drew’s news

Last week we headed out to Arizona to celebrate with my parents on their 25th wedding anniversary. They threw a wonderful party, with good food & drinks, cake, dancing, and some touching speeches. It was great having the extended family together for a few days, and Leo had fun hanging out with his grandparents (and aunties & uncles) and running around with his cousins. (Yes, he’s quite mobile these days, with plenty of scrapes on his knees, elbows, and cheeks to prove it…)

There were a few dramatic thunderstorms for the first couple of days (in fact, the night before we arrived in Phoenix a small tornado tore up trees throughout downtown!), but the weather soon cleared up and we got in some good sightseeing too. We spent most of our stay in Sedona, where we gazed at the red rocks and took side trips up to Jerome (a cool ex-ghost town) and to some nearby native American ruins. We also spent a wonderful day up at the Grand Canyon. The visitor center at the south rim is only a couple hours from Sedona and makes for a solid day trip. The view from Mather Point is quite fantastic. Thanks Dad for being a great tour guide, and happy anniversary!

Our friend Alex stopped by the other day with his camera gear, and snapped some wonderful photos of Leo. I couldn’t resist posting a few. Not bad, huh? Alex is quite good - you should check out some of the stuff he’s got posted on his blog (http://www.door51.com/blog)!

Here’s Leo with a drum that he has taken quite an interest in:

…And a family shot (albeit without the dog - it’s next to impossible to get both our squirming kid and energetic dog to sit still long enough for a photo):

Thanks Alex!

REI is having their annual “anniversary sale”, so we used our 20%-off coupon to get a backpack carrier for Leo. We tested it out today on some trails in the Marin headlands. Successful test:

We got the Kelty FC 1.0, which seemed like the best option for our needs - well-suited for short hikes. Not as much carrying capacity as some, but a much lighter frame and the weight distribution with Leo on my back felt more comfortable than the other models I tested out at the store. Leo dug it too - he was snug and secure in his little cockpit, babbling the whole time. We had a really nice walk, topped off with a picnic on the beach. Here’s a shot of Uma chasing Daph along the shore:

May 5th was Boy’s Day, so Happy Boy’s Day to all of you with little boys running or crawling around your house. Actually, in Japan it is now officially called “Children’s Day”, and it’s a national holiday celebrating children of both sexes. But there is a separate day for girls (”Girl’s Day”, of course), so May 5th is still celebrated as Boy’s Day. Anyway, this is recent news to my haole self - I tend to think of May 5th as “Cinco de Mayo”, and hence usually celebrate it with Tecate, lime, and salt.

So I was surprised when a huge box arrived at our doorstep last weekend, addressed to Leo. It was very carefully (and beautifully) wrapped; we had no clue what it might contain. So we excavated through a couple layers of bubble wrap and uncovered a glass case containing a miniature samurai helmet! Sweet! But why? Well, I soon learned that it’s Japanese tradition to display a Kabuto (that’s what it’s called) during Boy’s Day each year as a symbol of good health and strength for each boy in the family. So ours is on display in the living room. It’s quite something - a very intricate helmet with gold and red colored plates draped down the back to cover the warrior’s neck, and a winged crest above the forehead, flanked by the hilt of a samurai sword and a bow with arrows, all to scale and tastefully arranged in the case.

Leo isn’t sure what to make of it yet, since he can’t put it in his mouth or crinkle it, but I think after a couple of years he’ll start to look forward to seeing it as the month May rolls around. Thanks for the Boy’s Day wishes Grandma & Grandpa!

Last weekend we drove up to South Lake Tahoe to hang out with my brother Kirk and his family, who were vacationing at a hotel at the base of Heavenly ski resort. They graciously secured an additional room for us, and we had a really good time. The snow conditions were what you might expect at the end of the ski season - slushy, with lots of exposed dirt and rocks - but it was enough to enjoy some sledding and even a day of snowboarding at Heavenly!

