Washington Week

So we spent a week in Washington visiting my older sister and her husband recently.  It rocked.  They are living in Yakima which is actually closer to our new house than Vancouver.  Plus it has cheap shopping and gas.  Lots and lots of pluses to visiting. 

They are a short walk from tonnes of stuff and they get good weather.  Definitely an outdoor paradise.

You will notice the youngest is just freshly casted here.  In reflection it is so nice to have him back to his old self.  We left that foam soccer ball down there.  The house had tonnes of good toys and the children had an awesome time.  With the food and company and pets we all had a good time.  Plus they had enough rooms that the kids could sleep separately from their parents.  That was amazing. 

 Unfortunately they have weird gravity down there and my son couldn't seem to stay the right way up.

I am just realising now that we didn't get the dogs and Mia in the big group shot.  Major faux pas.  We will have to remedy that next time we are down.

The Last Days.

Well this is a little tardy but nevertheless here is the last days of our stay in Japan.  With the kids both not attending school we had some time to go out and do some day tripping.  One such day has us at a museum of war.  Kind of  a dark place.  Some nice gardens though.

Just so happens it was Cinco de Mayo.  We didn't take any pictures of the war memorabilia or the life size diaramas depicting war in all its gruesomeness.  The kids were thoroughly impressed by it, at some points they were actually scared.  Nice work parents.

 Three kilometers back from the War museum was another temple power spot.  So we stopped in, walked the stairs, made the offering and rang the bell.  We all made a guess as to how many steps there were.  The daughter was the closest.  The wife said she was fooled by a false landing. 

After the temple we stopped for a snack and then tried to find the onramp to the freeway.  The last month or so in Japan was marred by some extraordinarily bad luck or poor decision making in my driving.  So many back tracks it was insane.

Another day trip involved using the tickets to the flower festival we had purchased.  This was supposed to be a trip to take with my mom and her hubby when they came to Japan.  However, with the tsunami and earthquake happening two days before they were supposed to arrive the trip never happened.  But we decided to soldier on and see the festival any way.  Within half an hour of arriving it started to rain.  We ate our bento lunch under cover and then put on some rain capes and tried to take a look around. 



Within the hour we were wet and defeated and headed back home, once again making some major long cuts in an effort to save time and money (unsuccessful on both accounts). 

And with that our time was up.  We enjoyed the last couple of days hanging out with family and eating home cooked food.  Then it was off to the airport.  Some teary farewells and a grueling 17 hours later and we arrived in Vancouver at the same time and on the same day that we left.  It is nice to hear English all around but we really miss our Japanese family.  We hope to be back there soon.  If not to live then at least on an extended vacation.

Vacation Begins.

So we started our three week Japanese Vacation this weekend.  Really looking forward to having three weeks to spend with family and friends.  I am also looking forward to getting out and about in Kagoshima.  Amazingly no Jet Lag to start the trip.  Very lucky.

We had a great day on Saturday.  We got up early and were out the door before nine.  Our goal was Noma Dake.  The last interesting peak relatively close to our house.  After about and hour and 15 of pain and suffering in the car (two year olds just can't be reasoned with) we made it to the Noma Jinja, the inevitable temple most of the way up the mountain. 

We hiked for about forty five minutes from the temple to the top.  The view promised to be spectacular but then it reneged.  We were basically in the clouds.  It was muggy.  Summer has officially arrived in Kagoshima.  

 We didn't pack a lunch, just snacks, on purpose.  The plan was to get up and down before lunch and then hit a restaurant and an onsen.  Well the little guy was tuckered when we got to the bottom and promptly fell asleep in the car.  So we drove most of the way back home.  We stopped in Fukiage, known for its Onsen Baths.  It was the sage opinion of the Mrs. that to eat and then bath was foolishness.  So we drove around looking for a bath.  We stopped here.

 The place was deserted so the boys and I had our side to ourselves.  The pool was big enough for the older boy to try and swim in.  However, the water was hot and tasted of sulphur so he didn't make much head way.  The little guy, as usual, enjoyed getting in and out.  He also got a real kick out of turning the taps on and off.

