Barbecue Season in Full Swing.

So we were eating dinner two nights ago and decided wouldn't it be a cool idea if we took a picture of it and then wrote a blog about it.  So here it is.

We had ribs recently when some guests were here and on Sunday evening we decided we would go for it again.  Slow cooked on the barbecue with baked potatoes and a slightly spicy curried vegetable stir fry.  Brilliant.

Then on Monday evening we had some friends over for burgers and sushi.  Not a classic mix but everyone enjoyed themselves.  Our friends brought a turkey potato salad which I am filling my sandwiches with today.  It was a really nice evening catching up and finding out about their trip to Europe.  Someday, someday.

Other major recent events include my mother making it legal with her live in lover 15 years into the whole thing.  It was a lovely day and I am glad to have been part of it.  

We also celebrated the life of Uncle Dave down in Oregon. 

 We had a great time getting together with family, sharing meals, going on extended golf/shopping trips and swimming the not quite boiling Pacific. It really was a magical 3 days and from now on whenever we want to be close to Uncle Dave all we need to do it head down to the Oregon Coast.

Love out, The Dunnets.

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.

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.

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. 

The night before.

Well it is a return to the good old days here.  Last night the Mrs. and I made dinner and I actually pulled out the camera to snap some pics.  The dinner involved some home made shake and bake, (I used some cinnamon) to coat the chicken.  There is a major connection between fried chicken and Christmas here in Japan.  I think it is a marketing thing by KFC. So instead of ponying up the big cash and wondering how my body is affected by MSG we made it ourselves.  Of the forty mini drumsticks (large hot wing size) there were only 5 left after dinner.  So that was a hit.  The spaghetti was my classic meat sauce.  Also quite well received.  The Mrs. was on for the veggie platter and dipping sauce.  She also garlic-ed up the bread. 

By the time the adults sat down my Mother in law had added some dishes with a slightly more Japanese flavour.  However, by then I was lounging quietly trying to estimate what time I would be in bed by. 

The kids were all in their beds by 10:30 and I think for the most part they were asleep by 11:30.

We woke this morning to find that Santa had visited and there was much ado.  The daughter received the eraser making set.  Originally she was disappointed because it is a little difficult to do but with some dad help we have now officially made a clover eraser and she is satisfied with her santa request.  The older boy received a remote control car.  The antenna on the controller is now half the length it is supposed to be but the toy still works.  How many times can you tell a five year old to be careful.  The little guy got a block balancing game which can also just be blocks.  I didn't get his official statement but witness report that he seemed neither disappointed not overly excited.  Next year.

Well it is time to settle down with a beer and a book.  Currently watching toy story 3 in Japanese.  Good times.

Ps.  these pictures are from the community Christmas party.  Some pretty wicked cakes if you ask me.

Totally Bisho Nure.

Recently I have noticed a real cultural shift in my kids.  Occasionally they will have trouble explaining something in English.  The title of this post is what the daughter said today in explanation of why she wasn't wearing he usual shoes to school, they were totally bisho nure.  I asked her to explain herself in English (in my defense I did understand her Japanese, I was just probing the incident).  She paused for a few seconds and then responded that her shoes were "wet... very wet."  I commented back that they were probably "soaking wet" and we headed off for school.

This topic actually came to mind a few days ago in the bath.  I was getting out of the bath and the son and daughter were still in.  I asked them if they wanted me to put the cover over.  If you do this then it makes kind of a cave/grotto effect and they enjoy it.  The son response was great he said, "Boku drown suru my mimi gets baikin".  Basically he was going for, "If I submerge my head then I will get another ear infection."  He didn't know the English, submerge or the Japanese Shizumu.  And his only ear infection explanation has been in Japanese from his mom when he went to the hospital last week for the ear infection he had.  The Japanese word for ear infection is something I don't remember but it is a long word that doesn't include the words ear or infection.  I can't remember it so the son had no chance.

The son pops out these mahze go (mixed language) statements all the time these days.  It is very endearing.

In other news the Mrs had her 37th Birthday on the weekend.  She baked a cake and we had te-maki sushi for dinner. 

 The next two pictures are almost the same however, the son's expression in both is just priceless.

 Finally we have the four varieties of cereal (two bags of each) that the Mrs. managed to pull in for filling out the form on the back of a cereal box and sending it in.  Fortuitously this arrived on the day she a) had just complained to the mother of one of the son's friends that she never wins anything and b) had her birthday. 