Leo had fun on the sled that Kirk brought:

On Saturday we dropped the kids at Heavenly’s day care service and enjoyed a kid-free day on the slopes. This was a first for us - Leo hadn’t been to day care yet! Of course, he was just fine, and it was a welcome escape for us. Here’s a shot of Daph and I with Kirk & Kara:

We all had fun hanging out back at the hotel, talking over pizza & beer and playing with the kids. It was a short trip for us, but a great getaway nonetheless. The benefits of going to Tahoe at the end of the ski season: no lift lines, and no traffic! Thanks bro for arranging the accommodations and inviting us to crash your vacation!

I’ll leave you with a shot of Leo and his cousins Kolby and Kayden:

This past week we hopped over to the Big Island of Hawai’i to see Daph’s cousin Chris get married. (Here’s a shot of Chris with his lovely bride Jessie.) It was a very nice, informal wedding - despite the fact that Chris had injured himself a week earlier and was barely able to walk for the occasion! The ceremony itself was conducted in a more traditional Hawaiian style, along with nice live background music provided by a great solo acoustic guitarist (which provided some comic relief as a few toddlers in attendance ran right out in the middle of the ceremony to dance along with the music!). And of course the reception followed with great food, drinks, toasts, and dancing. Congratulations Chris & Jessie, and good luck!

Leo appeared to have a really good time seeing all of the new faces and being passed around between relatives. Naturally he was pretty tired out by all of the excitement, and took two long naps during the afternoon. We all slept great that night…

We shared a nice vacation rental house in Puna with Daph’s folks and her uncle Akira’s family. Aside from the wedding, we had some good family time at the house. Since Leo was on California time, Daph & I were up bright and [too] early, so we made a 7 a.m. grocery run and cooked breakfast on Easter. Daph’s mom made dinner that night (kalua pork & cabbage!), and Akira and his wife took care of pancake breakfast the next morning. The fresh fruits were awesome! (It’s a shame we can’t get good papayas back on the mainland.) We were excited to try out Leo’s new raft in the pool - he endured it for a while, but I think the water was a bit chilly for him. But he had fun watching his cousins splash around…

While in Puna, how could we resist the opportunity to go see the current eruptive activity of Kilauea volcano? On Sunday afternoon we drove down towards Kalapana, where the highway ends in the lava flow field. A short walk from the end of the road led to a viewing area that the state had set up for watching lava flow into the ocean. A crowd of people was already gathered by the time we got there, but we found a spot with a decent view and watched the glow emerge with the setting sun. It was nice, but the thick steam obscured much of the view. In any case, Leo got to see lava!

We walked in the dark back to the car past a steady stream of people heading down to the viewing area, and as we drove away we were amazed at the number of cars! People were parked up to 3 miles away and walking from there, and it was a mess. We later heard that 9000 people showed up the first night they opened the viewing area. We were glad we came early!

We spent the last couple of days of our trip in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, at Kilauea Military Camp (KMC). Turns out there was another eruption going on at the summit (just ash, no lava), and the roads in the park were closed just past KMC due to poisonous gas and ashfall! That was pretty exciting, and we had front-row seats for the ash eruption. Luckily the wind continued to blow the plume away from us during our stay. It was a great trip, with a nice smooth flight home to top it off…

After a couple days relaxing at home, we flew out on December 30th to Honolulu to spend New Year’s with Daph’s family. This was Leo’s third trip to Hawai’i! New Year’s is a great time to be in Hawai’i, with lots of fireworks and feasts. (New Year’s Eve is one of the two days each year on which it’s legal to light fireworks - the other is 4th of July, of course - and it’s good fun.) For New Year’s Eve we hung out at Sheri & Brett’s new house and christened Brett’s new driveway with the blackened remnants of exploded fireworks. (Sorry Brett!) Leo slept through it all, but the rest of us managed to keep our eyes open long enough to toast the new year with champagne…

The next day Daph’s parents invited family & friends over for their traditional Japanese & Okinawan New Year’s feast. The food was amazing - mostly prepared by Kay (with help from Warren and her sister) with some additional dishes brought by guests. Ozoni soup, oden, shrimp tempura, fried pork, barbecued spare ribs, gobo, hijiki, fried fish, mochi, festive sushi rice, fresh-caught sashimi, and on & on. It was quite a feast, tarnished only by the disappointing Sugar Bowl football game (which was played out on probably every television in the entire state)…

We had a wonderful New Year’s holiday, and Leo had fun hanging out with his cousin Hunter. Thanks Warren & Kay for hosting!!

