Kokochi

Cousin Ava's b-day

Snippets from Cousin Ava's 3rd birthday up in Rohnert Park. I had forgotten to r.s.v.p., so when Tesla walked in, it was super cute that her cousins yelled, "Telsa is here!!" I just love that Tesla is growing up with her cousins. My fav pic is the 3rd here, where Tesla and the birthday girl are laughing together. Even though it's infrequent, the fact that we see them when we can does make a difference. Somehow, Tesla knows they are family.

They had an ice cream cake - and boy were the kids excited!!

Last day Gran Marie came to nanny

Of course Gran Marie will still come to play, but last Wed. was the last official day Gran Marie came in the morning to care for Tesla as Dav and I left for work. I got T to make a card for her.

The days she came were the best - T loved them so much that when asking "is Gran Marie coming today?", if we answered yes, T would run down the hallway yelling "Horray!" Plus, since I didn't have to pack up T to take to Karla's, the mornings were more relaxed. T got to play in her room, sleep in her bed, and have Gran Marie all to herself.

As much as T is ready for preschool and seems to enjoy it a lot, these special days with Gran Marie will always be a treasure. Thank you, Gran Marie!!

Pre-school!

Tesla went to preschool yesterday. It's still the transition stage so I joined her the whole time, and we stayed just 1.5 hours. On Monday, she'll go for 3 hours joined by Gran Marie. Then she has a few half days, then she'll go full days.

It's been super special that Tesla has had so much one-on-one time with Gran Marie, and it's sad to change this, but Tesla is also very ready for a group of friends and lots of fun activities. She was actually shy yesterday, and I caught her staring at the other kids in deep observation. She also really wanted to play with all the new toys even though there were fun structured activities going on. Otherwise, I know this school is just perfect. And there is lots of Japanese speaking which makes me very happy. The teachers in fact spoke to her in Japanese only first until they realized she doesn't really talk back in Japanese even though she can understand. I totally love all the teachers, and I'm so excited to see how Tesla's Japanese will evolve!

Here are a few pics.

Heart Thrive "cookies"

Although I'm more flexible than before in lettting other people, such as granny, give Tesla sweets, it's still hard for me knowing how bad sugar is, especially the refined kind. But, I also don't want to deprive her to the point where it backfires. So I do give her a bit here and there. Recently I happily discovered Heart Thrive bars. I tell Tesla they are cookies, and she loves 'em.

Ingredients are:

Oats, dried fruit, brown rice syrup, natural fruit juice, brown rice flour, soy protein concentrate, soy flour, chicory root extract, rice bran, dried plums, dried apples, dried pears, calcium citrate.

Today, after playing in the park, we shared a fruit smoothie and these "cookies." She was quite satisfied!

I am not going to Burning Man

This is a pretty big statement for me since this year would have been my 9th consecutive year. During these years, I met Dav, met an incredible group of friends, married Dav, had Tesla (and brought her twice), and worked as a Ranger. Burning Man has brought so many incredible experiences that it has become a part of my identity.

The decision not to go this year came rather naturally. The thought of packing up & prepping, of spending a lot of energy making the most of that week, and then the immense clean-up after felt daunting. We do a lot of small camping trips and outdoor events...and with Burning Man being the biggest commitment, I realized I wanted a break. I don't want to start resenting Burning Man, and felt taking a year off would be refreshing.

However, as I explained to people who are in disbelief that I'm not going, I realized I have other reasons for not going. After 9 years, I've changed and matured. Since going to Burning Man non-stop, with more or less the same people, I haven't really considered why I go and what I get from it. I love Burning Man, so of course I go! But I don't go to Burning Man just for fun. In a documentary interview I was in a few years back, I explained that I keep coming back to the playa because it reminds me what is important in terms of being true to myself, being open, and building communities. Now that Dav and I go to other niche events, I don't need to go to Burning Man for these things. Plus, in a few weeks we're going to Symbiosis which I'm very much looking forward to.

I'm not sure what I'd want differently next year, but I want to start afresh. And to do so, not to go this year will provide a nice break. I'm looking forward to a quiet SF during that week! I will, however, miss the beauty of the playa, the sunsets, the sunrises, the incredible dust storms. That can't be experienced anywhere else, and to me Burning Man is defined perfectly by the natural environment it takes place in. I was cleaning out the RV a bit back and came across a playa dusty item. Oh, how I miss that playa smell and feel. I will truly miss the playa.

p.s. Dav will go for just a few days early in the week. He will take minimum stuff and run around exploring as he pleases. This is good for him - to get to do exactly what he wants without family and camp responsibilities. So we're both doing something very different this year, and I imagine will make us excited to be back on the playa together next year, with Tesla who will be at an age to take it all in : )

now we have tea parties all the time

After her Birthday Tea Party, and especially since she got a cute tea set to play with, Tesla has tea parties all the time. In her room and the living room. Usually Wanwan and Horsey get to be guests, many times daddy and I are invited too. The 2nd picture she curiously put her tricycle as one seat, and put a diaper as a guest. She's still into putting diapers on WanWan. Sometimes, she'll play by herself, and I love listening to her reenactment to herself in her very cute high voice - "and then WanWan goes here and this is his tea" etc.

I'm so pleased the tea party gave her such good memories!

Click on pics to enlarge.

tomato picking

Tesla and I went over to our immediate neighbor's (Firefly's house) and got to pick their cherry tomatoes. Since we don't have a yard, it's very nice to let Tesla water the plants and pick the bounty. The tomatoes are amazing. So much better than store ones.

Videos from Camp Tipsy

Here are Dav's videos from Camp Tipsy.

Camp Tipsy III from Dav Yaginuma on Vimeo.

Camp Tipsy III: Trailer Platform from Dav Yaginuma on Vimeo.

Camp Tipsy III: Swing Boat from Dav Yaginuma on Vimeo.

Figured it out

Woot! I found that if I take the back off my phone and hold it in a certain way, my phone cam will open. Not ideal but at least I can use my phone to blog again!

Camp Tipsy III

We spent Thursday ~ Sunday at Camp Tipsy. The first time we went was rather small, and this year, there were 100 or so folks, and lots of funky, cool, weird boats. Dav made a floating swing set that we'd talked up about to Tesla so she's been excited to 1) go camping in the RV (her 2nd favorite home), and 2) swing on the water with daddy. She got to do both.

I didn't make anything and had my hands full with Tesla while Dav built his swing (click on 4th pic here to see Tesla helping out daddy), but still had fun as the water was perfect, and it was just crazy to see the boats people made. Chicken John got a Ritual Roaster coffee house out on the water, complete with freshly ground and brewed coffee! My favorite one was the rat canoe in terms of creativity. It even had a tail that was a plastic tube with a hole in it, so as the water swished in and out, it made a pretty ugly sound.

Most memorable moment was when Dav finished his swing at dusk. By the time he tested it, and we got Tesla prepped in her life jacket, it was dark and calm out on the lake. We floated out, not too far as I was quite nervous at the beginning, then under the sparkling stars, swung over the water. Tesla was in heaven, and after I relaxed a bit, I enjoyed just how beautiful it was, and pretty darn fantastic to be swinging on the lake!

I really disliked the dumb motorized boats and jet-skis that kept zooming around. No creativity there. Our floating ensemble certainly attracted quite a few to slow down and check out our fun. Otherwise, it was a super kid-friendly, artsy, community event. I highly recommend it.