yesterday everyone woke up bright and early. except tommy, he usually wakes up at eight (but i guess he forgot that when he woke up at 6:30 this morning!) we had breakfast, but i needed to go to costco (ha, do we really 'need' to go to costco?) and decided to take the kids to mr. donut first. since it summer holiday season, i wanted to get to costco as soon as it opened (10 am, for everyone, none of this 'business card holders first' business.)

luckily mr. donut opens at nine, and we got there just after that. forty minutes of licking donuts and then giving them to mommy passed. hey, at least they didn't blow bubbles in their milk, that makes a BIG mess!

i had to change tommy's diaper in the car, then we drove across the parking lot to costco (actually some distance away, though it's in the same shopping center.  if the kids were older, i would have parked in front of costco and walked to misudo--i have done so when it was just me and hiro!)

we were just a bit early, but tommy was getting restless. we all got out and waited (in the minimal shade) for the doors to open. on the front wall between the entrance and exit there are pictures up, usually showing new items or things on (coupon) sale. low and behold, there was a play kitchen! for a very reasonable price (i priced kitchens last sunday when i had time to myself. expensive wooden kitchens imported from europe. safe, wooden but nearly $400!) i thought, if it's wood, i'm gonna get it!

the doors opened soon after we got there, and hiro wanted to sit in the cart. the way i usually hit costco these days is tommy in the stroller, hiro pushes him and sasha rides in the cart. nope, no way. 'i'm so tired!' is hiro's favorite phrase these days. *sigh* so, tommy in the cart, stroller under the cart and herding hiro and sasha is how we did it yesterday!

we checked out the kitchen and it was wooden! this is what we got: red vintage kitchen. i barely managed to get it on the cart (had to move the stroller out, then put that on top of the box) and then tried to find gardening things (which yoshi wanted me to get) but they were all out. end of season, too late! picked up a few more things and then paid up. next was the snack stand, pizza and hot dogs, yum! hmmmm...

sidetrack rant: i really hate it when school is out and i try to avoid public places during holidays. it sucks! so many kids, many of them 'out of control' (yes, perhaps i am a strict 'stick in the mud', but i hate shouting and running and hitting. it drives me nuts!) just before we left, this boy who was about seven or eight years old, ran up to the table beside ours and started screaming, 'granny!!!' then it was, 'granny, where are you? i am here? granny???? where? are? you???' i was seriously annoyed and started to get mad. hiro was mad, too and said, 'stop shouting.' that made me laugh and i said, 'indeed. stop shouting.' we left just after that.

we got out to the car and one of the greeters came out to help me put the kitchen in the car. very nice! then i noticed it was barely 11! good timing! we drove back home, and sasha and tommy fell asleep in the car. finally, hiro fell asleep, too. after we got home, i stopped in front of the house and put the kitchen inside. then i parked in the driveway and had a little bit of quiet time to myself. after 15 minutes of so, hiro was awake so everyone and everything out of the car. then the bugging began: 'i want kitchen!' so i started to put it together. it only took me four hours! lol but now it is up and they love it! phew! it was 16,800 yen or so, more than half off the kitchen i was looking to buy at the private toy shop in town. i'll have to go over there to get pots, pans and plates. i dragged out the plastic foods and things i had from my eikaiwa days, but i'm not sure how long they'll last.

dinner was rather hectic. i had bought a rotisserie chicken at costco, but i also had some drumettes that i needed to cook. i made BBQ chicken for hiro and sasha, and tommy and i had the other chicken. i made mashed potatoes because i couldn't be bothered preparing rice. for hiro and sasha i gave them muffin tin dinners, which i read about on jo's blog (and i'm sorry, i can't remember where she got the idea, so you'll have to find that there. lol) i only have six muffin tins, though, but luckily i have two, so that worked out perfectly. they got: chicken, potatoes, tofu, mozuku, chopped tomatoes and watermelon. tommy's dinner was chicken mixed in the potatoes, which i fed him on the kitchen floor because i was too exhausted to fight him into his high chair because he was so hungry. i didn't even get a bib on him! he also had watermelon, which got on his shirt, but he was finally a happy baby!

while i was feeding tommy in the kitchen, someone knocked on the front door. i usually turn off our doorbell/intercom because i don't want the kids to wake up during nap time by some idiot door-to-door salesperson ringing the bell. anyway, hiro and sasha start singing, 'daddy's home!' and i thought, no way, it's too early! turns out it was the aircon install guy (oh, did i mention we bought an air conditioner for the upstairs main bedroom? we got bought it on saturday, it was installed on monday) to complete the install (he didn't have enough 'cover' on monday). whatever, i have three kids i was trying to feed! when he was done he came back to the genkan and shouted until i finally shouted back, 'hai?' but he had taken off by the time i got to the genkan! *sigh*

finally everyone was finished with dinner and then it was time for showers and then bed! all the kids were actually asleep by the time yoshi got home.