My Favorite Holiday Tradition: Making a Gingerbread House

Ever since I made a gingerbread house with the daughter of a boss  many, many years ago, I've made a gingerbread house every year.  Some years, I've made them on my own.  Most years, I've made them with my niece and nephew.

Last year, CJ and I made a gingerbread house and boy did we have a great time.  This year, we found a gingerbread train kit.  Given that CJ is obsessed with trains and I love gingerbread kits, this was a perfect activity for us on a cold Sunday.

I was in charge of putting the train together with the icing and putting the icing on the gingerbread pieces, while CJ was in charge of decorating the train.  My mother-in-law is visiting so she helped with the decorating as well.  We even customized our masterpiece with a Sir Topham Hatt, tree and stop sign from CJ's wooden train set.

At first, I tried to provide direction about what candy pieces should go where, but CJ had a mind of his own and he knew just where to put the candy pieces.  And you know what?  He did a great job without my help.  It didn't take me long to realize that this project was all about him, it doesn't have to be perfect (by a long shot) and making him do the work makes CJ independent and proud.

This gingerbread kit reminded me of a birthday party we attended a couple of weeks ago at a paint your own pottery place.  When we got there, I put an apron on CJ and he immediately went to work.  He picked a couple of pieces, started mixing colors and must have painted his pieces a jillion times.  The end result was ceramic Christmas ornaments that are mostly brown from all the mixing of colors.  What cracked me up was the couple of moms who, after their kids "finished" painting, basically redid the work. One mom painstakingly painted a reindeer ornament, while another mom created a beautiful tree.  These ornaments are going to be pretty, but they won't exactly be creations of their kids.  

When CJ's ornaments come back after being fired, he will be able to say they are his, and he painted them without mommy's help.  And I know he will hang them on our tree with pride. As Maki puts it, if I just put aside my over-achieving self and let CJ do the work, everyone is better for it. :-)

Santa Claus

This is the first year that CJ is really excited about Santa Claus.  We've been taking him to see Santa Claus for the past three Christmases, watching Polar Express and talking about Santa Claus, but this is the first year that CJ has talked about Santa, asked questions about him, thought about what it means to be bad and not get presents, etc.

We've seen two Santas this holiday season.  A couple of weeks ago, we went to the mall with my sister and niece to see Santa.  We went early so the mall wasn't packed.  CJ was less nervous about sitting on a stranger's lap than in years past and he knew just what to say when Santa asked him what he wanted: Trackmaster Thomas and battery-powered Percy.

At CJ's holiday party at school last week, Santa arrived and once again, the kids lined up to sit on St. Nick's lap and tell him what they want for Christmas.  It's interesting that CJ did not note that Santa looked different, nor wonder why Santa needed to hear from him twice about what he wants for the holidays.

We even have CJ's Christmas wish list on our fridge.  As expected, the list is full of Thomas gear.  So I've lined up the entire family to get CJ the various trains and tracks that he wants.  Our living room and hall closet are now filled with four sets of trains and tracks:

• grey plastic tracks and take along trains
• wooden tracks and what CJ calls lead along trains
• grey tracks and battery-powered trains
• Lego tracks and trains

I just hope that CJ's fascination with trains doesn't wane to soon because we have a small fortune locked up in trains. 

The Lighting of the National Christmas Tree

Last Thursday, December 4, CJ and I (plus some staff members at Matrix Group) had the privilege of attending the ceremony on the Ellipse for the Lighting of the National Christmas Tree. 

We had been given tickets by a client because of our work on the national tree site and boy were we excited.  Nicole, one of the designers at the office who worked on the site, said she and her boyfriend had been trying to get tickets (unsuccessfully) for years!

We had a great time!  Maki dropped us off on the Mall coz we knew parking would be crazy and I just didn't know how reliable Metro would be.  Other staff members took a cab, which took forever, but thank goodness they arrived on time as well.

We had great seats, the weather was gorgeous (clear, cold, but not too cold), and the program was amazing but not too long for a 4-year old.  We especially enjoyed:

• Step Afrika, a dance troup from Washington, DC
• Kaitlin Maher from America's Got Talent; CJ just loved her
• Country music singers Rissi Palmer and Phil Vassar; I'm a country music fan so it was a treat to see them

As per tradition, President and Mrs. Bush attended the entire event.  Surprisingly, security to get into the event was not crazy, although the President and Mrs. Bush were behind bulletproof glass (when did that start?) and there were security forces on the tops of all buildings.  

After the hour-long program, President Bush gave a few remarks then asked his wife to help him light the tree.  The tree is gorgeous, but we understand that it's not doing so well after 30 years as the national tree.  The tree itself is wearing a kind of net; the ornaments hang off the net so as not to strain the tree.  And it looks like the star at the top of the tree is on a steel pole, not the tree.  Regardless, the tree is mighty impressive; it's almost perfectly straight, neatly trimmed and majestic in the middle of Presidents' Park on the Ellipse.  I just wish this year's tree had more color; last year's tree had red bows which, I think, made the tree look more festive.

After the event, CJ had to go potty, so we did not exit right away -- and a good thing, too!  We walked the Pathway of Peace, which is a pathway of tree decorated with ornaments donated by each state and territory; there is one tree per state and territory.  We also got to see Santa's Workshop (it was closed but very pretty) and enjoy hot chocolate.

The highlight of the evening for CJ was the trains running around the national tree.  There are 9 sets of trains running around the tree, including two immediately surrounding the tree, two on the perimeter, three small villages, and a set of bridges.  We talked to a man who looked to be in his late teens.  He said he and his dad have been setting up the trains for the last 14 years.  The train set that goes around the tree is the official train set and takes about three days to set up.  The tracks, towns and bridges are really pretty, and the trains really are neat as they run around the tree.  CJ could have stood there for hours!

