12-28-19: Leo in the snow!
Leo was invited to go cabin camping in the snow in the Lagunas with his friend Garrett, and boy did they get snow! Garrett's dad Eiji sent
us some pictures from the weekend.
12-26-19: Boxing Day.
The snow level dropped to about 2,000 feet on the Angeles Crest. This is from John's morning walk with Shadow; compare it to the photo
from two days prior (just scroll down to the 24th). John took Grammy back to Vista Cove, returned to the house to do more clearing and packing
up, then drove home with the doggo.
12-25-19: Christmas Day!
With two boys, it just isn't Christmas morning without Legos. Roy got this set for Leo; here they're racing to see who can finish
building his car first. Boys! The dog, wisely, is staying out of it. Then there's a view around the table for Christmas dinner, and
an attempt at a phone selfie of just us with Grammy. Roy, Leo, and Ondine left right after dinner; John and his Mom (and the dog)
stayed on.
12-24-19: Christmas Eve!
First up, some photos from our morning walks with the dog. Then, the round-robin gift exchange/stealing with all the aunts,
uncles, cousins, and second cousins!
12-23-19: Christmas Eve Eve.
Leo slept on the sofa at the Crown house, so Grammy would have a bed. A also the dog, apparently. We went to Flintridge Books
to do some shopping, and John bought socks. Yeah, there's a story there. Then, with Roy driving (he drove most of this trip to
practice for his driving test), we swung by an artist's housing place on Flower St. in L.A., about a 20-minute bus ride from
the music school Leo plans to attend in the Fall (construction is a constant downtown).
12-22-19: A Christmas Carol.
A holiday tradition for us: seeing A Christmas Carol at the Glendale Centre Theatre. We think this is the theatre
that started both Roy's and Leo's love to live theatre. Anyways, here we are picking up Grammy - Leo taught her how to dab.
After the show (which was, as usual, excellent), we went for dinner at Kabuki before dropping off Grammy back at her place.
12-21-19: At-home Christmas!
We had to get a wriggle on because of everyone's holiday schedule. But here's our cozy at-home Christmas with Barbara.
The Hickory Farms gift is from Danielle, yum! Even Shadow anticipates special treats on Christmas day. That afternoon we went,
in two cars, up to La Canada for a few days.
12-20-19: Leo, a self-portrait.
Yeah, it's the last day of school for the year.
12-16-19: Two morning walks.
On the left, Roy's walk to class in Colorado Springs. On the right, John's morning walk with the dog.
12-14-19: Aunt Bea came to visit!
We lingered over kaffeetrinken so we could see her.
12-10-19: Ondine read one of her poems for The Butterfly.
Ondine presented one of her poems at a storytelling event organized by her friend and author Kirsten. She's on the slate! John, Leo,
and friends Lucy and Deanna were in the audience lending moral support.
12-08-19: Another morning walk.
We do get Fall color in San Diego, you just have to know where to look!
12-07-19: Morning walk and kaffetrinken/Second Advent.
We missed First Advent, but we did Second Advent early, on Saturday. We took a walk in the morning, and then had all sorts of treats
in the afternoon!
12-04-19: Leo at Point Blank Music School.
Ondine took Leo to an open house at Point Blank Los Angeles. Here he is at an optional "master class" at which an instructor
went over a particular aspect of music production.
12-01-19: Roy flies back to Colorado Springs.
He's quite the adept air traveler now.
11-30-19: Lunch at Marieta's and Hold These Truths.
Barbara and Frances joined us for lunch and a play about Gordon Hirabayashi, who resisted the internment of American citizens of
Japanese ancestry.
11-29-19: Grammy reads "Thanksgiving At Our House" to Shadow and Leo.
Shadow seems very interested in the story.
11-28-19: A rainy Thanksgiving at our house.
Here we are, all gathered in our dining room. Those are individual game hens instead of turkey because we think game hens are just better.
11-27-19: Voter registration in our household.
No one can accuse this house of not being diverse and inclusive. Yeah, we have some lively (and very funny) discussions in the kitchen.
