Thanksgiving

We had a fun time in Rapid City over Thanksgiving last week. The weather was beautiful and Cole and Kaori were able to go to the park with Grandpa and Grandma a couple times. Of course the food was good and plentiful, until I got done with it anyway. Then not so much.

Robyn and I ran in a turkey trot on Thanksgiving morning. It was a 5k run/walk. The highlights were that I won a cherry pie in a drawing (they had 350 to give away) and that Robyn ran another personal best in her time. She keeps getting faster.

Finally, an observation: we got our yard aerated this Fall. You know, when they take the little dirt plugs out of your yard so the soil isn't so compacted. Anyway, I'll not be doing that again as long as I have a dog to clean up after.

Christmas Lights

Dishwasher and disposal unit break down in the same week. What are the odds of that? Pretty good I guess, especially when somebody who is old enough to know better is putting rocks down the sink. But if you look at the silver lining you see that when you are unable to do dishes then you get to go out to eat more often. No dishes, no cooking!


I'll not be complaining about this weeks weather as it offered me the opportunity today to put up Christmas lights wearing just a t-shirt (on top, of course my bottom was covered). Of course going through my mind the whole time was that somebody out there probably tracks injuries from ladder and roof falls this time of year. Actually my worst accident was backing into the outdoor coffee table that we had. Could have been bad though since it has a glass top but luckily it didn't break. Anyway I think I've fulfilled my precarious position on ladders and roofs quota for the season.


Oh yeah, nog has been out for a few weeks now. Did you know?

Separated At Birth?

These are all people I've been told that I look like. I didn't say it; others have told me. What do you think?

More Art Pictures

The weeks have been flying and the art pictures piling up. Here are the last month's supply. Kaori's 4 are on top, Cole's below.

Happy Halloween

We had a kitty cat and Harry Potter visit over the weekend. It was nice to see them but they brought way too much candy.

Washington DC

A few pictures from our trip to Washington DC. We had a great time and saw a lot of monuments and memorials. Cole especially enjoyed the Air and Space museum where we saw the Spirit of St. Louis and the actual Wright Bros. plane. You know the one, it was the first manned flight. The Natural History Museum was way too crowded. We had a private tour of the Capitol which was nice.

I did enjoy the marathon, just enjoyed it a little longer than I wanted to.

One thing about Washington, there seems to be a severe lack of signage for driving and the subway. I swear, the Tokyo subway system is easier and more intuitive that Washington's and that's even for someone who doesn't read Japanese.

Art Class

It's that time of year again, art class has started up. It is kind of busy since it is on Thursdays after school; the same day the kids have soccer practice. But we only have to deal with that for one more week before soccer is over. The top two pictures are Kaori's and the bottom one is Cole's. If we ever find Cole's picture of the pelican I'll post that one too.

Congratulations to Robyn as she ran another 5k last weekend. She finished in a time that was about 3 minutes faster than her previous personal best. I knew she had it in her; she wasn't so sure.

I continue to train for the Marine Corps marathon. I'm about ready to be done with that but don't want the race to be yet because I'm too nervous for it still.

A Good Weekend For Soccer

Both Kaori and Cole opened their soccer seasons last Saturday. We had great weather for Kaori's game at 9 AM but Cole's was pretty hot and the boys were wiped out by the end of the game. I brought a bottle of gatorade for Cole but it was almost done at halftime. He poured the rest on his head to cool himself down. I told him that you usually only do that with water. He said "See, I told you this bottle wouldn't be enough."

This was Kaori's first athletic endeavor of any kind so we were happy when she first said she wanted to play. She did really well and had a lot of fun. But I suppose it is hard not to have fun when your team wins 13-0. After the game she said she didn't kick the ball too many times but is going to try to do more in the next game.

Cole's game was much closer and therefore more exciting. It was scoreless for a long time and then we started to score. However it seemed whenever we scored they did too 30 seconds later. Finally we got a one goal lead late in the game and were able to hold that advantage, winning 3-2. Cole played really well and seems to be a defensive stopper.

