Today is our sixth wedding anniversary. I love thinking about our wedding - it was such a great day: we were surrounded by great friends and family and in Vegas!
It's amazing how much life can change in six years. We've had two kids, lived in one apartment, one house and one townhome, moved from Florida to Ohio, and have grown in so many ways. My perspective on life has changed quite a bit, and is continuing to change. Life is good.I woke up this morning and Taipan brought me a gift from Yuta. It was two wonderful CD collections, both by Harry Chapin. One is The Bottom Line Encore Collection, and the other is a three CD set called The Story of My Life. I used to have the Encore Collection, but haven't seen it in about two years, and have been talking for a while about wanting to replace them. Yuta obviously knew how badly I missed my Harry Chapin music. The real gift is that he's all but signed up to listening to Harry Chapin over and over and over and over. It's not that Yuta dislikes Harry Chapin, but he doesn't love it like I do. My mom used to listen to him when I was a kid, so I've kind of known his music my entire life. It's new to Yuta (though I don't quite understand why anyone wouldn't immediately fall in love with his music). And I love story songs. (Y: The only corollary for me may be Tom Jones, Bobby Vinton, or Englebert Humperdink)We were listening to the CDs this morning and for some reason this line from "Greyhound" has stayed with me all day - "It's got to be the going, not the getting there that's good"Anyhow, it's been six years that we've been married. In some ways it seems like it's been much longer. And of course in some ways the time has flown. I can't wait to see what the next six years have in store for us. I can't imagine my life without Yuta, and I'm so happy to have him in my life; he challenges me to be a better person everyday.(Y: It's been an amazing journey so far, and I've been enlightened and enriched in so many ways. It does seem like we've known each other for a lifetime, and yet it's amazing to me how fast our kids are growing up. Every year I sign the anniversary card the same... "xx years down, forever to go"... and I can hardly wait.)
We'll be spending the weekend getting ready for a trip to Chicago. I have meetings there on Tuesdsay, Wednesday & Thursday of next week, and next Friday happens to be my Nonna's 94th birthday. My mom is flying to Chicago on Thursday to see her mom on her birthday. Because of the timing with my mom being there and it being my grandmother's birthday, we decided to take a family trip so that we could stay until Saturday and spend some time with my mom and Nonna. I'm glad everyone's going, but I'm a bit stressed right now thinking about making sure I'm able to get our the door and to my meetings on time. Since I work from home I have a very flexible schedule in the mornings and never have to be presentable for work. So I think it's going to be a bit hard on the kids (and therefore Yuta), overall it'll be fun. While we're there I think Yuta's going to make a trip to the Apple Store to get a long-awaited taste of the iPhone, and will probably also take the kids to teh Museum of Science and Industry. Unfortunately I don't think this trip will allow us time to see any friends :-(, but we're going back again at Thanksgiving, so hopefully we'll have some time then.
When we got dressed on the 4th we found patriotic shirts for the kids to wear, and Taipan was really tickled that he was dressed "the same as the American flag". We really have my sister to thank for hooking the kids up with their t-shirts.Yuta's sister and her fiance drove to Cleveland from Pittsburgh for the day, and after having a nice BBQ at my in-laws' house around lunchtime, the kids both took a two-hour nap. They woke up around 6:30, which meant that they would be awake late enough to see fireworks. And while they were sleeping I got to go to Target. Alone! Woo-hoo. And just so you know, Target is dead on the fourth of July; a perfect day to shop.We met some friends at the Tri-C campus in Parma around 9:30, and waited for it to get dark. The sun sets pretty late this time of year, and the fireworks didn't start until after 10. While we were waiting the kids ran around the big field and we played a bit of ring around the rosie. It was kind of nerve wracking as it got dark out because it was hard to keep track of the little kids. Next year we're bring glow sticks or necklaces or something.I was curious to see how all of the kids would do - our friends have a 3.5 yo & a 2 yo, and all four of the kids were fine with the fireworks. Taipan & his friend (who happens to have the same exact birthday as him) really liked watching them. For Taisim and the 2 yo it was more or less background.
Yuta took a ton of pictures and video, and Taipan likes to watch the video of the fireworks. We got home around 11:30ish, so it was good that the kids had that nap.
Last night the kids and I went to Target and bought Candy Land, Elefun and Guess Who? (Y: I went and saw Transformers ! Big-frickin robots rule! ) We got home too late to play them, which greatly disappointed Taipan. The first words out of Taipan's mouth this morning were "Mama - do you want to play Candy Land now?". He'd never played before, but I've mentioned the game. I tell him made-up stories sometimes, and one of them involves board games... and when he said "what kind of game?", I said "something like Candy Land", and it stuck. I actually had the game ordered from amazon, but when we took an unexpected trip to Target yesterday I figured we'd get it.Anyway, we opened it up this morning and he seems to really like it. A friend of mine gave me a great piece of advice, which is to draw two cards per turn so that the game doesn't take forever. So, that helps, but Taipan likes to go backwards sometimes. Mostly so that he can go over the Rainbow Trail, and sometimes the Gumdrop Pass. And when we get to the end we talk about all the candy we're going to eat at the Candy Castle.Yuta and Taipan played a round or two of Guess Who? this afternoon, but I'm not sure how it went. I'm looking forward to playing with him when I'm done with work.Oh, and Elefun - I bought that mostly so that we'd have a game that Taisim could participate in. My niece and nephew have it, so I've seen them play, andI think Taisim will get a big kick out of it.