11-26-19: Roy is home (briefly).
Roy flew in from UCCS for Thanksgiving week.
11-23-19: Leo gets crutches and we see Eurydice.
Leo twisted his ankle at judo. The X-ray showed no fracture, but the sprain was bad enough that Kaiser gave him some crutches to
use for a couple days. That evening we saw Eurydice at the Stagehouse Theatre at Grossmont College - excellent!
11-22-19: John's hair vs. Shadow's fur.
John has let his hair grow, and if he brushes it up it stays like this all day! He's actually fluffier than the dog.
11-08-19: On Golden Pond at Lamplighters Community Theatre.
Our very first show at Lamplighters in La Mesa was absolutely wonderful, with first-rate performances and a great set.
11-03-19: Twelfth Night at The Old Globe.
We all saw Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, always a fun play but confusing when the twins don't look anything like each other.
10-31-19: Halloween!
For school, Leo donned a box as a costume. You can't beat the classics. In the evening he went around in a werewolf mask with his friend Taylan and they
collected a huge load of loot.
10-29-19: Leo at Tea N More.
After a doctor's appointment and flu shots, John and Leo went to Tea N More for dinner. Here's Leo with his mango smoothie with boba. Afterwards they went
to BookOff, where John splurged on a stack of used books and a DVD.
10-28-19: Roy gets snow in Colorado Springs.
Here are two photos he sent us showing the view out his dorm room wondow, four days apart. The first one, from last Thursday, shows the first
real snowfall on campus this season, which didn't stick around long. The next photo from today shows a heavier snowfall, which did actually mean
a snow day for the school.
10-26-19: The Amazing Adventures of the Marvelous Monkey King at Grossmont College.
This was a short, energetic production that tours elementary school but also has a few shows at the Stagehouse Theatre. The background set
and the floor are for the upcoming play Eurydice.
10-24-19: John's literary lunch.
Someone in the literature club really liked Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, so John dug into it over lunch at Panera. He bought the
book in Sierra City!
10-13-19: Ondine and Anita in Dana Point.
Ondine went paddleboarding with her cousin Anita around Dana Point harbor.
10-12-19: Picasso at the Lapin Agile.
We got season tickets to Grossmont College's Stagehouse Theatre series. This was the first play, and since Leo said he wanted to see it too, we
got ticket for him. Always a great show at the Stagehouse!
10-08-19: Hawk and ex-bunny (not visible).
Just as we were leaving for school, Leo spotted this hawk with a rabbit in its talons! It had snatched the rabbit from just up the street, and had settled
on our roof to enjoy a quiet meal. Unfortunately, that's when the school run started. Anyway, we got a few photos, and later on washed some rabbit blood
off our garage facia.
10-05-19: Leo earns his sankyu.
Here's Leo being awarded his brown belt in judo!
09-22-19: Fall is bursting forth.
A change of seasons is in the air, with moisture up and temperatures down just a bit. Our evening walks are now in complete
darkness, and morning walks are often overcast. It's different walking in the daytime; we get to see flowers and observe
lots of things we miss in the dark, like mushrooms.
09-08-19: Leo and Shadow at Dog Beach in Coronado, and Ondine's project.
Ondine and Leo took Shadow to dog beach Sunday morning. Afterwards, they had brunchy bagels at one of Coronado's many dog-friendly cafes.
In the afternoon, Ondine turned our ratty, paper-festooned bulletin board into this lovely photo board, so now we can actually put up recent
photos!
09-04-19: Romeo and Juliet at The Old Globe.
We got away for a night out to see this fresh interpretation of Shakespeare's tragedy, directed by Barry Edelstein.
09-02-19: Ali Baba lunch!
With everyone home for Labor Day, we decided to go out to a family lunch at a new place. We ended up (on the recommendation of one of
Ondine's co-workers) at Ali Baba in El Cajon. That's John's chicken tekka, Leo's lamb kebab, and Ondine's falafel and hummus. Yum!
08-26-19: Back to school!