Post bath I was fatally hungry.  We had a few minutes of indecision before settling on rice balls and assorted lunch stuff from a grocery store.  We stopped at a park and chowed down.  I gave the Mrs. the keys and had myself a nice big beer.  It was good.

Our last stop was a spot my Mother-in-law recommended.  It is one of her power spots.  It is a temple called Onamuchi Jinja.  The temple is your regular fare but the real reason to go is the trees.  Check out this monster the family is perched against.  It reminds us of the tree in "Tonari no Totoro" (Totoro next Door) by studio Ghibli.  It even has a little spot you could climb in and find a Totoro. 

This next picture shows how far back I had to go to get the sucker in the frame.

 After the tree we took turns drinking the magical temple water.  I got video.

Post temple we got back in the car and everyone kind of drifted off as the Mrs. drove us home.  Another fabulous Saturday and an excellent way to kick off our three weeks in Japan.  Lets hope the rest of our vacation is as exciting.

Just keep rolling.

Well here we are again, fancy that.  I am back to the dinner pictures.  Mostly because I am having to wait my turn for dinner these days.  The table is packed. 

Last night we had the daughters favourite, Gyoza.  These were home made beauties thanks to my wonderful mother in law.  I fed my face in a serious manner and all the garlic in my system gave me a wild night.  My dreams were so vivid I felt like I was actually awake.  When I woke up I was slightly confused as it felt like I hadn't been asleep. 

On a different note I have been trying to catch the mother in law in action.  She is very camera shy.  Two nights ago I caught her with her fingers in the gyoza mix.

Tonight I was too slow and slipped away.

We are eating maki sushi this evening.  It looks lovely and I can't wait for a seat at the table.  People are gobbling it up.  I sure hope there is some salmon left by the time I get going.  In other news I went fishing with the father in law today.  The weather report was calling for 2.5 m waves but the day broke sunny and calm.  So we decided to go for it.  We went with another of his local fishing buddies.  Below is the picture of all the fish I caught.

No you aren't missing anything.  I pulled in a big fat goose egg.  Also the called for weather did arrive in the end.  Brutal.  However, I managed to keep all of my cookies.  It was a wild ride home but we made it safe and sound.  Hopefully I will manage to catch at least one more fish before we head back.  That is it for tonight.

Love out.

Can it be True.

Yes, yes I believe it is.  Two posts in two days.  I am actually posting about last nights dinner as I think two posts in one day would have been way over the top considering my recent out put.

So last night we had Yaki Niku.  Basically barbecued meat.  The big Teppan is set up in the middle of the table and then everything is fried up on it.  Whenever a piece comes ready someone picks it up and dips it in their bowl of dipping sauce.  Good times.

I, however, waited out the rush and sat and sipped my whiskey.  It is shochu whiskey but the really good stuff.  We were planning to take the parents on a tour of the factory when they were in town.  The sons best friends dad works there.  I am sure we will make it there someday.  Anyways, back to the whiskey, I sat there sipping while everyone else devoured.  It was very pleasant to stay above the fray.  I also got a bowl ready for this guy.

He had crashed out after a busy day of playing soccer in the park and watching videos inside.  The only problem is that he had done the in betweener crash.  You know, 4:30 ish.  Not going to be down for the night but if he sleeps until 8 then he won't be down again till twelve.  So I tried the gentle wake up.  No success.  He bawled until I got Anpan man up on the computer.  Then he sat in my lap to watch while he ate dinner.  Of course, when I closed up the computer it was back to bawling.  So I took him outside for walk around the neighbourhood.  Quiet again until we got back home and then bawled to keep going on the walk.  He eventually quieted down and I managed to stuff my face in the meanwhile.  We slept as a family for the first time in a long while last night.  It was nice.  Until I woke up sandwiched by the two oldest with the little one having been just barely squeezed out by the boy.  I look longingly over at my wife who slept unmolested on a futon of her own.  Ah the good old days.

Back on the Horse.

Wow did I ever fall off the life wagon there.  The last two weeks have been kind of blurry.  I think I am still dealing with the sudden change in expectations.  Sort of having to mentally get back on tracks after all our plans came off the rails.  Also we have been dealing sick people and injuries so nothing has really been business as usual.  However preceding all this craziness we had some good times.  First up is the oldest boys final field trip of the year.  I start with some video of me and the littlest going down a slide together.  In the video I am totally oblivious to the fact that my son has a broken arm.