We left around 11am to drive to Niagara. We got there around 4, checked into our hotel, and my dad arrived shortly afterward. From the moment we left the house on Wednesday morning Taipan was talking about going to Lego City (the official name is Brick City). We told him that we might have to wait until Thursday to go, but he started mentioned it again while we were waiting to cross the border, and was so excited that we figured we might as well visit as soon as possible.
That was the first of three visits to Lego City. We spent about two hours there on Wednesday, and first thing on Thursday morning he wanted to go back, and of course we went again on Friday before heading home. While it feels like all we did was visit Lego City, we actually did quite a few other things too.
(Y: Taipan wanted to take some pictures...)
us
overly paranoid woman
employee's legsOn Wednesday night we all went on the Sky Wheel, and I learned that my dad doesn't enjoy heights or any kinds of thrill rides or spinning rides. I'm not fond of them either, but because the Sky Wheel is fully enclosed I felt okay on it.... until we rode again on Thursday night when there was a pretty strong wind, and the gondola rocked back and forth while we stopped to get passengers, and our doors didn't seal all the way so there was a whistling that I didn't like. And on top of that Taisim kept trying to push on the doors, and that made me very nervous, especially given that the seal wasn't complete. So I pushed the emergency call button and they got us out quickly. The neat thing is that when we rode with my dad we got a picture of me and him.... this is the only picture I think I have of just the two of us since I've been an adult (other than him walking me down the aisle at my wedding), and I don't even mind that he's looking a bit queasy.
On Thursday Taisim wasn't her usual easy-going, happy self - I think she might have been teething or something, and she ended up taking a 2.5 hour nap in the hotel room, but not before having some fun at the playground.
While she and I were resting, Taipan asked to go to the pool. Mind you, this is the kid that hates water. I guess he doesn't mind it so much any more (we actually went to the pool again at home on Saturday). I'm sorry that I missed what looks like a lot of fun; we're going to Daytona in August, and I can't wait to do more playing at the beach and at the slides and play area they'll have at our condo.
Let's see.... we also played mini-golf - not fun with a 3.5 year old and 16 month old - they didn't quite get the waiting for our turn at certain holes, and that we had to move on to let other people do them. It was high stress for me. And we spent a little bit of time in an arcade, and went to the Rainforest Cafe, and got DQ blizzards & shakes. Grandma, Grandpa, Elyse & Jason rode on the Maid of the Mist, which I think they enjoyed.Overall it was a nice trip to Niagara. Taisim's not feeling well was hard; Taipan wanting to spend so much time at Lego City meant that we had to revise our expectations, though I'm not sure why we expected not to spend that much time there - he just loves seeing model trains. I think once my dad got past how touristy it was they had a good time too.
Next time we go, Yuta and I are riding the dang boat though (we'd planned to go the day that Taisim wasn't feeling well and didn't feel good not staying with her).
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo, how about you, you you? (Raffi)So, our plan for Monday was to go to the Cleveland Zoo, but first Mercedes and I were going to get pedicures. Mercedes and I headed out around 10 only to find that our appointments were scheduled for the wrong day, so we ended up at a nail place in the mall. I had a nice time - it had been a long long time since Mercedes and I spent any time alone together, and it was nice just to chat and hang out with her. While we were at the mall Dad & Yuta went to the zoo with the kids. It turns out that Elyse wasn't feeling well, so soon after Mercedes & I met up with them, Mercedes and Elyse left to go back to their hotel. The rest of us stayed at the zoo until around 5 and had a great time.
Taipan was anxious to ride the train at the zoo, which he got to do twice.
Jason was excited to touch the stingrays and see the bamboo shark at the Touch! exhibit. Taipan was also into touching the rays, which kind of surprised me.
After we rode the train, touched the rays and saw a few other animals we headed into the Rainforest to find the snakes - Jason remembered seeing the snakes when they were here in January and was looking forward to seeing them again. We got the kids rubber snakes for souvenirs, and Jason and Taipan had a great time having the skaes attack Grandpa.