It turns turns out Tristen, my niece's son (great nephew? super nephew? second nephew?) also started his soccer season last Saturday. Not sure if he won though.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for Cole and Kaori. Kind of late this year, I wonder how late they'll be going next June. Anyway, they were excited and looking forward to it. Cole got some homework but didn't really think he should have on the first day.

I have to add a completely unrelated note because I keep thinking I should blog about it but keep forgetting. Unless I remembered it once and actually did write about it and in that case you'll have to remind me. Anyway, here goes: when we moved into our new house we brought a bunch of stuff from storage. In that stuff the kids found my old, packed away gumball machine that I got for a gift when I was in college I think. It was filled with jawbreakers at that time. It still is. Except now they are getting eaten. Twenty years old and they are still good. You know what? All this sounds really familiar and I do think I wrote about it before.

Last Sunday we went to the Wilderness Resort at Wisconsin Dells. It has lots of tubing, swimming, sliding, putt-putting, video gaming and eating. Kaori even went on The Hurricane, a big scary waterslide funnel thingy. And just like the Wild Thing rollercoaster she looked like she was almost in tears, but then went on it again. She's hard to figure out. Of course Cole went on any and every ride and loved them all. After being constantly wet for three days straight Robyn and I were ready to come home. I don't think the kids would have ever reached their limit though.

This week started soccer, a new experience for both kids. Cole did play with the YMCA when he was about 4 but that was so long ago. I'm trying to help out coaching for both teams but I am officially an assistant coach for Kaori's team. They both did great and had fun. We are now taking suggestions for team names. Current favorites are Orange Crush and The Bluebunnies.

A Brave New World

Seems like Kaori has entered a brave new world recently.

1) She has decided to sign up for soccer this Fall (did I already mention that?). This will be her first foray into the athletic world. It will be interesting to see how she does. I'm going to tell her to just be aggressive and go after the ball all the time.

2) Last Thursday a visit from Ellen and Kimmie took us to Valleyfair for the evening. While Kimmie and Cole became ride buddies and did all the big rides multiple times, Kaori decided she wanted to ride the wild thing. This is Valleyfair's biggest, baddest roller coaster. I was surprised she was tall enough to go. I was disappointed she picked me to ride with. I just wanted to see her after it was all done at the end but was scared of how it would be for her during the ride. After the first big drop she looked like she was going to cry and asked "how much longer do we have to do this?" Just a little bit I told her. When she was done I couldn't believe it when she said she wanted to do it again!

3) The training wheels have come off the bike. Now Kaori is truly riding a bike and is pushing for daily family bike rides. She also wants a new girl's bike as she has been riding a hand-me-down from Cole for the last year. I suppose she deserves one but it just makes much more sense to wait until her birthday next year.

Don't Wash Your Crocs

At least not in the washer and dryer. If you do they'll shrink up like a thing that shrinks up really bad when it shrinks. I really didn't know it went in with the load of clothes. Some how I missed the transition from the washer to dryer too. Maybe if it wasn't dried in the dryer it would still be okay. Now it is smaller and looks even more duck-footy. We already got Kaori a new pair.

National Night Out

Isn't national night out some thing that is supposed to get people out and chat with their neighbors? I don't know. That's what we did anyway. Our party was further enhanced by someone in our neighborhood winning some drawing that brought KDWB (local radio station), Timberwolves and Crunch (local basketball team) and 100 Subway subs (national sandwich shop) in attendance. I didn't get to meet the winner but her last name is Keebler. I'm almost positive she isn't an elf.

The other picture is just because I like it of Cole and Kaori taken at the lakehome.

July

Another 5k for Cole and Robyn last week and they both reached their goals. Both of them ran the whole way without stopping and beat their last time. I paced Cole to a 28:26 time. He really wanted to walk towards the end, he was working really hard. He did great though. Robyn came in about 10 minutes later.

Last week Cole was in golf camp while Kaori was in girl scout camp. She rode a bus with friends to the camp that lasted all of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. She was excited that she got to pet horses, sheep, chickens and other farm animals. They also did crafts, sang songs and cooked things. This week they are having fun in rock climbing camp.

