Family Picture

Family Picture

1.14.2012

The Big Finale!!

So we have kept you in suspense long enough...the big finale to Gma and Gpa Klein's visit...DISNEYLAND!! (I bet you didn't see that one coming :-)

Gpa had seen on TV that they actually had to stop letting people into Disneyland on the 26th or 27th due to overcrowding so we decided to push back our planned visit on the 30th to the 4th, allowing the Rose Bowl crowd to go home...the plan worked to perfection...it wasn't empty, but Disney was definitely not as crowded as it could have been and the XMAS parade and fireworks continued until Jan. 8th, so we knew we wouldn't be missing out on that.

Anna had made reservations for us to try out the character breakfast upon entering the park...it was an all you can eat type situation which was great and Madison LOVED the characters coming around.









We eventually stopped eating and went on some rides...here Anna sat out because she doesn't like the bounciness of the Winnie the Pooh Ride...Madison is on the other side of Gma.
Here we come down from the treehouse...
The Little Mermaid Ride has Grandpa and Madison very interested...
Grandpa got a special "1st Time Visit" Button...
We all posed with XMAS Mickey at California Adventure...
Not pictured was perhaps Gma and Gpas favorite "ride" which was the Aladdin Broadway Style Show mostly because the Genie is very funny and partly because it got us out of the close to 90 degree heat for an hour :-)

The day was a perfect finale to a wonderful visit from GPa and GMa.

Bonus Pic: Madison taking her board and leaving after I got her too close to the water...

1.08.2012

The BIG Xmas Post/クリスマスのポスト

As the Xmas Break officially draws to a close it is time to reflect...blog style...
僕のクリスマス休暇がそろそろ終わるのでここ2週間の出来事をブログスタイルで...

We began the festivities with our family Christmas on Saturday the 24th so that we could have the whole morning to enjoy opening our presents...
クライン家のクリスマスを一日早め24日にする事にしました...でもそのお陰でのんびりとプレゼントを空け朝を過ごす事に成功...:)

Madison's reaction right after she woke up that morning...:-)
クリスマスの朝起きたマディソンのリアクション...:)






Madison did great taking the time to enjoy each of her presents as she opened them...she actually got present fatigue and saved a few presents for later Saturday evening and even Christmas Day...
マディソンはプレゼント一つ一つゆっくり空けてはちょっと遊んでみたりの繰り返し...
Here she opens her special gift from Santa...
これはサンタからのプレゼント...

It's a Tag Reader System!!
タグリーダーシステム!!



Her Disney Figure Set... She hugged each character...:-)
ミッキーとトモダチのおもちゃ...一人ずつ抱きしめてた...:)
Reading her Princess Book...
プリンセスのお話を読んでいるところ...


Then after opening presents Anna had planned for us to pick up our friend Brian and head to Disneyland for the afternoon...when she didn't let me dress in jeans and grabbed the tennis rackets, however, I knew something was up...what I didn't know was that Anna had coordinated with Brian to get me an incredible racing bike to use toward my desire to train for triathlons...we arrived at the house and there was a big wrapped package in the corner of their living room and Anna told me to unwrap it and there was this beauty...
そして、お昼頃にブライアンを迎えに行ってディズニーランドに行くとアンナから聞いていたんだけど、運動できるような服を着るように言われた後テニスラケットを持ってきたアンナを見て何かおかしいぞと思っていたら、ブライアンの家で待っていたのはテニスでもディズニーランドでもなかった!!何とアンナは内緒でブライアンに手伝ってもらってトライアスロン用のレースバイクをプレゼントしてくれたんです:)


Needless to say I have enjoyed having a few weeks off to ride it and explore all the trails that are in the area.
ここ2週間の休暇中しっかりいろんなところへ行ってみる事が出来ました。

Anna also got a very nice gift that she had been saving up for the past year at least...
アンナも今年はとっても良いクリスマスプレゼント...

