Oooh, Ice Skating…

While my sister-in-law and nieces were in town, we all went ice skating. Living in a much warmer part of the US, my nieces had never been ice skating before and we weren’t sure if they would like it, or not. I have to apologize for the “blurry” in some of these, I was on the ice, on skates, while taking many of these. This was my first attempt at shooting while both my subject and I were moving. See what you think…

Since the place was dead, the rink guard offered her assistance in helping Diana. She told us she teaches a “learn to skate” program, so she was quite helpful.

I think it is safe to say she enjoyed herself!

Jessica’s debut on ice…

Erin gives her a lesson on how to get up, once you’ve fallen down.

Truly, Erin was trying to help, not throttle…

Both girls had a blast! My kids enjoyed watching and helping as well. We are looking forward to their next visit so we can go again.

Tokyo

My sister-in-law and her two girls came up from out of state to visit recently and I took a bunch of pictures of her kids and my kids having fun together.

We all went to a local Japanese restaurant for lunch to celebrate my father-in-law’s birthday. Watching the girls, all 4 of them, eat sushi and sashimi was rather fun. How often do you see a 3, 5, 8, and 12 year old all enjoying sushi? Taking pictures of them was even more fun. Here is a photo tour of our dinner…

Here’s Diana being totally cute, while she patiently awaits her food.

Jessica, munching on a piece of shrimp.

Good chopstick technique, but I’m not sure that shumai is going to fit…

Well, okay, I’ve been wrong before!

Sarah gives Jessica a hand with a very full glass of Ginger Ale.

That was some finger-lickin’ good food! And check out those eyes!

I decided somewhere along the way that the food was too colorful and interesting to not photograph it. So here are some pictures of the very colorful and texturally interesting food. Notice that I didn’t mention yummy looking…I won’t eat most of it. Mine has to be dead, thoroughly cooked and still hot when served! Yes, I have tried sushi and sashimi, but it is NOT my thing!

Hiyashiwakame – seaweed salad…Jeff and my girls love it!

Chirashi – sashimi over a bowl of pressed rice…This was Jeff’s dinner.

Sushi combination – this was part of Erin’s dinner. I didn’t photograph it until she was nearly done with it.

Yakiniku Don…sliced beef in a yummy sauce over a bowl of rice. This is my favorite. In fact, our favorite waitress at the restaurant has now nicknamed me Yakiniku Don! UGH!!!! The yellow and pink stuff in the bowl are both pickled veggies. I think the Japanese will pickle just about anything! Not my favorite, but they make a pretty garnish anyway.

Racing

I have been ridiculously busy lately, feeling as though I am chasing myself in circles. I realized today that it has been almost a month since I posted anything, so here I am.

Kyle signed up for a 10K race that was to be run this morning. He debated whether he should run it or not and finally decided he would. His leg had been bothering him off and on over the last several days. I got out of work an hour before the race was to begin, so I raced home from work, rushed him over to pick up his racing bib, watched him start the race, ran home to change out of my work clothes and pick up Jeff, then ran back just in time to get a picture of him crossing the finish line…

This is not a great picture, as I had just taken the camera out of my bag and turned it on when he appeared nearing the finish line. As you can see, the auto focus focused on the woman on the left and I had no time to try to change that…oh well. At least I got him crossing the finish line! His time was 56:30, which really isn’t too bad considering it is his first race in about 5 months.