Ready to Travel/旅行の準備オッケー

Well almost...the toughest part of the passport process was completed today...the picture :-) At least we hope it was the toughest...tomorrow we will get Anna her first American passport and Madison her first ever passport...we have to visit the post office for that, so please keep us in your prayers :-)
になりそう...パスポートの手続きの一番大変な事は終了...って写真の事：）それが一番大変だと良いんだけど...明日家族３人で郵便局までアンナの初めてのアメリカンパスポートとマディソンの初めてのパスポートを取る手続きに行くので、全部うまく行くように祈っててね：）

The CVS photo lady was very patient and after many attempts the final outcome was incredible...we will have to share that another time...instead enjoy Anna's sneak pics while the photo lady was occupied elsewhere...
写真を撮ってくれたお姉さんは根気強く何枚も写真を撮って最後の最後に撮れた写真はすっご〜い！今は見せれないからまた今度...アンナがこっそり撮った写真をお楽しみください：）

I was behind the screen to make sure Madison stayed on the stool...
she first wondered who was grabbing her...
僕がスクリーンの後ろでマディソンを支えていたんだけど...
最初誰か気になっていたみたい...

Then she tried to find the mystery man...
見ーっつけた...

And finally she just decided to enjoy it...
写真取られるの楽しいね〜...
Funnily, photo lady said that the passport people don't like to see you smiling in the photos so of course the only thing Madison wanted to do was to cheese it...but as I said before the final outcome is incredible...all in due time :-)
この写真のお姉さんによると赤ちゃんのパスポート用の写真はあんまり笑っているのは駄目らしい打から、少し真面目そうな表情を撮ろうとしたんだけどマディソンは笑顔の連発...でも最初に言った通り出来上がりの写真は超パーフェクト〜！

BONUS PIC OF THE DAY: Madison in her wicked cute summer PJs...
ボーナス写真：マディソンのとってもカワイイパジャマの姿...

OSMT-Our Secret Mission Trip/極秘検索旅行の巻

This past week has been my Spring Break...it actually continues until Wednesday which is really nice...Sunday after I preached at our congregation we headed off on Our Secret Mission Trip (actually only secret to most of my co-workers, all of my students and most of you guys in cyberspace)...it took us almost two hours to just get to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and through Staten Island...then I somehow went the wrong way on I-95 in Jersey...once we finally figured that one out, we made pretty good time through Philly and D.C. and Baltimore. Then we hit pouring rain in Richmond, Virginia and since we had already booked a hotel room on-line about an hour and a half from our final destination in South Hill, VA as Mapquest said it would only take about 7 1/2 hours to get there...we pressed on and near midnight, after 10 hours of travel we tucked in for the night...the next day we completed Our Secret Mission Trip to...

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA!!!
今週始まった学校の春休みは来週の火曜日までなので、日曜日に教会でミサが終わった後極秘旅行(僕の仕事仲間と生徒達には内緒なのです)に出発...スタッテンアイランドへ通っているベラザノ橋まで２時間もかかったり、間違えて高速９５を反対方向に行ったりと最初が大変だったけど、その後は何事も無くフィリー、ディーシー、バルティモアを越えて南に下りました。リッチモンドに着いた辺で豪雨に降られて本当は運転し続けたくなかったんだけど、あらかじめ予約をしてあったホテルまでがんばってもう１時間半行く事に...１１時ちょっと過ぎぐらいにやっとホテルに到着。１０時間のドライブの後一晩泊まって明日はついに極秘旅行先の...
北キャロライナ州、ラリーへ!!!

So now we share our secret...we hope to make Raleigh our future home this summer...I had two interviews at schools and we also looked at houses and apartments as we decide what to do...while the interviews went well they unfortunately couldn't hire me then as they hadn't been given their allocations for the '10-'11 school year yet, so that was unfortunate...but we still had fun looking at houses and apartments and hopefully the middle of this month we will receive some good news and get to move forward with our housing plans which we will share more of at that time.
ここで秘密はおわり...今年の夏からラリーで暮らす予定を立てているんです...僕が２つの高校で面接をした後、いろんな家を見回ったり。残念ながらまだ何人雇えるか分からない学校側は僕を気に入ってくれたけど、その場で仕事が確実にできなかったから後２週間ぐらいしないと分からないけど、確実になり次第家を買う予定です。細かい事はまだ内緒です。

The last school I interviewed with backed right up to a beautiful city park that has basketball and tennis courts, a pool, a dog park and a playground...as well as a beautiful tree...
２校目の高校の裏側にあるきれいな公園(バスケ、テニス、プール、遊び場と犬の公園)で...綺麗な木の下で...

