Taiyo had his first salon hair-cut! Last week, we went to Beehives and Buzzcuts, and he had his hair cut while driving a car and watching a movie. It was so amazingly quick and easy. Then he jumped out of the chair and went to play with great toys they had- kitchen set and trains on tracks, two of his favorite kind! He was the only kid in the salon, so he had these all to himself. Meanwhile, I had my hair cut. This was also very quick, and it was really, really bad. Oh, well, this was a kid's hair salon. Kids look cute and fabulous no matter how you chop their hair. I wasn't really looking for the greatest haircut ever, but I didn't think it could be this bad. And the set-up was just too perfect I had to take a chance. There aren't any regular salon where I can take Taiyo where he can play safely while I get my haircut. Too bad this couldn't work for me. Next day Taiyo was talking about his salon experience to everyone.

I finally upgraded my personal bike and we really had to take a ride yesterday. It felt chilly when we left, but by the time we got to the Central Park, it was rather warm. Taiyo wanted to climb a big rock and run around first. It was a perfectly mellow kind of spring day, and fortunately the park was not too crowded. After we did all his favorite things at the zoo, Taiyo wanted to go home. Of course he fell right to sleep on the back of the bike, and I took a long detour around the park to see some cherry blossoms. The light pink ones will be over by next weekend. But darker pink ones were not yet in full bloom. We've been seeing more flowers at the Children's Magical Garden. Such beautiful season, but usually a short one around here.

It was our 2nd annual family spring break, this time to the Disney World! Oh, yes, we survived. I came back with a stiff neck, and realization that there won't be any relaxing vacation for a while. Disney, the master of American pop-culture, was also super professional in hospitality. The first day, at Hollywood Studio, Taiyo was very much determined to meet the characters of Cars. For our deepest disappointment, there were two main characters of Cars, the most commercially used on every boys' goods, there, stationary. They were there, not animated, not, talking. Taiyo and I were expecting the Cars that spoke at least like in the movie. We saw some stunt shows, and dined in a drive-in theater like restaurant, were kissed by Chip 'n' Dale, and he was too tired to go on so we headed back to the hotel. He was then energized at the kiddie pool and we spent hours there while he flirted with a cute littler girl. They had outdoor movie every night, while seeing fireworks in the background from Epcot. So the next day we had to do Magic Kingdom, their main theme park. This time I made sure to rent a stroller at the entrance, which made a huge difference to enjoy the visit. It was crowded enough, hot enough, and it was not their busiest time of the year which is the hottest time of the year. Well, my New York maneuvering skill was pretty much useless since so many areas seemed to be blocked by enormous asses and double with strollers. The large unit spanish families didn't help the congestion. The lines were long enough in most places, at least 30 minute wait, but Taiyo was mostly patient and amused other people around him. He had his first roller coaster ride, hugged Princess Merida from Brave, flied on Dumbo, twirled in a teacup, and drove a bumpy race car. So, although it was too all-American and mainstream for my taste, we had a lot of fun.

It was our Easter Sunday tradition to go to the Central Park Zoo. The weather was cloudy and a bit chilly, but the park was lively with lots of people, some of them in festive hats. We did all our(his) favorite things- said hello to sea lions, monkeys, penguins, had a glimpse of sleeping polar bear and a snow leopard, and fed always hungry goats. After chicken fingers and french fries, we climbed and admired a nice view on top of a big rock then Taiyo went wild at the long stone slide in the playground. He didn't want to stop even when we felt some raindrops.

First Wednesday off for me this week since the beginning of the year. This time my cooking class series went every week until last week. We were getting ready for our second annual family vacation- we're going to the Disney World! After hours of shopping plus making a stop at the playground- when we were at Union Square, we usually have to spend some time at this fabulous playground- we decided to have dinner at GustOrganics conveniently located by F train at 6th Avenue. I passed by there so many times and the name was especially intriguing. It's 'organic' so probably not so terrible. When we enter, it felt like a one of those hipster joint, but they were kid-friendly enough to ask us if we need a high chair as we were led to the table by the window. The menu was short and boring, and I settled for that sounded so boring but something Taiyo would eat. The waiter was skilled enough to up-sell to Taiyo to add bacon to his mac & cheese. So that's a sure sign of a kid-friendly restaurant. And Taiyo sat, blew hard and ate his tiny dish of mac & cheese. My rotisserie chicken was fair size but so boring I couldn't eat half of it. Taiyo enjoyed some of it. It was ok experience but would not return for food nor it's '100% organic' price.