This one is for you Don

One of the best days of the summer for me was at Toshimaen in June when all the "cousins" got together. The biggest treat of course was seeing the Womacks there. I laugh thinking how we all gave Tony such a hard time when he kept saying, "I think Reid is here. I saw him on the roller coaster with his dad." Tony is so sweet for imagining ALL our friends could be together. But then there they were!!

What I love about that day was that there were no kids left out. Tony wouldn't go on most of the rides but he always had other kids to hang out with. The kids broke off in every pairing possible. That's what I love about the Askew kids. They are so open to being friends with others.

But the star of that day was Don, THE BEST amusement park dad! He's the pied piper who leads all the little ones on rides that make most other grown-ups throw up. The Giant Swing? He and Reina went on it twice. I had to go on the Magic ride when Reina and almost wept, to pay money for morning sickness?? She reminisced, "Last time, I sat with Max's dad and Reid and Rio sat over there. We had a lot of fun THAT time." (Yes, Anna another classic Reina line.) Don, your presence was sorely missed. Unfortunately I have no photos of the day, so I made sure my brought my camera the next time at Toshimaen.

Toshimaen in August was great because of the pool. The kids and I did a double shift of fun. We hung out in the early afternoon with Koky's adorable kids and their friends. Then when they had to leave, the Simpsons showed up. Grandma Priscilla is what Lena will grow old and be like. The resemblance is striking. She's also very pleasant, adventurous and fun-loving. Callum was in his sweet big brother mode and played extensively with Reina on his inflatable alligator. (Yes, he doesn't look that happy in the photo, but you all know Callum) She lost her first tooth when she left on the concrete steps but quickly recovered. But I'm afraid I was the biggest hit of the day with my starfish impression.

There is one waterslide, not the tube type, it is open and goes practically straight down. Anyways, the line-up for it was the shortest and since Paul and Callum were gamed, why shouldn't I? They went first. I got scared. But clever little me figured out that if I spread my arms and legs wide enough to touch the edges of the slide, it would slow me down!! Smart, smart. But then I realize that they slow the slide by having this one long horizontal patch in the middle of the run. I was going so slow that I didn't have enough momentum to get me through it. So I get stuck. Now I'm not the first person to have gotten stuck in waterslides but most of these occurances are within the private confines of an enclosed tube. Here, everyone can see everything and know I got stuck by doing the star fish!!! Of course, I don't realize how visible it is until I see Grandma Simpson tearing in laughter. "It's because you had, you had your arms..." It so too much for her. Paul was so cracking up so badly, he was heaving air. Didn't even have it together to rib me (until later). So Callum did it for him.

It was a truly splendid, hilarious day but line-ups in August for everything was ridiculously long which made the June trip a notch superior. For me, August was worth cherishing because it would be the last time we would be able to spend the day there and get home 10 mins. later. But

there's plenty of fun places to make memories!

Love Ya

This is a collection of miscellaneous photos from the summer that I like. The picture of Mikey and Rio reminds me of pictures Mikey used to have with dad. The picture of Keiko and my mom after the three of us did heavy duty garden work is very memorable. Of course the pictures of the Trono/Baron clan are so precious to me. Thank you for being such good friends to all of us. Breakfast again next year at Ginger and Garlic. Mark, if Reina was only old enough for you, sigh. How can you be a hunk, a sweet human being and a successful animator for Nintendo??? And Piggy, you're the best! Des, as a teenager, you fell hard for Gus because of his looks. God loves you so for making him one of the kindest human beings alive (besides you.) And an ethical poker player too if there was ever one!

Best friends

The kids had a wonderful summer together. There were tears, bickering but mostly lots of laugh and good times. Even little Maya fit into the gang. Juri was Reina's first friend at preschool and they are still buddies. Juri's sister Pika is so incredible and lovely. And Maya the cutest thing ever. It's hard to explain, but she's a three-year-old with a really witty sense of humor.

Dog Walking in the Woods

What a breathtaking place to walk dogs free leash!! Capilano is so gorgeous. The dogs were so great. What a wonderful day for everyone.

Mom's friend Mieko is a dog rescuer and she adopts abused dogs and tries to find them homes. Mom tried to take care of Ebony, pictured here with her and Rio, but the dog was just too big and powerful for her to walk and control. Reina liked Lily a lot. What a sweetheart. Mieko takes care of her dogs so well that they are just so great. They all have such personalities. Chuck is the leader of the pack. Ebony likes to do his own thing. And Lily is the worry wart. She likes to be last and if someone falls behind, she'd turn around and wait until everyone catches up. When the kids get older, I'm definitely getting a pet!!! The problem is I like dogs and cats. People seem to be one or the another. But pet hair would mean more cleaning... Definitely do this next year.

