Recycle garbage truck

I got ready especially early today just so that I could play with my birthday gift from my cousins. Daddy worked really hard last night to put it together for me. It is so cool. I actually picks up the garbage and puts it into the back. Then you can dump it too! It looks just like the garbage truck that I saw in Hawaii! Thank you so much Uncle Matt, Aunty Chris, Maimai and Tata!

Bye-bye Nana and Papa

Before we knew it, it was time for Nana and Papa to leave. We headed to the airport with almost no problem. The taxi would let the five of us ride, even though we have been taking so many taxis this trip and had no problem. Instead of arguing or ordering another taxi, Daddy decided to head to the airport by subway and the rest of us piled into the taxi. We got to the airport without any problem and Nana and Papa checked their suitcases in smoothly. We had a really nice dinner then before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye. It was such a nice trip. There were no problems and everyone was happy and had a great time! Nana and Papa, thank you for visiting, sponsoring our trip to Nagoya, and for the birthday gift! I had such fun spending time with you. I can’t wait to see you again. Have a safe trip home and we’ll chat soon!

My Mercedes

Apparently, I had another birthday gift to open. And it was a big one! Nana and Papa got me a Mercedes! I have been wanting one ever since I knew what a Mercedes was (which was last December when they gave me a Mercedes toy car). I was so happy to be able to drive my own Mercedes!

I sat behind the steering wheel and drove it right away without any problems. It was as if it was made for me. But this baby needs more space than our living room. We took it outside to really let her stretch her legs!

Thank you Nana and Papa! I love it! (I’ll practice a bit and let you know when I’m ready for the real thing.)

3rd Birthday Party

It is a bit early, but we had my 3rd birthday party today. We had to do it while Nana and Papa were still in town. I was in a pretty good mood and I was well behaved. I knew how these things work. (It is my third time going through this.). There is a lot of people and a lot of pictures, but I get to eat delicious birthday cake and I get presents. Yep, I got it. Now let’s get this show on the road.

I quickly sat in my birthday seat and took the obligatory photos because I knew there was cake to be had. Boy did I enjoy last years birthday cake.

2nd Birthday cake

As you can see, I was very much into this year’s birthday cake as well! But I was a lot neater than last year because I used a fork. I also mainly only ate the fruits. It had started off as a fruit birthday cake but what everyone else ate was just cake. i probably could have eaten the whole thing all by myself if no one stopped me.

After the cake it was on to the presents!

Thank you everyone! I love all the presents! They were all so thoughtful. Exactly what I wanted! Many thanks to you all!

Thank you everyone for such a great 3rd birthday! I love you all! See you all again next year! (You might want to get a bigger cake next time.)

Shopping incident

We went to the department store this morning to pick up some stuff for my birthday party and to get some omiyage for Nana and Papa to take home. But there was an incident on the way there. The department store is very close to home, maybe a 5 minute drive away. But when Daddy was trying park the car, it just died. The battery died just the other day before we left on our trip. It is a very old battery and I have been practicing driving in the car a lot with the engine off, so the battery was due to go. We had to leave the car in the department store parking to go home and prepare for my party. Daddy made an appointment with an onsite mechanic and made plans to have the car fixed and pick it up later today. But first, my party.

Shinkansen ride home

The Shinkansen ride home was every bit as smooth and fun as the ride to Nagoya was. The only difference was that we were heading in the other direction. I was still thrilled to see and ride the Shinkansen, even after seeing all the trains at the Railway Park. The only difference this trip was that I was exhausted from such a fun day and fell asleep on the ride home.

I woke up when we got into the station and was in a very good mood. We picked up some food at the supermarket and had a light and refreshing meal at home. I was very happy and playful!

It was a wonderful trip to Nagoya! Thank you Nana and Papa!

Apparently I’m having an early birthday party tomorrow so it is time to go to sleep. See everyone then!

SCMAGLEV and Railway Park

So like I said, today we visited the SCMAGLEV and Railway Park, which is all about trains. Once we got inside you could see how excited I was. I did not ask to be carried and showed around. I took the lead and just headed off, not really checking to see if anyone was following me. (Eventually, I checked to make sure Daddy was still with me, so that I could point out all the different trains to him.)

I looked at and admired all, and I mean ALL the trains from the outside.

And I looked at and admired all the trains from the inside as well. I went up and down so many trains that I forgot which trains I had been in. So for safe measure I went back into every train that I saw. I must have been through every train at least three times each.

Most of the trains had signs saying not to sit down. I think there was only one train where you could sit down and watch an educational video about trains. But some trains were even more limited and roped off right inside the door, so you could only look into them and not walk through them.

I was so excited to see so many trains that Daddy had a hard time keeping up with me. I think I lost Nana and Papa a few trains back, and Mommy was waiting in line for me to try a train driving simulator.

Nana and Papa couldn’t keep up with me, but they found neat little diorama area with a huge display of miniature trains. Just like with Legoland, I was enthralled and absorbed every tiny detail of the display.

Then it was my turn to try my hand at driving a train. With Daddy as my assistant driver, I completed my train driving course with the top score of the day!

Next it was time for lunch. Of course, even lunch was train themed. The restaurant served Eki-ben, or Train Station Bento boxes. The adults enjoyed their plain old boxes of delicious food, but my bento came in a Dr. Yellow Shinkansen! It was as exciting as it was delicious!

After lunch, we made one last round through though the railway park and even completed a stamp rally to get a little souvenir prize.

I enjoyed the railway park so much that I started to act pretty silly when we were taking pictures.