After the tree lighting, Maki joined me, CJ and Andrew for dinner at Ten Penh.  CJ was pooped from being in the cold and from all the walking, but that didn't stop him from wolfing down an order of vegetable tempura and tuna sashimi.  Needless to say, CJ was asleep not two minutes after we got into the car to go home.

The lighting of the national tree is one of those quintessentially Washington experiences and I'm really glad we got to experience it.

Thanksgiving Festivities

Wow, there has been a lot going on during this Thanksgiving holiday.  Last Friday, CJ's school held its Thanksgiving feast.  The feast itself was quite impressive with a full spread of food, decorations, and even a singing performance by the students.  The hall was noisy and crowded, and people were rushing around to and fro.  CJ gets a little freaked out in large crowds, so he was not at his best initially.  After about a half hour though, CJ was running around with the rest of the kids.

A few days before Thanksgiving, my niece Melissa came into town.  We hadn't seen her in a while, so it's been fun to hang out with her.  I took her in to the office and she attended a Web site kickoff meeting.  I even asked her to test a new Web game we hope to unveil on Monday.

Thanksgiving itself was fun.  Our friends Judith and Frank came over, along with Maki's brother. I didn't want to mess with cooking a turkey all day, so we ordered a Honey Baked Ham and then made a bunch of side dishes.  We made:  cream of crab soup, roasted vegetables, roasted asparagus, salad, homemade stuffing and biscuits.  For dessert, we had pumpkin pie and chocolate cupcakes (thanks, Judith!) .  We even opened a 1992 Silver Oak cabernet sauvignon.  The wine needed time to breathe but it was terrific.  Yum!

Yesterday, CJ, Melissa and I went to see the movie Bolt.  CJ has been to several movies now, he likes going to the movies, he can sit through an entire full-length movie, and he's mostly quiet.  I can't stop him from asking questions and commenting on what's happening on the big screen, but all in all, it was fun to go to the movies with my little man!  And since we went during a matinee showing, the theater was full of laughing and talking kids.  Oh yeah, CJ enjoyed the popcorn and chocolate, perhaps best of all.

Look mama, I can go down the stairs!

During my last parent-teacher meeting with CJ's teacher, she told me that CJ can go up the stairs with alternating steps, but he doesn't go down that way.

I asked myself if my little guy is even capable of going down the stairs with alternating steps.  He's not tall (not short either, just the right height for his age), and I always worry when he's going down steep flights of stairs.

Is this some sort of important developmental milestone?  Apparently it is, because CJ's school "taught" him how to go down the steps with alternating steps.  A couple of days ago, CJ proudly showed me that he could do it.  Check it out.

Sunday Night Playdate

CJ had a special treat this evening.  His friends Beckett and Peyton came over for a playdate.

CJ and Beckett are best buddies.  Beckett lives in the neighborhood and our nannies organize afternoon playdates all the time.

This evening, Seana (Beckett and Peyton's mom), Beckett and Peyton came over for dinner.  The boys played trains, Peyton played with various phones and drawing toys, while the moms chatted, made pizza and drank wine.  It's so cool that CJ and Beckett play so well together.  Seana says our house is Beckett's second home, which I love, because that's what being neighbors should be all about.

We made homemade pizza with dough from Trader Joe's.  The kids loved the pepperoni pizza, but then again, what kid doesn't like pizza?  The boys took a bubble bath in my big jacuzzi tub; pizza, bubbles and trains?  The boys were in heaven.

CJ's Terrific Tracks

Yesterday, CJ made some amazing train tracks, the best he's ever done. He made a track that went around the carpet and coffee tables, as well as inside tracks with lots of curves.

CJ is still just crazy about Thomas the Tank Engine and making tracks. He calls it "playing trains." So now, we have: wooden tracks, brown tracks and Lego tracks AND take along trains, wooden trains (CJ calls them lead alongs), battery-powered trains and Lego trains.

CJ has asked for more trains for Christmas. He's even asked me to make this Christmas list and put it on the fridge.

Only in Omaha

Last week, my VP and I were in Omaha, Nebraska for a meeting. I was staying at the Hilton Garden Inn because the regular Hilton was full. Guess what? The Garden Inn turned out to be a great decision.

An hour after checking in, I got a call from the manager, asking me how the room was and if I needed anything. The room was perfect for a business traveler: the desk chair could be raised and lowered, and Internet access was free. There was even a scrabble board in the lobby with a sign for guests to spell out the name of the person they'd most like to meet. So what did guests spell out? Obama, Jesus, Charo, to name a few.

The next morning, we checked out, had breakfast, then asked the front desk to call us a cab. We had a 10am meeting and it was 9:45am. The hotel had a shuttle but it didn't go as far as our meeting location. Trouble was, the cab company called back and said they wouldn't be able to send a cab for another half hour. So the shuttle driver said, "come on, I'll take you." He drove us four miles, in the rain, got lost, but promised he'd get us there.

Oh yeah, since I was suffering from a head cold, I picked up a couple of Alka Seltzer cold tablets. The woman at the front desk didn't know how much they were (they just came in) so she just gave them to me.

Would this happen anywhere else by Omaha? I'll recommend this hotel and this city anytime.

Moms Group Meeting with the Superintendent of Alexandria Public Schools

So my moms group invited Dr. Mort Sherman, the new Superintendent of Alexandria public schools, to our meeting tonight.  He came with Kimberly Graves, the principal of Jefferson Houston (our designated elementary school), another school administrator, a few parents, and the head of the Jefferson Houston PTA.