Over the weekend we camped with our neighbors from our Savage neighborhood. At least we didn't get rained on but it was a bit chilly. We spent a lot of time driving back home because Cole also wanted to play in his baseball tournament. In the future I think we'll have to choose one or the other and stick with that. By the way Cole's team won their first two games but lost the next two and were out of the tournament.

Coming up this month: soccer camp, packing food for hungry children, getting together with friends from grad school, vacation at Wisconsin Dells and more...

Here it is...

...my big screen debut. The first video is the full screen as seen in the theaters. Can you play "Where's Anthony?" The second video draws more attention to my positioning on the screen. Can you see me now? You might need to push pause and search the background.

Well, there it is. Long awaited I know but it was worth the wait for me, I hope for you too. Autographs upon request. Let the comments begin. Also, in the courtroom I was not smoking. They put a cigarette in front of me to make it look like I was though.

A 5k And I Didn't Even Get To Run!

Robyn and Cole ran a 5k a couple weeks ago as I'm sure many of you already know (Robyn was so excited that she rushed home and sent out an email!). They did very well and were very proud of their performances. Cole was going to stick with Robyn the whole way but after a half mile into the race Robyn could tell she was holding him back. She told him he could go on ahead if he wanted and off he went. He ended up finishing about 10 minutes ahead of her. Robyn beat her time goal by about 5 minutes. Of course they were so happy with how they did that they have the running bug and can't wait to do another and we're all signed up for another one in a couple weeks. Yes, I'm running too because Cole wants to try and go even faster so I'm going to be his pacer. Results to follow.

And while we were waiting for them to finish Kaori and I hung out and played some of the games that they had set up for the kids. Then they brought out the hoola-hoops and that's all she wrote. Kaori picked one up and after she got started she didn't stop. People picked some more up and tried their best but just couldn't get the hang of it. They came and went and came back again and couldn't believe she was still going. They took pictures of the little hoola girl. She ended up going for 26 minutes!

Summer, summer, summertime!

Summer is fully underway now. Camps, playdates, sports, swimming, races etc. have been going on for the last couple of weeks. Right now Kaori is going to Kamp Kermit twice a week with several of her friends. She also has been busy almost every day with playdates.

Cole has been keeping busy with tennis camp, chess camp and baseball. He's recently discovered golf but not how expensive it is. He has golf camp later this year.

Robyn is still working out like a fiend (more hours per week than me!). Is there a race in her future? She has added job searching to that and helps me play chauffeur with the kids.

Me? I recently added to my shirt collection by doing another triathlon and am currently resting and recovering. I too have rediscovered golf. It's way easier than marathons and triathlons.

A couple things...

This is an article about my running club in Tokyo. You might not find the story so interesting but you should look at the pictures. Hint, hint.

This is a picture of Hiroo, Kaori and me tubing at the lakehome in Wisconsin. It was fun.

Watashi Wa Kai Ni Naritai

Okay, if you look real close and maybe get a little squinty, you can see a torso in the middle of this picture that could more or less resemble my general shape. The guy on the far left in the first row of people sitting behind the table of lawyers. No, not him, the other guy; right behind the box of charts and papers.

This picture is from a publicity brochure for the movie I'm in. My friend Chiba-san brought it to me. We think the DVD is coming out next month. Stay tuned.

Everything but Valleyfair

Chiba-san has come and gone and we did everything on the poll except for Valleyfair. When we went to the Mall of America though we did go to the Nickelodeon amusement park there. Turns out Chiba-san doesn't like to go on rides. That's okay, the kids had fun going on their rides. Cole and I rode the rollercoaster.

I'm not sure what Chiba-san's favorite thing was though. I'm tempted to say it was eating American cheeseburgers and drinking American beer. That's exactly what he had for four out of five of his meals here. Can't say I blame him though, that's good eatin'! (as Abe Simpson would say it.)

