Daddy and Sean's Trip to Japan

At Eigamura, movie village, in Kyoto.  They replicated a town 300 years ago.

Sean's long time dream came true.  He visited Tokyo Skytree, the world's tallest TV tower.

At Asakusa in Tokyo.

Ramen!

With my Dad having fun.

Sean and his grandma at Golden Pavilion in Kyoto.

At Kyushu island with my aunts and uncle.

Sean wearing Japanese robe at a hotel.

Sean became a Japanese warrior.

Mike was a tad jealous that I have been going back to Japan every year with the girls, so he told me one day that he wants to go.  Mike and I met and fell in love because he and I are very much interested in foreign cultures and not only visiting the countries, but enjoy getting to know the culture and meeting people.  That is why we moved to Australia a month after our wedding.  He also spent nearly one year in Hong Kong in college and I lived in Mexico for 10 months as a language teacher.  I guess where I am going with it is being in touch with the adventurous side is very important to him and I.  We don't want to lose that part of us despite having a large family with special need children.  Oh gosh, get to the point already, Kimi!  Ok so in a long story short, I said "yes, you should go and take Sean with you!"

They had a fabulous time with my parents and extended family.   I felt nervous since Mike had to navigate his way around the maze of Tokyo train system on the first day on his own.  The subway map of Tokyo alone is outrageously complex that it almost seems like a joke.  He did fine though and found his way to where he wanted to go and eventually boarded Shinkansen, the bullet train, to Osaka where my parents live.

The duo got a VIP treatment from my family.  My Dad drove them around in his mini wagon to make sure they get to where they want to go easily.  I rarely get a ride from my Dad when I go!  They went to Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, Universal Studio Japan, Kyushu island with my extended family etc...  Sean has met my many of my cousins and uncles before, but I am sure he felt his world expanding in front of his eyes knowing those are his relatives and he is very much part of our big clan.  That is what I wanted him to feel anyway, getting to know his roots.  There are many things I cannot explain about myself but he can understand by meeting my family and walking the neighborhood I grew up in.  He doesn't get an opportunity like this often and I was excited, perhaps more than he was, for this chance. 

They spent Oshogatsu, New Year's Day, there and it is a super good time to be in Japan.  It is the biggest holiday in Japan and there are many rituals and traditional customs the duo got to experience.  Sean was a happy boy because he received many Otoshidama, New Year's monetary gift, from my family.  It is a custom to give Otoshidama to children in the New Year's Day and he became like ten times richer than he was instantly.  We will put the money in his bank to supplement his college fees. 

One unfortunate thing that happened in Japan, be it on the first day they arrived, was that Mike fell and hit his shoulder pretty hard in Tokyo.  He and Sean were playing at a park and he ran down the slide probably too excited to be in Japan and lost his balance.  To save himself from utter embarrassment, he decided to play cool by trying to do a roll upon landing but instead slammed his shoulder to the ground.  I can just imagine it happening in slow motion.  It started to hurt a lot several days afterwards and my aunt made a temporary sling for him to keep his arm and shoulder steady.  Poor thing suffered though most of the trip and in a way it spoiled some fun for him.  He did not spoil fun for other people though and was a good sport by participating in all outings and activities.  I wished the fall didn't happen.

I was relieved when they got back to Japan.  I missed them very much and also wanted to hear their travel tales.  By fluke, they were on the same planes round trip with our friend from Boise and her daughter.  It was a nice surprise!  I don't know when they will go back to Japan again, but they had so much fun.  Thank you my family for making their trip extra special!  I can't wait to go to Japan this summer with the girls.

p.s.  Sean got over the jet lag quite easily this time.  I was expecting some early morning rising and sleepiness in the afternoon.  He was quite tired though since he went to school the next day.  The teacher wrote to me and said that he looked extremely tired and was almost in tears since he had to take a math test with the materials he didn't learn since he missed six days of school.  Plus, he ended up with a packet of worksheets from the teacher to finish at home.  He was upset exclaiming, "I am being punished for going on vacation during school!"  He finished all of them though and now caught up with all.  Mike is over his crankiness and thank goodness for that.  Male gender is definitely high maintenance in my opinion!


