マディソン絵日記/Madison Iwai Says: 11.2010

11.25.2010

Vegas Adventure/ラスベガス大冒険

To start our Thanksgiving Holiday we decided to take advantage of the low hotel prices in Vegas this time of year and took the 4 1/2 hour drive on Saturday morning to show Madison the bright lights...what we didn't expect was a light show from the heavens as well during our rainy drive...
サンクスギビングのある今週は学校が休みだったのでここから４時間半の所にあるラスベガスへ行く事にしました...先週の土曜日に家を出発そして行きがけに見たのは虹！

Our first night was spent at Circus Circus and we were welcomed with quite a view...
緊急に一日早く行く事にしたので最初の日はサーカスサーカスに宿泊、景色は最高...

The circus acts were something to behold...
無料で見れるサーカス競技もすごい...

Our room had a painting with a bunch of animals in it...Madison spotted the dog and immediately started saying Won Won (Japanese way of saying doggie) while pointing...
僕達の部屋の壁に掛かっていた絵に犬がいたんだけど、それを見つけるなりマディソンはワンワンって：）

And Madison enjoyed brushing up on her complimentary rules of blackjack, roulette and craps...
ホテルの部屋にあったルールの本を読んで勉強中のマディソン...

While at the circus we dined on pretzels and Chinese food...
最初の夕ご飯はプレッチェルと野菜炒めご飯...

Madison danced to the music while waiting for our food...
ご飯を待っている間音楽に合わせて踊っています...

Sunday afternoon we moved on to our permanent home for the next three days...Mandalay Bay...it was a really nice room, but we forgot to take pictures...sorry...
次の日はここに居る間泊まる事になるマンダレイベイへ...やっぱりサーカスサーカスよりも断然綺麗な部屋でとても気に入ったんだけど、写真を撮るの忘れちゃいました...

The rest of our time was spent seeing the sights and relaxing as Madison is showing at the Bellagio while we wait for the fountain show...
それから３日間はいろんな建物を見に行ったり...３人でくつろぎながらベラジオの次の噴水ショーを待っています...

Time for a quick snack at the Venetian...
ベニーシャンでおいしいジェラート休憩...

Outside the Bellagio, right before the fountain show...
ベラジオの外で、噴水ショーがもうすぐ始まります...

Fountain show!!!...
噴水ショー!!!...

Atrium of Bellagio filled with glass flowers...
ベラジオのロビーにあったとても綺麗なガラスの花畑...

Conservatory at Bellagio...
ベラジオの室内園庭...

Dessert platter at Bellagio Buffet which was quite yummy...
ベラジオのバイキングにはこんなに美味しそうなデザートが沢山...

What we loved most about Vegas was how easy it was to get from one hotel to another since we had our car...and since the temperatures were in the 50s and the winds on Sunday were in the 50s, we were happy to be able to travel by vehicle...we read the Bellagio's buffet was one of the best so we decided to splurge on that one...we also enjoyed Caesar's a lot and the Venitian and our own Mandalay Bay (which is known for its incredible pools which were unfortunately closed) but we still managed to have a really good time on our mini-vacation!!
結構寒い日が多かったので車で移動する事が出来てとても良かったよ。沢山あるホテルの中で気に入ったのはベラジオ、ベニシャン、シーザーズパレスと僕達が泊まったマンダレイベイかな：）また戻って来るのが楽しみです!!

