The Sakai Family

Two Year Old

2010-03-25T21:16:00.001-07:00

We can hardly believe how fast these last two years have gone. But Sarah is now two and it is amazing. She is her own person, has her own ideas, and her own sense of humor. She cracks us up with the funny things she says. We truly are so blessed.

Tiny Dancer

2009-12-08T22:50:00.001-08:00

Sarah has started taking ballet class at school. She absolutely loves it. She dances for us all the time and loves standing on her tippy toes, doing turns, and practicing her plies. Here are a few pictures of her in her leotards and tutu. We plan on starting gymnastics after the new year.

Happy Halloween

2009-12-08T22:32:00.000-08:00

Sarah was the perfect little lady bug for Halloween. She loved her costume-- especially the tutu-- and truly enjoyed the parade at school. Although she did not really understand the whole trick or treating thing, she loved visiting our neighbors and wishing them a "Happy Alo-een"!

Disneyland

2009-12-08T22:17:00.000-08:00

Since Yuji's birthday we have been taking advantage of the fact that Disneyland is in our backyard. We have a routine which involves getting there at opening and visiting all of Sarah's favorite rides at Disneyland and then heading over to CA Adventure and then heading home just in time for nap. Makes a perfect morning. Let us know if you ever want to join us, we love meeting friends there!!!

The OC Fair

2009-07-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

We visited the Orange County Super Fair again this year and had a real nice time. The weather was relatively mild (mid 80s as opposed to the mid to upper 90s we have been experiencing) and our frozen bottles of water kept us all well hydrated-- after they thawed that is.

We started the day at the petting zoo where Sarah feed some sheep and goats and enjoyed looking at the mommy and baby pigs, llamas, alpacas, water buffalo and camels. Only the last of those is pictured.

Sarah went on her first pony ride and seemed to really enjoy it, even though her pony Mocha, kept stopping and had to be coaxed into keep going. Also, we think Sarah enjoyed the two ducks that were in the middle of the track as much as, if not more than, the pony ride itself.

We spent some time in the children's activity tent where Sarah played in the huge sandbox, in the princess room and got a free book in the story time area.

We ended the day with two trips around the carousel. The first ended in tears when we told her she had to get off, but it was soon followed by another trip around and she had a blast.

Bubbe Visits

2009-07-18T21:41:00.001-07:00

Sarah got to spend last Saturday playing with Bubbe. First at Gymboree and then at home. Sarah's favorite part was when Bubbe magically turned her new puzzle into a house that they could play in. We are not sure who had more fun!

La Habra Children's Museum

2009-07-05T22:16:00.001-07:00

Because the Sakai Family was not satisfied with just picking watermelons on the last day of the 4th of July weekend, after a slight costume change on Sarah's part (and a nap), we went to the La Habra Children's Museum. We had alot of fun and defintely will go back again. Not sure what we should take from the fact that Sarah's favorite activities were loading her shopping cart with meat products (the fruit/ veggies were really afterthoughts) and "driving" the bus. But here are some pictures of some of the many fun activities that we enjoyed.

Watermelon picking at Tanaka Farms

2009-07-05T22:03:00.000-07:00

Now that strawberry season is over, we returned to Tanaka Farms for watermelon season. Once again, we traveled the farm in the tractor pulled wagon and tried some amazing produce. Who knew you could eat raw corn. Delicious! We had a blast and will certainly return for pumpkin picking in the fall.

The LA Zoo

2009-07-05T21:52:00.000-07:00

For the second 4th of July in a row, we went to the zoo. This year's was the LA Zoo. Yuji and I had not been there in decades, and it was fun seeing it through Sarah's eyes. She liked the hippo, lion (she is roar-ing in the picture below), and monkeys (ooh ooh) best. But her favorite part of the day (maybe because it was so hot) was washing her hands in the fountain before and after the petting zoo.

We are now members, so if anyone wants to go, just let us know.

Strawberries

2009-05-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

More pictures showing the great joy Sarah took in "picking" the strawberries and her full tummy afterwards. We are definitely going back for watermelon season.

Farm girl at heart

2009-05-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

While Daddy was home sick, Mommy and Sarah decided to take a trip to Tanaka Farm to check out what it was all about. We had an amazing time taking a tractor tour of the 30 acre farm, sampling some fresh produce and picking our own strawberries. The last was Sarah's favorite.

She was not a big fan of the celery. But then again, who is?!?

I think Sarah wound up wearing more of the strawberries than she actually got in her mouth.

Coloring

2009-05-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

Sarah has started to really enjoy coloring. And she is quite the artist... experimenting with only using black and chanting "Ebi! Ebi! Ebi!" while drawing. We are not sure what it is all about, but we are going with it.

Here she is contemplating what to draw.

Here she is hamming it up!

Uncle Naoki and Saori Obachan Visit

2009-05-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

Sarah was the fortunate recipient of a visit from Uncle Naoki and Saori Obachan before they headed off to Japan. She had a lot of fun reading books and playing with them. She will definitely miss them, but looks forward to our next trip to Japan to visit them.

Orange picking

2009-05-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

We have these great orange trees in our backyard and Sarah loves picking them off.

She insisted on picking oranges with Baba and Jiji

Here she is with Papa Don being very nice and sharing her oranges. This is particularly amazing because her new favorite word is "mine."

Visiting L.B.C.

2009-05-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

One of Sarah's favorite places seems to be the Long Beach Aquarium. We took her there a few weeks ago and she had a great time running around. She like the seals (she barked for them), the lorikeets (she flapped her arms like they were wings), and the tropical fish best. But our favorite was when she said "neigh" for the seahorses.

It is amazing how big she has gotten. The first time we took her was in September and she was not yet walking and just a few months later she is running around.

This is Sarah flapping her wings!

