Every year, I think that maybe I have outgrown (or rather, AJ has,) the requirement for me, as a parent, to go to a public function to watch my child perform.  Somehow, I had thought that end in high school - with the band and chorus concerts, etc.  But no - he is in choir in college.  Okay - I can go to those concerts - no big deal.  Yesterday, though, it was a whole different performance.  

AJ is taking Japanese II this semester, and they performed a Japanese folk dance at the Mt, Shasta Mall.  AJ (and the rest of the Japanese classes - two classes of Japanese I, one each of Japanese II and III) wore kimonos and sang and danced a Japanese folk dance at the Multi-Cultural Heritage Festival yesterday.  Not the best photos, but...it was inside the mall, and I just had my phone camera (which is better than my 'real camera' anymore!)

Yesterday was Ralph's 60th birthday, so AJ and I took him out to dinner at Kobe's.  I had been there for lunch not long after it opened, but neither of them had gone before.  It is a Japanese restaurant (appropriate after AJ's performance!) that specializes in grilling your dinner in front of you.  You are seated around the grill with other diners (Larry and Pat were supposed to join us, but Pat got sick) and the chef grills everyone's meal.  The chef starts off with cleaning the grill - with a squirt or two of oil and then  lighting it on fire.  We had a little girl about 6 at our table, and every time the chef picked up the oil after that, she hid under the table.  The chefs are great - they make your fried rice on the grill, starting with the egg.  I can hardly make anything without breaking the egg accidently, and he was bouncing the egg on his spatula without breaking it.  AJ and I had steak and shrimp, Ralph had shrimp and scallops.  It was all so good!  AJ decided that Ralph had serious competition for his steak - his was 'almost' as good as Dad's.