What we've been up to.../最近の出来事...

Our Summer started at the end of June as Dave finished up his school year and we officially moved out of our apartment and NYC(our past 6 years of residence)... Even though we got most of the things out of our apartment at the end of May and Dave and his parents making another trip each to CT with more of our things, we got another full car plus some of things at the very end...
クライン家の夏休みはデイヴの学校が終わった６月の終わりに始まり、それと同時にニューヨークのアパートからも無事に引っ越し完了です。５月の終わりにしたトラックいっぱいの引っ越しとその後デイブの両親の車とデイブの車で一回ずつコネチカットまで運んだにもかかわらず、最後の日のクライン家の車もぎゅうぎゅうでこんな感じ...

This is a picture of our full car ride to CT...;-)
車の中の荷物いっぱいの様子...：）

Since Dave's brother, Robert and his family were in Boston for the week we got to move into their house for the first week of our summer... Madison and I were jet-lagged so it was really nice to be able to have our own place to wake up at odd hours and make loud noises for the first few days. Madison also enjoyed playing with some of her cousins old toys...
デイブのお兄ちゃんの家族がボストンに１週間いたので空いている家で夏休みの第一週を始める事が出来ました...マディソンと私は時差ぼけと戦っていたので変な時間に起きて歩き回ったり、家族３人で好き勝手使える家があってとってもラッキーでした。さすが男の子が２人いる家ならではのおもちゃがあってマディソンも楽しんで遊んでいました。


Whenever we come up to CT we really look forward to going fruit picking so one morning we picked g-ma up at her house and went to Belltown Orchards for some blueberry picking:-) Since Madison was wearing her super cute bunny outfit she got from my sister's husband's parents we quickly made a cape for Madison to wear while out on a blueberry field... I think Target will be so proud to see their shopping bags being used in this way... Unfortunately she didn't want to keep it on too long but she was able to pick and eat blueberries very lady like...
コネチカットに来る度に楽しみにする事と言えばフルーツ狩り。そして今は夏真っ盛りでいろんなフルーツが採れる時期です。朝行きがけにリンダお婆ちゃんを迎えに行って、ブルーベリーを採りにベルタウン果物園へ：）今日マディソンが着ていた服はさやかの夫の両親がくれたとってもカワイイうさぎの服だから、ブルーベリーの汁が移らないように私はターゲットの袋でポンチョを制作...ターゲットも自分達の袋の違った使い道を知ったらきっと喜びそうだな...
思った以上に上手に採る事ができたマディソンは、ポンチョすぐ脱いじゃったんだけどね...
Here Madison is picking blueberries for the first time! She LOVED picking blueberries and putting them right in mommy's bucket...
マディソンが初めてブルーベリーを採っている様子！ブルーベリーを採ってはバケツの中に入れる作業を喜んで繰り返していた働き者...


The blueberries were pretty far out in the orchard so you had to take a wagon ride to get there...
ブルーベリーの木がある所までは少し遠いのでこのトラックみたいなのの後ろに乗って行きます...

In the end we had over 12 pounds of blueberries and one tired baby...
結局、１２パウンド(５キロ)のブルーベリーとと〜っても疲れた赤ちゃん一人...


Dave's parents asked us if they got us hotel rooms, if we would like to go up to New Hampshire with Robert's family since they were going to be there visiting relatives for the July 4th weekend. We decided we would like that and packed our bags and left on Saturday morning for some beach time:-) Madison really enjoyed the combination of playing at Great Aunt Gail and Great Uncle Scott's House and Hampton Beach State Park where there was an awesome tide pool for kiddies to play in.
デイブの両親に誘われて急きょ、ニューハンプシャーで独立記念日を過ごそうとボストンから帰って来たばかりのロバートの家族と一緒に土曜日の朝出発！デイヴの伯母さんと伯父さんの新居を休憩地点に、すぐ側にあるハンプトンビーチとデイヴの両親が取ってくれたホテルと行ったり来たりの２日間...マディソンのお気に入りはハンプトンビーチの入り潮の間に出来る大きな水たまりでバシャバシャ遊ぶ事！

4 Hours to Go!!!/後４時間!!!

Just talked to Anna and Madison who have safely landed in Chicago for a brief (probably not for Anna) layover before they land at LaGuardia at 10pm tonight!! I passed the time today with a 5-mile run at Jones Beach, a little time in the water and then watching the crushing defeat of team USA...now I await someone to come pick up our large Hopen closet and take that off our hands, then it will be off to the airport to pick-up my sweethearts...CAN'T WAIT!!!
たった今シカゴに無事に着いたアンナとマディソンと話す事が出来ました。またそこからラグオルディアに向けてもう少ししたら出発で到着するのは今夜の１０時!!　今日僕は何とか時間を早く送らせようと、ジョーンズビーチで３キロ走った後少し海に入ったり、アメリカが敗れるのを観たりとそして今は、家にある巨大な洋服タンスを引き取ってくれる人を待ちながら僕の最愛の人２人を迎えに行くのを楽しみにしています...待ち切れない!!!