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Happy New Year!

 

Hello everyone! 
Thank you for being patient with me.  I had a mini vacation from my laptop and I just came back.  For some reason, I didn't touch my laptop over the holidays and although the blog was calling me, it felt good to be away from my computer for a while.  I have been blogging for nearly 8 years now.   How amazing is it that I continue to write our family's story and hopefully share some laughter and food for thought with my readers world-wide.  I rarely stick with doing one thing for a long time, but somehow my little online journal has stuck, thorough good times and bad, helping me take big step forward in many challenges we faced.  So, thank you readers for motivating me to keep writing!  This blog helps me more than you can imagine.

Our Christmas was very jolly, and a little big chaotic.  Ok, very chaotic and that is nothing new.  I sleep less before the Holiday because there are many tasks I must complete every night to be ready for Christmas morning.  The stocking stuffing always comes last and by the time I shove small gifts in the stockings, I am ready to collapse onto the fireplace.  I also shoved the cookies the kids left for Santa Claus in my mouth along with the carrots for reindeer.  I nearly choked on a carrot since I was eating them too fast.  Three plates of cookies and carrots...  where is Mike when I need him (sleeping cozily on the bed, of course). 

The kids usually wake up early on the Christmas day since they are too excited, but this time they woke up at 7:30 am.  That is way better than the usual 6 am.  I always have them get dressed and eat breakfast before they open presents.  I just don't like the idea of them being in their PJ all day long.  Nana came over with coffee in hand to join the present opening ceremony.  I just love looking at children's excited face moments before we give the go sign.  They look purely happy, probably the happiest moment in the whole year for them.  I feel incredibly lucky, too, to be able to see their genuine smile. 

The memorable points this year on Christmas day was that Noah seemed to enjoy opening presents this year.  For many years, we had his siblings or Nana help opening his presents, but this year he could not open fast enough.  I was happy to see him sharing the moment with us.  Mike surprised me with an indoor plant grower, which was totally unexpected on my part since he told me he didn't get anything big for me.  I am growing herbs in my kitchen now and I cannot wait to use them in my cooking.  The girls were very happy to get their favorite stuffed animals and their current obsession, Calico Critters playsets.  Sean's favorite is probably the constellation poster Nana bought him.  He put it on the celling and looks at it every night.  He also got two Lego sets which he put them together by himself.  They were pretty complex sets and I know I would not have the patience to build them myself.  Noah's favorite is the bouncing ball which you can hop on.  He actually uses it to do a handstand by bouncing his tummy on it and he can do it so well that he looks like he might start doing flips!  He is such an active boy and it gives him an appropriate outlet to release his energy indoor.

We had a friend and his son come over for dinner and we feasted on seafood.  We baked salmon and seared tuna.  They were delicious!  I was exhausted by the day ended, but I was happy with a fully belly and house full of happy people.  Mike and Sean had a big trip coming up and my mind was onto the next big thing - preparing for their trip to Japan.  I will write about their trip full of happenings in the next post!

May your new year be filled with happiness and new adventures!

- The Campbells

Christmas Tree Farm

It is our annual tradition to go to a Christmas tree farm in Carnation on Black Friday to find our Christmas tree.  The kids are always excited for this outing since it means it is getting a lot closer to Christmas, one of their favorite holidays.  It was very icy and cold the year before, but we were blessed with a sunny and warmer weather.  The blue sky and faint green of the mountains were very pretty to look at and so were the deep green and proud looking trees all lined up waiting for someone to take them home.  It usually doesn't take too long to find our tree.  The children get more excited to find the tree than finding the pumpkin they like at the pumpkin patch.  It probably is because we never actually buy a single pumpkin at the farm.  We only go there to take pictures! 

