Lillie turns 9

We just cannot believe that Lillie is already 9.  We granted 9 wishes on her special day.  Her wishes were: stay home from school, have daddy stay home from work. see the Disney movie Frozen, play games at home, have chocolate ice cream cake, sleep in mom and dad's room the night before birthday, sleep in mom and dad's room on the birthday night, have nishime for dinner, and receive at least 5 birthday gifts.  We all had a great day with Lillie on her special day.

Lillie's favorite meal...nishime and crab sushi.

New outfit from cousin Nai.

New boots from Nana.

Daddy's birthday

We had a lovely evening to celebrate daddy's birthday.  Mom made his favorite japanese food, and the cake was made in the toy easy bake oven!!  What a fun night!

New Year's Trip to NYC Part 3

Ever since we took lillie three years ago to NYC, she has wanted to see the statue of liberty up close.  So that's what we did today.

And we were like locals taking the subway all over the place.

New Year's Trip to NYC Part 2

On our second day in NY, we had heard about the largest Japanese market in the US, so we knew we had to check it out.  The food and the grocery selection was outstanding.  I felt like I was back in Japan.

We then ventured to FAO Schwartz, walk around Times Square, and ate dinner at Lidia Bastianich's restaurant, Becco.  It was the highlight of trip, we ate there twice.

The New Year's Trip to NYC Part 1

On a whim we decided to take a trip to New York City to celebrate the new year.  And that we did!!  We started off driving anout 4 hours into the city.  It is not a bad drive at all.  It's just right.  After we checked into our hotel near Times Square, we headed to a great Chinese restaurant called Shun Lee.  The food and ambiance was spectacular.

The decor had these really cool dragons all along the wall.

We then took a horse and carriage ride through central park and around the city.  It was very cold, but luckily we had these heavy blankets to keep us warm.

Then we went to Lincoln Center for an event for children.  It was a new year's eve circus extravaganza.  The circus acts were really interesting and the event was very festive.  It was a great way to ring in the new year.