CJ will be in kindergarten next year, along with a slew of kids in our neighborhood, and there is a lot of teeth gnashing over the issue of where to send our kids.  I had heard so many awful things about Jefferson Houston, but based on what I heard from Dr. Sherman and Ms. Graves, I will definitely pay a visit to the school.  Unlike Maury and Lyles Crouch, Jefferson Houston still has declining enrollment, and even if every family in Old Town Greens and Potomac Greens sent their kid to the school, there apparently would be lots of space for more classes and teachers.  The school will definitely be accredited again this year, so we won't have the option of opting for another school, unless we use the lottery system to try and get into a special school.

This will be Ms. Graves' third year at JH, and there have apparently been huge gains at the school; Dr. Sherman is certainly impressive.  We are still looking at our many private and parochial school options.  The rubber meets the road in February, when all private school apps are due.  I've already sent in apps to St. Mary's and St. Rita.  St. Stephen's and St. Agnes, Burgundy and Grace are also contenders.  In addition, I'm definitely interested in the Spanish immersion program at one of the other schools.

My mom laughs at all of this teeth gnashing, but hey, I have one kid and I want to make sure we make the right decisions for him.

Lost in the Corn Maze

We finally did it!  We visited a corn maze!  Yep, a maze in Bridgemont Farm in Quicksburg, VA.

I had always wanted to visit a corn maze since I hear about them on some local newscast many years ago.  All this Fall weather and an itching to see the colors in the Shenandoah Valley got me to finally make plans.

Quicksburg is two hours away from the DC area so I was glad that our friends Jeff and Monica (and their two daughters) agreed to come out with us.  We set out on Saturday morning and made the beautiful drive in a little over two hours.

My assistant, Timothy, had researched lunch options for us, and we picked Godfather's Pizza, which turned out to be a pizza place attached to an Exxon gas station; thankfully, the pizza was decent.  CJ and Norah (the older daughter, she's nearly 4) got along famously while munching on pizza, drinking chocolate milk, and playing with some Thomas trains that CJ had brought along.

The corn maze was great fun.  Bridgemont Farm creates a different maze each year (unbelievable, isn't it?) and this year the maze was a kangaroo and a koala.  There are different ways to enjoy the corn maze:

• You can find your way through one maze.
• After completing one maze, you can cross over to the other and complete the other maze.
• While making your way through the maze, you can look for kid stations, where the kids can read about Australia, find missing words, and do rubbings.

We were told that it takes 2-3 hours to complete both mazes and do all the activities.  2-3 hours didn't sound practical with a couple of toddlers and a baby, so we just wandered and wandered and wandered. After about an hour, we just headed back toward the barn, used a couple of shortcuts, and made our way back to the entrance.  Afterward, CJ and Norah were just as happy to play in the hay maze, the line maze, the swings and the slides.

The drive to and from was gorgeous.  The hills and low mountains were covered in yellow, orange and red trees.  I told Maki that I want to visit Luray Caverns next.  

What an Election Night!

Maki and I decided at the last minute to hold an election night party at our house. I figured it would be more fun to watch the returns with friends and this election was just too important to not share with family and friends.

So Maki, CJ and I and about 20 friends + a few kids got together on Tuesday night. We had CNN on the big TV + FiveThirtyEight and MSNBC on a couple of laptops. I loved the CNN touch screens and MSNBC's voter by category analysis. It cracked us up that Catholics who attend mass once a week went for McCain, while Catholics who went to church less than weekly went for Obama. We made homemade pizza and chocolate pudding, drank a lot of wine and had a blast.

CJ and his buddies played i the living room with CJ's trains. Gosh, they played together so well and clearly had a blast.

I knew the election was over around 9pm when Ohio turned blue. And it was definitely over when VA turned blue. What a night! Obama's speech was great; McCain's speech was more than gracious, even lyrical.

I'm excited about the election but also worried. As a small business owner, I feel like I would have been screwed under either Obama or McCain. But I do feel that Obama is a fresh start and if he's the economic moderate I hope he will be, then Maki, Matrix Group and I will be okay.

Happy Halloween

Thank goodness Halloween fell on a Friday this year.  It's 8:30pm, CJ and I finished trick or treating about 45 minutes ago, and I'm beat.

I started the day with a deficit because I had several proposals and budgets due, and just as important, today was the annual pumpkin carving contest at Matrix Group.  This year, I was the designated carver for Lethal Weapon.  So, between the proposals and the pumpkin, last night was a really late night.  Check out my pumpkin at left and see what you think.  It's a little hard to see, but I carved a cat, spider and pumpkin in a window.

Halloween is always a big deal at school, so I spent the morning at CJ's school.  The kids got dressed up in their costumes, then paraded around the block.  They were so cute!  Ms. Courtney taught them to wave and say Happy Halloween to people on the street.  And they were trick or treating at the luggage shop and the local bank.  Afterward, the kids decorated and devoured cupcakes, listened to stories and put on a little show.  For the show, the kids recited Maurice Sendak's October poem about ghosts and goblins.  Very cute!

I worked furiously in the afternoon to get some proposals out; I didn't get everything done so I have some weekend work ahead of me.  Oh well.  I think half our clients left early today to go trick or treating with their kids.  At 4:30pm, a huge group of families gathered in the park behind our house for a pre-trick or treating playdate.  Then, at 6pm, there was a Halloween parade through the neighborhood, then we got down to the serious business of trick of treating.  At left is CJ holding hands with his best friend, Beckett.  These guys are buddies!