Madison loved the swing...
マディソンのお気に入りのブランコ...
My Dad was kind enough to donate some of his Choice Hotel points so we stayed out by the airport at a Cambria Suites...it was very nice and had an indoor pool which Madison wasn't too sure of the first night and then really warmed up to...
僕のお父さんからホテル用のポイントを貰って無料で４泊することができました。しかもキャンブリアスイートって言うとってもいいホテルに：）ここに室内プールがあったんだけど最初の日は入りたがらなかったマディソンも最後の日には...

First Day in Raleigh:
ラリー初日：

Last Day in Raleigh:
ラリー最終日：

Don't worry we didn't put her in the hot tub...
大丈夫、このあっついお風呂には入れなかったから...

After all her swimming she had worked up quite an appetite...
やっぱりいっぱい泳いだ後はお腹が空くね...
We also found time to visit downtown Raleigh and the Marbles Kids Museum...
子供用の博物館に行く事が出来ました...

Madison enjoyed the balls...
ボールが面白いね...っていうかおいしいね...

And the bricks...

ブロックだ〜...

While visiting our housing options, Madison loved the golf cart rides...
モデルハウスを見学する時に乗って移動したゴルフカートをとっても気に入ったマディソン...

On the return trip I had the brilliant idea to "swing by" Virginia Beach for a pit stop and then head up Route 13 North which looked like a nice scenic, straight shot over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel which we found out is the second longest bridge in the United States...what we didn't know was that Route 13 is littered with stop lights and towns and that some of those towns target out of towners who barely run red lights (it was yellow when I started) and give them $161 tickets...grrrrrrrr!!! So we are letting everyone know who comes to visit us in Raleigh...do not be tricked into taking Route 13...it is not worth it!!! After a total of 15 hours of travel (including our three hour pit stop at Virginia Beach) we arrived home just before midnight Friday and enjoyed a night in our own beds!!
帰り道にバージニアビーチに寄り道して海岸沿いをドライブしてアメリカで第２に長いチェセピーク海岸橋を通って行こうと計画。景色はとても良かったんだけど橋を通った後に使って北に行ったルート１３っていう道は最悪！黄色で通ったはずなのに赤だったって警察官に止められて１６０ドルも罰金...県外の車を狙って止める警察が多いらしい...打からラリーにクライン家に会いに来る時はぜ〜ったいルート１３は使わない事!!後悔するよ!!３時間の寄り道を合わせて１５時間のドライブの後夜の１２時頃に無事に到着、自分達のベッドでぐっすり眠る事が出来ました：）

BONUS PICS: One of Madison's playgroup friends, Masaki's 1st Birthday Party...Here is the happy family
ボーナス写真：マディソンの友達のマサキ君の誕生日会で...幸せそうなラウ一家。

Madison and the birthday boy enjoy the view from the 22nd floor of the Benjamin Hotel in mid-town Manhattan...
マンハッタンにあるベンジャミンホテルの２２階の窓からの景色を楽しんでいるマディソンとマサキ君...
Madison thinking...in one month this will all be for me :-)
マディソンの頭の中...後１ヶ月で私が主役のパーティー：）

Already a Facebook sensation with over 5 likes :-) We end with one of our better Daughter on Daddy's shoulders pictures...
フェイスブックで沢山の人達が気に入ってくれてる話題のツーショット：）パパと娘の肩車ショット...

誕生日会の招待状：）/Birthday Party Invite:-)

最近全然ブログ書かずにごめんなさ〜い...あんまり書く事がなかったのでマディソンの最近のお気に入りを紹介します...
We apologize for being blogless for a while...Since nothing very newsworthy has happened lately...Here are some of Madison's favorite things...