We had planned to all go out to dinner, but Elyse started feeling really bad again around dinner time, so we called it a day so that Elyse could rest, and Yuta, the kids and I went to get sushi at Sakura. It was weird having sushi without Ama and Akon :-)
On day #2 of their visit, my dad, stepmom, niece, nephew, Yuta, Taipan, Taisim & I went downtown to ride on the Goodtime III - Cleveland's largest excursion ship! It was originally my suggestion to go on the boat, but as the date got closer I tried to convince my dad that we should do something else. I was kind of worried that the kids would get bored and be hard to manage on a two-hour boat ride.Well, I was wrong. The kids all had a blast. The boat leaves from a pier on Lake Erie...
(right next to the Rock Hall...
and Cleveland Browns Stadium)...
... then heads down the Cuyahoga River.
The neat thing about the river is that there are lots of bridges, and a few of them open/close or raise/lower, which interested Taipan quite a bit. And there are concessions on the boat, so having lunch helped give the kids something to do. And Elyse made a friend on the boat, so the older kids had a new person to hang out with.
The boat is three levels, and the lowest level is indoors and has a stage and dance floor. The kids spent the last thirty minutes of the trip dancing and playing on the dance floor. Elyse & Jason took turns doing Ring Around the Rosie with Taisim, and all of the kids loved jumping off the stage - they were taking turns being a barracuda, and the barracuda would jump out and chase everyone. 
The excursion is narrated, but don't ask me what they said. I didn't get a chance to pay attention at all, other than to learn that Lake Erie is the 12th largest lake in the world! I'd definitely go on the boat again, but probably wait until my kids are a bit older.
After we were done with the Goodtime III we headed to my friend's house for her daughter's thrid birthday party. My niece & nephew were the oldest kids there and understandably got bored pretty quickly, so they headed home early, while Yuta, Taipan, Taisim and I stayed for a few hours.
Taipan took, oh, about an hour and a half to warm up and wanting to be around people other than me. He wanted to just play in the basement, whereas the rest of the party was happening outside. It was kind of hard because I felt like I should be spending time with my dad, et al, instead of just abandoning them with my friends, so Yuta and I tag-teamed with Taipan, and he eventually came upstairs and later still he wandered outside to play. It was a long day for both of the kids, following a late night at the Brecksville Home Days. We were glad when we got back home around 8.
My dad, step-mom, niece and nephew flew in on Saturday. We met them at the airport, and Taipan was a bit shy at first. We rode the shuttle bus to the rental car hub, and the entire time Taipan had his head buried in my chest. Once we got to a place where he could run around with his cousins he started to warm up. It's very good to see them all, and we're so happy that they were all able to come to Ohio this week. We have lots of fun stuff planned, which I'll blog about of course.After the rental car was rented and the hotel was checked into (they're staying at a Hampton Inn, which is very nice!), we headed over to the Brecksville Home Days.
Of course Taipan was jazzed about the rides, but we got surprised because he wanted to ride one of the bigger thrill rides called The Sizzler.
At first he watched Elyse and Grandpa ride the Sizzler,
then the kids and I rode a low-key spinning pumpkin ride,
and we hung out a bit and watched some other rides. Then when it was getting close to time to get dinner Taipan told us that he wanted to ride something. "Ok," I said, "let's go look and see what you want to ride." And we looked at the pumpkins again, and some kiddie helicopters, and a kiddie coaster that my nephew had ridden a coupe of times, but Taipan was not interested. He took me to the sizzler and said "I want to ride that." So we asked the operator if Taipan was big enough and he said that Taipan could ride as long as he had an adult with him. So we went to find Yuta :-) Actually, I offered to ride it, but Taisim was upset from a bad pumpkin experience (older kids were on the ride with her, Grandma, Elyse & Jason, and they made the ride spin super fast, and Taisim was very scared and upset), so I took her to calm her down while Yuta, Elyse and Taipan went to ride the Sizzler. Yuta's not big on flat (spin-n-puke) rides, but figured he could stand it for three minutes to take the kids on the ride.
Maybe Yuta will post about the ride itself, but from where I watched, Taipan looked, um, concerned the entire ride. He had his head buried in Yuta's armpit, but his eyes were open because I'd see them peeking out every now and again. I guess he told Yuta he wanted the ride to stop, and fortunately it was right as the ride was stopping. When they got off Taipan wanted to be carried for a bit, and I can't blame him.
After that we headed to get some food, listened to music, and took a slow walk back to the van. On the way back to the van we stopped at a booth where Taipan got a Tootsie Pop - his first one. He opened it and inspected it for a while, then dropped it, and it cracked, so he got another one. He ate a tiny bit of it before he decided he was done. Ah, his first lollipop.
The kids also got balloon animals, except they weren't really animals. But Taisim had a blast with hers while it lasted. I think it was originally made up of six or seven balloons, and half of them popped before we even made it to the van.
As an aside - when I googled for a picture of The Sizzler, I found this site. Lots of scary stuff that will make you very paranoid about going on carnival rides. Or roller coasters in Europe. I'm glad I didn't see that before the carnival. Only go there if you want to read lots of sad stories.