Good times (the sliding, not the broken arm).  I didn't get many candid shots as my hands were full with the two boys and no Mrs.  (her day off, this was the first day of the daughter having the flu so she stayed home to tend to the sick).  I did manage to get one group shot and one shot of the rest of the parents.  Amazingly I on the odd occasion I actually feel like I fit in with this group.

This is the latest birthday picture.  The cute little toddler/preschooler you all remember turned fourteen.  Holey smoke. 

More school stuff.

 So the middle child had a school visitation day today.  The Mrs. did the honours.  Apparently, it had something to do with the doll festival and from the pictures something to do with a group of superheroes/bandits.  Good times.

I stayed home with little miss, "my throat has a tickle and I don't want to go to school", and the super trooper.  It was a beautiful day day and me and the little guy got to the park to play with his new sand box toys. 

He can't wear the knapsack unless the belt is tied around the front.  Stylin in his o sagari mono (hand me downs).  We managed to get some good sand castle building after a nice run around after the soccer ball.  I am telling you this kid has a father with world cup aspirations.  The older boy came running up to the park after we had been there about forty minutes.  He got in on the sand castle building before a little grounders. 

The Second.

So we celebrated a little second birthday action here for our youngest today.  Scary that.  Our third child is now two.  Combine this with my mom being retirement age as of March and I guess that puts me and the Mrs right in Middle age.  Holey moley.

We had cake a la my Mrs. and everyone enjoyed it.  The cake was cut in two so that we could also get some candle action for my nephew whose birthday was a few weeks ago.  After two trys with the candles everyone was satisfied and we all got to dig in.

Below the son is modelling the backpack he got from his grandma.

His aunt bought him so sandbox toys.  His mother made him a cake, his dad wrote this blog about it. I did also give him a great hug and this is me singing the loudest at his cake ceremony.

That is punk older brother stealing his cousins candle blowing thunder.  There was a do over and the little guy didn't seem to mind doing it up again the second time around.

In other recent news, well lets see.  In a personal accomplishment I broke through the one hundred barrier in a round of golf (96).  One of those things that seemed important until I managed to do it.  I wonder how many times I have to learn the "life is a journey, not a destination" lesson before it sinks in.  Fortunately, I have enjoyed the golf journey so far and hopefully will continue to enjoy it with my family as we wind our way through life.  I think I just need to be mindful of not worrying so much about the destination.  So other than that, there is the upcoming half marathon with the Mrs. next weekend.  Not super trained up but I told her today that if I had to stop at some point she should go on without me.  Will keep you posted.  The daughter is recovering nicely from a gash she gave herself a week ago.  Fairly deep but no stitches. The older boy just had his hair cut.  Previously I think he would have been best described as motley.  Now he definitely has a cute vibe.  I am itching to get my hands on the littlest's locks but we probably have to wait for warmer weather.  Other than that we have made two batches of salsa recently, which totally reminds me of me.  (inside joke, sort of)  Starting to feel like we are winding things down here.  Less than a month till mom arrives.  The daughter brought home the note with the schedule for the last days of school.  (the school year ends in March and then starts again in April).  So yeah spring is in the air and I am loving it.

Love out.

Gakushu Hapyou Kai.

or "Day to come and see what we learned in school".

 The son's is second row from the bottom, second from the left.

So today I was up for attending the son's kindergarten performance.  Very cute as these things tend to be for kindergartens.  And a surprising reminder that the Japanese school year is fast drawing to a close.  Here is some video of the little guy in action.  The editing leaves a lot to be desired. 

To cut or not to cut.

Wow was that an ordeal.  A little background. 

When the daughter arrived home from school this afternoon the Mrs. was out.  The daughter was terribly excited with the prospect of cutting her hair and having bangs.  So excited in fact that after her math homework this was the topic she chose for her every other day journal entry.  Or course she had it all written out before her mom arrived home. 

