Western Parade at the Child Development Center at National Naval Medical Center

Backside of the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda

Today, we had a Western Parade. There were lots of cowboys and cowgirls.

Victoria Sound Asleep
Videotaping Anaka
Walking with Ms Angie
Anaka Crying
Exion and his kids
Fiesta time!
Nayeli and her Pink Hat
Two Squishy Babies

Jog around the National Mall

Getting Ready for a Little Run

We parked close to the Jefferson and the Roosevelt Memorial. It was a long run to get to the reflecting pool. We jogged a total of 6 miles.


X and the Kids in front of the Lincoln Memorial

The BOB Running Stroller:
The stroller of choice was the BOB Running Stroller. Soco did her research and the found this one to be the best one. You really get what you pay for, the stroller was almost $600 and it was designed with the best and toughest materials. I was shocked at how light the stroller was for running. It took almost no effort to push it, except on the hills. By wearing the wrist strap, the brakes automatically engage if you fall. The front wheel steers if you desire or it can be locked in place. The wheel can also be adjusted if it veers to the left or right. There is two cup holders for the runner and storage pockets for each child inside of the stroller just in case they want to drink juice or play with a favorite toy. There is also a large pocket on the handle bars to carry your keys, wallets, cell phones etc. And the entire thing is water proof. It is infant friendly as in the pictures, you can insert a warm fuzzy for a 1 month old. The sun shade/wind blocker is the largest one of all the strollers that you can find. It has a large viewing window on the top if you want to see your child while you run. The frame has ultra shock absorbers and can be adjusted for off-road running. The stroller can carry two 6 year old kids which makes it a good investment if you run a lot like us. This stroller is 10 times better than the Eddie Bauer running stroller that we have. With that one, the handle bars are too close to the stroller so if you run, your knees seem to hit your child's head. It is difficult to take long strides and the tires keep going flat.
Overall, the BOB is the Bentley of all running strollers, it is a great product. 10 stars out of 10.

BOB Link. We bought ours at REI.

Nayeli looking at her Cherry Blossom

If we knew it was going to be a six mile run, I would've jogged slow in the beginning. At the end, my joints were hurting. Nayeli and Anaka desperately needed a diaper change too. It was overall a good run, lots of sightseeing. We ran around the National Mall and Reflecting Pool.

Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C.

Cherry Blossoms blooming outside my window (hi res photo available upon request)

There were a lot of activities to do in Downtown, D.C. today because of the Cherry Blossom Festival. I didn't get a chance to jump out of my vehicle to snap shots of the scenery, but it was very nice. Sometime ago, Japan donated 3,000 cherry blossom trees (according to the official site) to the U.S. as a symbol of good friendship. The landscape around here is very nice while the trees are in bloom.

On another note, I took many pictures of Nayeli sleeping. She sleeps in funny positions. And today, I caught her sleeping with her eyes open!

Snoring Loud
Butt in the Air
Nayeli sleeping with her eyes open

Anaka pictures of her sleeping.
5 Weeks
6 Weeks
Sleeping with Eyes Open (just kidding)

Texas de Brazil, the Brazilian BBQ restaurant

Nayeli enjoying her bread and baby corn
Let's clean your face
Meat Server at Texas de Brazil

In Feb, we ate at a Brazilian BBQ in Fairfax, Virginia. It was quite tasty. The waiters went around the dining room offering different choices of freshly cooked gourmet meat. Check out the website.
Texas de Brazil

Flashback to 2007

I recently found a whole lot of pictures of Nayeli and our family on Soco's camera. They were all taken in Japan. Here are the best of the best, enjoy!
Nayeli with a bottle of rootbeer
Second Class POs Rule (taken back in April 07, since then X has been promoted)
Soco and Monica at the Lab
Soco and X April 07
All smiles at the Hachiban Tower
Nayeli at the Fleet Rec Center
Eating Cake at Nayeli's First Birthday Party at the Yokosuka CDC
Celebrating Nayeli's First Birthday May 07
Nayeli in January 07

Today, Soco brought Anaka over to the shop to show off the new baby. She had a piece of lint or string wrapped around her index finger and it looked like it was cutting off the circulation to the tip of her finger! It looked like it hurt a lot. Luckily, someone had a pair of tweezers and somehow Soco removed the piece of nylon string. It was kinda scary.