We found the lucky tree in a short while and Daddy got busy cutting it down.  We laid the tree carefully on the pull cart and the girls helped pull it to the tent where they prepare the tree to go home.  Watching the man swiftly load the tree to the vibration machine to shake off the excess debris is always fun.  They wrap the tree in a net to compact it and the tree is ready to be loaded onto the car.  We usually have the workers at the farm secure the tree on the roof of the car, but Mike tried it this time.  Mike opened the sunroof cover so that we can see the tree as we drove.  Sean noticed that the tree was shifting as we hit the highway.  It started to tilt sideway and the kids were terrified that the tree might fly off the car.  I was starting to get worried, too.  For me, the worry was injuring someone behind us.  We decided to exit the first exit in Issaquah to stop.  I didn't know how but we ended up safely at Krispy Kream parking lot, tree hanging 75 degrees sideway.  We were so glad that we didn't lose the tree and the whole stressful ordeal was over!  You should have been in the car.  It was a crying and screaming madness!  :-)  So, we got the doughnuts and we all felt better!

We set up the tree downstairs in the family room.  I miss having the tree in the main level though since I can't see it from the living room and kitchen where I usually spend time in.  We are not doing whole a lot on decoration this year since Mike and Sean are going to Japan and I didn't want to be left with the taking down duty by myself.  The kids are a bit disappointed that we didn't set up the outdoor lights, but I told them we will go see plenty of lights in other peoples' houses. 

Now that it is just five days before Christmas, I feel a bit of calm.  Presents are bought and half of them are wrapped.  The kids finished their school for the break and happily playing with each other.  The post flu shot cold made some of us sick, but we are recovering now.  The flu shots this year went incredibly well since it was given in nose-spray format.  No freaking out and running away.  I was relived!  Sean acted very strangely for a few days though after the spray was given.  He was extremely oppositional more than usual and acted out of sort.  I strongly suspect he has PANDAS, pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder.  It is an autoimmune disorder that causes the brain to act abnormally since the body has built an immunity to a strep bacterium and it also attacks the brain.  When he was as young as five, I noticed his behavioral changes after having a strep throat infection.  I'd mentioned it to his pediatrician and he asked me to monitor him.  According to some websites, kids with PANDAS react similarly to flu shots, particularly when given in the nose-spray format.  Go figure, but it was still worth it!  I almost felt like dying last year and the year before with a fever as high as 104F from flu, so I am glad my children all got vaccinated.

We might get a white Christmas this year with a slight chance of snow.  Sean is counting on snow and it would be a magic if everything was white outside in the morning.   I love this time of the year.  Being a family of six feels extra special during the Holiday season.  Despite all, I am so incredibly lucky to have a great husband and four cute children.  I am usually the type to see the glass half empty, but in some rare times I see it full :-)

Thanksiving 2015

I sort of become a squirrel around this time of the year running around collecting food from various stores and storing them into our two refrigerators.  At about the same time, the parking lot and shopping etiquette of people go south, probably from the stress of conquering all the things they have to do between mid November and December.  Those two months are the busiest months in America and ironically the time we forget what actually we are celebrating.  I can't really complain because I am one of those unspiritual and ungraceful ones.  Let the acid boil in the stomach, it's a Holiday time!

Thanksgiving was very cozy and nice at our house.  Shasha and grandpa drove all the way from Lewiston with their energetic puppy, Archie.  Kids were so excited to see Archie and kept talking about the reunion for days and weeks.  I asked them "are you more excited to see Archie or granndpa and Shaha", and they took some time to think about that.  Sorry, Shasha and grandpa.  Archie has a strong grip on the kids' heart.

I was better prepared this year than previous years.  I decided on the menu and printed them out way in advance, made the shopping list and bought non-perishable items early.  It got hectic the last three days pre-Thanksgiving, but I found everything on the list by the day before.  I am glad because Trader Joe's was crazy busy.  The checkout line was dragging all way back to the back of the store.  Luckily, my line went fast which is a very different scenario than usual. 

