Arakawa Family Trip

We went to Kirkwood for our annual Arakawa trip. This year we had the entire mainland clan and Mom and Dad even came from Hawaii! We were a packed house with 28 of us! We had so much fun catching up with everyone. Days were filled with outdoor activities and nights were filled with good food and lots of games.

Here we all are!

Noelle had fun with Grandma & Grandpa

This is my favorite picture from the trip

My cousins (minus Robyn)...we're like sisters

Hiking - can you see sleeping Noelle on my back?

Noelle loved Kayla and Brianna

Becca & Noelle

The little cousins from youngest to oldest

Family!

Newport Beach

We got a great deal to stay at the Marriott Newport Beach villa (2B/2B) so we took a mini-vacation. The only downside was having to go to the timeshare sales presentation - we are happy to say that we made it out alive. We had lots of fun spending time with friends & family and enjoying Southern California weather.

Nice villa with lots of room for Noelle to run around
"Upside down, Mommy"

Strolling on Balboa Island talking on the phone to Grandma Ann

Pool time
Kathie, Kayla, Liz and Becca came to spend the day with us.

Fun with Becca

We visited beautiful Mission San Juan Capistrano

"Hi Mommy"

Look How I've Grown

Here I am at about 1 1/2 weeks old and now at almost 2 years old. WOW!

4th of July in Monterey

After getting the company cabin at the last minute, we headed off to Monterey for the 4th of July weekend.
After the fog burned off, we were treated to nice warmish weather. Noelle loved the beach and would have run right into the frigid water if we let her. Here she is trying to squeeze a sand ball that Kirk made for her.

She is the destroyer of sand castles.

The aquarium was packed but we got glimpses of the new seahorse exhibit. Both those things in the photo are seahorses!

Fun with Daddy at the aquarium

The 4th of July parade through downtown Monterey drew a huge crowd.

Mommy, what's that????

What else is coming?

June Happenings

We got a visit from Great Grandma Lola for Kirk's birthday

Attended Mapolo & Joletta's wedding (Noelle first wedding)
Behaving at the ceremony
Fun with Uncle Eric
We finally got to go to the "new" California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. This it the green roof.

FISH!

More chicago shinanigans

The last couple of days we have been keeping a close eye on the weather since the news has been warning about severe thunderstorms that may roll through. Fortunately, the bulk of the storms have past around the downtown area and we have managed to stay dry and even have some sunshine (and lots of humidity)

waiting for the el train to go to Oak Park

riding the el, or as noelle like to call it, the choo choo

exploring frank lloyd wrights homes in oak park

silly girl

having fun at the field museum of natural history

pooped

trying to drag mom into the water too

all wet!

checking out reflection in big mirrored blob

Chicago!

We have been in Chicago for two and a half days now and are still trying to get the hang of travelling with Noelle. We've scaled back our usual pace and are working at Noelle's pace. Eating out tends to be a challenging feat, especially at dinner since she is starting to get tired and cranky.

laurie & noelle checking out Frank Gehry's pavilion in Millennium park

big mirrored blob

noelle liked the reflections she saw

seated and ready for the riverboat architectural tour

trying to stay warm on the boat (it has been rainy and cold much of our time here)Noelle refused to put her jacket on (or her socks and shoes)

the clouds and fog finally cleared and we made our way to the John Hancock tower to the observation deck on the 94th floor. noelle is clearly not afraid of heights.

clearing skies finally. The two tall towers are the sears tower (on right) and the new trump building (in the middle) that is just finishing up.

i love to boogie!

A couple weeks ago we went to the Asian Heritage Festival in San Francisco. Here's Noelle busting some moves to the music a local band was playing....

Memorial Day Weekend Fun

We had a great memorial day weekend. It started off with a short road trip to Brentwood to do some cherry picking. The cherries had just become ripe for picking and we were amazed at all the cherries on the trees. Noelle found that the best way to eat cherries is like an apple so that she avoids the pit. We also picked white peaches, which Noelle insisted were apples.

Noelle wondering what the heck we are doing walking through all these trees.

Yaaay! Cherries!

The best way to eat cherries is like an apple.

Wow look at all these cherries in here!

selecting the perfect cherry

Worn out!

On Monday we went to Tilden Park in the Berkeley hills where there is a miniature steam train, carousel and kids farm.

Riding the miniature steam train, choochooo!

Noelle sat all by herself on the carousel. She was very picky about which animal she wanted to sit on. After passing on a frog, lion, giraffe and dog, she finally decided on this nice looking horse.

clapping when the ride was over... more, more?

Noelle liked the kids farm and she showed us how she can climb up on the fence to see the animals.