Zen-ing: The Ishida answer to “planking“, but with a lot more Inner Peace.
I swear I did not set these up. Every now and then when we’re out in public, I’ll turn around and one, or both, of my children will be sitting in a meditative state. It has something to do with Ninjas or Kung Fu Panda or Kung Fu Ninjas…
This weekend was BUSY – but busy in a way that allowed us to catch up with friends, watch a few sporting events (well, for the boys anyway), enjoy a little perfect Portland Summer weather and, amazingly, get all of my laundry done.
Here are a some highlights from Friday and Saturday – with just a few photos. I’m still working on the photos from Sunday. It’s been a while since I’ve picked up my camera. I think the thousands of photos I took in Australia caused a temporary burn-out so it feels good to be getting back in the habit again.
Version 1: A little too serious
Version 2: A little too fake
I have no idea what is going on here…
Headed home after a quick run to burn off some birthday cake.
All in all, a perfect Saturday. Of course I left out the part where Samuel was forced to spend at least 30 minutes crying on the front porch in his underwear because he refused to apologize to Thomas for telling him he didn’t want him to be his brother anymore… Perfection is hard to achieve with a four year old.
Cue the beautiful sunset…
After a marathon 26 hour trip and a couple of days recovering from jetlag I feel like we’re finally settling in at home.
Let’s not underestimate the destructive power of jetlag shall we. We walked in the door at about 8pm on Wednesday night after the kids had both taken a two hour nap on the final flight from LA. They went to bed at about 10pm, which is about 3pm Aussie time and therefore a good time for a nap, so at 1am both boys were awake and ready to play. I think the boys and I finally managed to get back to sleep at 3am but Samuel jumped into our bed shortly thereafter and proceded to sleep on me for the rest of the night. Thursday night was pretty much the same story but it looked like we may have turned a corner on Friday – not a day too soon.
So, as you can imagine, I’m a little bleary eyed and cranky and hoping that good night’s sleep tonight will go a long way toward helping me feel more relaxed and patient before I start work on Monday.
Not that we haven’t had our moments of fun. The boys wanted to do some painting in the backyard today and somehow it turned into an Aboriginal Corroboree. I am incredibly grateful that I had the foresight to buy washable paint.
I have more photos and stories to share from Australia and plan to do so as soon as I have the ability to string together a few more coherent sentences. Back soon.
It doesn’t happen often, but on this day in my parent’s backyard, while the sun was setting, my two boys decided they wanted their picture taken… again and again and again. To say I love these photos is an understatement.
Wow – we have been incredibly busy over the past couple of weeks. We’ve visited zoos and aquariums and historic aboriginal sites and there’s still more on the agenda. I may even try to squeeze a little shopping in amongst all the kid-related activities.
But, despite the desire to find activities that will make the kids as exhausted as possible, I think the best moments have been those when we’ve been able to sit back and just enjoy each other – including time with Uncles and Aunts and Grandparents and Brothers.
Needless to say, these two have been spending a LOT of time together. They’ve had their fair share of fights but I am pleased to say that at least 70% of their time together looks like this…
Back soon with photos from our visits to Scienceworks museum and the zoo – and for everyone that has been waiting so patiently, I may throw in a photo of a Koala or two for good measure. It’s a cliche that I appreciate so much more now that I live on the other side of the world.
Usually, the first reaction people have when I tell them I am traveling to Australia is “You’re so lucky! I’ve always wanted to go.” But, for me, going to Australia is going home – like a visit to the midwest or the east coast for a number of my US friends. While we definitely plan to make this a true vacation over the new couple of weeks with hikes and visits to museums and walks through the city, we are also enjoying simple things like visits to the playground. In fact, getting the boys outside for at least part of the day is key to our sanity.
This weekend we’ll be enjoying some time as an almost-complete family with my two brothers, sister-in-law and nephew all visiting. The only person missing is Kei but he’ll be with us in spirit from the other side of the world. In fact, I’ll be happy to have a drink on his behalf when we visit a nearby winery tomorrow (we all miss you honey).
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some photos from a very ordinary visit to the playground a couple of days ago. The only difference between this playground and those we’d find at home was the wombat-shaped bouncy ride.
The boys and I made to Australia in one piece. We had a disastrous flight to Australia two years ago that involved delayed flights, being denied boarding, a forced 24 hour delay in San Francisco, having to fly United and, finally, some lost luggage, so I would be lying if I said I wasn’t just a teeny bit nervous this time.
Now that we’re safely in Australia, and I’m not in danger of jinxing myself, I’m thrilled to share the news that this trip was perfect. Every single flight was on time, I packed enough activities and movies to keep everyone relatively happy and the boys even slept for eight hours on the longest leg. I don’t think it could have gone better if I’d planned it.