11.20.2010

Gma and Gpa Visit Part 2 and the Sickness／おじいちゃんとおばあちゃんの訪問そして病気

We apologize for being a little slow to post the big finale of Gma and Gpa's Southern California Adventure, but we have a good reason as we shall explain below...but first, when Gma and Gpa had planned to come out they told Anna they wanted to treat her to a 30th birthday dinner so Anna decided on a 3oth birthday brunch aboard the Queen Mary, a Titanic-like cruise ship that is permanently docked in Long Beach Harbor, after worship Sunday...the setting and food were both spectacular and it definitely didn't hurt that Madison's gift was sleeping the entire time!!
コネチのおじいちゃんとおばあちゃんの訪問の話を終わらせるのにこんなに時間がかかってしまいました...これにはちゃんとした理由があるんだけど...でもその前に...おじいちゃんとおばあちゃんがアンナの誕生日のお祝いに好きな所で食事をおごってくれるって事になっていたんだけど、アンナが決めたのはロングビーチに今は永久に泊まっているタイタニックのような船クイーンメアリー。それは元々クルーズで使われていたんだけど今はホテルであったりレストランであったり...そこにある日曜日のシャンパンブランチバイキングはとても有名で行きたいね〜って言っていたんです...そして、素晴らしい事にマディソンはバガブーでぐっすりお昼寝をしていてくれたので大人４人でとても美味しい料理を楽しむ事が出来ました!!

The buffet...
バイキング...

The birthday girl's first trip...
アンナの一皿目のお昼...

The children's buffet once Madison woke up...
お昼寝の後はマディソンも子供用のバイキング...

The view across the harbor to our apartment building from the porthole...
この窓から僕達のアパートが見えました...

And Downtown...
そしてダウンタウン...

Then Monday came (Gma and Gpa's last day) and while they spent the morning hours in Hollywood, Madison spent the morning hours throwing up...again and again...so that night Mom and Dad were kind enough to deliver some Famous Dave's Ribs and we ate in the apartment...whatever bug Madison had had seemed to pass as she was all smiles...even showing off for gma and gpa by trying to kiss Ellie...they are getting quite close :-)
そして次の月曜日はおじいちゃんとおばあちゃんの最後の日。２人が午前中にハリウッドに行って観光している間マディソンは家で吐きっぱなし...午後何処かで待ち合わせをして夕ご飯を食べる計画をしていたんだけどマディソンの体調が悪いため中止：(親切にもバーベキューを持ち帰りして来てくれました...そして奇跡的にマディソンも回復したみたい、ご機嫌にエリーにチュッチュです：）

Tuesday morning everything seemed okay...I went to work and Madison had a normal day...Mommy however, not so much...when I came home she was repeating Madison's Monday over and over, but by the end of the night was feeling a bit better and I figured I could still go to work Wednesday...wrongo dongo...I caught the bug overnight Tuesday and was knocked out until finally going to work Friday...while we shall spare you the details rest assured there were a lot of trips to the laundry room as Madison must have felt left out as she had a relapse and started throwing up again Wednesday to add to our enjoyment, but thanks to all the helpful friends and relatives on Facebook (special shout outs to Jessica and Holly) we learned our error was allowing Madison to continue to have her beloved milk...once we took that away the vomiting ceased...HOORAY!!!
火曜日の朝は普通...僕は仕事に行ってマディソンもいつも通りの体調の様子...でもママはちょっとおかしかったみたい...僕が家に帰って来た時には昨日のマディソンの体調の繰り返し...でも夜になると少し良くなったみたいなので明日仕事行けるかなと思っていたら大間違い...夜中には僕に回って来て水木と休むはめに...良くなって来ていたはずのマディソンは水曜日にまた吐き始めて家族３人揃ってバッタンキュ〜...ヤット仕事に戻ったのは金曜日...乳製品を控える様に言われてマディソンの牛乳をあげるのを止めたら徐々に体調が良くなりました...ゲロゲロ無くなって...やった〜!!

Here is one of Madison's Milk Meltdowns!!
でも牛乳が大好きなマディソンはそれが飲めなくて大泣き!!頑張れ！マディソンの為なんだよ!!

