kagawaa and family

disneyland here we come

2009-04-30T08:38:00.001-10:00

the house with a view

2009-01-23T22:59:00.003-10:00

these are a few pictures of the view of the house that i want. its totally awesome. it just feels right.

honolulu zoo

2009-01-19T23:11:00.002-10:00

we had a pretty action packed weekend that started with the honolulu children's discovery center and ended with a trip to the honolulu zoo. the trip out to the zoo was great, but i don't think we had much luck with the animals compared to my friend. anyway, tyler didn't seem to care; he had a lot of fun with the animals that did come out to see us. the highlights seem to be the elephants, monkeys, turtles, petting zoo, the fish tank, and the jungle gym. tyler had a lot of fun playing.

in all it was a very successful trip out to the zoo. we bought year pass to the zoo (it was pretty cheap), so hopefully we'll be going more often.

hawaii children's discovery center

2009-01-18T20:02:00.007-10:00

we took tyler to the hawaii children's discovery center this past weekend. thanks to papa keith and aunty kristie for getting us an annual pass, so we can go all the time.

here is some information about the discovery center.

Explore: The Hawaii Children's Discovery Center provides a world-class, interactive, participatory learning environment designed to inspire the young and "young-at-heart" to new heights of learning and discovery.

Discover: The Center provides an environment that encourages children to use their senses of touch, sight, hearing, and smell to gain a better understanding of the world around them.

Imagine: Our goals are to help children develop positive self-concept and an understanding of others in Hawaii's multicultural community, and to offer them a "window to the world" beyond our island shores.

Dream: We want to inspire children to "dream big dreams" and to know that dreams can, indeed, come true!

basically its one big learning center, where kids can play while learning about all kinds of things.... there are just too man different activities and places to visit. in someways it reminded me of disneyland and epcot center.

anyway, like i said, we took tyler this past weekend. and as expected tyler had a lot of fun. we especially liked the children's 1-5 year olds area, where the little ones could run and around and go nuts. tyler had a lot of fun, so did us parents. i think we were more tired than him.

here are some pictures of tyler in action:

christmas 2008

2009-01-17T23:31:00.004-10:00

this was tyler's second christmas and he seems to really enjoy the holidays. he especially loves opening presents. but, as expected he didn't really like santa. we did a lot together this holiday. we went shopping a lot and tyler didn't seem to mind that, because of the great christmas activities at the shopping centers. tyler really loved riding on the christmas express at pearl ridge. we also went to see the christmas gift of aloha at ala moana. tyler really liked the singing and dancing. it was a great show.

it was awesome to see tyler so happy. and thats what is all about.

here are some pictures of the christmas 2008 season:

tyler's omiyage from japan

2008-10-23T23:32:00.004-10:00

bachan T brought back omiyage from japan for tyler. bachan said it was a surprise and that tyler had to open it.

tyler really liked his telephone. its actually a really relevant gift, because bachan and tyler play telephone at her house. here are couple more pics/videos.

gap casting call

2008-10-22T00:01:00.002-10:00

we decided to enter tyler in to the gap casting call for kids. the winners get a trip to san fransico. haha. anyway, here are some of the pictures that i was considering to use for the entry. i just submitted the picture, but let me know which one you think is the best. (unfortunately these pictures and the ones before couldn't be used because of the 3 month rule associated with the contest).

picture 1

picture 2

picture 3

picture 4

picture 5

so, which one did you like? i personally liked picture 2 for some reason. anyway, we'll have more pictures soon, we are going to sears to take some more pics like these.

paul and jill's wedding

2008-10-18T22:26:00.008-10:00

the other week was paul and jill's wedding. it was really great day. paul and jill look so happy and we are really happy for them. welcome to the club. here are some pictures from the day.

here are a couple of pictures of jill making her way to the ceremony. it was a really nice entrance.

here is a picture of all of us at the end of the wedding.. congrats again.

of course, i have to add in some pictures of tyler. tyler really loved the band. he eventually got to sit up with them as they sang a few songs. he really liked that.

ahead of the majority

2008-09-30T18:21:00.003-10:00

In 1965, Patsy Takemoto Mink became the first woman of color in the U.S. Congress. Seven years later, she ran for the U.S. presidency and co-authored Title IX, the landmark legislation that opened up higher education and athletics to America's women. PATSY MINK: AHEAD OF THE MAJORITY is the story of this dynamic trailblazer who, battling racism and sexism, redefined American politics.

Ten reasons why you should know about patsy mink

She co-authored Title IX.

She was the first woman of color to serve in the U.S. Congress.

She was one of the first women to run for president, entering the Oregon presidential primary in 1972.