マディソンがお気に入りでする事は...
1. つい最近なんだけど、３秒ぐらい一人で立っていられるようになった事...
2. トイレットペーパーをビリビリに破って床を散らかす事...
3. アクティビティテーブルを押し回ってて歩く練習をする事...
4. 本をただ齧るんじゃなくて仕掛けのある本とかをちゃんとめくって遊べるようになった事...
Her Favorite Things To Do...
1. Last couple of days Madison started to be able to stand on her own for about 3 seconds!
2. She likes to play with toilet paper and make a shredded mess on the floor...
3. Still likes to push the activity table around and practice walking.
4. Looking at books! She is finally flipping through certain fun books and playing with them instead of eating them. Her two favorite books are Wet Pet, Dry Pet by Dr. Suess and Barn Door Book:-)

マディソンのお気に入りの食べ物は...
1. バナナが大好きでおやつにほぼ半分は食べちゃうな〜。
2. ママの作った鱈とほうれん草のリゾットや 野菜と鶏肉のトマトシチューや さつま芋と林檎のパンお粥などなど美味しそうに食べてくれてま〜す！
3. もちろんエリー達のご飯をたまに口に入れてる時も。
Her Favorite Things To Eat...
1. Banana! She can pretty much eat half a banana in one sitting for a snack:-)
2. She likes my Cod & Spinach Risotto, Veggie & Chicken Tomato Soup and Sweet Potato & Apple Bread Pudding(Obviously I haven't given her eggs)
3. As you know she enjoys her occasional crunchy kibble treat

その他のボーナスのお気に入りの瞬間は...
1. パパによるとマディソンがパパの事をデイブって呼んだらしくダディって呼んでってお願いしたらオ−ケイって返って来たって：）
2. だんだんとキスしてって言うと口を大きく開けてベチョーっていうキスをしてくれるのが上手になって来た事...
3.おふろはいつもとーっても楽しい時間、だから..............
Bonus Favorite Moments...
1. Daddy thought Madison called him "Dave"... so he asked her to call him "Daddy"... then we both heard her say "Okay"...:-)
2. She is getting so good at giving us juicy kisses when we ask her to:-) After giving us kisses she gets all shy like... so cute!
3. Bath time is always fun!! THAT'S WHY..............

マディソンの１歳の誕生日のパーティのテーマはアヒルちゃん!!!!
The theme for Madison's BIG 1st Birthday Party is all about Duckies!!!!

Madison's sisters deserve a playgroup too!/マディソンのお姉ちゃん達だってプレイグループしないとね！

One of Anna's New Years Resolutions was to be more active and meet more people...hence her finding the meetup website and hooking up with her Japanese Playgroup, a playgroup in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and the doggy playgroup that we attended today :-)
アンナが新年の目標として“もっと活発にいろんなことをする”って言ったの覚えてるかな？ミートアップのサイトで見つけた日本人ママのグループ、ウィリアムズバーグのママのグループ、そして今日行って来たワンちゃんのグループ：）これがその目標の成果。

Since we had both girls we decided to drive into the city in the hopes of finding a parking spot near Union Square which is always an adventure...today was no exception, but we stayed calm and squeezed into a spot we didn't have to pay for so we were off to a good start.
赤ちゃんとバガブー、そして犬２匹を連れて地下鉄に乗るのは大変だからいつも駐車場見つけるの大変なんだけど車で行く事に...今日もやっぱりすぐには見つからなかったけどグルグルと回っていたら無料で止める場所が見つかりました。

While driving around to find a parking spot we passed the Fish and Chips place that Anna took me to on my 30th birthday (Salt and Battery) so we joyously went there and shared a basket at Union Square Park which was packed on this near 75 degree, first official day of spring.
グルグルしている時に丁度通りかかったのは僕の誕生日に行った魚の唐揚げとポテトが美味しいお店(ソルト＆バテリー)、車を止めた後早速そこでお昼を買って春１日目でと〜っても混んでいたユニオンスクエアでお昼休憩。



After eating lunch and a quick trip to Whole Foods for half price Fuji apples, we headed to the playgroup at a place called Biscuits and Bath.
お昼を食べた後ホールフーズで安売りをしていたふじリンゴを大量に買ってプレイグループの場所(ビスケットとおふろ)へ到着。
It wasn't as "high class" as we might have expected for people in Manhattan who own small dogs, but it was really interesting to see how Ellie and Coco reacted to so many other small dogs...they hid. They wouldn't leave our side...we found a spot in a corner so Anna could attempt to feed Madison and the girls, who very rarely get to be off leash, took the opportunity to hide behind Anna's chair...
マンハッタンの小型犬グループにしては思ったよりおしゃれじゃなかったけど、エリーとココが他の犬達にどういう反応をするか見れて面白かったです。なんと僕たちのそばから全然離れなかったんです。マディソンにご飯をあげれるようにわざとすみに場所を取ったにも関わらず、せっかく首輪無しで動き回れるのにアンナの椅子の下に隠れてばかり...