日本での最後の数日間.../Last Days in Japan...

木曜日の夜、あすかがやっと家に帰って来れました!!やった〜！次に日の金曜日は家から仕事に行ってその日また家に帰って来たら、次の日は一緒に空港まで見送りに来れるとみんなで大喜び：）金曜日の日は、お母さんが最後の買い物をする為にいろんなお店に連れて行ってくれました...最後に日にやっと気に入ったサンダルを見つけて、ばあばもマディソンにもう一足音のなるサンダルを買ってあげる事が出来て嬉しそうでした。日本での最後のご飯は、マディソンのひいばあばを連れてあすかとカッパ寿司で待ち合わせ：）おいしかった〜!!そして食事の後じいじとばあばにマディソンを先に連れて帰ってもらい私はあすかとユニクロに直行して、８時に閉店だったのかな？閉店ギリギリにデイブが気に入りそうなパックマンのティーシャツを見つけました。それともう一着ワンピースのテーマのティーシャツをあすかに買って貰っちゃいました：）
Thursday night Asuka was finally able to come home!! Yay, she told us that she will have to go to work the next day but will be able to come home and was able to take a day off on Saturday to go with us to the airport... So on Friday my mom took us around for some last minute shopping... I was able to find really cute sandals finally on our last day and a magazine to read on the plane, g-ma got Madison another cute pair of squeaky sandals, etc... For our last meal together we invited my g-ma and met up with Asuka for some rolling sushi:-) After dinner Madison went home with my parents and g-ma and I got to ride with Asuka to do some shopping for Dave at Uniqlo... We got to Uniqlo around 7:30 and I guess it was closing at 8 so I quickly looked through their selection of printed tees and was able to find a cool pacman tee:-) Thank you Asuka for buying that for Dave along with a Onepiece tee...





土曜日の朝お母さん側のおじいちゃんとおばあちゃんが見送りに来てくれて９時頃に成田に向かって家を出発しました。日本に旅行に来ればすぐ分かると思うけど、日本ではサービスエリアに結構ちょくちょく停まるのが当たり前です。なぜかと言うとそこにしかない食べ物やそこの歴史など読んだり見たり出来るからです。そのせいですぐ着く場所にも結構時間がかかっちゃうんだけどね...小さい頃にちょくちょく停まっていたのが懐かしいなー。アメリカのサービスエリアもただマック置くんじゃなくてもっと日本のようになれば良いのに...今回はマディソンのお昼寝を使って空港まで行く予定だったから２回しか停まらなかったんだけど、楽しみました：）マディソンはあのカワイさと新しいキュッキュするサンダルでどこに行ってもみんなの気を止めていました...
On Saturday my mom's side of g-parents came to see us off and we left the house around 9:00am for Narita International Airport. If you are ever in Japan you are expected to stop at different service areas on highways because you will get to buy/taste/see what that specific area is famous for... We used to stop at every service area that existed growing up so trips took about twice as long than it actually is, but that's what people look forward to here... I wish American highways were a bit more like the ones in Japan, no McDonald's in every service area! Well this trip it was all about Madison's schedule so we actually only stopped twice, but it was nice:-) Madison was getting everyone's attention with her cuteness and new squeaky sandals...

グループ写真撮りまーす...はは、間に合わなかった！
Trying a timer group shot... Okay, I didn't quite make this one!

間に合った！マディソン，良い笑顔だね!!!
I made it! Good smile Madison!!!