She ran in 22 elections, more than any other politician from Hawai'i then or since. She is the only Hawai'i politician to serve at the county, territorial, state and federal levels.

She introduced the nation's first comprehensive Early Childhood Education Act in 1971. Congress passed the legislation, but President Nixon vetoed it.

She authored Hawai'i's "equal pay for equal work" law in 1957. The national law was passed six years later.

She defended a strong civil rights plank at the 1960 Democratic National Convention.

She was the first Asian American woman elected to public office in Hawai'i.

She was the first Japanese American female lawyer in Hawai'i. She originally wanted to be a doctor but was rejected by all the medical schools she applied to in 1948.

She led a crusade in college against the the University of Nebraska's segregated housing policy. The school rescinded the discriminatory policy because of her efforts.

Patsy Takemoto Mink is my grand aunt. aunty patsy has been a guiding force in my life to help others and standing up for whats right. my life goal is to help people and i hope continue my aunty's legacy.

i feel greatly honored and humbled by Kimberlee Bassford's work on her documentary PATSY MINK: AHEAD OF THE MAJORITY. the documentary is going to be debuted this month in the hawaii film festival. we are really looking forward to seeing the movie and participating in the events.

tyler is a ukulele master

2008-09-30T08:40:00.005-10:00

well... for his age, he's pretty good. he loves music.

my yankee stadium memory

2008-09-21T10:26:00.011-10:00

i got up this morning and turned on the TV and started to watch the coverage about the last game at Yankee stadium. it is the greatest stadium ever and it is hard to believe that this is the last game.

the tv coverage shared the memories of players, announcers and fans. i have my own...

in the summer of 2001, i vacationed in new york city. it was my first time on the east cost and i was blown away from the sheer size of the city. the highlight of my time in NYC was the yankees game. what a game it was; june 8, 2001: yankees vs braves. pettitte vs glavine. yankees won 7-4! but, theres more to the story.

we had fantastic seats; one above the field level box seats. we got these seats because my uncle knows a NBA referee. apparently this NBA referee is well known in the latino community. the cool thing was that we got picked up from our hotel 2 black Lincoln luxury cars complete with chauffeurs. they drove us up FDR into the Bronx. we got dropped off at the referee's Mexican restaurant, where they had a table waiting for us (i didn't eat too much, i think it was a little too authentic for me). after dinner we were whisked straight to yankee stadium where we had our tickets waiting for us at the stadium club. first class all the way!

we were a tad late, which was good cause the crowd was mostly in their seats. the bad thing about that is new yorkers aren't too happy when you are walking around trying to find your seats. we heard people yelling, "sit down! i paid a lot for my tickets, sit down!". that's classic.

back to the game... pettitte pitched outstanding. only giving up 3 hits in 5.1 scoreless innings. it was pretty awesome to hear the crowd cheer, "lets go yankees, lets go yankees". from that point on i was a yankee fan. the yankees 2001 season was pretty noteworthy. September 11 changed a lot for the yankees and the world series was just amazing (even though they lost).

here are some of my pictures from New York. I've been there only twice (june 2001 and august 2003), but i think its definitely my favorite city. the cool thing about nyc is that it can be the busiest place in the world, yet there are many peaceful and relaxing places hidden away to be explored.

learning a lot from the geekdads

2008-09-20T18:10:00.013-10:00

geekdad is a blog from wired magazine; "Tech toys, science projects and other nerdy things to do with your kids." its a pretty good blog especially when they talk about cool things parents can do with with their kids. for example, this posting making fireflies, or 10 websites for geeky kids. this blog is fun.

but, there are other geekdads and geekmoms out there. and i'm finding that i'm learning a lot about being a good dad from their blog postings, web pictures, and twitter messages. i really appreciate the view into their family activities. i really do appreciate it. i gives me new ideas of what i can do with my family. their posts reminds me that i need to stop working and start playing. i've made it a real point to stop working during the weekends and instead take family field trips (well, i should have said try).

like this blog posting from geekdad ryan:

We got Blake a guitar for his birthday... the reason I thought a guitar might be good for him is this... I secretly believe that he has some sort of hidden musical talent.

i've been thinking about getting my kid a drum set. he totally loves listening and dancing (or what seems to be dancing) to music. he has one little drum that he plays all day and goes into a total fit if i take it away. he knows how to play different sounds on the drum too. i've been thinking about getting him a little kid drum set. but, i didn't know if people actually punished themselves with that sort of decision. maybe i'll buy it and take it to grandma's.

or like this twitter from geekdad russel:

swam in the pool with the kids. so fun! no one else around

i can't wait to play in the pool with my kid. sounds like good times!

