La La and Kiyan Anthony are the cutest mother-son duo and their recent trip to Japan is giving us all the feels. The television personality and actress posted images and videos from her trip via her Instagram page.
In the first series of images, La La and Kiyan, with loved ones in tow, can be seen touring the town and eating local treats. In one cute photo, La La hugs her son from behind, as the teen is now significantly taller than her. The proud mom also shared a video of herself and Kiyan taking a martial arts class.
The trip wouldn’t be complete without some car karaoke, and they all did their best to hit the right notes.
“He’s bacckkkk 😂😂 car karaoke with @kiyananthony Tokyo edition….,” she captioned the video with herself and Kiyan singing along to New Edition’s “Can You Stand the Rain.”
Fans in the comments also spotted Kiyan’s new tattoo—a portrait of his mother—in the images La La shared on Instagram. He recently got the tattoo on his arm done by Steve Wiebe, and it includes the sweet words, “Dear Mom, you continuously put me before yourself. You are my why. I thank God for you every day.”
Many of us feel like Kiyan’s internet aunties and uncles as we’ve watched him blossom from a kid to a tall basketball star, following in his father, Carmelo Anthony’s footsteps. Kiyan is currently deciding which college to attend and has Auburn University, Florida State University, Ohio State University, USC, Rutgers University, and Syracuse University, where his father played, as options. However, the 17-year-old has clarified that he’s not feeling the pressure to go to Syracuse.
“It’s no pressure going there,” he said. “I know wherever I go, I’m just gonna go there and play my game. But my dad always tells me, ‘Don’t feel like you got to go to Syracuse because I went there. Really look into these colleges and choose where you want to go’. So, that’s what I’m really looking forward to doing.”
This Japan trip is timely since Kiyan will head to college in the fall. The actress shared how difficult the adjustment to being an empty nester will likely be for her, considering that her only child is her best friend.
“I’m having a hard time with that. I’m going to be honest with you,” she said to ESSENCE during an interview earlier this year. “I try not to think about it even though I know it’s there. Kiyan and I spend an incredible amount of time together. I always say my son is my best friend. We do a lot together. But I just think about when he does go to college, how it is going to be different. And I understand now when parents go through that, it is a tough transition. So I’m just trying to get all the time I can now and just preparing myself.”