ひいお婆ちゃん達！まだまだ若いなー...:-)

Great Grand Mothers! Looking very young still...:-)

空港に着くなり早速チェックインして大きい荷物を無くす作戦...私のスーツケースはやっぱり重量オーバー、でもマディソンのおかげで一つ余分に荷物を預けれると教えて貰った上に、荷物を移せるように空の箱をくれると言う本当に日本人ならではのサービス！アメリカでは絶対こんな事起こらないもん！そして、バスネットを使う為に席を替えてくれた後、私の隣の席はできるだけ空けておくからなんて言ってくれて、本当に日本人はやさしいなー：）お昼を一緒に食べた後お店を見ながらブラブラして，あっという間にお別れの時間が来てしまいました...この時間が一番大嫌いなんだよね...そして何回経験しても悲しくない方法が見つからない...今回はいつも以上に辛いんだよね、特にじいじとばあばには...マディソンがいるから...もうこの辺で止めときます、また悲しくなっちゃうから...
As soon as we got to the airport I checked in so we can get rid of our big luggage... My suit case was over weight as expected, but since I have Madison I am allowed 3 checked luggage so they gave me an empty box to lighten my suit case... What a service! What's more great is that I was able to be moved to the first row of economy seats and got a bassinet for Madison! the nice lady told me that there is an empty seat next to me so she will try to keep it open as long as possible! Wow this is a great start!! After lunch we browsed shops for a little bit and it was time to say good bye... This part NEVER gets easy and I know Madison makes it even harder for us all...:-( So I won't write too much of this part since it will make me sad again...)

１ヶ月間，お世話になりました！とーっても楽しかった：）また帰って来るからね！

Thank you for taking good care of us for 1 month! Had a great time:-)

親切なチェックインの人の計らいにもかかわらず，残念ながら最後に飛行機に乗って来たのは４人家族！その内の一人は私の隣に...ガーン！その家族の子供２人はアンマリ気に入らなかったけどその子達の両親は良い人だったから、お願いしたバスネットもあったしまあ結果的には大丈夫でした。
Well the lady couldn't succeed and someone ended up next to me but the family was nice except their annoying two boys and I did have a bassinet I requested so it wasn"t too bad... Actually Madison just made it under bassinet qualifications... When I first asked for a bassinet the lady asked me how old Madison was and after hearing her age she told me that the baby needs to be under 10kg... Thanks to my g-pa I weighed Madison at the hospital while waiting for a nurse to check something on him and we saw that her weight was 9.95kg with clothes and shoes on! So I was able to tell the lady that she is under 10kg for sure. The bassinet was actually too short for Madison and I know that she is a shortie for her age so probably the bassenet is good for babies under 12 months or something but I was glad to be able to use it. Both flights went well in fact the second flight went too well and we arrived at LGA an hour early after leaving Chicago on time!! Crazy right? So when we got to the baggage claim Dave wasn"t there because he was still trying to get to us thinking he still had enough time... So I didn't get to film the emotional meeting scene between Daddy and his daughter but oh well, sadly I was slightly annoyed that he wasn't already there to pick us up and Madison went all shy on him so there you go!

14 Hours to Go/あと１４時間

Madison makes a run for it realizing how long she will have to be on a plane again...
また何十時間も飛行機に乗らなきゃいけないのがいやで逃走を試みるマディソン...

But Grandma catches her :-)
でもバアバに掴まえられちゃった：）

Now they are in the air...14 hours to go!!!
たった今飛び立ったから、後残り１４時間!!!

26 Hours to go/残り２６時間

26 Hours until Anna and Madison land at LaGuardia...but who is counting :-) They have actually just left the house in Japan for the four hour trip to the airport and then the 10 hour flight to Chicago and layover before landing at LaGuardia at 10pm Saturday night!! Good Luck Anna :-) Below is a picture that Asuka took of Madison right before they left...this way I will know who to look for since she has changed so much!!! Looks like she enjoyed Japanese food :-) What a cute outfit too!! Oh man, it will be tough to sleep tonight...the beach should help pass the day tomorrow and the U.S. World Cup Match but it will be a long 26 hours!!!
数えている訳じゃないけどラグオルディアにアンナとマディソンが到着するまで後２６時間：）アンナ達はたった今、空港に向けて家を出発したみたい。空港まで約４時間、そして空港からシカゴまで約１０時間、乗り換えした後ラグオルディアに着くのは土曜日の夜１０時！！がんばれアンナ：）下の写真はアスカが撮って送ってくれた家をでる直前のマディソンの写真...この写真があれば空港で見つけやすいからね、日本で美味しいものいーっぱい食べたみたい！着てる服も凄いカワイイし：）今夜ちゃんと眠れるかな...まだ２６時間もあるのかー。まちきれないよお！