So here’s the rundown of our trip with mostly iPhone photos, with a couple of DSLR pics thrown in. Most of the time I was too lazy to pull out the DSLR
1. Got to Portland airport at 2pm and stood in line forever to check our bags while people who checked their bags online moved through at a much faster pace. This is the only gripe I have about our trip (oh, and LAX but I’ll get to that). International flyers aren’t not allowed to check bags online, so why should we be forced to stand in a much longer line, with fewer staff to assist? OK, rant over.
2. Said goodbye to Kei at the security line that practically wrapped around the entire airport (slight exaggeration). Made our way to the gate and waited about 30 minutes before we were allowed to board while my children behaved like little angels. Here’s the proof:
3. Boarded plane #1 to LAX. A quick 2.5 hour trip during which my children drew pictures, read books and continued their angelic behaviour. It was nothing short of miraculous.
4. Landed in LAX and discovered that we had to exit the terminal and catch a shuttle bus to the international terminal, check in again at the Air New Zealand counter and then go through security for the second time in less than four hours.
5. Made it through a surprisingly-short security line and browsed the pathetic selection of airport food. Decided on a Pizza and salad from Wolfgang Puck which was as good as you would imagine and then found a place to hunker down for a couple of hours. Side note: I’ve been through a lot of international airports an LAX is arguably the worst. It feels dirty and the amenities are pretty pathetic. Would have definitely preferred to fly through San Francisco but I was lured by the promise of a SkyCouch on the LAX flight (more on that in a moment).
6. Let the kids watch a couple of episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender during which time I was free to read a book (yes, even I am amazed by that last sentence).
7. Boarded our 14 hour flight to New Zealand at about 9pm (on time). The kids were tired, but excited. Samuel kept asking if we were nearly at Australia but I had to break it to him that this was only flight number 2 and most of the trip still lay before us. He seemed a little disappointed but quickly perked up when he spotted his very own TV in the back of the seat in front of him.
8. Thomas was close to passing out from exhaustion immediately after dinner so we set up the SkyCouch. What an amazing stroke of genius to provide children with somewhere to sleep. While it wasn’t without its faults (hard to get to bags stored under seats, lots of kicking and jostling for room), the kids slept for a full eight hours. EIGHT HOURS! I slept for about four in a seated position, but it was enough to keep me going.
9. Kids woke up and watched about 4 hours of television before we landed in Auckland – although Samuel watched The Lion King about 3 times so I don’t think it counts as too much TV. Only hiccup was that I left my favorite water bottle on the plane. I’m a little sad about that but, as far as hiccups go, I’ll take it.
10. Went through security one more time (overkill) where I forgot to empty the kids water bottles like a travel rookie – a move that was quickly fixed with a quick “skull” (Definition: to drink in a single draught without taking a breath). Found our favorite place to hang out in the Airport and the kids played quietly with Lego while I, again, read a book (gasp!).
11. Headed down to the gate about 15 minutes before our flight boarded. I found a strip of relatively unoccupied space and had the kids run races up and down until they called us for boarding. To all the people who gave me dirty looks while I let my kids run around – YOU ARE WELCOME. You just don’t realize how much more pleasant your trip has become.
12. Boarded our final 3.5 hour flight to Melbourne. I managed to watch the end of a movie that I started on our previous flight while the boys watched their own TV for a while. Samuel then took out the lego so I set up the sky couch to catch any dropped pieces (seriously fantastic invention).
13. Finally touched down in Melbourne and this us what happened: flew through the immigration line (we were the only flight that had landed), grabbed both bags that quickly appeared on the the luggage carousel (huge sigh of relief), breezed through customs (even got to pat the sniffer dog) and then walked out the doors to be greeted by my brother and nephew.
All in all, the perfect trip. The boys behaved wonderfully apart from the appearance of Samuel’s “dark side” on a few occasions. A little yelling and demanding due to over-tiredness but thankfully no all out tantrums. Our flight even landed about 20 minutes early.
Of course I have a lingering fear that we used up all of our good luck on the way over and that our trip home will be disastrous but I think it’s always good to maintain a little bit fear. It keeps you on your toes.
Craziness abounds at the Ishida house as we near the end of the year for school, sports and, well, patios.
A quick peek at what we’ve been up to…
The last T-Ball game of the season narrowly avoided a washout. In fact the baseball diamond was covered in so many puddles that the game was moved to the middle of the field.
Samuel showed his support with a big hug – while Thomas was trying to throw his glove my way.
Bear hug!
After the game, the team gathered for a BBQ and the all-important trophy presentation. While introducing Thomas, his coach said he’s surprised he’s not playing in the majors already.
Thomas spent the rest of the weekend carrying around his trophy (but without the fake grin).
Of course everyone is winner in T-Ball.
Samuel was there too. Here’s proof.
Recent weekends have also consisted of multiple trips to rock and paver stores, Home Depot and, by default, mall wastelands. This one is currently “under construction” which means they’re in the process of demolishing and rebuilding the entire thing. It’s a rather depressing sight. Also depressing? Those dark clouds that have hovered over Portland pretty constantly for the past 6 months.