Mikata

Did I mention that we were able to visit Mikata and her owners a week or so ago? Well, we were. It was fun to see her and she still looks like a puppy. When we gave her away she was 52 pounds. Now she is 42 pounds. I guess she was taken for more walks by the couple with no children. They do have a baby now though but hopefully she won't be putting on those few extra pounds.

She's still very healthy despite being 15 years old. She's losing her hearing a little bit though and got a little overwhelmed by two kids and one puppy.

Sleepovers and April showers

Easter has come and gone and with it Spring break. Count at least one lesson learned as we approach the end of the school year and summer vacation. Sleepovers on two consecutive nights is too much for our kids to handle without surpassing the crabby threshold. One night is fine, no problem; but it is a good idea to get a full night's sleep the next night.

Right now my wife and daughter are out spraying off the driveway; cleaning the canvas for more chalk art. I guess they couldn't wait for the April showers.

Spring Break

Spring break time here in Lakeville and after hitting Sydney, Hawaii and Southern Japan (the Ocean Dome at Seagaia) the last three years we are visiting (wait for it) Lakeville! this year. Yes we are staying home and doing some swimming, exercising and playing with friends. We have sleepovers and birthday parties lined up and a dinner with family set for Easter Sunday.

Robyn continues to be a workout warrior since her vacation/retirement started last week. She is diligent (almost violent) about getting to her water aerobics class and follows that up with walking/weight lifting/elliptical/swimming. I think she is enjoying her new life. Maybe too much?

And now to the exploits of Hiroo. Last night he tried to bring in a chewed rabbit foot, Ewwww! This morning I had to go pick up the rest of the leg and it was big. What happened to the rest of it? Did he turn into a hunter or was he just a scavenger? Should I call the vet?

Pictures

Just some pictures this time. The top two pictures are Kaori's and the bottom two are Cole's. The tiger is laying beside a lake by the way. In the bottom picture you can see Hiroo with his new haircut. He's resting nicely after getting snipped last week.

What A Difference A Week Makes

Kaori was nervous on the car ride and once again had tears in her eyes as she skated out on the ice. She was still moving very slowly, kind of a shuffling walk on the ice. All the other kids would skate across to the other side and then back. She would make it about 1/4 the way across and then turn around and go back when they would get to her. But slowly she stopped crying. Then she made it all the way across the rink. And then class was over. When she got out she was so happy to say that she only fell one time. She joined Cole to skate during the entire half-hour practice period after the lesson. Now she just says that she wants to go skating all the time. Hopefully she'll remember this lesson once I try to get those training wheels off.

Hiroo is getting trimmed today, I'll have to put up pictures of him. Also, after art class this afternoon I'll have a few pictures to post.

An Icy Blast

Yes it was an icy blast and we were even indoors. Cole and Kaori were very excited and just a little nervous for their very first ice skating lesson. I think they've only been on skates one previous time each. Both seemed to quickly settle into the last place position in their respective groups. It seems that in Minnesota beginner ice skating means being only mildly proficient and I'm sure I'd wind up in the last place position if I were brave enough to join an adult beginner class.

I could only cringe and peek out over the top of my magazine when trying to watch Kaori. Being the slowest and repeated falls brought tears to her eyes and longing looks to Robyn and me in the stands. Robyn continually gave her big smiles and "thumbs up" in hopeless attempts to cheer her from afar. I finally quit trying to watch, seeing her fall was just too much, and took my cue on how she was doing by Robyn's constant updates. Cole on the other hand was getting the hang of it and was able to skate back and forth across the ice with only minor incident.

Finally the lesson part of the session was over and just the practice, free skate part was left. Cole quickly went to the end of the rink and started skating while Kaori was escorted to the door. I hustled over to give her a big hug and try to make her feel better. She just said "it was so hard!" through her tears. I told her how much of a trooper she was for always getting back up again and keeping at it. We watched Cole skate around and through the precariously balanced beginner skaters, back and forth, back and forth. Then a surprising thing happened, with Robyn's encouragement Kaori got back out on the ice. She didn't go far but she did go. She'll be back again next week.

Today's post script is that Kaori has a sore bottom from falling. This too shall pass.