Enter the Mrs.  In her defense she is leery of taking any steps that might make school attendance more challenging.  Imagine the "I hate my hair and I am not going to school" scenario.  So the Mrs. raised the prospect of some of these issues before getting down to the business of cutting.  These issues of course had never occured to the daughter so now she is torn.  There is the excitement and anticipation of the new look, along with the fact that she has done the pre-emptive journal entry; counterbalanced with the possibility of being noticed and ridiculed at school.  So half an hour of tears and back and forthing and I had had enough.  I guaranteed her 100% that everyone at school would love her hair and call it cute.  Sure I went out on a limb but I think the guarantee was pretty safe.  Talking to other parents in the class the daughter is kind of idolized.  Apparently there were a bunch of boys at the beginning of the year who were afraid to talk to her because she was so "cute."  And there has yet to be an episode of playing with friends that ended in anything other than a "how soon can we play together again."  So I don't really foresee any problems.  However, I do take my guarantees pretty seriously.  I sure don't look forward to my first back fire.

However, check out the pics.  I wasn't wrong.

Under Construction.

So we start today with a local new years festival.

This was a giant Demon built out of bamboo.  We arrived late so I didn't get to see what the thing actually looked like before they lit it.  However, here is a picture of one I found on line.  No striking demon resemblance but very burnable.

Now at home I have been on a building kick recently.  First we made a bead necklace.  Then we made a jigsaw puzzle.  Both of these were documented in my last post.  From these I moved onto this cat.

I don't know what was driving me but I just felt like trying this out.  There were lots of mistakes and trial and errors along the way but in the end it got coloured and I was pleased with the result.  Coincidentally the daughter had the option of bringing something she made over the winter break to school on the her first day back.  Honestly, I had not heard anything about this.  She took the cat and was very proud of herself.  I was feeling pretty good too.

So while making the cat I promised the son that I would make him a dinosaur.  I learned a lot while making the cat so the dinosaur turned out a little better, at least in my opinion. 

They are both made from stiff paper,  quite a bit stiffer than construction paper.  I used regular paper for each original piece and then fiddled with the cuts until they were in just the right place.  Then I traced the model onto the stiff paper.  I was pretty surprised at how well it all worked out.  I was going to colour the dinosaur but after two pretty full days of working on it I was done.  And the son got to take it to school and show his friends.  I don't know how long they will last but they are infinitely recyclable.  I am still considering making an alligator as that was my neices request. 

Ringing in the New Year.

So I guess you could call this an update post.

To start with before new years we had a dump of about 25 cm here.  The snow stuck around for about five days and almost stopped the Mrs. and me from getting in a long run.  It did not however stop the kids from having a good time.

Of course with the snow comes the cold crappy weather of January.  I am telling you it could be Grand Forks in April.  And without central heating it means staying in the one room with a space heater.  It also means shouting at any kid who enters the room or leaves the room without shutting the door.  Our oldest is easily the biggest offender.  So what do we do when it is cold and crappy.  We hang out in doors.

The last couple of days the oldest boy has been sick.  So I have activated my crafting gene and whipped up two activities.  Activity one was making a paper bead necklace.  Basically you make long isoceles triangles (no I will not explain which type of triangle that is) out of coloured paper.  You then roll them around something thin and cylindrical and glue down the last bit of the tip.  After stringing together three bracelets for the little ones the daughter finally got to make her necklace.

She is still wearing it today, so that is a win.  The next project was started this morning and completed this afternoon.  a) We started by taking pictures out of a magazine and making a collage.  b) Then we cut up the collage to make a jigsaw puzzle.  Part a) was easy and fun.  Part b) gave clear definition to why there is a saw named after a puzzle.  It is the other way around.  You make this type of puzzle using a jigsaw.  Using a dull exacto knife is time consuming, frustrating, and not particularly effective.  Next time I will use stiff paper instead of cardboard.

Other than that the kids are back to school next Tuesday.  I am looking forward to getting our routine back up and running.  Lots of people with free time stuck inside together is not always a recipe for fun.  Sometimes but not always.

ps.  We also went and picked up the pottery we made back in November.  It was glazed by some professionals and looked pretty good.  While we were out the Mrs. got to making some homemade bread.  Here is a picture of our current works of art.

(pot by me, buns by wife)