Spring Happenings 2

Good evening everyone.  We had a gorgeous Saturday here and we went on a family hike to a nearby mountain this afternoon.  It's one of those days which I felt content being a Mommy to four children, despite all the quarrels and noisiness that are permanently stuck in my ear at all time.  It's a miracle how a beautiful weather turns the crankiest to a cheerful butterfly.  I even took a bunch of pictures which I will share later in this post.

Falling behind in my post on this blog become a source of stress, so I am doing something about it today not to fall father behind.  I enjoy writing and it gives me a challenge and stimulate my otherwise autopilot neuron pathways in my brain.  The Psychologist I saw in the past told me that I am a type of person who needs lots stimulation for my brain to function properly.  I believe it's true.  This blog and my photography are very important part of my well being.  I may slow down in frequency in some months, but I will keep writing as long as I am well and alive.  It would be amazing if I could write say, for 40 years.  Maybe it will have some historic value plus a great gift for my family in the future.

To continue with the last post, I will post the pictures from the recent happenings and write a caption for what we did.  It will cover about my Mom's visit, my birthday and kids' spring break.

Sean, Aly and Noah and I took Grandma to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival on the opening weekend.  The traffic was horrible but the kids were pretty good in the car and the spectacular display of tulips made the trip worthwhile.  Just look at those large globes.  The tulip field lit up the land and sky like neon signs and it made me think of the power of plurality and unity. 

These red bulbs were very pretty.  Look at their leaves!  They match the shape of the petals.  How pretty!

The blushing color of pink is so pretty!

Kids were impressed with the beautiful display.  Noah was very good at the farm and when we went to lunch at a nearby town.  He was in fact the best kid!  He followed directions and didn't cry. 

The yellow outline on the petals made this tulip pop. 

One of the many attractive things about tulips is the curves.  The leaves, stems and the petals have beautiful curves like they are in dancing motion.  They seem quiet but has lots of line movements. 

I am not sure how many varieties they had but it seems like there were at least 30.  Every one of them had their own unique elegance.

I do like purple.  My wedding bouquet was purple tulips!

My Mom.  She is 77 this year.  I hope I age like her. 

I will post about my birthday and spring break tomorrow.  Time to sleep for me now! 

Spring Happenings PartI

Hello there, yes I am still alive!  We have been having a gorgeous spring over here in the Pacific Northwest with abundance of sunshine.  The kids had spring break last week, but things are back to normal now.  A lot had happened since the last post and instead of writing about it in details, I will let the pictures speak.

Shasha and Grandpa visited us in mid March along with their dog Archie.  We took Shasha to the Bellevue Botanical Garden and explored the beautiful display of fresh spring greens and flowers together.

There is always one that is looking away, but this one sort of worked.  I always forget to take pictures of kids and Archie together.  Archie is still young and acts like a puppy.  He swipes kids toys and our slippers when they are left to fend themselves and thinks he is a little human.  He eats food dropped on the floor and I didn't have to sweep under the table.  He is very sweet and it's like having a furry kid cousin visit us when he comes!

This plant was very pretty.  Someday, I want to transform my yard into a paradise, but I guess that is what everyone says and it never happens.  I need a professional help!  We are currently looking to hire a landscaper to design and make our yard look prettier.  It needs a make over.  Grandpa and Shasha would agree.

This is my youngest, a stubborn and very opinionated little girl.  She has been tough to handle lately.  She is starting to talk back more and yells and screams when she doesn't get her way.  Playing a game with her is impossible!  She has to win or otherwise throws a tantrum.  She was just the sweetest and easiest kid to handle but things change.  We are hoping it's just a stage and she will change her way soon. 

Jen and I went to Portland one weekend to take a break from being a Mommy and wife.  We had a good time!  The pictured is the Grotto monastery in Northeast Portland.  The nature and holiness were blending together in peaceful harmony.  We thought if we lived closer, we would come here to just chill and meditate often.  The upper garden was so beautiful with seasonal flowers and tall trees. 

Saint statues were placed in a beautiful setting and the light, the greens and gentle expressions of the statues were breathtaking. 

I could sit there for hours.

We went to watch "Deadpool" in a quirky eccentric theater.  We had alcohol and watched a boy movie like a boss.

Portland is smaller than Seattle but it's dense when it comes to good food, shops and entertainment.  It's a walking and biking friendly town.  We love visiting there.

Old western shop sign. 

A Movie Premier

I was asked to photograph a movie premier event in Seattle last week.  The movie was called "The Joy of Man's Desiring" and it was a story about two young siblings' emotional struggle after their parents' died from the big tsunami they had in northern Japan five years ago.  The director, Sugita, and his filming staff came from Japan and we held a Q & A session and VIP reception after the movie.  It was a great honor to be able to be a part of the team to promote the movie because it was such a profound and well thought out piece.  No wonder it had won a Berlin International Film Festival's Generation Kplus Best Film Award in 2014.  I have never met a director of an award winning film before and it was great to meet the person who orchestrated this masterpiece with his incredible vision. 