Ice Fishing

Cole and I went ice fishing with his cub scout troop last Saturday. You want my opinion? No? Okay stop reading. Yes? Well, it's winter, give the fish a break. IT'S WINTER! YOU ARE STANDING ON ICE! Really, go home and get warm. It was cold and windy and not so much fun. There wasn't so much fish action going on anyway. A few boys reeled in a small fish or two but we got nothing. Cole said he enjoyed it so I suppose I'm on the hook for next year too. He was the one who wanted to go home early though. And now Kaori wants to try ice fishing. When the Daisies have their ice fishing outing, is it Robyn's turn to go?

Myrtle Beach Weekend

We had a great weekend in Myrtle Beach, thanks to the fact that we were able to catch up with the Moores who we haven't seen in three and a half years. John found us a condo on the beach

with an indoor waterpark. Plenty to keep us occupied even if they hadn't brought their Wii down (but we're glad they did).

Congratulations to John for finishing his first half marathon. He did a great job. Many thanks to our fans (read families) as they supported us on the course. Robyn, the experienced race watcher, knows the ins and outs of getting around a course for optimal athlete viewing.

As for my marathon, nobody was right in their prediction but that was because I didn't provide the correct time option. I finished in 3:19:56 which is a couple minutes slower than my personal best. I'm quite happy with this time because I was afraid I'd totally bomb and it would end up being a walking, four hour affair. I was able to qualify for the Boston marathon again and completed my first marathon without walking a step.

Myrtle Beach Marathon

As you can see from the countdown, we'll be heading to Myrtle Beach this weekend. It will be a nice family vacation at a great hotel with a waterpark but the first order of business is me running the marathon on Saturday morning. The training has been done. Maybe not quite as much as I'd have liked but it has gone pretty well. I'd like to finish in under 3 hours and 15 minutes which would be a personal best by over 3 minutes. Can I do it? I just don't know. I've been doing almost 100% of my training on a treadmill which is supposed to be easier than running outside. To compensate, I've been running faster than the pace I'd like to run. So the speed I've been running is about the same as when I was training when I ran my current personal best but I haven't run nearly as much mileage. So why do I think I can run faster this race? Well, for starters my in race nutrition will be much better now. Something I learned from doing triathlons. Secondly, I ran a hard half marathon two weeks before the previous race and never fully recovered. I'm definitely not doing that this time. So what does it all add up to? I really don't know. But you can provide your input on the poll question to the left.

So why am I telling you all this? Just letting you look through the window at the thoughts that are currently dominating my brain.

More Pictures From Art Class

You might have noticed a new way to interact with this blog. It is the little votes you can do at the bottom of each post. Go ahead and rate that particular post. I still like the comments though so keep adding those. So far I understand you don't like my complaining about the weather and mowing the lawn. If I complain about something else is that okay? Maybe I'll find out. Also, just because you provide feedback doesn't mean I'll listen to it.

Speaking of reader interaction, the current poll votes so far only add up to 5. The previous poll which was about your new year's resolution had 10 votes. Something doesn't equate.

More drawings from Cole and Kaori soon; I promise.

A Fun Weekend

We had a good weekend, too bad it is over. It started Friday night with Cole's pinewood derby. As you can see in the picture Cole won a trophy, taking second place and a chance to move on to districts in a couple months. His car won 3 out of 4 heats and was second in the other. At the end he was tied for third. The timing was down to the thousandth of a second and they were still tied after 4 heats. The race off was almost as close but Cole's car won by a few hundredths of a second.

Also on Friday night was the girl scout cookie dance; this kicks off cookie selling season. Anybody want some? Robyn and Kaori went to that and had a lot of fun.

After that we went to Rapid City, SD to spend time with my family. We shopped a little, played cards (who got the first place prize in the canasta tournament? It wasn't the left-handed dealer) and swam in the hotel pool. Cole and Kaori especially liked the pool with the water slide. I can't forget to mention that we ate and ate and ate all weekend too. We returned home last night and picked up Hiroo who stayed at the kennel at his veterinarian. Very enjoyable.