Finally other doggies said enough is enough and came to try to introduce themselves to our two little wall flowers.
何匹か待ちきれすビーンズ達を誘いに来てくれたけど反応無し。

It was really cute to see how Ellie and Coco stuck together and stuck with us...once Anna got up and went across the room they followed her and interacted with the other doggies a little better...One thing Anna didn't like however was that some owners wouldn't pick up after their doggies when they went number 2 on the wee-wee pads...that is until we watched the little video we took and found out that we were that owner...HILARIOUS!!! And Anna blamed the chihuahua :-)
とても可愛かったのがお互いにピタッとくっ付いていたエリーとココ...一回アンナが動き回ったら一緒に付いて他のワンちゃん達と匂いを嗅ぎ合ってたけどね...アンナが気に入らなかった事の一つは飼い主の人達がうんちの片付けをしなかった事...でも家に帰って僕の撮ったビデオを見たらえっ、うちらじゃん...まじで!!!あれチワワがしたのかと思ってた：）

Lastly, one of the dog owners dressed up in a bunny costume so that we could torture both our dogs and Madison simultaneously...that was very nice of them :-) Actually a lady with a very nice camera snapped a ton of photos which will be available for free sometime soon so hopefully she did a better job then I did...it looks like Madison has Coco's ears!!
最後に、来ていた飼い主の一人がこのウサギのぬいぐるみを着て写真を撮らせてくれました...見ても分かる通りマディソンはご機嫌斜めの結果、でもエリーとココは良い子にしてました。そこにいたプロのカメラマンの人がいっぱい写真を撮ってくれてからもう少ししたらその写真を見る事が出来るはず...僕が撮った写真よりも良いのがいっぱいあれば良いんだけど...マディソンがココの耳を着けてるみたい!!

Finally we end with your bonus picture of the day which was taken by Anna Friday...as she was in Times Square she saw Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle's Dad among other things) giving an interview...nice picture baby!! Anna also walked all the way home while Madison slept (probably about four miles) with two flat tires on her bugaboo...impressive and a little silly :-)

最後の最後に、アンナが金曜日に撮った写真...マディソンとタイムズスクエアを歩いている時にちょうどインタビューされていた有名な俳優ブライアン クランストン...上出来ベイビー!!
そして、そのまま歩いてコロンバスサークルのホールフーズに立ち寄りながら寝ているマディソンと家まで約6.5キロも歩いて帰ったアンナ...しかもバガブーのタイヤは片方パンクでもう片方全然空気無しとすごいんだけどちょっとあきれちゃうね：）

太陽の下でプレイグループ!/Playgroup in the Sun!

昨日はまたプレイグループに行って来ました!しかもなんて良い天気だったんだろー：）今回はアッパーウェストサイドの７２丁目の辺に住んでいるノリコさんの自宅で会う事に!やっター駅にエレベーターが付いてた!!もちろん予想して計画した通りマディソンは地下鉄に乗っているうちに寝ちゃったから、ノリコさんのアパートを通り越してすぐそこの公園に行ってちゃんとお昼寝取らせてあげる事にしました。もちろん私はアイフォンで時間つぶし。少し経った後座ってるのが疲れたから、またちょっと歩いた所にあるフェアウェイマーケットって言うホールフーズの次に大好きなスーパーで、マディソン用の有機栽培の野菜と金曜日のターキーバーガー用のブリオッシュロールを買いました。ちょっと嘘、ブリオッシュロールを見た途端買いたくて仕様が無かったから無理(最近バーガー多かったし)と金曜日はターキーバーガーって決めちゃいました。
So yesterday was another playgroup day! and it came with such great weather:-) It was Noriko-san's turn to host at her place on the Upper West Side and yay the 72nd street sybway station had elevators!! Madison fell asleep on the subway as I expected and planned and we were a bit early for the playdate time so we went past her place one more block to a park so I could sit down and play with my iphone while she slept... After a while I got tired of sitting so we walked two blocks to Fairway Market(One of my favorite grocery store after Whole Foods!) and bought some organic veggies for Madison and Brioche Hamburger Buns to go with Turkey Burgers I will be making on Friday... Okay I wasn't planning on making Turkey burgers on Friday(since we've been having lots of burgers lately...) but I saw this bag of Brioche buns and had to have it!