CJ was really antsy to go trick or treating.  Lucky me, the parade started before I had time to give him dinner, so by 6:30pm, CJ was wired from a lot of candy and chocolate.  Good times!  We started at the front of our neighborhood, went past our house and must have knocked on three dozen doors.   It was a beautiful evening; the weather was clear and cool, perfect for being outside.

Oh yeah, this year, I went as a bad fairy.  Check out my pink and black wig.  I got it at Target a couple of weeks ago.  When I tried it on the first time, CJ took one look at me and said, "mom, take it off" in the tone of voice you expect from an embarrassed teenager.  Several times tonight, CJ would say, "mom, show them your bad wig."  Hilarious.

The best decorated house goes to our neighbors, Seana and Duane.  The front of their house was decorated with a ghost, leaves all over the sidewalk and steps, and spooky lights.  The windows had spooky lighting and scary sounds were coming from the house.  The best part was Duane, who was dressed as the grim reaper.  Duane would sit very still on the front step; he looked like another decoration.  When the kids would come near, he would say, "boo!" and scare the daylights out of the kids and even some of the parents.  I thought I did well with my lights, pumpkins and scary skull, but our house had nothing on Duane's handiwork.

Interestingly, when I talked to CJ about trick or treating yesterday, he didn't seem to remember that he had done it twice before.  I wonder if he will remember trick or treating next year.  He's 4, so he should start having memories, right?

I Love Yard Sales

There was a pretty big yard sale in our neighborhood and I could not resist checking it out.  I just love yard sales.  Yes, I love the bargains, but I also knew it would be fun to hang out with our neighbors and CJ would enjoy running around with his buddies.

Maki gave me $60 since I didn't have any cash and told me to call him if I needed more.  Thankfully, I only spent $45, but boy did I get good stuff!  I got 10 CDs, 14 DVDs, 4 gorgeous Chinese prints and a purple planter for my office!

Among the DVDs I got were:

• All 3 Indiana Jones movies
• X-Men 2 and 3 (Maki and I have not seen the third movie)
• Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (yes, I admit to being a Keanu Reeves fan)
• Amadeus and Immortal Beloved (about Mozart and Beethoven, respectively)
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit
• Batman Begins

The CDs are mostly from the 80s, including including Bob James, Prince, Vivaldi and Wham (yes, Wham, don't laugh).  How's that for variety?

Now you know why I love yard sales.

CJ Loves Jessie

My niece Jessie spent last weekend with us.  CJ had a ball playing with her older cousin; Jessie was awesome and ready CJ lots and lots of books.

On Saturday, we went to Yoko, a Japanese restaurant in Reston.  My god, these kids really love their sushi.  CJ ate 10 pieces of nigiri - 6 pieces of salmon, 2 pieces of tuna and 2 pieces of egg sushi.  Jessie ate two rolls - a California roll and an eel roll.  I am pretty sure that the kids ate more than I did.  At left is a cute photo of CJ and Jessie (and two other girls) watching the sushi chef make their lunch.  

After lunch, we went to Tyson's Corner mall to get some watches fixed, look for some new shoes, and visit the Lego store.  CJ is finally old enough to play with the small Legos, so we bought him a small container of Legos.  We were hoping that CJ wouldn't see the Thomas Lego sets, but no such luck.  I'm surprised were made it out of there without buying any Thomas Lego sets.  (We did promise a set or two for good behavior and stars.)

On Sunday, after a heart-stopping breakfast of sausage egg mcmuffins, we headed out to Old Town.  We met up with our friends Emi, Elena and Rona to have lunch and take the water taxi to National Harbor.  It was a beautiful day and the kids loved the 20-minute boat ride.

We got off at Gaylord Place, which is a gorgeous property.  We walked around the hotel, checked out the many restaurants and then the kids ran around the colonial garden.  Afterward, we walked down to National Harbor.  There are more shops open than the last time we were there, but there are still quite a retail shops that are coming soon.  With the economy the way it is, I wonder how many shops will wait until next year or simply never open.

As usual, CJ loved playing in the sand park at National Harbor; this is where the Awakening statue has been moved to and it's nice to see more people enjoying the statue.  After strawberry milkshakes, it was time to take the water taxi home, meet up with Maki, and head home.  

I can't believe it's October and 80 degrees outside!

Maurice Sendak Poems

Imagine my surprise when CJ started reciting poetry in the car one day.  His teacher, Ms. Courtney, has been teaching the kids poems by Maurice Sendak.  I would not have though that a 4-year old would be ready to memorize poetry, but you can see the results for yourself.  Of course, it helps that the poems and are silly and fun.

Here are the words, since CJ is talking so quickly.

September by Maurice Sendak

In September for a while,
I will ride a crocodile
Down the chicken soup-y Nile.
Paddle once, paddle twice,
paddle chicken soup with rice...

October by Maurice Sendak

In October, I'll be host 

to witches, goblins and a ghost.
I'll serve them chicken soup on toast.
Whoopy once
whoopy twice
whoopy chicken soup with rice.

Maryland Renaissance Festival

Yesterday, we went out to the Maryland Renaissance Festival with our friends Eve, Karl and Hans Erik.  It was glorious weather and I'm so glad they reminded us that the Festival is closing up in a few weeks.

CJ and Hans Erik had a great time watching guys test their strength on the anvil test, they loved going down the big slide, they enjoyed the food (quesadillas and cookies for them), and they enjoyed watching the bagpipe band The Rogues and the comedy show St. George and the Dragon.  Hans Erik was dying to be in the St. George show, but he got beat out by a kid with a louder "huzzah!"  Hans Erik brought his play swords and the boys loved their mock sword fights.

