Sunday, October 13, 2013

Going West


 After a fun weekend with friends and a week with my Colorado Springs relatives, I got on another plane and went farther west.  It was a lovely day for a flight over the Rocky Mountains.  I took a bunch of pictures out the window, trying different angles to get better pictures without glare, etc.

I was ready for a little snack when I arrived in Salt Lake City.  Auntie Anne's hit the spot!  I have loved big, soft pretzels since high school when our marching band went to New York City for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and I got my first taste from a pretzel vendor in Battery Park.  Pretzels were always one of my favorite snacks, and the giant soft kind did not disappoint me!






My aunt took me to the Asian market because she wanted me to make a Japanese dinner.  I was so thrilled to find some of my favorite treats!  We had curry rice, which everyone seemed to really enjoy.  I loved it!  It was nice to get a taste of home.
We had a lovely meal in the backyard.  My aunt is a wonderful hostess.  My cousin and her boyfriend joined us after the baseball game where my cousin was heckled.  Oakland was playing Chicago.  She is a White Sox fan.  Enough said!




Enjoying the beautiful weather and yard.
Some Japanese snacks to go with dessert.
We took in an afternoon game on Sunday where we learned why my cousin was heckled.  She appears to be a quiet person as she sits knitting from her seat in the third balcony, but put her team up to bat, and there seems to be a different person with you!  It was fun, though!  Oakland has a player named Coco, so I took a picture of Flat Coco with the sign when Coco was up.


We went out for Burmese food with my cousin and her roommate.
Daphne taught me how to make jewelry
On Friday we took the bike trail into a cute little town for brunch.
It was much warmer than we had anticipated!
The dog tried to beat the heat by laying (lying?) on the cool tile floor in the kitchen!

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Going back in Time

I was going in some kind of chronological order when I started blogging about Flat Coco.  Then I got distracted by all of my travels and visiting with friends.  It's not that I have forgotten about Flat Coco, I have hundreds of pictures with her.  I have just not taken the time to blog!
Flat Cocoについてブロッグを始まった時、順番でポストにしようと思った。でも、沢山の移動、沢山の友達や親戚に会うことがあって、できなかった。Flat Cocoについて忘れることをしなかったよ!ココちゃんと沢山の写真を写ったけど、まだブロッグを書かなかった。

So, today, I thought we'd have a Flashback Friday and check out some of what happened at the beginning of the summer.
今日夏の始まりのことについて書こうと思った。

Over Memorial Day weekend I went back to Colorado for a Girls' Weekend with friends I met here.  We had such a great time reconnecting and exploring.
5月の終わり、ペルーに行った時の友達に会うために行きました。すごく楽しかった!

We started the weekend at Compassion International's office where they have all of these amazing bronze statues everywhere.  I loved them!






Then we headed to Garden of the Gods where I got to climb onto and into the rocks!





We were quite hungry after all of that climbing and hiking, but we stopped for a picture before leaving the park.  Then we headed downtown Colorado Springs for some delicious pizza!



The next day found us forming a new band in Manitou Springs before heading up Pike's Peak!


Brenda, Coco, and I were ready for the ride!




We topped off the evening with dinner at Brenda's and origami fun!


We also spent some time at some waterfalls hiking and climbing lots of stairs!





After we dropped Heather and Kelly at the airport, Robyn and I spent some time in downtown Denver where Coco and I played piano on the street!


Saturday, September 21, 2013

Flat Coco Sees South Dakota

This week Coco, the real one, is in New York City!  Flat Shan is getting to see the sights and participate in gospel music ministry.  Flat Coco continues to enjoy adventures in South Dakota.
今週、本物のココちゃんがニューヨークにいます。Flat Shanが一緒に楽しんでいるみたい。いいね!Flat Cocoがまだ、SDのアドベンチャーを楽しんでいます。

The first week of August my friend and her family came to visit South Dakota from Japan.  We saw lots of sights!
8月の初めに日本の友達とご家族がSDに来てくださった。沢山の観光スポットを見に行きました。

Origami Fun!

Inside the grain bin-this was full of corn last week!

Farm Machinery Orientation

Lessons in corn growing

Look what South Dakotans do with corn!

Al's Oasis burger


And, in the middle of the prairie... !

Wildflowers

Look, there is no ocean out there!


Flat Coco meets Flat Stanley at Devil's Tower, Wyoming!


"That ribbon of highway..."  (This Land is Your Land)

Mount Rushmore!

Preparing for the cold of Wind Cave-a very amazing place!

The Bike Rally was starting!
Enjoying a buffalo burger in Custer

Flat Coco helping me drive

South Dakota sunset

A new game, ladder ball

Sioux Falls

The whole gang


Connect Four was a favorite

Spending some time singing praises