Disney Vacation

Grandma and Grandpa Inadomi celebrated their 50th anniversary in Disney style. They took all of us on a first-class Disney World and Disney Cruise vacation in August. We spent 4 days at the various theme parks in Orlando. We got to have a special lunch with the princesses at Cinderella's castle, saw the Illuminations Fireworks show after a special dinner in Epcot, and took a private safari at Animal Kingdom.

Then we boarded the Disney Wonder for a 4 night cruise to the Bahamas. We stopped in Nassau and went to Atlantis which is a huge resort with pools and water-rides. The next day, we stopped at Castaway Cay which is a Disney-owned island. There we got to snorkel, swim and parasail. On the ship, there was non-stop activity (eating, swimming, shopping, getting character autographs, and seeing shows).

It was a memorable trip for us all!

A new cousin

Welcome Jasper Chen Machule who was born on July 6th at 4:32am. He weighed a whopping 8 pounds, 11 ounces! Suzie pulled an all-nighter (maybe her first) in order to be at the birth. It was awesome!

Happy Fourth of July

Suzie took Ryan and Lia up to Tahoe Donner to stay at the Machule's vacation house. We spent a lot of time with the Kumamoto and Fang-Horvath families who were staying in Incline Village. We swam at different pools, spent the day at Sand Harbor Beach on Lake Tahoe, saw an outdoor movie at

Northstar, saw fireworks at Kings Beach, and paddle boated on Donner Lake. It was a fun-filled trip!

Cami turns one!

Cami was baptized on Father's Day. We also celebrated her birthday that weekend.





She can definitely sign the word "more." She's also starting to babble a lot. Words that she says include "mama," "dada," "buh" for balloon, ball, or bottle, "nana" for banana, "ya-yah" for Ryan or Lia, and "na-nuh" for lamby. She likes to climb, but isn't walking yet.

Uh-Oh

Cami's first word is "uh-oh." She knows exactly how to use it and when to use it. She can mimic other sounds like "mama" and "dada," but she doesn't really say them on her own. But when she drops a toy or some food on the floor, she looks down at it and says, "Uh-oh."

She's crawling pretty quickly, and pulling herself up to standing position, but that is where she gets stuck. Sometimes, I put her down for a nap in her crib, and a few minutes later she'll be crying. When I go to see what's wrong, she'll be standing up and holding onto the rail. Funny girl. Pretty soon, she'll figure out the cruising, then the walking...

Memorial Day Weekend

We went camping in Coloma with the Tanners and the Fang-Horvaths over the 3-day weekend. Luckily, Amah came from LA to take care of Cami. On the first day, we set up camp, and the kids explored the riverbank. Craig had the firepit raging in the evening, and we roasted marshmallows after the wonderful dinner that was prepared by Jill and Craig.

The next day, we went on the South Fork of the American River for some Class 3 river rafting, Our guides, Lee and Jose, successfully navigated our 2 rafts down the river to Folsom Lake. The water was cold, but the air was warm--it was a perfect combination. The rapids were exciting. As we approached them, the kids would get down in the front of the raft. The water came over the top and drenched us! The boys would look back at us with eyes as big as pizzas (to quote Craig)! In the calm waters, Matthew and some of the kids jumped into the river just for a few seconds to cool off. When we got back to camp, Maria and George made dinner, and we just relaxed.

The last morning, we made potato pancakes and eggs Benedict. Afterwards, we cleaned up while the kids played, and got one last thrill riding the golf cart to and from the parking area as we loaded up the cars. It was a great time for all. Hopefully, we can go back again next year.

The BIG Ten Minus One

Ryan turned 9 on May 24th. He was recognized at school that day. Later, he had a few of his closest friends over for a pizza-making, game-playing, TV-watching, sugar-ingesting bacchanal. Happy Birthday, Ryan! We love you!

The Cami Update

Cami is 10 months now. She started crawling, but she occasionally sticks her right leg out. Phyllis said it looked like she was going into a breakdance move--the helicopter!

Cami can also play peek-a-boo! When we say, "Where's Cami?," she will put her hands up to try to cover her eyes. Then she lets them down, and we exclaim, "Peek-a-boo!" And she smiles. Such a cutie...

Easter and Spring Break

We spent our Spring Break at the Solimar Beach house in Ventura. When we arrived, the Glaser clan was there, including Robert's parents and his sister and her kids. We got to celebrate Easter together and even had a little egg hunt along with the Kumamotos and Fang-Horvaths who were all staying in Ventura, too!

The weather was varied...some days were overcast, some were sunny, and some were windy. It didn't matter, because the kids had a blast.

When the Glasers left, Noah stayed with us! It was his first time away from his Mommy and Daddy. We loved playing with the older kids.

Later in the week, Grandma and Grandpa came to join us. We went to the Santa Barbara Zoo and the Montecito Cafe. And thanks to them, Matthew and I were able to go out for an evening with David, Tram, George, and Maria.

Unfortunately, the week came to a close. We drove home with Cami, but Ryan and Lia stayed and extra day with the Kumamotos.