Here's Leo with his schultuete. Wow, this is our very last schultuete foto! Here's a page with
all the schultueten photos over the years, you can see Roy and Leo grow up! And, one last photo out the windshield of Leo walking to
school.
08-22-19: You're never too old for Legos!
When Roy went to Disneyland with Danielle last week, he came home with this big (922 pieces) Harry Potter Hogwarts Clock Tower kit as a souvenir. He built it
today. It was fun to see our big guy hunkered down on the floor with Legos. Here he is with the finished tower! Leo couldn't resist a bit of parallel play
with the spare bits and bobs.
08-17-19: HAPPY 92nd BIRTHDAY to John's Mom Frances!
We got together at Elaine's house and wrangled everyone for a group photo before things really got underway. Back row, L to R: Eric, Roy, Ondine, John, Leo,
Rod, Salome, and Andrew. Front, L to R: Elaine holding Nico, Frances holding Jasmine, Amanda, and Joe (kneeling). And, here's Frances and her great-grand-daughter
Jasmine with the mochi cake! Meanwhile, at home, Shadow was having the time of his little fuzzy life next door with his grandmother.
08-08-19: Leo has his wisdom teeth removed.
Here he is at home the morning after surgery, looking pretty chipper despite the ice packs. That's a bowl of Cream of Wheat he had for breakfast,
along with a smoothie. He insisted on having all four wisdom teeth extracted under local anaesthetic! So, no post-surgery loopiness for him - he
came home immediately after surgery feeling fine and ready to go!
08-06-19: Ulli's camp chair moves to San Diego!
Ulli remembered how much John loved her gravity chair on past trips to Sand Pond, so she packed it all the way to Sand Pond to give to him!
Ondine and Barbara, with help from Leo, managed to pack it into the Honda Pilot and bring it all the way home safe and sound. And here's John
is enjoying his new deluxe patio chair!
08-01-19: John's office gets trashed.
A phone line repair necessitated basically moving his entire office three feet to the left, resulting in a colossal (and,
thankfully, temporary) mess. The good news is, the process unearthed a lot of stuff to throw away, give away, and recycle!
07-27-19: Roy drives John's car!
He's been practicing with Ondine in the Prius, but while they were up at Sand Pond he drove John's Honda Fit. Yes, we are a vlogger now.
Click here (or the thumbnail below) for a short video drive-along!
07-14-19: California State Games!
Roy had a tough division with the men's brown and black belts. Here's one of his matches. Leo had a smaller
division; here he is with his medal.
06-23-19: Bea comes to visit!
Here's Bea at kaffeetrinken with Leo and Barbara. Leo's holding Shadow.
06-22-19: At the Paul McCartney concert downtown!
Here we are at Petco Park downtown, freed of the kints for a few hours. Ahhhh!
06-05-19: Happy Birthday to Roy!
Barbara and Danielle joined us for dinner at the Olive Garden in Santee. Yum!
05-19-19: Family history.
These are photos of photos of Tamiya Anan in John's Mom's photo albums. Tamiya Anan was John's Dad's step-father, who married Mitsuno, Sakuichi
Kuraoka's widow. Tamiya had no children of his own, so he was apparently quite close to John's Dad and, by extension, John. The first two photos
are from March, 1958, long before John was born. It's taken at the Tomie's house, when Tamiya and Mitsuno left the U.S. to return to Japan
to manage the family estate. The group photo shows John's older sisters and cousins and aunts and uncles as well. The next set of photos is from
summer 1964, when John turned two years old. That's Tamiya Anan cooking chicken on the hibachi. John's sister Elaine remembers how the chicken in
the yard vanished one day and that evening's dinner was chicken! There's also a cropped photo of Mitsuno holding John. See the toy train
John is holding? He still has it. Here's more family history photos.
05-13-19: Garden Events!
Our climbing rose in the front yard is getting its legs back, and is splashing out with natural bouquets. And, see those little
sprouts? Those are tomato seedlings, grown from a grocery store tomato that revealed sprouted seeds when we sliced it open. John
mooshed the tomato and planted the goo in a pot, and now we have more tomato plants than we can shake a stick at!
