Between Bagels and Rice: Grandparents to the rescue!

Once we realized Hiroko would be permanently hospitalized for the duration - 9 weeks! (and that was if things went well), we called on the grandparent bat phone for help. Nothing like losing half your resources to reveal how isolated we are out here. Fortunately, we have good friends, good neighbors, and great family. The challenge was that Ryan might have to go to the hospital at any hour and he works some funky shifts. Sometimes he's out of the house before 5am, other times he's back after midnight. First to arrive all the way from No Direct Flight, Maine was Grandpa. He simply hopped in a car to go to the bus to the plane to a taxi. Ochan and Grandpa quickly bonded over ice cream - chocolate with sprinkles of course. Grandpa cooked dinner for everyone too and enjoyed the grocery store. One day Grandpa took Ochan up to the Experience Museum in Everett as well. He also helped Ryan celebrate his birthday with Ochan and Hiroko at the hospital.

Next in from Virginia was Grandma whose tireless energy was very much appreciated. No one tests the limits of Ochan's imagination quite like Grandma. Their diverse menu of imagination foods and stories on Grandma's bed are a thing of wonder.

Next came Jiji who helped bring Oren to the hospital while Ryan was working and helped celebrate Hiroko's birthday with Ochan and Ryan in the hospital as well. Jiji is the first member of the family to play nine holes at the Green Lake golf course. He also biked all over Seattle and was nearly hired as a tour guide at the Japanese Garden. He spent a day hiking in the cascades as well while Ryan and Ochan went crabbing. Jiji, excited by a chance to garden did an early yard clean up for us as well, cutting anything that was more than six inches off the ground and thereby expanding the negative space to make our garden look bigger.
During Jiji's visit, Ryan and Ochan went crabbing off the marina in Everett. We brought almost a dozen crabs home and had delicious fresh crab cakes for dinner. Oren liked helping by pulling the crab boxes in but when the crab boxes entered the boat, he scurried like a crab into Ryan's lap.
We are forever grateful for the support and help all grandparents provided. Everyone here, it should be noted, changed diapers - some perhaps for the first time or at least the first time in a long long time.