Pics by Auntie Nancy

One of the many nice things about hanging out with friends is that they take amazing pictures! These are a few pictures Auntie Nancy took of Sakura at Fairytale Town.

Isn't this adorable of Sakura and Kiki?

Fairytale Town with Friends

We always enjoy meeting up with friends. Luckily we have a whole week this trip, so we didn't have to rush and just have lunch together, we got to spend a few hours at Fairytale Town and it was SO much fun - the kids were able to run around, climbing, seeing some animals, and having a great time. Here are some pictures from our day.

Sakura eager to go inside Fairytale Town and "play" :)

Sakura and Kiki in the TeePee

Tripp, Kiki, and Sakura checking out the lambs and telling us what they say.

Taking time for a sip out of the water fountain - everything was SO cute here, even the trash cans which were painted to look like toy soldiers (I don't know that I snapped a pic, but it was CUTE!)

Hanging out in their clubhouse.

Sweet Kira helping Sakura get a drink

Taking a walk on the wiggly sidewalk

Nancy and Kira on the wiggly walk

Climbing up the treehouse - didn't turn out so well, Sakura got to the slide and FROZE - she's not too brave I guess....Mommy had to go up and we attempted to slide down together, again NOT a good idea as we slid down, the first curve took Mommy out and we didn't have such a smooth landing and Sakura had a nice bright red cheek for the rest of the afternoon.

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water .... and Sakura LOVED the water pump!

COOLNESS all around with Trippster!

Cool little garden - not sure who smiley is, but he was cute and looking into the pond too!

Just trying to get a decent shot of a 2 year old, almost 3 year old, and 4 year old -

thanks for the sweet face Sakura! Ugh!

Our little Tinwoman, Dorothy and the Scarecrow

What a FUN place for kids this age! We will definitely be headed back to Fairytale Town!

The really nice part is it is only about 3 blocks away from Auntie Fumiyo's house where we are staying this week!

Happy Birthday to Greg

Daddy didn't join us at Fairytale Town because it was also "Uncle Greg's" birthday and he felt it would be rude to leave so he and Greg and Freddie headed north to check out some fishing spots for Greg and Freddie, but when they got home we got MIKUNI to celebrate - OISHI!!! And of course cake - ice cream cake.

Happy 40th Uncle Greg.

Jessamine's Graduation Party

When we planned our trip, we had just gotten Jessamine's Graduation announcement and party invitation - I really wanted to go - we were there right after Jess was born, for her 1st birthday party, and many other special times so it was important to me that we try and get here for Jess' party, unfortunately we missed the Graduation itself as we didn't get to Sacramento until Friday afternoon and it was that evening, but we were able to make it to the celebration of our beautiful niece. Didn't get many pictures of either Jess or Steph, the house was full of teenagers/young adults so understandably the girls were outside visiting with their friends, but I did get a couple.

I probably should have gone outside to take some photos, but Jiichan had fallen down one of the steps, so we all stuck very near him - unfortunately it was inside the house :o( He was okay, but it was a pretty loud crash and we were terrified afterwards.

Congratulations Jessamine Megumi Greenspan we couldn't be more proud of you!

Cute decorations in school colors. Dean commented that they were "sucky" colors, I was surprised at that since they're SF Giants colors, but apparently they are school rival colors too. LOL - guess some things never fade - high school memories last a lifetime!

Our poor baby was STARVING (maybe an understatement) when we got there - I think it's rude to eat before guests arrive, but Daddy did find a cracker and brie for her to munch on - of course she kept asking for more...poor kiddo - it was after 2:00 and she hadn't had lunch.

I LOVE hydrangea's - Linda has some beautiful ones in her yard.

Sakura "posing" for a picture, with a mouthful of cracker I think! LOL

Jessamine blew up a special balloon for Sakura who was asking for a balloon since the decorations outside were pretty balloons.

Walking down the steeeeeeep stairs

The cake was DELICIOUS - there was one white and one chocolate

There's the Graduate! Jess cutting her cakes.

Sakura eyeballing the "cupcake".

There is Steph sitting down - this is the ONLY pic you can almost see her in.

Right after we had cake, my Inlaws were ready to head back to Auntie Fumiyo's - I wanted to stay, but the fall really scared my MIL so we headed out. Sakura giving hugs to her cousin Steph.

And a hug for Jessamine too.