05-12-19: Mother's Day!
We went to Marieta's for brunch, where Barbara and Leo shared a sweater. Then we went to see credible, a play at USD based loosely
on Pirandello's Six Characters In Search of an Author.
05-10-19: An afternoon walk.
The damp weather has really brought out the mountain blooms. This is just down the street on our walk with the dog.
04-23-19: John and his Mom at Kabuki in Arcadia!
John took his mom home after she stayed with us for a few short days. They made it back in time for lunch at Kabuki!
04-21-19: The Easter Bunny apparently still comes to our house.
He leaves a trail of goodies, and Leo is not about to miss out on any of it! Afterwards, we all went out for a Greek brunch at Troy's
04-20-19: Easter get-together!
The big clan gathering was in Carlsbad this year. Here we are!
04-05-19: John in his natural environment?
John went to San Diego City College to pick up his student ID, and found a college campus a wonderfully comfortable place to be, at least when it's empty.
04-01-19: Roy heads back to Colorado.
Here are Roy, Ondine, and Leo the morning Roy left to go back to school.
03-25-19: Spring break activities.
Monday, Roy spent the day with Danielle at Knotts Berry Farm, and Leo helped Barbara clear the grape vines and prune plants in her back yard.
03-24-19: Roy is home!
Roy came home for spring break Saturday evening. Sunday we went to lunch at Tea N More to celebrate! That's Barbara, Roy,
John, Ondine, and Leo.
03-10-19: A weekend getaway!
We had a getaway to the Hyatt Mission Bay! Ondine attended a three-day conference, and John was her plus-one.
She was upgraded to a view room, so we could see Cowles Mountain to the east, scan to our right past Sea World
(you can see the tower), out over the harbor to the open ocean to the west. Sometimes, we would see a
pair of seals basking on a yellow buoy by a floating dock. We brought food for breakfast and dinner, and enjoyed
lunches out. And, we took several long walks along the water, including one all the way to Ocean Beach and back.
What a treat!
03-03-19: Right out our front yard.
We took a morning hike to a lovely little meadow, where we could hear running water and birdsong.
02-16-19: Water on the mountain!
We went for a late afternoon hike on the mountain just to savor the sound of running water. Polliwog Pond had already shrunk.
02-15-19: John's new toy!
John pounced on this used Bounty Hunter Land Ranger metal detector with two search coils. It's a much more advanced machine
than his first machine, or so he says. Check out his metal detecting page for more!
02-15-19: Ondine's early morning walk!
Ondine rose before the sunrise to take Shadow on a walk on the mountain and check out Polliwog Pond, a lovely and rare
vernal pool. The pond was about half full, but was already alive with the booming calls of frogs.
02-05-19: Do you like my hat?
Ondine crocheted this cap for Roy, and just in time for the cold snap that hit Colorado Springs!
01-03-19: Auf Wiedersehn to Grammy.
Here are Roy and Leo with Grammy, and a couple shots of the inside of her unit at Vista Cove now that we've moved in
some of her own furniture and pictures.
01-02-19: A rousing game of Monopoly.
It appears Leo has just landed on Roy's row of houses on Park Place.
01-01-19: Oshogatsu at our house.
Teriyaki chicken, kinpira gobo, makisushi, tako, konnyaku, renkon, shiitake, sato imo, kamaboko, various otsukimono and shoga,
umeboshi, and more! We had ozoni in the morning and moved on to the rest later in the day. Barbara joined us, as did
our dear friend Lucy!
12-31-18: Grammy cookin' it up for New Year's!
John's Mom Frances came to stay with us after Christmas, and she took on a lot of the cooking duties for the
traditional Japanese New Year's oshogatsu feast. Here you see her cooking a bamboo shoot and other
things, and Roy scraping the gogo for kinpira gobo. Roy and Leo rolled the makizushi and filled the
kitsunezushi ("fox" sushi because of the little ears). Also, a crazy pack of poppin' candy from the Asian
market in Arcadia, where John went with his sister Elaine. In the evening we went next door for the German New Year's
Eve feast.
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