Fun in the Sun at Sycamore Park

We were planning to meet Camryn and Luke at our new favorite hangout - Super Franks today, but Uncle Ryan had some car trouble so he had to take Aunty Joey's car to work and they were stranded at home (or near home). We decided instead to meet them at Sycamore Park! I thought okay, we'll stay there for an hour or so, but once again 1pm rolls around and we are still playing and having a grand time. Again the grown-ups were starving so we had to chat our kiddies into going home for the day. Another fun Monday with Camryn and Luke!

Swimming and More Swimming

I remembered to bring my camera home from Grandpa and Grandma's house today! The kids had another fun day over there and managed to get in two swimming sessions. Some photos are from today, some from last week. All of them having a grand old time!

Obon Practice

What a week to forget my camera at Grandma and Grandpa's house! Friday we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa and I left our camera - with all our swimming pictures. So no pictures to post for Friday (yet) And today we had a very busy day. Started out at Super Franks with Camryn and Luke - this week we stayed over 3 hours! And tonight was our first ever Obon practice! Well, Daddy drove us and took a few shots with his phone so you can take a peek. Practice goes from 7:30pm - 8:45pm! Too late for us so we'll only be going to a couple, but Bailey wanted to dance this year so we'll give it a try. Boy, obon dances sure move fast! I don't really think going to these practices are really going to help me any. We left early and I think we musta learned 6 or 7 dances already. (Well, we danced them, I dont' remember any of them) Oh! I did know the coal miner dance from helping out at Tanpopo Gakko in high school! Other than that - WHOOSH! Ah, it'll be okay and I'm sure we'll all have fun!

Morning at Super Franks

Today Aunty Joey and I decided to take the kids to a place in Pleasanton called Super Franks and I wish I had known about it 3 years ago! This was the neatest place for kids under 5. They have three large playrooms - one with black lights and a fish theme, one with a small town, and a safari room with this huge slide. Free WiFi for the grownups and Starbucks coffee too. We got there when the place opened at 10a and stayed until 1:15p! (and we were thinking we'd only be there for an hour or so) The kids loved it and didn't want to leave, but the grown ups were STARVING so we had to run. We're thinking we'll go again next week! I've got to squeeze in the sessions before Bailey turns 6!

They even have circle time with singing, a story and parachute play! Like gymnastics, library time and music all rolled into one! LOVE IT!

Bailey and Camryn's picture they colored in the black light room

Trip to Happy Hollow

We were totally out of shoyu (including all those little packages I had saved) so we decided to go to San Jose to do some Japanese food shopping. Well, as we were getting ready I told Daddy we should go check out the renovated Happy Hollow. Last time we were there Bailey was around 3 and they had some slides and picnic tables and maybe a ride or two and a nice zoo where you can get very close to the animals. I heard they added a petting zoo and did some updates (not thinking it'd be a big change or anything) so we decided to check it out. We stopped off at Mitsuwa on the way to pick up our shoyu and bento lunches and off we went. (without our shoyu by the way) We got to Happy Hollow around 11a and wow, the whole place is different! They had a nice entrance, the place looks nice and clean, they have new play structures and rides! First we had our lunch and then we wandered around to check things out. Gregory wanted to ride the roller coaster first so we headed for the ride area. I think they rode 4 or 5 rides, played on the structures and we shared a strawberry ice treat before heading out. We didn't even hit the zoo area! On our way home we stopped in Japan town (not realizing it was Obon!) to pick up some manju and shaved ice (and shoyu), but we had to pass on the manju since the place was just too crowded! Kids had a great time at the park and we'll have to plan another trip out there to see the animals!

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Happy 4th of July!

We hope you all had as much fun as we did for the Fourth of July! We woke up very early to watch Daddy run the 4th of July 10K here in San Ramon. Had breakfast at the park and played on the new playground equipment while we waited for Daddy to finish his race. We cheered him on when he made his first round and gave him a big WHOO HOO when he finished. After the race we came home for a bit and found a fun package at our door. Auntie Lynn sent the kids a package and when they saw the box they knew exactly what was inside! 4th of July pillowcases!! Thank you Auntie! After lunch we drove to Stockton to celebrate the 4th with Grandpa, Grandma, Aunty Kristin, Uncle Bob, Oliver, Emma, Uncle Frank and Aunty Ruth. We swam, picked veggies in Grandpa's garden, had a yummy dinner, swam some more, AND had a firework show! Fireworks are legal in Stockton and once Daddy heard that he made a b-line for the closest stand. He picked up a fun box and a bunch of sparklers for the kids. We all had a blast watching the show although I have to say its a much different experience when you're watching your young kiddies play with sparklers!

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