Hung's Pictures - Nayeli at the CDC

Picking up Nayeli from the CDC
Nayeli playing dressup
Kids on Grandpa
Nayeli sitting in the Gazebo

I've selected my favorite pictures out of Hung's Archives of his last visit.

An Instructable on How to Amuse Toddlers

Washer Repair

Anaka with Pacifier

Me and Victor repaired the washer The washer needed a new door seal. One of the flaws with front loading washers is the door seal. They have the tendency to break; and when they do, water gets everywhere!

Time: Approx. 1 1/2 to 2 hours repair time
Part: Bellows (a.k.a. Door Seal)

It took three weeks for the part to show up. The first time I called Sears, they told me that the technician would show up at my door in 2 weeks. I declined, saying that I can't wait that long and send me the part instead. Well, a week and a half went by. I called Sears again. They said that the part was never shipped and that there was no history of the first call. They apologized and shipped out a seal. This time, the lady gave me a confirmation number. A week later, I got a seal, however, it was the wrong part. They sent me a tiny little seal the size of a pencil erasor. I called Sears AGAIN. Once again, they apologized and reshipped another seal to me. A week later, it showed up. Maybe I should've had the technician come out and fix it for me, it would've been faster.

Instructions for replacing the door seal:

1. Remove the door.
2. Remove the old bellows by taking pliers and taking the retaining ring off the outside seal.
3. With a #2 philips screwdriver, loosen the screw on the retaining ring inside of the washer and remove.
4. Muscle out the door seal.
5. Take a break.
6. Remove the bottom cover. (Three screws)
7. Remove the screws to the lid and slide lid off to reveal the upper screws for the controls.
8. Remove the controls.
9. Carefully remove the front panel. (The door switch has some delicate plastic attached to it. It must be carefully unhooked.)
10. Now there is space to insert the new seal. Start with the bottom part where the drain will connect with the drainage hole. Make sure that the lip is making a proper seal. If you screw this up, you'll get a pretty bad leak.
11. Replace the retaining ring.
12. Replace all body panels in reverse order.
13. Seal the outside lip and put a retaining ring on it.
14. Put the door back on and test it out for leaks.

Removing the Covers

Anaka is Pronounced Ana-Kuh

Playing on the Strawberry

I drove to the airport today to drop off Soco's parents who stayed with us for 10 days. They helped us out a lot with taking care of Anaka and Nayeli.

I was asked how Anaka was pronounced. It is prounounced like, Ana-Kuh. Ana and then Ka. Ka rhymes with duh.

Waiting for the next train at Silver Spring

The trains around here can experience serious delays on the weekends, but on the weekdays, the delays are kept at a minimum. Expect them to come every 6 minutes.

Visit to the Eden Center

Grilled Pork Sandwich at Song Que (Photo taken from hobnobblog.com)

The Eden Center at Falls Church, Virginia is the east coast center for the Vietnamese community. Here, there is a myriad of stores all catering to the Vietnamese. My parents were doing some comparision shopping with the different bakeries to see who could make the best Banh Mi (Vietnamese Sandwich) for the cheapest. The best deal we could get was 6 for the price of 5 at $2.50 each. The winner for the best Banh Mi goes to Huong Binh Bakery @ 6781 Wilson Blvd. Falls Church, VA 22044.

The sandwiches usually contain liver pate, ham cilantro and pickled radishes. It makes a healthy, delicious and inexpensive meal and has been awarded as the meal of choice by the Washingtonian on various occasions.

Pointing at Buddha

Find out more at this link: The Eden Center Website

Fun with Victor and Yolanda

Knight Rider

K.I.T.T.

This is the third show pertaining to the theme of Knight Rider. (The second show didn't catch on. Look up "Team Knight Rider") The movie last night was two hours with lots of car commercials. Mostly of Ford vehicles. The movie had almost every new Ford vehicle you can think of, promoting Fords new fleet of SYNC vehicles (the ones that you can talk to).

The movie was really cool. Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff) makes a brief appearance at the end of the movie. The storyline was written very well and it kept me engaged in the movie til the end. Check out the website at www.nbc.com/knight_rider.

Anaka, Born on 08 FEB 08

Weighing in @ 7 lbs 1 oz
Baby Girl
Officially Born @ 1814
08 FEB 08 (The Time-date stamp on my digital camera is a day ahead because I forgot to change it when I moved back to the U.S. from Japan)

X's 10 Year High School Reunion is coming up.

Searcy High School Reunion Webpage



Chocolate
Soco with Child