Diamond Peak

Ryan, Lia and I went to Lake Tahoe with the Kumamotos. Luckily, Amah came to Oakland to babysit Cami since Matthew had to work. We stayed at a townhouse in Incline Village. The snow was melting quickly, but there was enough for the kids to spend 2 days in the ski school at Diamond Peak, a local ski resort. It was really nice, because the adults (Tram, David, and I) could actually leave the premises and go shopping. We hit the Reno REI, Costco, and Patagonia Outlet. It's a good thing we had to pick up the kids, otherwise I would have spent a lot more money!

The kids had a really nice time together. By the end of the first day, they were looking very confident on the slopes. And they got good enough to go on some blue runs.

The boys had to leave on Saturday, but Tram, Dana, Lia, and I stayed an extra day. We were able to have a leisurely breakfast and spend time at the lake before heading out. It was a beautiful day.

Squishy Face

Cami the ham...She's nine months old today. For the past few months, she's been making this scrunched up face and also making a sniffing noise to go along with it. I came to realize that this was her way of smiling and being funny!

Her other trick is clapping. The other day, Miho came by and I was holding Cami on my lap. I said, "Cami, can you clap, clap, clap?" And sure enough, she started clapping. Miho was impressed and I said, "I didn't actually know if she would really do it!" What a smart girl.

She is just starting to get in to the crawling position. She really wants to be mobile. Any day now, I'll see her cross the room.

She loves her Cheerios, and she started eating real peas and rice, not just the baby food. She's a good eater, just like her brother and sister were.

March birthdays!

We celebrated Lia's 7th and Phyllis's 37th with some family and close friends on St. Patty's Day. Amah flew into town and got a big dose of the grandkids. The following weekend, Lia had her birthday party with her school friends at the Iron Works Climbing Gym in Berkeley. They had fun just "hanging out" together!! I can't believe my little girl is already seven--going on 13! Luckily, we still have Cami!

SJUMC and SACBC

Ryan's team played in a tournament in Sacramento, where apparently the kids have nothing better to do than play basketball. On Saturday, we played 2 games. The first game was against a local East Bay team, and Ryan's team won. Our second game was against one of the Sacramento powerhouses who dominated the game by over 30 points! On Sunday, we faced another Sac team. Once again, our boys got a pounding, but at least they had fun getting pounded. They played their hearts out and got 4th place (out of 6).

Lia's team played 2 games at SACBC's tournament in Fremont. They lost both games, but that didn't seem to bother them. The second team they played even "held back" per their coach's instructions since they were clearly better than our kids. It was an honorable move on the coach's part.

Now we have a break from basketball...moving on... to spring soccer, golf, tennis, swimming...woohooooo

The First Tournament

She shoots...she scores! Lia's team won 3rd place (out of 3 teams) at the Ohtani Jamboree. In the first game, she took a spill as she and Alexandra played bumper boats and collided. In the second game, they lost 6-3 to BMU. The 3 points that we scored were thanks to Lia's free throws. Luckily, I was not present at that game, so Lia could feel less pressured to score! I think I make her nervous when I shout "SHOOT THE BALL!!!!" at her during the games.

Ryan's team did great! They won 1st place (out of 4 teams). They played against a co-ed team that they had played twice before (each team had one win). But at the Jamboree, Ryan and his teammates played good defense and came out ahead. The second game was against a San Mateo team whom they had never met. Before the game, Ryan said "I have a bad feeling about this." However, they played hard and were able to beat them 14-10. The best part of the tournament for these boys was when Coach Marty rewarded them with Yu-gi-Oh! cards.

We are really proud of all of the kids for playing their best. It was a long and busy day, but they came home and happily displayed their participation trophies in their rooms.

Matthew Turns 40!!

Happy Birthday to you,....!! We had a really nice celebration at our house on February 17th. Matthew was very surprised by the appearance of his parents the day before the party. It was a beautiful day in Oakland. We could not have asked for better weather. Young and "not so young anymore" seemed to enjoy the BBQ from Everett and Jones as well as the sushi. The cake had an image of a young skateboarder. Matthew will get to re-live his teen years when he goes to pick out his b-day gift--a skateboard.

Ohtani B-Ball

Ryan and Lia are playing basketball in a Japanese league. Here is a picture of Lia and her team. She's number 22 (as in born on the 22nd of March). Don't let the fact that it is a Japanese league fool you. Only half of her team is part-Japanese. This is the first time that these kids are playing basketball. There are no scores kept, but the team has made 1 basket so far in the whole season. Most of them lack the strength to even shoot the ball high enough to make a basket. (Some of them lack the attention span to know what side their basket is on.) They are having a great time and learning so much. Matthew gets to referee every now and then. I get to yell and scream from the sidelines. It's fun for all!

Aaaargh!!!!

Okay, so I've been trying to update this blog for the past hour, but I couldn't sign in. I guess my memory is not what it used to be. I forgot my username (which turned out to just be my e-mail address). And when I tried to use the blogger function to help me recall it, I was given an old username that was not linked to this blog. Well, finally, I clicked on something else, and it got me here.

Anyway, I wanted to post a some photos of the kids. Ryan is 8 1/2, Lia is 6 1/2, and Cami is 6 months old.