I changed things around a bit this year with the menu.  Instead of rubbing spice mixture on turkey on outer skin, I put the mixture under the skin.  My goal was to make the turkey moist and flavorful.  Even the stuffing was a bit different.  I made Mushroom and Leek Bread Pudding by Inna Garten on Food Network and it was delicious!  It was lighter than my usual recipe since it doesn't contain any sausages, yet the texture and hint of mushroom flavor mixed with sweet leek was a perfect match.  I will keep this recipe for sure.  All the guests liked it.  I didn't make the traditional green bean casserole, either.  The problem with the typical casserole is that it is way too rich.  It tastes good but I can't eat more than two bites.  I picked Green Beans with Lemon and Garlic by Patrick and Gina Neely.  I am a Food Network fan as you can tell.

We enjoyed the dinner very much.  We had Nana of course and Mike's colleague from work who brought us two beautiful poinsettias.   The kids didn't eat much as they were excited about the whole ordeal but we let them slide.  Archie cleaned the floor by eating all the food we dropped.  We need a dog just for that part.  Our cat Grace didn't seem so cool for her lazy cat attitude.  Poor girl was hiding in my bedroom since Archie was here.  She does not like any other animals and she becomes a beast when she sees another. 

Grandpa's visit was short but he promised he will be back in spring.  The pass to get here gets snow, so winter is a tough time to visit.  Thank you for making the trip, Bob and Marsha! 

Now the big event, Christmas!  And... only five more days until kids' school is out!!

Sunday Gotta Do's

We live in a land where every Sunday is ruled by football games.  We have to arrange the outing or not go out at all if our favorite Seahawks is playing.  Even if the Seahawks isn't playing, there are a few games on TV to keep the big boys glued to the TV.  I don't like that one bit!  In my opinion, how could you even sit in front of the TV that long watching an almond shaped ball thrown around and a bunch of grown men in shoulder pads and helmet crash into each other?  I don't mind watching the home team play, but I can't invest my time over which team wins if they don't relate to Seattle.  Mike and his friends play the fantasy football, so they are glued to what happens to his picked players.  He busily rallies his eyes from his phone to TV as if he is waiting for a lucky power ball number to match.  Looking my boys watch football makes me feel heavy.  Like a rock.  Because they kind of become a rock, unwilling to move their bums away from the TV room.

I finally said to Mike "let's do something fun just for a short while!" and he didn't seem interested at first, but I managed to convince him to go to Snoqualmie Falls since I read on the news that the famous fall has unbelievable amount of  water due to heavy rain we had for the past few days.  To get everyone on board is always a challenge in our house.  We have to make sure everyone went potty before we leave and pick the right jacket to wear.  There is always one of them whining, discontent of the plan we set.  We always manage to get out fine in the end, but we are often shaking our heads driving away from our house thinking why does it have to be a chaos every single time?!

When we got on I-90, we spotted snow on the mountain!  Our first snow of the season.  We are hopeful we will get more snow this year compared with the sad result from last winter.  Maybe we will try skiing this year or at least sledding.  The kids love to play in the snow.  Things surrounding me are reminding me more and more that Christmas is coming soon!  Oh boy, am I ready!?  We saw more snow as we got nearer to Snoqualmie.  It is only 20 minutes away from our house yet the air is crisp and fresh.  We parked the car and walked together to the main attraction.

The reason why I wanted to go out was because I wanted Noah to experience and see different sites as much as possible.  I also wanted Noah to learn walking nicely with us.  He used to try to run away or scream when he can't drag us to the place he wanted to go.  He is doing that less and less and I think these little practice outing helps.  Mike held his hand and he did great!  I am happy he walked calmly and didn't scream.  The only time he cried was when we started to walk back to the car.  He was having so much fun, he didn't want to go home!  I lost Mike, Noah, and Aly towards the end and Sean, Saya and I looked for them up and down the path, but we couldn't locate them.  Finally, we walked back to the car hoping they are waiting for us there.  That wasn't the case.  I forgot my cell phone in the car, so I could not call him.  While waiting, we noticed that the woods behind the parking lot is dark and pretty.  Sean wanted to pose for some photos, so we had a mini portrait session then until we reunite with Mike's team.  Saya joined in, too, and we took some cute pictures of them.  Sean's a tough model now since he demands to see the photo I took and give me an advice on how it should be taken!  He is such a know it all.  I feel sorry for his future wife!