Beach and the Play

ビーチで遊ぶレイナとリオ。カナダの海はやっぱり寒い。。。

リオの演劇舞台。役はフック船長とおしゃべりのタイム・マシーン。

The weather this week was pretty crappy compared to the past two. Rained a few days, cloudy most of the time. Went down to Kitsilano Beach. My kids agree Canadian pools are more fun (less annoying rules) but Japanese beaches are much better, especially those in Okinawa. Still we had fun hanging out and eating at a beachside restaurant.

Reina and Juri really enjoyed their Mommy camps. Keiko taught them tennis for an hour and I did reading and writing the next. Juri said it was the best camp this summer! What a sweetheart. They just had so much fun together, without the older siblings.

Rio did a theatre camp and enjoyed that. It's really important for him to hang out with boys his own age. He got to be the talking time machine, a role he really wanted and got to do swordfight as Captain Hook for the other play. He got a prize for "Best Efforts in Acting." All the kids got some "effort" award but some were pretty lame like "Best Efforts at: Being Helpful, Listening Quietly, etc." We ran into the teacher in the hall and she was so complimentary. I felt so proud considering that Rio has annoyed so many other teachers in the past.

Their other highlight of the week was sleeping over at Pika and Juri's homestay. The kids all zonked out in the afternoon the next day. Was going to take my mom to see Mamamia but was too tired. Went to Ava Lucia's grave. Des and I hugged and cried. I try my best but I am still trying to deal with the cruelty and unfairness of it all.

Tennis, Poker and Retail Therapy

The kids are having a good time but of course so have I. Keiko and I have been shopping every day. She is such a serious shopper, it's like she is Berni's retail biological sister and I'm the odd one out. I did buy out Gymboree and Children's Place on their summer sales. (At least everything that Keiko didn't buy.)

Was invited to poker night at the Baron's. Played tournament style for the first time to my dislike. The boys like heads up play and all that testoterone driven betting. The food was worth more than the $20 I lost. Des made pulled pork sandwiches, a salad with hot mushrooms and a baked vegetable dish with chipotle sauce. I think she's amazing but all her friends are great home entertainers as well. My crowd in Tokyo don't do much fancy home dinners. Kyoko G makes a great pasta dish and peanut butter cookies. Hiroshi and I made three different curries for a party which was a great hit and the party was great fun.

But the biggest highlight was playing tennis for the first time in ten years!! Keiko was an intermediate player in her twenties and we are exactly the same level! We played to a 5-5 tie and didn't have the stamina to play a tie-breaker. I'd love to play again next week but we'll have the girls with us.

Otherwise, I'm watching a little tv, reading books. I'll post photos for this next week. Keiko and I sweating it out at the courts.

Summer camps サマースクール

りおとれいなのサマースクールです。セイント・ジョージという私立の学校です。８０％遊び、２０％勉強ってかんじかな。。。りおはチェスや演劇を学んでいる。れいなはオカリナ（簡単な楽器）や自然科学。親友のジュリとピカははもちろん、新しい友達と遊びのが楽しいです。

Isn't the St. George campus beautiful? This is the kids are going to day camp. Reina, Pika and Juri are posing with Dora popsicles.

Rio is going to camp for three weeks here. The first was creative writing where he made lots of good friends. Rio is walking happily with Jackie and his sister. Jackie taught Rio how to play chess. They were attending different camps the following week so they made a pact to meet at the bathroom at 11 am! How sweet. But they never followed through because neither had a watch...

The next week he did a chess camp which he really adored. He openly expressed his fondness for his teacher which he rarely does. He asked me what "geek" was a while back and he wasn't really satisfied with my answer. But when I said his teacher was well, "a geek," the lightbulb went off and he nodded. He wants to join the chess club at his new school. We even had a game after swimming lessons because the community has open chess outside on Friday nights. I won. But it's not for me. I hate wasting precious brain cells on games...

Reina learned to play the ocarina with Juri and Pika. She was excited to make a friend Rachel. All the girls loved Shingo, their teacher who is cool. The second week the girls attended a camp at the Richmond Nature Park. They had a field trip to Centennial Beach and Reina was shocked at how cold the water was. Remember Canadian waters are for polar bears to swim in!!!

I will post more photos and comments once the lovely and highly organized Keiko ever sends them to me...