The day after Christmas we headed toward Los Angeles to meet up with Kacee and Blake Blackwell who are mostly Anna's close friends from OSU and OC... They actually met each other at our wedding rehearsal... Good job us!
そしてクリスマスの次の日、ロサンゼルスを少し超えた所に住んでいる兄弟の家族を訪れていた僕たちの友達ケイシーとブレイクに会いに行く事が出来ました。何と僕たちの結婚式以来しかも、この2人は僕たちの結婚式の前夜祭に出会って今はめでたく結婚そして一人目の子供の誕生を待っている所...:)
Then on Wednesday the 28th Gma and Gpa Klein arrived and Xmas #2 began...before they arrived we transformed their guest room on the 17th floor into a Christmas wonderland...well maybe not quite, but we did move our tree up there and decorate with Madison's artworks from school...
そして、28日の水曜日の夜デイブのお父さんとお母さんが到着そしてその次の日の朝はクリスマス第2弾...二人が到着する前に二人用に借りていた17階の部屋をマディソンが学校で作った物や僕たちの部屋にあったクリスマスツリーを移して飾り付けしました...
The next day we had Xmas morning number 2, enjoyed the Naples Rib Company for dinner and browsed the Naples lights...the theme in the Naples neighborhood this year was TV so this house did itself up like the good ole Griswold house from Christmas Vacation.
そしてクリスマス第2弾の朝の夜は、近所にあるバーベキューのレストランで夕ご飯を食べた後盛大にクリスマスの飾り付けをするネイプルズという近所を歩き回りました。
Friday the fog rolled in in the morning so we decided to use a Groupon and go bowling...
金曜日は午前中霧がすごかったのでボーリングに行く事に...

Madison protesting that she doesn't get to do it all herself...
自分で全部やりたいマディソンは僕がボールを触ったのでだだこねている...
One morning as per Steve's request we hit the Seal Beach Pier where Madison played with some bubbles...
土曜日の朝、クラインおじいさんのお願いを叶えるためにシールビーチへお散歩に、マディソンはシャボン玉のお陰でご機嫌です...
The whole week the weather was absolutely perfect, when temperatures reached the mid-80s we headed for the pool...
この週は毎日とってもいい天気、なのでやっぱりプールに行かなきゃ...
Joe's Crab Shack made for a yummy New Year's Eve Lunch...utilizing the recently created grill area to make steaks for dinner was also spectacular (not pictured)...
今年最後の日はシーフードのおいしいレストランでお昼休憩です...そして夜はマンションにあるグリルを初めて使ってステーキを焼きのんびりと17階からの夜景を楽しみました...

New Year's Eve we hunkered down in Gma and Gpa's room overlooking the harbor and the Queen Mary where at 9pm and midnight they would be shooting off fireworks...unfortunately at 8:30pm it looked like someone turned the lights off on the city as an incredibly thick fog blocked our view of everything and all we got was to hear the booms :-(
と言っても夜景が奇麗だったのは花火の始まる30分ぐらいまで、窓から新年のお祝いの花火を見る計画だったのにいきなり霧で何も見えなくなってしまい、結局パンパンと言う音しか聞く事が出来ませんでした:(

The day after New Years we headed to Shoreline Village and fulfilled Gpas dream of renting a Surrey and riding the beach path...it turned out Gpas dream involved a lot more effort than we expected, we had fun struggling our way down the beach path and after dropping off Gma, Gpa and Madison, Anna and I made a little better time on the return trip, but not much! Madison had fun as captain though...we should have taken turns in that role.
今年2日目、僕たちはショアラインビレッジに4人乗り自転車を借りに行きました。これは見たより断然大変だ!マディソンはとっても良い子にちょこんと座って楽しんでいました。

And at night we used what we got Gpa for Xmas and took a Gondola ride in Newport...
そして、その夜はスティーブおじいちゃんにクリスマスプレゼントしたニューポートビーチのゴンドラ旅行...



Madison was not a fan of her life jacket at first, but she quickly warmed up and loved feeding the duckies and herself...
このライフジャケットを着たくなくて最初は大泣きしたマディソンですが落ち着いた後はカモに餌をあげられる事を知って大張り切り...



Madison enjoyed the complimentary sparkling cider and bread...
無料で貰ったパンとジュースでご機嫌なマディソン...