He and his crew thought of everything.  It was packed with a message, even the scene being the protagonist walking silently in the school hallway, that recovering from such a big tragic event takes time and all we can do is to let the survivors grieve without being rushed.  Without stating the message verbally, the director and actors were able to show us the emotional gap between the survivors and the rest of the people who did not experience the tragedy.  The rest of the society moved on and the affected cities are cleaned up, but the emotional scar of the survivors are still buried in the mud. 

The Director Sugita was a survivor of Great Hanshin Earthquake which took lives of over 6000 people in western Japan in 1995.  He lost a classmate in the disaster and it has become his mission to help people who were affected by Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 from his personal experience.  It was an eye opening experience and felt refreshed and cleansed watching a visual poetry and speaking with amazing people.  Being a photographer does rock! 

Point Defiance Zoo

March happened so fast.  It always does.   Now we are going into the spring season.  Spring is my favorite season, but it is stating again at the odd pace.  Some flowers in the neighborhoods are blooming already and the rain is beating them down.  I hope the they will stay blooming through out the season because it makes the walk around the neighborhood more fun.  "Wow, Mommy this flower is pretty!" girls would comment and I snap their pictures.  It is also the season the furry neighbors, squirrels and bunnies, mate and we can see them chasing one another like nothing else matters.  The animals are busy, too. 

When we visited Tacoma, we decided to stop by at the Point Defiance Zoo there.  It was nearly 3:00 pm when we arrived and the zoo closes at 4:00 (they allowed us to stay until 4:30), so we decided it will be a quick one.  Since we are reading the "One and Only Ivan", we toured the zoo discussing what a good animal enclosure is.  In the book it talks about a "good zoo" and a "bad zoo".  A good zoo it says is a zoo that provides an ample space for the animals and make their enclosures look more like a natural habitat.  They would also be well maintained and has a lot of appropriate setting to provide stimulations and physical activity.  The bad zoo is opposite of that.  It has small, dirty and bare cages with nothing to give stimulations for the animal.  As we looked at each animal, we asked ourselves if it is a good enclosure.  We all agreed that most of them were at Point Defiance Zoo!

It was a cloudy day and at late hour, there weren't too many visitors at the zoo.  It was great because we felt like we had the zoo to ourselves!  The animals looked at us and reacted to our movements, so it was very interesting for children to interact with them.  We saw, elephants, tigers, walruses, otters, polar bear, arctic foxes, reindeer, some kind of buffalo, and some farm animals.  The kids liked watching walruses since they were swimming dynamically back and forth with their massive bodies.  Their faces looks like mustached old men and their expressions were very funny.  The girls could have taken home the arctic foxes if they had a choice to do so.  They were awing as one of them ran around the enclosure like they are doing laps.  They were fluffy snow ball but I am sure their beautiful white fur will be stained bright red when they make a kill.  I wondered if the girls would still want to take them home after their "feeding". 

I was impressed with how well Noah did.  He did not scream nor tried to run away.  He enjoyed looking at the animal just like the other children.  He pronounced each animals correctly and was a happy little guy smiling as the animals walked past us.  There was a kid's play area near the entrance so we played until the closing time.  They all had fun climbing and running around.  It's a great zoo.  I was quite impressed with it.  It's not as big as Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, so it's perfect for a family like us.  We should go to Woodland Park Zoo soon to compare and also visit the gorillas.  There weren't any gorillas at Point Defiance. 

The day in Tacoma was successful and very educational.  It was worth it risking encountering gangs:-).

My baby boy is 10!

We have a new two-digit-aged resident in the house!  Sean turned 10 yesterday and we celebrated his birthday with his friends at home with a Seahawks themed birthday party.  He wanted to make sure his party is the best birthday party ever.  He and I sat down and had a "meeting" to talk about what kind of activities and food he wants. 

Sean's Epic Party Ever Schedule:

3:30 - 4:00  Free Play and Introduction
4:00 - 4:15  Scavenger Hunt - Finding pictures of football Sean hid through out the house for a prize.
4:30 - 5:00  Free Play
5:00 - 5:15  Carnival - Hoola hoop contest, bowling game, football target game etc...
5:20 - 5:30  Piñata
5:30 - 6:00  Pizza and Cake
6:00 -          Parents pick up

We didn't follow the schedule and we skipped Carnival part entirely since the boys were having fun playing football outside.  Mike was home and he jumped in to help with the party.  He used his football coaching skill to show the boys a few trick plays and they had a lot of fun together.  It's nice to hear children's laughter and content noises of good old ball play outside.  I felt happy looking at the boys play and having a good time.  Sean was grinning ear to ear surrounded by friends at home.
I am not sure if it was epic, but I think he and the guests had a pretty good time.

I am no longer a youngish 30 something with a cute baby boy but a middle aged Mom with a tween.  Every year is passing by so fast.  Soon, he will be in junior high and then gets a driver's license and goes off to college.  I have to make sure I enjoy his small frame now before he changes to a bulky tall guy like Daddy, although I am not sure if Sean would ever become a muscle type.  He is quite skinny like how I was and hates it just like I did!   He still calls me Mommy and doesn't mind taking bath with his sisters.  I have to enjoy it while I can.  I feel the change is coming in the next few years...

