Online Scrapbook Class

I just finished an online class through Big Picture Scrapbooking. It was a four-week class about journaling more deeply on your pages. I just wanted to try it out, but wasn't expecting to get much out of it. Turns out that it was really good and the teacher did a great job explaining the basics of storytelling. Each week, we had an assignment and were supposed to post our lay outs on the class's gallery. I thought I would also put some of my lay outs here as well. For each week, I did 2 lay outs, except for the last week as I was too busy at work. (Actually, there is another reason why I neglected to do it. I was planning to do a lay out regarding being a working mom and my dilemma about continuing to work or not....I am simply not ready yet. I need more time to mull it over.)

Here are my 2 lay outs from the first week:





Journaling for "Birthday Girl"
February 13th – Nagisa presented you with a wax cake and a crown. They sang Happy Birthday to you, and you seemed to enjoy showing off your skill of holding two fingers out and saying “2-sai!” or “2!”

February 14th – Baba and Jiji came over for dinner. Papa and Baba were in charge of making the food. You helped Mama put up the decorations. Mama had ordered an Elmo cake from Pont Neuf bakery. You were so pleased to see Elmo! Baba gave you a hand-made doll named Mary. You were afraid of her at first because you thought she was a witch, but then we told you she is a nice witch who protects you from other witches. After that, you allowed Mary to sleep with you and your other dolls.

February 15th – Your BKC friends and moms came over for your big party! Everyone brought food for lunch. We had cupcakes for dessert. You, Erina, Emma & Yoko scribbled on the paper taped to the coffee table, played “Ailin’s Favorite Character Toss” and “Pin the Nose on Elmo.” You seemed to enjoy the party very much!




Journaling for "Family Tradition"
After the Okinawa trip and being so impressed by the dolphin show, I wanted to start a new tradition for Ailin. I suggested to Yusuke, “Let’s go to Kamogawa SeaWorld for Ailin’s birthday.”

So, instead of buying her endless birthday presents, we reserved a room at the Kamogawa SeaWorld hotel for March 7th. Everyone was excited to make this little road trip.

A couple days before going, Ailin seemed to be getting sick. We had to send her to day care anyway because she had no fever, and I was kind of busy at work that week. She was throwing up sometimes though!

On Saturday morning, I got up early with her as usual, and she did puke at one point. I called out for Yusuke to get up and help since she had puked all over herself and me. We considered cancelling our plans, but she had a very low-grade fever, and she was taking meds for her symptoms. The doctor had OK’d the trip. She actually seemed fine, and was playing and talking as usual. After a few hours, I decided we should just go and have a relaxing time.

It was a nice, relaxing weekend! The hotel was connected to SeaWorld, so we could come and go as we liked. SeaWorld is not that big, so we didn’t feel pressured to run around and see everything. Plus, it is fairly close, so we knew it wouldn’t be the last time. The hotel room was a big tatami room with a beautiful view of the ocean, and you could hear the waves all night long. The hotel’s restaurant boasted a buffet of foods to please anyone, and a large play area manned by caregivers, so one could actually leave their child in the play area while they ate in peace. (Actually, Yusuke was not so impressed by the food, and Ailin is a bit too young to leave in the play area on her own, but for future reference, it is a great place for families.) And, speaking of families, since everyone’s kids are noisy and messy, it makes mealtime that much more relaxing.

The BEST PART was the Killer Whale Show. Wow!!!! I can’t sing enough praises about it. One of the Killer Whales had a baby last November, and her baby was swimming around the pool all the while his mama was working. I happened to catch a few photos of his tail or of him bopping his head above water. Yusuke never even noticed him! Ailin was mesmerized by the performance, and we all clapped when they did their jumps and tricks. The funniest thing was when a certain lady from the audience kept getting splashed. She was definitely sitting in the wrong spot, and by the end of the show, she was soaking wet! Yusuke laughed so hard at that, but I felt kind of sorry for her. The entire stadium was watching her and laughing each time. I would have died from embarrassment.

Other highlights include the noisy walruses with the big whiskers, the dolphin show & the hotel’s playroom on the 1st floor. Ailin liked playing inside Thomas the Train and riding on the little Merry-go-round.

This should definitely become a family tradition!