent. And Kei only had to threaten to leave Samuel by the side of the road once. I’d say that’s one of the hallmarks of a successful outing.

We started out on the Old Columbia Highway with a visit to Vista House. I have been in Portland for about 8 years and that was very first visit to Vista House – crazy.

The view was a little hazy but it was beautiful nonetheless.

The view inside was arguably even more beautiful.

Next, we headed to Bridal Veil falls which required a short 2/3 mile trek into the forest. Of course an easy downhill walk on the way to the falls means an uphill walk while carrying a small child on the way back.

While we were there Kei decided to make me sweat by helping Thomas climb onto a large rock in the middle of the river.

I stood by and tried not to think about all of the bad things that could happen while everyone else enjoyed looking at the waterfall.

After deciding that another small waterfall stop could compromise blood sugar levels, we made a beeline for Multnomah falls. Thanks to a little sunshine, it seemed the rest of Portland had the same idea.

The walk to the Benson bridge was a little easier than the Bridal Veil walk and was definitely worth it, even if Thomas complained most of the way up.

To avoid making this the longest blog post in history, I share more photos in Part 2 tomorrow, including a shot of the tiniest snowman in history.

Until then…

Hitting the Reset Button

Began my Monday morning with too little coffee and one car seat short. Thankfully I was able to stop at Starbucks for the coffee and borrow a car seat from a friend so I could get the kids to daycare. Monday is looking better already.

The weekend was filled with waterfalls, sunshine and snow (all on the same day!), a symphony in the park and a late night finishing the laundry. Pictures to come of course but first I have to get through Monday.

Plans for the day: whittling down the massive to do list sitting on my desk (photo editing, video editing, powerpoint editing), locating a couple of mattresses so my parents have somewhere to sleep during their visit, scheduling a cleaner in advance of the same visit, maybe getting the car washed and arranging a much needed pedicure appointment for my poor neglected feet.

In the meantime, I have these little monkey faces to look at for inspiration.