Me, I come for the food.  I adore the sweet potato fries (with horseradish sauce) and the sweet corn dipped in butter.  Yum!

Maki enjoys getting dressed up as a poet.  He has the requisite poet's shirt, vest, tights and medieval moccasins.  I'm not a costume kind of gal, so Maki hopes that CJ will want to go in costume sometime in the future.

We were all just really happy to be outside in the great weather.  Since it's Oktoberfest, the Festival was crowded, but we went on the early side, so it wasn't too bad.  October 18-19 is the last weekend, so if you want to go, go soon!  And go early to find a decent parking spot and avoid the crazy traffic on Route 450.

The End of Parallel Play

I've noticed recently that CJ is playing with his friends, as opposed to playing beside his friends.  My books say that somewhere between the ages of 3 and 4, kids start to play with other kids, as opposed to parallel play where they play in the same general area, but not with each other.

At a school picnic on Friday, CJ played hopscotch with other kids, then around and played with a shovel with his buddies Jack and Caden.  I was impressed, btw, that rough housing  and playing with a shovel did not turn into boo-boos or hurt feelings.  The boys were great!

When CJ's friends come or a playdate, the kids will tell stories to each other, make their trains interact with each other, and comment on each other's artwork.

CJ is Making Train Tracks by Himself

Just recently, CJ started making large and complex train tracks all by himself.  This is new.  In the past, Maki or I would help him with the Y pieces and the connections through the turntable.  But now, he knows how to insert junctions, make the tracks curve around the table or couch, and create parallel tracks.  Very impressive!

CJ still likes it when people "play trains" with him, but proudly reports to me that he "made the tracks all by himself."

More Funny Sayings

Yesterday, CJ was helping me make Italian sandwiches.
Me: CJ, do you want to help me put some greens on this sandwich?
CJ: But mama, you're putting purples on your sandwich, too!
(because my box of greens had green and purple leaves)

CJ: Mama, what's a deadline?
Me: It's when you promise to do something by a certain date.
CJ: I wish I had a deadline.

Me: CJ, you need to put away your tracks so the cleaning lady can come and clean.
CJ: Why, is it every other Tuesday today?

Thomas Movies on YouTube

If you've met CJ, you know that he loves Thomas the Tank Engine.  He has several types of trains (battery-powered, take alongs and lead alongs), books, CDs, DVDs, and clothing.  CJ prefers Thomas episodes over any other show.  I don't mind because the episodes are short, they are easy to follow, and they always have life lessons.  When I need CJ to behave, I tell him that I need him to be a "really useful big boy" and that almost always works. :-)

We have an Apple TV, which lets us surf YouTube on our large screen TV.  For fun one day, we searched for Thomas and boy were we surprised to find thousands (yes, thousands) of Thomas movies.  People rip episodes and put them online.  I'm surprised they stay up coz some of them are really good quality and are clearly illegal uploads.  Here's Percy's Seaside Trip.

Other people take the original shows and dub them with their own voices, or use their own trains but use the original narrator.  There are even episodes created using Microsoft train simulator - here's Thomas visits the Main Line.

Yet other people create their own original Thomas episodes.  And some of them are really good!  Here's a cute original - Thomas wants to pull the Christmas tree.  This kid obviously has a large collection and room to setup the tracks!

What all this means is an endless supply of Thomas episodes for CJ.  He knows how to use the remote to get on AppleTV and navigate around.  He even knows how to spell Thomas and can do his own searches -- I was stunned when he did this for the first time a couple of months ago.  Just shows to show you what a kid is capable of when motivated.

We Love Our Wii Fit!

For my birthday this year, I asked Maki for a Wii fit.  Well, that was easier said than done because there is a waiting list for the Wii fit.  We finally picked up one in early August and we've been enjoying it ever since.

The Wii fit is another ingenious addition to the Wii family.  It's a piece of hardware that connects wirelessly to your Wii.  You stand on it and I guess it sends signals to the Wii about your movements based on the distribution of weight on your legs.  It acts like your personal trainer:

• It records your weight and body mass index (BMI).
• Based on a series of tests, it calculates your Wii age.
• A personal trainer (person on screen) shows you how to do yoga exercises.
• You can do balance, strength and aerobic exercises.

The Wii fit also tracks your progress against goals, records each day's activities, and tells you how long you've exercised.  The Wii fit is a little sassy.  When we haven't used it in a while, it gives us sarcastic messages like, "I see you haven't exercise in 8 days.  Exercising every day is important to reaching your goals" or something like that.  It even makes your Mii (avatar) chubbier when your BMI is above normal (obnoxious and hilarious).  My BMI was normal, but my Wii age is awful because I need to work on my balance.

Surprisingly, CJ loves the yoga exercises.  He is able to follow the instructor's move and do the poses.  He will even do balancing poses just for fun!  Maki likes the balance exercises (like Table Tilt and Slalom) while I like balance (Table Tilt) and aerobics (I LOVE Super Hula Hoop!).  For $200, this is a fun gadget and if we end up getting a little more exercise as a result, that's just gravy.

First Day of Pre-K

Big milestone this week. On Wednesday, CJ started 5-day pre-K.  This is a big deal for the entire family.  For CJ, it's the start of school every day, a normal school year, school for nine months out of the year.  For me and Maki, it means we have to be organized and disciplined every day so that we can all be ready and out the door in time.