On Tuesday we headed to Huntington Beach and had a really relaxing day...:-)
火曜日はハンティントンビーチへ行ってみんなでのんびり過ごす事が出来ました...:)

After a day at Huntington Beach on Tuesday, the gang rested up for the Grand Finale the next day...can you guess where we went...I bet you can...stay tuned :-)
その次の日は待ちに待ったディズニーランドの日...でもそれは次のブログで紹介:)

BONUS PIC: On a trip through Target one day Anna realized her first design for Jaya has reached stores under the label D-Signed by Disney (actually D-Signed by Anna :-) Anna has been keeping her new year resolution on her design blog so check it out! Next up at Target will be either another round of D-signed by Disney collection or Imagined The Little Mermaid collection for Infants/Toddlers:-)
ボーナス写真:ある日ターゲットをいつものようにブラブラしていると何と発見したのはアンナがデザインしたティーシャツ!リンダおばあちゃんがマディソンに買ってくれました...これで晴れてターゲットデビュー達成です。これからどんどんアンナのデザインが出てくる予定なので乞うご期待:)

12.24.2011

Christmas Eve/クリスマスイブ

Since Christmas falls on a Sunday this year Anna and I decided that we would have our Christmas on Saturday...so that makes tonight Christmas Eve!!! Can't believe Anna and I had to work on Christmas Eve :-)
今年はクリスマスが日曜日になったのでクリスマスの朝ゆっくりプレゼントを空けて過ごせるように僕達は一日早める事にしました...と言う事で今日はクリスマスイブ!


Madison is quite excited for Santa's visit...tonight she decorated his cookies...
マディソンはサンタがくるのをとっても楽しみにしているみたい...今夜サンタ用のクッキーの飾り付けをしました...

And sung some Christmas Carols she learned at school...
そして学校で教わったクリスマスの歌をお披露目してくれました...


The finished products
クッキーの出来上がり。

She taste tested one ear...
ミッキーの耳が一つ無いのはマディソンが味見したから...
Merry Christmas Eve!!
みなさんメリークリスマス イブ!!



12.23.2011

Preparing for the Holidays/ホリデイ季節の準備

Madison officially began her Xmas Break today (preschool is closed tomorrow), one day before her Mommy and Daddy, so Chris and Grace are being kind enough to come over tomorrow morning and watch Madison until I (Dave) can get home from my silly half-day around 1:00pm.
今日からマディソンのクリスマス休暇が始まりました。でもママとパパはもう一日仕事があるので明日は大好きなクリスとグレースが家に来てマディソンのお子守りをしてくれる予定です:)

Anna and I have felt like this last week has just dragged on, but now we can definitely see the light of a nice break coming up. We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas on Saturday as a family and then looking forward to my parents coming to visit the following Wednesday, with 2nd Christmas scheduled for Thursday :-)
僕とアンナはこの最後の週がとっても長ーく感じていたけど、やっともうすぐ週末が来るのがとっても嬉しくてワクワクしています。土曜日に家族3人でクリスマスをした後、来週の水曜日には僕の両親が到着し木曜日にはクリスマスの第2弾:)

With my break extending until the 9th it worked out well for my parents to start their visits with my brother Jim's family in Idaho and then fly down here and stay until after the New Year. Anna will also be able to take a few days in between the days she already gets off so we are really excited!!
僕のクリスマス休暇が9日までのため僕の両親はまず最初にアイダホ州にいる弟の家族とクリスマスを過ごしそして新年は僕達と過ごす計画をちょうど良く立てる事が出来ました!!

Some recent pics:最近の写真:
A week or so ago, when I took Anna to a restaurant in Downtown Long Beach, Madison got to practice her sugar cookie frosting skills with her friend Liam...
1週間前頃にアンナのだいぶ遅れた誕生日デートをする事が出来ました。ダウンタウンロングビーチに住んでいるムーニー家にマディソンのお子守りを頼んで。リアムとマディソンはクッキーの飾り付けを十分楽しんでいるみたい...
That method makes a fun design...
フロスティングを舐めて面白い模様を作るマディソン...

Lastly Madison catches up on some ZZZs as she knows the Holidays will be hectic :-)
遊び疲れてサングラスを付けたまま寝てしまったマディソン:)

Bonus Video: A few Saturdays ago, when I had class, Anna was able to finally make it to the ultimate frisbee that one of the Elders of our church organizes one Saturday a month...while there, our minister's daughter was kind enough to watch Madison so Anna could play.
2、3週間前に教会の人達とフリスビーフットボールをして遊んだんだけど、その間マディソンと一緒に遊んでくれたとっても優しいサブリナちゃん。きっと良いママになるだろうなー:)