these geekdads share their stories of awesome family times; whether its a trip to the zoo, a surprise weekend at a hotel, or taking the kids to the park. technology makes sharing these stories possible. cause lets face it, geekdads' don't typically sit around the lunch table and talk about family outings.

i look up to geekdads like pavel, ryan, and quinn. i'm learning a lot from their example! thanks guys.

i try to do my share of sharing with this blog, posting of videos and my picasa web album.

walking in the park

2008-09-07T22:56:00.002-10:00

tyler learned to walk really quickly. in just two weeks, he went from a few steps to walking all over the place. he's getting pretty good. here is a short video of him walking in ala moana park. its really cool to watch him learn and get better.

weekend lunch

2008-09-02T23:13:00.001-10:00

this past weekend we did a little shopping at waikele. we eventually ended up at kunio and decided to have an early dinner/late lunch. even tyler had some food. he ate rice and tofu. btw, the tofu dish at kunio was awesome. i recommend it to everyone; i'm serious.

this lunch was pretty memorable because tyler was in such a good mood.

the year of the tyler

2008-08-26T21:25:00.007-10:00

written by tyler kagawa.

wow times flies when you are having fun! i can't believe that i'm one years old already! so much has happened this year. i....

found my thumb when i was 2 months old

held my first bottle (maybe by accident) 2 and half months

started to pick up my head (on my stomach) when i was 2 and half months

went trick or treating in waipio for the first time

watched the entire football season at bachan's house

was a model on the rainbowtique website

in november 2007, i went on my first trip to kona; went to waimea and the kohala coast

went to see the honolulu city lights

in january 2008, i went to the zoo

in january 2008, i went swimming in ala moana

when i was 6 months old i started eat a lot of rice cereal

when i was 6 months i was crawling around

i had my first easter egg hunt at bachan koyada's house

in may 2008, we went to turtle bay; i swam in the pool

in june 2008, i rode a toy atv!

in july 2008, uncle francis let me drive the go cart

in august 2008, mommy and daddy took me to the aquarium

in august 2008, i had an awesome birthday party!

here are some of my handsome pictures throughout this past year:

here are some pro tips that i've gathered:

having a changing table is awesome. it sure protects a lot of other things from the pee!

having a separate bathing place is very convenient

having a separate bottle washing place is very convenient too

i thought it was awesome that my dad took a lot of pictures of me all the time

here are some pictures from my awesome birthday party:

the party was awesome:

my grandpa made me a surfboard and got everyone to sign it.

milo shade was rockin the house! they were great

balloon monsoon entertained all of my friends with their cool balloon creations

the ige's food was great

my slideshow, centerpieces, and decorations were fantastic

and it was awesome to see all my friends and family!

oh! and i had a blast opening my presents:

its been an awesome year. oh, by the way, i found these pictures of my daddy:

he was a good lookin kid too. haha.

my first shades

2008-08-13T22:36:00.003-10:00

first of all, the shades are from japan. so its okay that they look a little funky; thats the style i guess. anyway, here is tyler impersonating a rock star.

field trip to the waikiki aquarium

2008-08-11T23:09:00.003-10:00

we took tyler on a special field trip to aquarium this past weekend. he has a lot of fun. he actually learned how to point and learned how to say "fish". it was awesome to see him pick that up so quickly.

the aquarium is pretty small. you really need to spend time learning all you can at each exhibit to make the trip worth it. we lucked out and got to see them train and feed the monk seals. everything was okay, but i was pretty impressed with the coral and giant clams in the displays.

the main thing was that tyler had a good time. after the aquarium we drove to ala moana for some food and just walked around the stores to cool down. needless to say, tyler feel fast to sleep on the drive home.

no more hiccups

2008-08-05T23:41:00.001-10:00

our technique to curing hiccups.

he is so cute!

riding in the car

2008-07-27T15:28:00.001-10:00

here is a video of tyler riding in the car (by the way, this is our first venture in posting videos on youtube!)

mulan jr is a hit!

2008-07-19T22:57:00.002-10:00

this weekend we went to see mulan jr, because my little cousin kacey was in the play. she was awesome! all the kids were awesome. here are some pics; rehearsal and photo shoot. the little lucky cricket was so cute and mulan was fantastic. of course, the star of the show was my little cousin kacey.

waimanalo driving

2008-07-05T22:44:00.002-10:00

on saturday, we went to waimanalo to visit uncle and pick up some flowers. at uncle's house we visited the birds, the pig, and looked at all the flowers. tyler even learned how to drive! that was a lot of fun. i think granny and uncle were having just as much fun as tyler.

on the way home, granny kept on asking tyler, "do you want to go driving? do you want to go driving?" tyler would respond, "heheeheheheheh".

that was a good day in the windward side.