Kuraoka Family Website: 2004 in photos

2004 in photos
www.kuraoka.org
Just posts from our virtual refrigerator door.

12-30-2004: Winter in San Diego. You know it’s winter when the kids are wearing long pants. Still going barefoot, though..

12-26-2004: Visit to Grandpa Mas. His partial namesake (Leo Masaharu) is asleep in the car, so here’s the rest of us visiting John’s Dad’s grave. John’s Mom Frances, John, and Roy are in front. Then Roy’s cousin Daryl behind John. And John’s sister Patty (Daryl’s Mom) behind Daryl.

12-23-2004: Leo has a cold. He’s a wreck! This photo amuses us because he never looks this out of it. Of course, it only slowed him down for the day. But what a nice, quiet day it was.

12-15-2004: All of Ondine’s guys. Here are Leo, John, and Roy (peering through his binoculars).

12-13-2004: A visit from Santa Claus. Roy was at school, so only Leo got to meet Santa when he made a surprise visit to our house!

11-25-2004: Thanksgiving. Some shots from our family Thanksgiving:

Okay, first up are the cousins (left to right) Autumn, Kaleb, Jeffrey, Uncle Jeff, Ellie, Aunt Michelle, Leo, Winter, Roy, and Neena. Then, here’s Michelle and Jeff. And, on the right, Neena.

First in this batch of photos are Leo and Ellie, who were so fascinated with each other that neither ate very much dinner! Next are two shots showing the scene in the computer room. Middle shot, left to right: Ellie, Jeffrey, Grandpa Bill, Winter, and Roy. The shot on the right, left to right, Roy, Neena, Kaleb (standing), Jeffrey.

Last batch of Thanksgiving photos: Here’s Autumn, then Jeffrey. Then, Winter holding Leo, and evidence of Leo getting the full royal treatment, a ride from Winter and veggie puffs from Autumn! Finally, here’s a photo of Kaleb and his Mom, Michelle.

11-06-2004: Taiko lessons at Descanso Gardens. Taiko drums are huge Japanese drums, played individually or in ensemble. We watched a live performance that entranced the boys. Then, John and Roy registered for the workshop. After learning to play four different rhythms, they got to keep their hachimaki (headbands) and bachi (drumsticks)! Then, Leo got in on the action. In the evening, Roy and Leo’s cousin Andrew came for a visit. Andrew is studying physics, which, as you can see, comes in handy.

10-31-2004: Happy Halloween! First you can see the boys making Halloween crafts. Next up: trick-or-treating! You can see them heading out the door. You also can see that we found the tiger costume, which is especially cute from the back. Next up: Barbara taking candy from a tiger. (No, not really; Leo was giving her candy and she was dropping it back in his basket.) Finally, a photo of Barbara, Bill, Leo, and Roy. Click the link to see a video (in .mpg format, about 1.7 MB) of our post-trick-or-treating activities.

10-29-2004: Montessori Discovery School Halloween Party. Here are Roy as a fireman and Leo as a giraffe. And Matthew P. as Matthew P.

10-23-2004: A pumpkin patch with the playgroup. The boys chose their own pumpkins, climbed on farm tractors, and played on a big dirt mound.

10-22-2004: Crest Community Center groundbreaking. Ondine went to Crest to research an article, and got to make a tile for the new community center.

09-11-2004: Holly and Roy. Holly is Roy and Leo’s second cousin, who is three years old. She came to Grammy’s house for a visit with Auntie Grace and Uncle Mike.

07-26-04 until 09-09-04: We were in Germany! Visit our Muelheim pages or journal archives to re-live our six-week house exchange in beautiful Muelheim, Germany!

07-20-2004: Happy Birthday to Leo! Leo is two years old. Here he is blowing the candles out on his birthday cake.

07-19-2004: Leo and Roy. Bruddas eating bananas in the back yard.

07-10-2004: Haircuts for everyone. Here are Ondine, Roy, and Leo, and just Roy and Leo. (The photo of Roy and Leo were taken the next day.)

06-21-2004: The Gang, after a hike. Dusty, dirty, tired, and thirsty. Or, from left to right: Leo, Roy, Zachary, Garrett, Katarina.

06-18-2004: Roy’s thank-you note to Steven Squyres. A big surprise came in the mail yesterday: a birthday card from Roy’s hero, Steven Squyres, scientific principal investigator on the Mars Exploration Rover (Spirit and Opportunity) team! Roy immediately and entirely on his own drew up this thank-you note, which contains the most-involved drawing we’ve seen him create. Ondine’s notes, sort of taken from dictation, explain the significance of some of the pictures.