Get off the Sidewalk

2009-05-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

For her birthday Bubbe got Sarah this electric school bus. She has a great time driving it and is finally learning how to steer. It is amazing how quickly she picked up on the concept of driving. she pushes a button on the wheel and it goes. This is one of the early videos that we thought was particularly cute because of the sunglasses and the wave. (Sorry about the sideways video- could not figure out how to get it right side up.)

We love brunch.

2009-02-19T09:57:00.000-08:00

Our good friends the Jakovleskis came for a visit. Sarah and Quentin had a good time playing with each other. Quentin liked holding Sarah's hand.

We had a delicious brunch at the Mission Inn with the Jakovleskis and Red and Linda.

Howdy!

2009-02-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

One of Sarah's friends turned 3 and we went to her cowgirl party. Sarah had a good time, was a bit weary of the ponies, but she loved the dress up portion.

Chow Time

2009-01-26T22:43:00.000-08:00

Dinner time can be a messy affair in the Sakai household.

Happy Birthday Sarah

2009-01-26T22:27:00.001-08:00

Ok, so we are a little out of order here, but Sarah had a wonderful 1st birthday party. She really enjoyed her cake (ok, mostly the frosting-- but she is her mother's daughter after all).

Having fun in Japan

2009-01-26T21:58:00.000-08:00

Playing with stacking cups with Obachan. The language barrier did not stop these two from having a lot of fun together.

Bird watching with Baba. Everyday Sarah wanted to climb onto the chair and look out the window for "buhs."

"Talking" on the Phone with Jiji. Sarah loved spending time with Jiji. She was showing him how her new phone worked. Whenever it rings, she puts it up to her ear.

At the Osaka aquarium. This was before she lost her shoe. Oh well. It was well worth the sacrifice for this amazing aquarium. Sarah's favorites were the otters.

Four generations

2009-01-26T21:51:00.000-08:00

It was amazing to be able to take Sarah to Japan to meet her great grandmother. Here is a picture of 4 generations of Sakais.

Pictured with Sarah are Obachan, Daddy and Jiji. Also featured are Blanca and Buddy (the Buffalo).

Our Winter Vacation

2009-01-11T19:47:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year everyone.

We took the time between Christmas and New Years to make the "short" jaunt to Japan so that Sarah could meet her great-grandmother. Sarah did remarkably well with the flights and the time difference. We had a great time visting with family (and meeting some that none of us had met), exploring the country, and eating good food. We cannot wait until the next time we can make it back to Japan.

Below are some of the pictures from our adventures.

Sarah with her cousin (first cousin once removed) Shiho

Visiting Nara. We went to the Buddhist temple which houses the second largest Buddah in the world. We also visited a Shinto shrine. Sarah enjoyed the deer at Nara-- we even took one home with us-- it is stuffed of course. You can see it hanging from her wrist and we are walking together.

School Pictures (Part 2)

2008-12-17T10:43:00.000-08:00

Sarah had school pictures taken again.

Happy 1st Birthday

2008-12-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

Today is Sarah's 1st birthday. We cannot believe how fast this last year has gone by and what a big girl she has become. We really are lucky to have such a good baby.

Swing

2008-12-01T21:35:00.001-08:00

We took Sarah to the park across from Baba and Jiji's house and she loved the swing.

Visiting "Auntie" D and "cousin" Dana

2008-12-01T20:55:00.001-08:00

Mommy played hookie on Wednesday and we visited Auntie D and Dana. Dana and I had fun playing and Dana even gave me a hug. I cannot wait to see them again.

The Triangle Complex Fire (Part II)

2008-11-16T20:26:00.000-08:00

Our house stands! We were really lucky. The hill that runs behind our house burned from the end of the street all the day down to about 5 houses up from us. The fire then continued up the hill and burned about 7 houses on the street just above us. The only damage on our street appears to be one palm tree that has been charred. We took some pictures from the sidewalk/ street outside our house.

The Freeway Complex Fire

2008-11-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

We are safely evacuated to the Sakai House in Torrance. Hopefully our house still stands. One newspaper article suggests that our development escaped the fires, but we will know more after they recall the mandatory evacuations this morning. We are treating this like an adventure until we know more. We will update everyone when we know more.

Sarah's school pictures

2008-11-06T13:26:00.000-08:00

Sarah's daycare has a professional photographer come in and take pictures of the kids. Sarah is such a little ham that she posed in hers. We cannot believe how big she has gotten. She is no longer the little baby and is starting to look like a little girl.

Trick-or Treat

2008-11-02T16:54:00.000-08:00

Sarah celebrated her first Halloween. At school she wore her Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader outfit that Uncle Naoki and Aunt Saori got her. For trick-or-treating (we went to two of our neighbors' houses) and handing out candy she was a monarch butterfly. Sarah was not a big fan of the hood, but we managed to get a few cute pictures.

The video is of Sarah cruising around with the aid of her push cart. She loves it!

Sarah's October Surprise

2008-10-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

We got a surprise tonight. Sarah took her first steps! There were just three of them, but they were amazing.We tried to recreate them for posterity, and got the below video on our cell phone. As we practice walking, we will attempt to get a better video and will post it. Everyone tells us that we should enjoy the time before Sarah starts walking, but we cannot wait for her to get more confident in her steps!

Sarah's Dancing

2008-10-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

Sarah just loves music and loves to dance. Here is a video of her dancing. Please forgive the a capella version of heart and soul. Anytime Sarah hears music she starts to bounce to the beat. We have started taking musice classes, which she loves. She also has a toy guitar and toy drum, but nothing makes her happier than banging two stacking cups together.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

We visited the pumpkin patch. Sarah loved the pumpkins but was not a big fan of all the straw -- it kept sticking to her socks.

Our Sarah-o-lantern!