11.14.2010

Night on the town/デートナイト

Recognize the face on the right? If you are a fan of Top Chef you should...tonight Gma and Gpa were kind enough to babysit so Anna and I could have our first dinner in L.A. and it did not disappoint! We selected the restaurant of Season 2 Top Chef Winner Ilan Hall. The restaurant was set-up so you could see him at work the whole time...it was kind of like a Tapas Bar where Anna and I split 5 different dishes ranging from baby octopus to fries with dill, and his bacon wrapped matsoh balls which he is famous for...it was all very yummy...at the end of the meal he was kind enough to come out and pose for a photo...the other cool thing was who we were seated next to...
トップシェフを見た人はこの人が誰か分かるはずです...もちろん日本の家族には？だと思うけど...：）今夜スティーブとリンダにマディソンをお子守りして貰って僕はアンナと２人きりのロマンティックデート。ディナーに向かったのはロスのダウンタウンにあるイランホール(トップシェフの２代勝者)のレストランーガーブルズ...このレストランはどこに座っていても料理をしているシェフ達が見れると言う設定、もちろんイランシェフも：）そして注文した料理はどれも美味しくとても満足でした。日本で言うと本当にお洒落な居酒屋料理かな？小さめのお皿を５品注文して分けて食べたんだけど、写真を撮らなかったが残念です...他に凄かった事はこの人の隣に座った事...

Being a big fan of the too soon canceled show Samantha Who, as soon as we entered the restaurant we recognized her and when the hostess gave us a choice of the table right next to her you better believe we took it...we also made sure we were cool and didn't want to interrupt her dinner, so we had decided we would not say anything...then we got our Grebines, a BLT where the B is fried chicken skins instead of bacon...it was yummy and Melissa asked us where that was on the menu and we said well if you're going to talk to us then we wanted to say we loved Samantha Who and then Anna asked if she was in anything now and she said Mike and Molly on CBS and we thought whoops...she is the lead of her own sitcom now we knew that...we felt quite stupid and I said something like...that's right we haven't gotten into that yet, but we will start and she said, I'll check in with you...it was all very magical...she was really nice.
サマンサフー？って言う面白いコメディドラマにはまっていたんだけど、それに太った幼なじみ役で出ていた女優さん！せっかくのディナーだから邪魔しない様にと何も言わない様にしていたんだけど、僕達が頼んだ料理の一品に目が止まってそれどこにあった？って聞いて来てくれた！だからファンですって言う事が出来ました：）テレビの印象と同じとても良い人そうで良かった〜！今は違うコメディドラマの主演をしているんだよ。

So that was our big night on the town without Madison...Madison was apparently a great girl for her grandparents as well as they went to the aquarium and walked along the shore...a nice night was had by all.
マディソン抜きのデートナイトはこれでおしまいです...スティーブとリンダによるとマディソンも凄い良い子だったらしい。水族館に連れて行ってもらってとても楽しかったみたい。めでたし、めでたし。

11.11.2010

Gma and Gpa Visit Part 1/おじいちゃんとおばあちゃんの訪問パート１

Grandma and Grandpa Klein are here!! Well right now they are in San Diego, but they have been visiting for a week and will be here until Tuesday. Today since it was Veteran's Day and I had the day off we went down to San Diego and met my parents who had been visiting the area since Wednesday, at the San Diego Zoo...
コネチカットのおじいちゃんとおばあちゃんが来た!!もうここに１週間ぐらい居て来週の火曜日に帰っちゃうんだけど。今日はベテランの日でデイブは学校休みなので、サンディエゴで観光中のスティーブとリンダとサンディエゴ動物園で待ち合わせをする事にしました...

Since we had a little time to kill until we met up with Gma and Gpa we went to the playground area, for a quick run around, but it was very crowded...
待ち合わせ時間まで少し時間があったので動物園内にある公園に行って時間を潰す事にしたんだけど、とっても混んでいた...

Once Gma and Gpa arrived Madison quickly latched on...she always requires both hands before she starts walking...
おじいちゃんとおばあちゃんに会うなり出発...なぜか知らないけど両方の手を繋がないと歩きたがらなかったマディソンです...

We then went to the Skyfari Ride which gives you a bird's eye view of the park...
今日は、リフトに乗って上から動物園を見学する事にしました...

Nice family pic (minus our camera woman) on a very cool movable walkway that takes you up into the park...
動物園の森林に隠れているエスカレーターに乗って上に上がります。カメラマン抜きの家族写真が上手く撮れました...