And here’s the paving in action. Just a few more to lay and we have a mud-free and very pretty solution for our backyard. Step number 2 in our 20 year plan to get it exactly how we want it. And when I say “we” I must admit that Kei has been doing most of the work. I’ve been lending support by fetching glasses of water, cooking meals and taking the kids with me to the grocery store, hardware store and shoe store.
So, as you can see, our weekends have been incredibly exciting recently. I’m looking forward to a change in scenery over the next few weeks, even if it means I have to put up with some more rain.
Sunday marked the final stretch of the Samuel birthday marathon. Apparently four is the age when children gain full understanding of the benefits of a birthday (presents! cake!). Samuel didn’t even notice that I was too busy to plan anything for him last year, but this year my Mummy guilt kicked in so we invited everyone from his daycare class and a few other friends for a couple of hours at The Playground Gym – we called it Ninja Warrior Training.
Side note: if you live in Portland and you’re looking for a big padded room where small children can run around and burn some energy, then you can’t go wrong with this place. The entire space is reserved for just your group and parents are free to stand around and chat while the kids have fun with free play and a few activities that are set up by the Gym’s “coaches”.
The party was great, with the only wet blanket coming courtesy of the birthday boy himself. Turns out that the only person he wants to play with is his big brother, so he spent a good portion of the party sulking and refusing to play after his friends arrived.
No one else seemed to notice, only his slightly mortified parents.
The coaches set up obstacle courses for the kids and then they were encourage to do the course over and over and over again. Awesome!
At one point Thomas declared the course to be too easy. I think he was looking for more of a Ninja Warrior challenge. Still, it didn’t stop him from doing the course over and over and over. Thomas also made it to the top of their wooden tree for the first time after many past attempts. He conquered a big fear.
We took a short break for birthday cake and snacks. I wasn’t able to get a photo of the candle because I was instructed (by a very bossy four-year-old) to stand right behind him as he blew it out.
And, no, of course I didn’t make the cupcakes. Helen Bernhard has been my dedicated birthday cupcake supplier for about six years. Samuel chose the vanilla cake with a Batman ring while Thomas went for chocolate and Superman.
Then it was back to playing. Thankfully, the birthday boy perked up. It might have been the sugar hit.
Oh, wait. Invasion of personal space alert!
These next couple of photos crack me up. I wish I knew what happened here to cause Samuel to make that face.
Thomas decided his obstacle of choice was the rope. He would have spent all day hanging on this thing if he could.
Finally, a genuine smile from the birthday boy. On the drive home he asked “how many days until my next birthday?” I think that means he had a good time.
Happy Friday! As we begin our well-deserved long weekend, I thought I’d share a few photographs from weekends past. Here’s what we’ve been doing between work and travel (I think they call it living).
1. The last piece of my birthday puzzle was a wonderful night out with my husband while the kids enjoyed a sleepover. We had delicious cocktails and enjoyed some live Jazz at The Secret Society while we waited 90 minutes for a table at Toro Bravo (totally worth the wait). Then we went to see the Avengers. We were running a little late so we sat in the front row which sometimes made for challenging viewing. There’s a lot of action in that movie. Well worth seeing though, even when sitting just a few feet from the screen.
The Bees Knees cocktail was…well…the bees knees. I may have had more than one.
2. The occasional sunny day has allowed us more time outside. A trip to the local farmer’s market means a side visit to the playground. Both of the boys are working on their Ninja Warrior training.
Don’t know who the other kids is in this picture. Friendships come and go quickly on the playground.
3. Speaking of Ninja Warriors, Thomas earned his yellow belt in Karate which is good for two reasons – yellow is his favorite color and a new belt equals renewed passion for Karate.
4. Practicing for a yellow belt has the side effect of little brother wanting to get in on the action.
5. Spring at a Japanese school means it’s time for Spring Festival. Thomas was joined by 109 of his Kindergaten classmates to sing about 20 songs (only a slight exaggeration) in English and Japanese. Thomas is the blurry one walking across stage in his blue Hapi coat – one of the few who dressed up for the festival. It apparently made him hot so he took it off before he even walked off stage.
I assure you that he was more excited than he looks in this picture.
With limited space, it’s a wonder no one lost an eye during this song.
Of course there are more photos – of neighborhood bike rides, jumping castles and dunking machines – but they will have to wait for another time. Right now, the weekend – and the sunshine – is calling my name.
Plans for this weekend include a few boring things like renewing car registrations and organizing my US residency paperwork. But thankfully also a ton a fun activities such a riding the “bat bike” (pictures of that impressive Kei creation coming soon!) and hosting about 15 four year olds at a Ninja Warrior birthday party. Wish me luck with that one.
Signing off with one final picture of Batman/Ninja Warrior/Birthday Boy.
Nicole Ishida Photography 