ノリコさんが作ってくれたロールキャベツと合いそうと思ったブリオッシュロールを食べた後お腹いっぱいでご機嫌の赤ちゃんを連れて早速、外にお散歩をしに行きました。さっきマディソンがお昼寝している時に座っていた所はこの巨大な公園の先っちょだったみたい...さっき全然気づかなかったトンネルを越えるとニュージャージーとニューヨークの境にあるハドソン川に沿って作られた長〜い公園が...ずっと南に向かって歩いて行くと一番下にあるバッテリー公園まで行けちゃうらしい...もちろんそんな遠くまで歩かずノリコさんが話していた人工芝がある所に到着。コンラッド君は来る途中に寝ちゃったからそこには良い子に敷物の上にチョコンと座っておもちゃで遊んでいるセフィちゃんと、見た事の無い人工芝に興奮してハイハイしまくりのマディソン...最初の内は何とか敷物の上だけでって捉まえてたけどその内あきらめて勝手にハイハイし放題にさせちゃいました。たまにだし綺麗そうだったからね！とにかくそこからの景色はやっぱり良かったなー、ニュージャージー側ってあんまり見る機会ないんだけどこの公園はとってもきれいだし穏やかだし毎日来れれば良いのになー。自転車用のレーンが別で離れてあるのもいいなー。
After having yummy Cabbage Roll dish Noriko-san made and the Brioche Rolls I donated, we headed outside with our full and happy babies. It turned out that the area I was sitting at earlier was just the beginning of the park and once you go through a tunnel that I didn't notice before you get to the edge of the west side where across the Hudson River you can see NJ and you can just keep walking on this nice walkway until you get to Battery park... Well we didn't walk that far but made it to a nice patch of fake grass area where we can put down some blankets to sit on and hang out... Conrad fell asleep in his stroller so there was Sephi who was sitting so cute on the blanket and happy to be playing with some toys we brought along and Madison who was very excited about exploring this fake grass she's never seen of and me who finally gave up on trying to keep her within the little blanket square and let her crawl free in the end...:-) They looked clean anyways! Oh it was such a beautiful view, I'm not used to seeing the NJ side but I kind of liked it and the whole area was clean and really relaxing... There is even separate bike lane so they can't bother us walkers/stroller walkers!

マディソンはママのヨガポーズを見過ぎかな？
Madison has been watching me do Yoga too much!?

ノリコさんとセフィちゃん、日よけ対策バッチリ！
Noriko-san and Sephi-chan, taking the rays very seriously!

マディソンがセフィちゃんの目の前に座っていた時にマディソンを引っ張って後ろにガターン！痛くなかったはずだけどビックリしたマディソンの泣きそうな顔...
Madison was sitting in front of Sephi so she got to pull Madison backwards! I don't think it hurt but surprised Madison is about to cry...
それを見たセフィちゃんも泣きそうになっちゃった!!ゴメンネ、マディソン近づき過ぎたね：）
Watching Madison about to cry made Sephi do the same! Sorry, Madison was in your way:-)


お日様に十分あたった後はノリコさん宅に戻ってお茶の時間...帰る用意をしている時にサトコさんが家まで歩いて帰るつもりって言うからビックリ!だって４０丁(途方時間１時間半)近くあるよー。夜サトコさんから来たメッセージを見ると出来たって、しかも１時間近くで着いたって。すご〜いサトコさん、おつかれさま：）このブログ読んでるかもしれないから一様ここで...読んでなきゃでしょ；）
When we were done enjoying the sunshine we went back to Noriko-san's place for a tea time... As we were getting ready to leave Satoko-san told us that she was planning on walking home, which is about 40 blocks(she was guessing it will take about an hour and a half)! I couldn't believe her but she sent all of us a message later that night saying she did it in about an hour so good job to you if you are reading my blog... which you should...;-)


ボーナス：これは先週マディソンの家でしたプレイグループの写真です。アキコさんが撮った写真なんだけど凄い良く撮れてるから紹介しまーす！
Bonus: These pictures were from last week's playgroup but ones Akiko-san took were great so I wanted to share with you guys!