We had a great day even though Seahawks lost.  I don't know what happened to our Superbowl champ!  We certainly lost the bling this year.  As everything on earth have waves, I guess Seahawks is having a downward wave now.  I am glad I am not so attached to football like Mike anymore so that my mood won't be swayed by the team win and loss!  Have a great week everyone.

If I have Russian, French and Lebanese readers, I wanted to let you know how deeply sorry I am for what happened to your fellow countrymen, women and children in recent days.  As a citizen of this beautiful planet, I feel lines on our map and which God or no God you believe in are all invisibly tiny part of the green, blue, brown and white you see on a picture of earth.  If we could all see with our naked eyes how beautiful our planet is maybe we can all realize our true mission in life is to protect our home, our big home, for the future generations.  I can only dream about peace but someday it is possible. 

Fall Photoshoot and Gym

It is that time of the year again to start thinking about Christmas cards.  The weather has deteriorated for the past few days and I wasn't sure if we get any chances to take nice pictures of the children.  I noticed that the leaves from the large Japanese Maple in the front have fallen and making our driveway look like a orange carpet, so I decided to have the children play with them and take their pictures.  Children look the best when they are naturally smiling.  No matter how naughty they might be, they look like angels!  My kids are still innocent enough to get immersed in play and forget that I am taking pictures of them.  I think the pictures turned out well.  I already started to make the card and it looks very cute.

I was so wiped today, like my arms and legs have weights strapped on.  I suffered greatly in yoga this morning and I could not even do basic poses properly!  I think it is because I worked out way too much this week.  I wrote that I am angry at my body right now and I hit the gym like I can literally sizzle out the weight as I work out.  That did not happen of course as it takes time, but I am left with a pretty burned out muscles!  Mentally, I am as energetic as usual but I was yawning a lot all day.  I will take it easy next week maybe reducing the gym frequency to two from five! 

Microsoft offers a membership to a pretty awesome gym at a reduced price.  It is a high end luxury gym and it offers three massive cardio floors with varieties of equipment, one brightly lighted, the other slightly dimmed and a darkroom where you can only see the floor lights and TV.  I always use the dark room because it seems cooler and it is next to their gigantic free weights room.  The gym has 4 floors (two in the basements) and it is ginormous.  I got lost in it once trying to find the workout room on the bottom floor.  The women's locker room is awesome as well. It has a spa that has a steam and sauna rooms plus two hot tubs which look like a Turkish bathhouse.  It has two restaurants and four clean pools that hold the family swim time with floating bouncy on the weekend.  I feel pretty lucky to have an access to such a superb gym. 

So, the cards in order and I am on my way to getting my body back before the holidays.  I don't know why I'd bother.  I know I am going to overeat during the Holiday.  Mike's going to Japan with Sean and I am in charge of the rest of the children for two weeks!   I am going to worry about it later.  At least I am training by brain to think Gym = Fun!

Pictures Taken in Japan

I haven't been able to edit the pictures I took in Japan, but here are a few of them that I edited tonight.  Aaah, the beauty!  Japan is a truly a beautiful country.  You discover the beauty of your country when you live oversea.  It is ironic but true.  I hope you can sense the appreciation of comfort and endless fascination I feel towards my country.   I am sorry I am way too tired to add a caption for each but I promise I will do it over the weekend.  I have been working out at the gym every single day this week for an hour of cardio plus stretch and weights.  I will write about it in the next post!  I am finally very angry with my fats.  I am sending them off for good.  Adios, fatos! I hope you enjoy the pictures!