What a difference a year makes.  Last year, going to school was scary and both CJ and I were anxious as we approached the classroom.  This year, we made a calendar and counted down the days until the first day of school.  CJ made me write "first day of school" on September 10, and "not yet school" on September 9.  We talked about school, we gave each other kissing hands, and CJ picked out his own clothes.

The morning of the first day, CJ got up on time, got dressed on his own, ate breakfast by himself, and we left the house early.  For the first week, the school asks parents to drop off and pick up in the classroom; in a week or two, we will be able to drop off and pick up at the curb.  CJ greeted his teacher (whom he had met during summer camp), he greeted the kids as they entered the classroom, and he happily hugged classmates from last year (there are 3).  He did ask me why I couldn't stay and why I had to go to work, but I made a graceful exit with a big hug and a kiss, and no tears (on my part or his).

When I came to pick him up, the kids were on the rug while the teacher told a story.  The kids all looked happy and relaxed.  Chatty CJ is less than talkative about school, but I hope to hear about the details of each day as the weeks go on.

During dropoff on the second day, I went to say good-bye and CJ, without even looking up at me from whatever activity he was engaged in said, "bye, mom."  I'm so proud of him!

More Funny Sayings

Here are the latest from CJ.

CJ: Mama, let me listen to your heart beep.

CJ: Mama, my pulse sounds like a drum. Your pulse sounds like a trumpet.

CJ: Mama, if California is farther away, is Virginia closer away?

Mama: CJ, what was your favorite part of the trip to New York?
CJ: My favorite part of the trip (to New York) was the museums. But my most, most, most, most, most favorite part was the food.

CJ: Mama, why do you have to go to work today, so you can buy me new buffers and sushi and Pocky?
Mama: Yes.

The Ride Home or Why I Love Amtrak (Again!)

Once again, my love of train travel is reinforced. We left our hotel at 8:52am, arrived at Penn Station at 9:02am, and had plenty of time to spare to catch our 9:35am train. The train left right on time and we enjoyed great views of the mid-Atlantic. I especially love it when we cross the Susquehanna River.

I’ve decided that unless I am pressed for time, the Northeast Regional is the train to take in the future. It’s not as crowded as the Acela, there is more legroom, and it’s less expensive. Yes, it does take 35-45 more time, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s no time at all. And since there is AC power in every row, I can work, or CJ can watch a movie.

Waterfalls of New York

The raison d’être of the trip is the New York Waterfalls by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. My mom read about the waterfall exhibit and invited the rest of the family to join her in seeing them. We got our tickets for a Circle Line boat tour months in advance.

Our Saturday boat ride was canceled because of Hurricane Hannah, but thank goodness they let us reschedule for Sunday, since we were all leaving Monday morning.

The boat ride is the same old boat ride you can book normally, but it’s extra special for a few months because of the waterfalls. There are 4 waterfalls in the East River and New York Harbor:

• Under the Brooklyn Bridge (on the Brooklyn Anchorage on the Brooklyn side, facing Manhattan)
• Between Brooklyn's piers 4 and 5 (west of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, facing Manhattan)
• Pier 35 in Manhattan (adjacent to South Street at Rutgers Street -north of the Manhattan Bridge, facing the Bridge)
• Governors Island (on the north shore, facing Manhattan)

The waterfalls were certainly worth seeing., but it was the overall experience that was the highlight. After Hurricane Hannah, Sunday was a glorious day, with blue skies and low humidity. We had clear views of the Manhattan skyline, the status of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Wall Street. If you like boat rides, this is one worth doing.

Yes, You Can Take a 4-Year Old to Museums

Whenever we go on a trip, and certainly around Washington, we visit museums and take CJ with us. Maki and I love museums (Maki joined us in NYC on Saturday afternoon) and we figure CJ will love museums if we get him started early.

On Saturday morning, mom, Alex, CJ and I visited the Museum of Natural History. The dioramas filled with stuffed animals from Africa were lifelike and very well done. CJ loved looking for the baby animals and guessing the names of the animals. We all enjoyed the dinosaur exhibit, as well as the reptile exhibit. I wish the exhibit had more hands-on elements, or even some interactive kiosks, but otherwise, no complaints. We need to watch Night at the Museum, the Ben Stiller comedy set in this museum.

On Sunday morning, we all made the mandatory visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Alex says he has spent many, long days at this museum, especially when he was living in New York. We started our visit the Egypt collection, culminating, of course, at the Temple of Dendur, my favorite spot in the museum. Then we visited the armor collection, including a special exhibition on Tibetan armor. Then we wandered into musical instruments, and then dashed through European history. We also enjoyed a Jeff Koons exhibit on the roof of the museum featuring three sculptures; the most fun was a stainless steel sculpture that looks just like a dog balloon!

CJ obviously can’t read the descriptions and can’t sit through long explanations, but he enjoys looking at everything, commenting on what he sees, and looking at the varied items. Next time, we will have to catch the Children’s Museum, which we hear is terrific and fun for kids.

A Weekend of Yummy Asian Meals + Amazing Doughnuts

I come from a family of eaters. Growing up, birthdays and celebrations were nearly always celebrated with dinner at a nice restaurant, the family favorite being sushi. This trip to New York felt like a gastronomic tour of Asia’s greatest hits. Following recommendations from Fodors.com (my favorite online travel resource), we visited, in this order:

Nha Trang, a Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown. This is Alex’s favorite restaurant in New York City. I was blown away by the hot and sour shrimp soup and the shrimp with salt and pepper sauce. Best of all, dinner for 5 was a mere $70 and you should have seen how much food we ordered!