SO Hard to believe that Jess is now a young adult, so bittersweet. She was a beautiful baby and now a beautiful young lady that we love very much!

Fun with cousin Freddie

Bobba Fett on the drums - see how fast those drum sticks are moving?!

Sakura has really enjoyed spending time at Auntie Fumiyo's - and especially spending time with her cousin Freddie (Dean's cousin Greg's son) who is 11. Freddie has awesome toys and is SO good with Sakura, he plays with her and she loves it...well all except that she is definitely 100% an only child and it became apparent when she announced that Freddie's toys are "mine" :o( I guess at home she doesn't share, but at school she does, so I'm not sure?! Oh well. Sakura had a little time out to re-evaluate her behavior and came back ready to "share". Poor Sakura tough lessons! As you can see though, she doesn't hold any resentment and loves Freddie!

Light Sabors are fun too!

Especially when you're 'fighting' your cousin!

A little Band Hero

Multi-tasking with Tony Hawk skateboard and drums?!

I think Sakura will really miss her cousin when we go home and yes all of the toys are hers, but it's always fun to play with "little people" not just Mommy and Daddy!

Wii fun with Freddie

Sakura and Freddie having fun

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A trip to California for "business"

Sakura saying "STUCK" and attempting to get out of her carseat on our ride....

BUT we MADE it - whew!

Could not have asked for a better 2 year old on the drive. The first night was SO long - after we got off work we drove all the way to Valencia/Santa Clarita where I had booked a room for us. We wanted to get as far as we could get without going through the Grapevine.

I took Sakura for a walk around the hotel so that Daddy could get a few more zzzz's.

This was Sakura's "smile" on command - LOL!!!

As you all know, Bachan and Jiichan moved to Arizona last November, putting their house up for sale in California. Well the house sold within a week, however the septic didn't pass, so it was held up in "escrow" for the last 6 months....the work was completed, and the buyer THEN decided that they weren't happy with the way it "looked", so they backed out. UGH!!! So we made a trip to California to relist the house, and assess everything. Dean will be busy in the next few days getting things situated with the house - we don't think it looks too bad considering they completely dug up the front yard as well as the backyard to put the brand new septic system in. Yes, it's dirt and gravel, but hopefully with some grass seed in place it will grow and there will be an even more perfect buyer out there.

Front yard damage
The backyard looks HUGE now without all of the little sectioned off gardens that they had. Just needs some grass.
Sakura was SO tired.... Almost asleep - and then it started raining!

Dancing with Jack Black

Sakura dancing with Yo Gabba Gabba.

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Mother's Day

The holiday I always dreaded before becoming Sakura's Mommy is now my favorite holiday. Every day of being Sakura's Mommy is great - but I especially love getting a special day to celebrate just that. I have said it always, Sakura is the best gift ever. I am SO Blessed to be her Mom. I am SO grateful to so many people for making my dream come true, but two especially important people are God and Airi - they are first and foremost - for making this day possible.

On Mother's Day in Japan, I was talking to Sakura about how lucky I am to be her Mommy, and how grateful we are to Airi and to God, Sakura responded "Thank You Mommy" - I cried. I know that Sakura doesn't understand, she is only 2 years old, but for her to respond in that manner melted my heart. She is a special little girl and I am the luckiest person in the world that she is my daughter.

We spent Mother's Day at my favorite spot - The Garden Cafe - for brunch.

Here are a few pictures from our brunch.

Every Mommy gets a flower - Sakura loved the flower so I let her have it.

My beautiful little cherry blossom

Waiting for berries

Tippie-toes

For dinner we enjoyed Teppanyaki at Ah-So and we took Bachan and Jiichan. I think this is the first Mother's Day I can even remember spending with my inlaws. We are SO lucky they are here now and we love spending time with them - and really enjoy seeing Sakura with Bachan and Jiichan.

Sakura wasn't fond of the big fire - so I pulled out the DVD player and she watched

The Backyardigans for distraction.

The Group at dinner

Sakura had a bit of a fit at one point .... because they don't give knives and Daddy bit her filet and Sakura thought that her Daddy was eating her food, she's not big on sharing food!

Mommy and her girl

Watching a little TV at Bachan and Jiichan's after dinner

Happy Mother's Day to all Mommies, Mommies-to-Be, and Pregnant-on-Paper Mommies!