Our last stop was the gift shop where I got a cool pair of Shinkansen socks and a Dr. Yellow toy. Thank you Nana and Papa!

I had a great time at the railway park! Even though I enjoyed Legoland as well, the excitement and enjoyment was more visible at the railway park. I have a feeling that I’ll be back in a few years. There were a lot of other displays about the engineering and how-things-work of trains that I might enjoy more when I was older. This time it was just seeing and being in the trains that was a thrill.

Breakfast, train, and arrival

After a good sleep I woke up well rested and ready for the last day of our trip to Nagoya. We are going to visit the SCMAGLEV and Railway Park. To get there we actually took the same train that we took yesterday to get to Legoland. Even though it was my second time on the train I still enjoyed it a lot!

Instead of turning right, to go to Legoland, we turned left, and headed toward the SCMAGLEV and Railway Park. Yep, that’s right, a park dedicated to trains. Oh boy, am I going to enjoy this!

Exhausted to sleep

I had such a great time at Legoland and was really tired by the time we got on the train heading back to the hotel. It was a surprise to no one when I fell asleep on the train.

I was still going strong but the sleepiness just started to get to me and then the next thing I knew I was fast asleep. I was so tired that I didn’t wake up when we got to our station. I didn’t even wake up when Mommy, Daddy, Nana, and Papa went to a restaurant for dinner.

Legoland: Gift shop

Our last stop at Legoland was of course the gift shop. And wouldn’t you know, they had Lego cars in the gift shop too. It was pretty cool!

I don’t ask for much, so with a bit of encouragement from Nana and Papa I chose a bubble wand. I loved it! I just had to play with it right away! Bubbles galore!

Legoland: Police Car and Police Station

I was still sad…for reasons not really clear to anyone, and then we found a Lego police station while walking through Legoland. And guess what was there in the police station, a police car. I just had to hop behind the wheel.

Maybe it was because I was illegally driving a police car without a license and without being a police officer, but I found myself temporarily in jail.

I got out, but was put in the back of the police car, possibly to be transported to maximum security prison. But because I was in a police car, I was quite happy about it.

Legoland: Coast Guard HQ

After the Rescue Academy and gained some courage and wanted to go ride the boats that I had seen earlier near the airplanes. So we headed back in that direction and stood in line. It was a pretty long line, but luckily they had a little play area for kids to distract kids while waiting. And they had Lego there. What are the chances?

When our turn came up I said that I wanted to ride with Mommy. So Daddy hopped in the boat in front of us and I jumped in behind the wheel of a nice yellow boat with Mommy next to me. Then off we went!

I was doing good piloting the boat until for some reason I abandoned my post and went to touch the water. I was very curious about this body of water, so Mommy had to both pilot the boat and make sure I didn’t fall into the water.

Then, because I touched the water, I wanted Mommy to wipe my hands. So poor Mommy had to pilot the boat while fishing out a towel to wipe the hands of a boy who didn’t listen when she told him not to touch the water. What an amazing captain.

When we arrived safely back at port I started to cry. I realized that when I said that I wanted to ride with Mommy that I wasn’t able to switch halfway and ride with Daddy. Why I thought that would have been an option, I don’t know. I actually did enjoy the ride, but I’m a two-year-old boy who gets upset about things even I don’t understand.

Thank you for captaining the boat, Mommy! Oh Captain, my captain!

Legoland: Rescue Academy

On our way through the park I saw the Rescue Academy and was really interested in it. So after lunch that was our first stop. As you know I’m really into rescue vehicles so being able to drive a fire truck and put out fires sounded awesome! And guess what. It was awesome! Mommy, Daddy, and I drove a fire truck up to the building on fire and then I shot the fire with water to put it out. Then we headed back after a successful fire fighting mission. It was a lot of fun!

Legoland: Lunch and back to the fun

While Daddy and I were flying an airplane, Nana and Papa had went ahead to a restaurant and ordered food and got seats. The timing worked out perfectly. Just as we finished our airplane ride they had lunch ready. We met up and had a nice lunch. Nana and Papa are pros at navigating amusement parks, having brought their four granddaughters to multiple amusement parks in the past. They knew exactly where and when to get lunch. I really appreciated the foresight becauseit meant that we could get back out into the park even faster. Thanks for lunch, Nana and Papa.

Legoland: City Airport

After my Jr. Driving School experience, I took some time to compose myself and we wandered around some more looking at other attractions that might interest me. I turned down most of the things we saw, but when I saw the City Airport airplanes I was keen to give it a try.

I really enjoyed flying! The best part was that I was not alone and flew with Daddy! I had so much fun that I said, “It was fun! I want to ride again tomorrow with Mommy!”

Legoland: Jr. Driving School

My first stop was Jr. Driving School. You know how much I like cars and driving practice so of course I just had to go for a drive. It took a lot of courage for me because this was a solo ride. Mommy and Daddy stood in line with me and then I had to wait on my own. I followed instructions really well.

I was doing okay and even found a car all on my own. But then I realized I was all on my own and I was feeling a bit lonely. I spotted Daddy and wanted him to drive with me the way we practiced at home but he couldn’t. Then the cars started and I didn’t do so well and hit a curb. I was feeling very sad and lonely and started to cry. One of the staff came to comfort me but I just wanted to go see Mommy and Daddy.

I was wheeled back to the start and was so desperate to see Mommy that I tried to squeeze through the bars of the fence. I calmed down enough to stand in line to exit and even got my honorary driver’s license. It was not how expected it to turn out but everyone was very proud of me for trying.