My Sean at 10:

- He gained about 5 pounds since last summer and he is excited that he is over 60 pounds.
- His best friends are Parker and James. 
- He says he doesn't like girls and he doesn't know what to talk to them about but I think he is starting to take interest in them.
- He is waiting for his growth spurt and complains that many of his friends are taller than him now.
- He is starting to show the desire to be popular and thinks a boy named Luke is popular because he talks a lot.
- He thinks sagging pants are cool and he is considering wearing his pants slightly lower (no bueno).
- He still has to win everything at home or he Will throw a tantrum.
- He is scared of thunder storms and refuses to sleep in his bed when he hears it at night.
- Spiders are not his friends.
- I still make his vegetable "talk" to encourage him to eat them.  e.g.  "Sean, why can't I join the party in your tummy?," says the celery.
- He names everything Dick now.
- He discretely thinks his sisters are cute, but Aly often annoying.
- He likes to make Noah laugh.
- He thinks Aly is beautiful but her voice and appearance don't match.
- He lost his favorite doll, Woody, and quite sad about that.
- He knows so much about planets, stars, constellation and space in general and he learned them by reading his astronomy books.
- He still likes architecture and he builds amazing things with his Lego's.
- He calls Patriots are Patrionts.
- His favorite subject is Social Studies.  He is currently learning about Oregon Trail and he loves learning about it.

B & I Circus Store of One and Only Ivan

The kids had a mid-winter break last week, so we decided to check out a historic site I have been eying on ever since I started reading the novel, "The One and Only Ivan" to kids.  The story is based on a gorilla named Ivan who lived in a mall in Tacoma from the 60s to early 90s.  The mall was called "B&I Circus Store" and the owner put exotic animals on display to attract customers.  Ivan was one of them and lived in a small concrete cage for 27 years.  The story is very thought invoking and makes the reader think twice about the topic of animal treatment by us humans.  I love anything history and in particular a local history which we can still see with our own eyes.  It allows me to make a solid connection with the past, not only by pictures but with my senses.  Sean, Aly and Saya were very eager to see where Ivan lived many years ago and simply excited to get out and visit a new city they are not familiar with.

Tacoma is about 40 minutes away from Bellevue on I-5.  The trip is short and easy since I-5 has at least five lanes.  Come rush hour, all five lanes get jammed with cars moving at snail's speed.  The traffic in Washington can be as bad as in California!  I was a little nervous about the visit to the mall.  While I was researching about the place, I found out that it is a hot spot for some local gang activity.  I know some areas in Tacoma can be a bit shady and it looks like the once popular mall had become a hang out place to do criminal activities.  I was honest with the kids and told them that we will go in, find Ivan's cage, take some photos and leave.  That made the kids super nervous.  They studied the surrounding of the mall and said they don't want to go in.  I convinced them though and they followed me close like little chicks. 

The place was not that bad.  I even saw some families walking around.  It reminded me of an indoor market in Mexico as most of the stores were selling Hispanic merchandise.  Some people did look like gang members and it even had a sign that read "No Flashing of Gang Colors Allowed,"  but I didn't feel threatened at all.  We kind of looked odd one out though since we were walking funny with all children clutching to me and me carrying a giant camera.  The entrance to the mall had murals of circus animals which must be the reminiscent from the back in the day.  There were old black and white photos of the mall and the animals they had displayed on the wall and it was interesting to see how happy everyone looked in those pictures.  I wondered if they exaggerated their expressions in publicity pictures in the 60s.  The owner, Earl Irvin, personally made a trip to Africa and purchased Ivan and his twin sister, Burma, from an animal broker.  Burma died shortly after arriving to America, but Ivan lived with Earl and his family for a few years until he became too large and dangerous to live with humans.  I tried to imagine the elephant, seals, chimpanzees and a gorilla living with household goods in the mall.  The place was filled with bleakness, the fake smiles of people in old photos, colorful piñatas hanging and smell of old and fried food.  I was glad that we felt it in person.

Ivan's area was covered with paper and could not see the inside.  I was hoping to show kids how small it was, but I think they got the idea from the walls.  We didn't spend time looking at it too long since there wasn't much to look at and Sean was concerned about the safety of the mall.  He was coaxing me to go back to the car, so we took some pictures and left, going through the maze of small shops and hallways.  I needed to use the restroom so I had all children come with me to the woman's bathroom, even Sean.  He never ever comes into ladies' room but he didn't hesitate at all.  He must have been really scared!  It was a very educational trip for all of us.  It was exciting to see the proof Ivan really existed and lived in the old mall.  We are about halfway done with the book and it is becoming one of our favorite books of all time.  Ivan was "saved" by animal activists and "freed" to the zoo in Atlanta in 90s.  He died in 2012 which isn't that long ago.  He never formed any friendships with other gorillas at the zoo and preferred to interact with human.  It is a sad story, but he and the author gave us an opportunity to think about zoo in a different angle.  I hope the children learned something out of this trip to the old mall.  I sure did.