Cendrillon in SoHo, my favorite Filipino fusion restaurant in the world. Despite Hurricane Hannah, which slammed into New York on Saturday afternoon, the restaurant was full by 8pm. Romy, the chef, does an amazing job and greets every table personally. I loved the mussels, the laksa noodles, lamb shank and kare kare (Filipino stew made with peanut butter, oxtail, tripe and vegetables). For dessert, we adored the passion fruit crème brulee, the bibingka, and champorado (sweet, sticky, chocolate rice porridge, what's not to love?).

Momofuku, a ramen noodle joint on the Lower East side. Momofuku serves fresh, Japanese style ramen noodles. The menu is limited, and unless you don’t like pork, order the pork steam buns and the pork ramen, which are superior to their chicken counterparts. Service was a little snotty. And since the restaurant does not take reservations, it’s best to arrived before 6pm. We got there at 5:45pm; the place was packed by 6:15pm on a Sunday. We've had better ramen on the streets of Tokyo, but good ramen places are rare in the US; to date, we have found none in the DC area.

Doughnut Plant in the Lower East side. I heard about this little doughnut place on Food Network, when Bobby Flay challenged Doughnut Plant owner, Mark Israel to a throwdown. Mark Israel’s doughnuts won hands down and I knew we had to make a pilgrimage. The $20 cab ride was worth it. If you go, order the tres leches doughnut, a cakelike doughnut that is out of this world. CJ loved the chocolate doughnut.

New York, Here We Come or Why I Love Amtrak

Last Friday morning, CJ and I went up to New York on Amtrak. I love Amtrak. Maki dropped us off around 9:00am for a 9:25am departure and we still had time to pick up breakfast at McDonald’s and make a bathroom stop before boarding the train.

Family and friends know that CJ is crazy about trains, so it was a real treat for him to ride the train up to New York. We even ran into our friends Debbie and Bert, and their son Max, so we had company for part of the ride. CJ played Go Fish! with Max, he watched a couple of Thomas movies on the PSP (Playstation Portable), and we paid a visit to the café car for some lunch.

Catching a cab was a breeze because it was the middle of the day, so we got to our hotel, Club Quarters in midtown, in no time.

This trip to New York is a mini-vacation before CJ starts school on Wednesday, as well as a family trip. We met my mom, older sister and brother in New York; they flew in from San Francisco. The impetus for the trip was the waterfall exhibit by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, who created waterfalls from four locations in the East River and New York Harbor (more on that later when I post about our boat ride on the river.

CJ Loves the Pool

The pool in our neighborhood is closing. For me, it’s always a sign that summer is over, the days are getting shorter and we didn’t do half as much as I had hoped. Oh well, we made it to a couple of county fairs, we went to Costa Rica, we hung out with friends – I guess I can’t complain.

Here’s a great photo of CJ jumping into the pool last weekend. With his Spiderman vest on, CJ is fearless. And check out the huge smile and perfectly balanced arms. When it comes to the water, CJ is definitely my son. I’m going to have to look into swimming lessons at community center or the local Y.

Adventures at the Mall

On Saturday, Maki, CJ and I went to the mall. I just had to share some of the funny things that CJ said.

On approaching Nordstrom, CJ was trying to read the store name.
CJ: Mom, are we going to Netherlands?
Mom: Netherlands? No, we're going to Norstrom.
CJ: No, we're going to Netherlands.

On leaving the Verizon store, where they sell Crocs carrying cases for phones.
CJ: Mom, this isn't a phone store, it's a Crocs store!

As we went from floor to floor.
CJ: Mom, I want to take the excavator.
Mom: You mean the elevator or the escalator?
CJ: No, the excavator!

As we approached EVERY mall directory.
CJ: Stop, I want to look at the map. You are here. We're here, mom! (pointing to the red "you are here" dot on each map)

CJ's first remembered dream

CJ woke up this morning and said, "Mama, awhile ago, last night, I had a good dream. I dreamed that I was in a race car. It was blue and I was racing you, dada and yaya. We were on the water. I won!"

It was extraordinary. CJ has never detailed his dreams before, although he's reported having bad dreams in the past (but he could not describe them).

BTW, the concept of the past still seems hard for CJ to articulate. Until recently, the past was "last night." It didn't matter when the past was (last November, yesterday, last week), it was "last night." These days, it's "awhile ago."

Howler Monkeys of Monteverde

We saw our first howler monkey during our hike to the base of the Arenal Volcano.  We saw a male howler monkey in the trees.  What was really interesting was his call, which sounds like a deep, long roar.  Howler monkeys are supposed to be the loudest of all monkeys.

We didn't see any howler monkeys in Monteverde, but we sure heard them.  Every morning, between 5:30 - 6:30am, they would begin their ritual calls from the valley.  From way up the mountain, from the balcony of our room, I could hear the howler monkeys announcing their awakening and presumably claiming their territory.

In the video below, IF you turn up your volume, you will hear a male howler monkey right at the beginning of the movie and in the middle.  The view is of Monteverde from our balcony; we were on the 8th level up the side of the mountain.  I took the video on Wednesday, August 13, at 5:42am, local Costa Rica time.

There's No Internet Today

When we go on vacation, I like to be somewhat connected to the office, but not too much.  I want the ability to check e-mail and make calls via Skype, but I don't want to feel obligated to check e-mail every day, reply to e-mails, get proposals, yada, yada.

This trip to Costa Rica was perfect because we had Internet access during the beginning and latter parts of the trip, but no Internet access in the middle.  The Internet cafe at the El Establo Mount Hotel was without access the 4 days and 3 nights we were there.  I checked with the front desk several times, and the front desk person just kept saying, "sorry, there's no Internet."  Which led CJ to announce to Maki, "there's no Internet at all" and I managed to get it on video.  