My side of the family gathered at my sister’s place in Phoenix for Christmas dinner. We flew in on Christmas day, which made for easy traveling - no lines, no hassle. Got to my sister’s at about 3, had a bit of a second Christmas with the next round of gifts, and then we ate a yummy dinner with ham & potatoes - and grits! I never was a big fan of grits when I was younger, but my brother and I both decided that this would be the year to reacquaint ourselves with this southern staple. Jalapenos added a bit of a kick, and, well, I actually went back for a second helping. Guess it’s worth trying everything at least twice. (Next on my list is rhubarb.) My folks really enjoyed having the whole family together for Christmas, and Leo got plenty of attention.

Next on the agenda was to get all the grandkids together for a photo, so the next morning we dressed them up in cowboy clothing and descended on a nearby photo studio. This has to be a studio photographer’s worst nightmare - try to get a good group shot of 5 kids aged 2 months to 10 years, all in one frame, with all the parents and grandparents trying to “help”! The team at the studio graciously accepted the challenge - two assistants arranged the kids and kept them occupied, and the photographer was on the spot to capture as many images as he could during the split-second that everyone was looking his direction. Tension was high as the arrangement began, but it soon became clear that these guys knew what they were doing. We ended up with several good shots, a couple of which are shown here:

It’s amazing how much stuff you gotta pack to travel with an infant. I’m usually a “throw everything in a backpack” sort of traveler, but between the baby and Christmas gifts we checked 3 bags and carried another 2 on to the plane. Times have changed! But it was a very nice trip, and the flight home was uneventful but for two lost pieces of luggage that were delivered to our house later that evening. Thanks Kari for hosting!

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We had lots of family time: spent a couple days around Christmas with the grandparents in Phoenix, and then a couple days around New Year’s with the grandparents in Honolulu. This was Leo’s first flight to Phoenix, and his third to Hawaii! Pretty well-traveled kid for just 6 months. Both trips were smooth and on-time (both ways!), and Leo did great. All his uncles, aunties, cousins, and grandparents were very happy to see him, and there was no shortage of open arms. I’ll post some photos in a bit, but for now, just wanted to wish everyone the best in ‘08. On to the next one…

In the midst of exciting baby news, there have been some unfortunate events lately too. This summer has seen the loss of two family members, and I wanted to pause for a moment and reflect a bit…

Two weeks ago I made a last-minute journey to Nebraska to celebrate the life of my Aunt Joanne, who passed away on August 9th after an 18-month battle with cancer. I met my folks at the Omaha airport, and we drove together to Joanne’s house. I have fond memories of childhood roadtrips across the midwest, when we’d stop in to see Aunt Jo and her two boys (a bit older than me). But I hadn’t been back to this part of the country in many years.

It was a quick trip, but in just the couple days I was there I could really sense the strong, positive force that she was in her family and in her community. Hundreds of people attended the somber, emotional funeral service - the outpouring of support was amazing, and it was good to reconnect with family that I’ve not seen in quite some time. Perhaps she should have had many more good years, but we are all enriched by having had her in our lives. No doubt she will continue to be a positive presence for her husband, two sons, and six grandchildren. Rest in peace, Aunt Jo…

And just a couple days ago we returned from a trip to visit Daphne’s family in Hawai’i. Her grandmother suffered a stroke and passed away on July 12th, and a memorial service was held last weekend. I am happy to say that she had a full life of 94 years, and, as I understand it, her passing was quiet and without discomfort.

I am lucky to have known her for the past few years, and really enjoyed listening to her great stories. Looking at old photos and hearing the kind words spoken at the memorial service, I could see many similarities between Daphne’s grandmother and my Aunt Jo - putting family first without question, selflessly offering help and support to friends and family in tough situations, and generally making those around her happier. She touched many lives, and will be missed. Rest in peace…