Videos from Tabacon Thermal Springs

A highlight of our trip to Costa Rica was our couple of days at Tabacon Grand Spa and Thermal Resort.  Here is a short video of one of the hot springs.  You can see the steam rising from the water, which was indeed hot.  CJ refused to go into the hot water, opting instead for the cooler pools.  I just adored the hot springs.

In one of the pools at Tabacon, there was a water slide.  Here's a video of Maki and CJ coming down the slide.  CJ loved the slide and ended up going down a bunch of times.

We Drank the Water in Costa Rica

Yep, we drank tap water in Costa Rica and didn't get sick.  We drank water from all three hotels, as well as from a roadside restaurant and didn't get sick.  The Paradisus Playa Conchal even had a sign in the bathroom that said their water is checked every week and exceeds international drinking water standards.

We did buy bottled water on occasion, especially for hikes and because Maki didn't like the taste of the tap water in at least one hotel, but it's official -- the water is safe to drink in Costa Rica.  Yee haw!

I Finally Got To Go Ziplining!

Maki and Alex went ziplining at the Selvatura nature reserve in Monteverde, while CJ, mom, dad and I visited the treetop canopy and hanging bridges.

So it was a pleasant surprise for me to learn that the Paradisus had min-ziplining over the pool. Not surprisingly, there was a waiting list and the only time slot available was 9:00am on Saturday, the morning of our departure. I really wanted to try ziplining, so I signed up. I was a little nervous, but a pair of 11-year old twins were with me and I figured that if they could be brave and zipline, so could I. Plus, their mom asked me to look after them since she was going to be waiting at the other end.

Ziplining was fun!!! This baby zipline was pretty slow since the line wasn't very steep. It took 20 minutes to get the gear on and get instructions, and 8 seconds to actually go down the line. That's me on the zipline, at right, getting splashed by a boy in the pool; it was common for the poolgoers to throw water at the zipliners. I got pretty soaked. :-)

CJ was pretty bummed that he couldn't go ziplining. He wasn't tall enough, so we promised him that he could go ziplining when he is 11. CJ: Mama, when I'm 11, will ziplining still be here in Costa Rica? Mama: Of course.

Encounters with Animals

Costa Rica is known for its wildlife and we have been lucky enough to catch sight of some of Costa Rica's wonders. Some of our sightings incude:

During the Arenal hiking trip, we saw a couple of howler monkeys in the trees. One male was even broadcasting loudly in his loud, lion-like roar. CJ called him the Monkey King.  Early mornings in Monteverde, around 5:30pm, the male howler monkeys would wake us with their roars.

At Tabacon and Playa Conchal, we saw several coatis, long, black creatures that reminded us of racoons.  We are told that they like to hang out by hotels and eat garbage.

During our boat ride on Lake Arenal, we saw plenty of birds along the shore.

During the tour of the Monteverde Reserve, we saw a black guan, a green toucan, lots of spiders and beetles.  

We also saw a toucan at Tabacon, close to the restaurant aptly named Los Tucanes, and toucans at a roadside restaurant.

On the road to Guanacaste, we spotted a two-toed sloth in the trees, a couple of white-faced monkeys, and lizards. 

At Playa Conchal, foot-long lizards are everywhere.

Fun in the Sun

Friday was sunny, clear, less humid, a little cooler. Mom headed out early to go bird watching, while dad did a round of golf. So Maki, Alex, CJ and I headed for the beach. 

We took out one double kayak and one paddle boat. Maki and I started out in the paddle boat, while CJ and Alex were in the kayak. I had forgotten how hard it can be to paddle against the current, but boy was it fun to be out on the water. We were warned not to go past the mountains, but there was no danger of that; it took forever just to get close to the cliffs! Since we were all wearing vests and the water was very calm, CJ and Maki jumped into the water and played around. On the return trip, Alex and I paddled, while Maki and CJ were in the kayak. CJ, of course, cannot use an oar, so he told us all where to go.

It's our last day and we thought it fitting to just laze around the pool, so we spent some time in the pool and on the deck chairs. There are several connecting pools, including a really cool shallow area with rocks, perfect for sunbathing. There was a water aerobics class happening in one pool, and CJ seemed interested, so CJ, Alex and I joined along for about 10 minutes. Who knew what a workout you get from dancing and jumping in the pool. I just hope our little class doesn't end up on YouTube!

After a nap, we headed back for one last visit to the beach.  CJ, Alex and I had a great time running in the sand, making a sand castle, and playing the water.  We headed to a less crowded part of the beach (this wasn't hard, we just walked to the left 500 yards) and enjoyed the sounds and sounds of the surf.  Check out the photo of Alex, left, being zen o the beach.

Dinner was at one of the nice restaurants on the property: Cauri, which features an international a la carte menu. Spices, our first choice, which features Asian fusion cuisine, was totally booked. The food here at Paradisus is great. Our favorite meals were at Chimera and Sofia, but we have been pleased with the resort food.

We met some families who had been here for a week. I thought about that for a second. Could we stay at a beach property for a whole week? I don't think so. It's been fun to relax in the sun, but I love the adventuring and sightseeing that we have done. Plus, Costa Ricans seems to be proud and aware of their rainforest and ecology so much that it would have been a shame to miss the other parts of our trip. Yes, getting to Monteverde was bumpy and long, but totally worth it.

On the other hand, ending our vacation with a couple of days at an all inclusive resort where your wristband gets you everything you need has been luxurious and fun.