Cereal anyone.

Vistors from a Near.

So we start off with a picture the kid made of her arm with the ten teki(iv).  This was early on when she was really afraid each time she got poked.  It got better as time went along.  The final results came back today and her numbers are good.  She can go to school on Monday.  Thank goodness.

In other news the relatives from Yokohama were down for a couple of days.  These are Junko's younger brother and his family.  So Sayoko's youngest cousin is about five years older than her oldest nephew.  They are in the back of the picture at the top.  This next set of pictures is Kohei, Kazuaki and myself hanging with them one evening.  It was raucous.  

 

Our final picture of little miss Sicky with her mom.  This was yesterday so she was still officially sick and couldn't play inside.  Life was tough.

I meant to take some pictures of my pizza from last night.  I am resigned to having crappy crust while I am here.  Just no option for getting the hot base before transferring the pizza onto it.  However, the crowd is eating it up so I shouldn't complain.  

This weekend coming up is the neighbourhood sports day.  I think I have been entered in numerous events.  Lets hope the body holds up.

Love.  Out.

The Illness

Well one thing is for certain.  This kid is a fighter.

Or she may die. 

You just never can tell.  The doctors are saying it is probably infectious mononucleosis.  Which means we have at least a few more weeks until she is into going out and about shape.  However, it isn't the end of the world.  Sayoko is going to take her to the local children's hospital to check her liver and spleen.  It at least sounds plausible. 

In other news the boys were hanging out in their baskets last night.

It was so cute with the little ones that big brother had to get in on the action.

This last one is Kiyomi trying to follow the conversation between her mother and Aunt.  I had given up a long time previous so I thought her valiant for battling on.

Currently I am boiling beans for tonight's chili.  Once again I will make a spicy and a not so spicy.  Hopefully I bought enough tomatoes so that it is much saucier than last time.  Still working on portion size to feed 11.

Love out.

Here is what you've missed.

So it has been just over a month since I touched down in the land of the humidity blues.  I arrived to find the daughter still in school and everyone else getting used to the heat.  Some outstanding events so far.  We had a dinner party in Ijuin with Sushi and such. 

I believe it was actually a birthday party for the daughter and yours truly.  Good times.  This is a picture of the littlest one modelling the latest in bug catching fashion. 

We have caught cicadas, butterflies, dragon flies and some kind of stinky bug.  Good times.  Most of the time we stick around here at home and just hang out.  The kids do lots of playing and fighting.  Good times. From oldest to youngest we have Atomu, Kiyomi, Kohei, Lilo, Tsubasa, and Kazuaki.  Sometimes Nanamu comes to stay over and she becomes the second eldest. 

So one day it was hot and we went down to the marina and swam off the back of Yoshiteru's boat.  We tried to do it the next day but it was low tide and harbour was pretty yucky.  So we took the boat out for a spin and swam in the open ocean.  It was pretty fun even if I did get a good sunburn.

I am in the middle of a beautiful swam dive here.  Really it should have been video.  Next time, next time.

Another big outing was taking the kids on the giant Ferris Wheel at Kagoshima Central station.  It was a prize for Kiyomi.  She managed to read five pages of a book in less than half an hour.  That is a Japanese book.  She has come a long way.  I am hoping that her anxiety will be way down when she goes back in September.  One step at a time. 

We also went for a visit to the Kindergarten Kohei will be attending.  They had a little summer festival and we went and enjoyed cold stream noodles, sno cones and fireworks.  The teacher was pretty worried about Kohei joining in September but after the festival it seemed like a lot of his fears had been allayed.

I am still not working although I am starting to sniff around at some offers.  It is such a blessing to finally be back in the blog hunt.  The reason I am finally blogging is that I bought a new USB cable so I can download pictures.  Still lots to think about and lots to do but more and more life is starting to flow.

Love out.

D.

Be our Guest

Well it is appropriate because there was much disney song singing tonight. And we had guests. I covered all my bases there.
My sister, brother-in-law, and a couple(pictured with daughter above) they golf and play with started a week long golf and vacation odyssey here in the GF today. After arriving late last night they woke to a very healthy and unphotographed breakfast. Then they were off to the course. We stayed home with the kids and made some pizza dough. In the afternoon we all met up at the lake and did some swimming and sand castle building. Then it was back home for pizza.
I made six pies tonight and currently there is not a slice to be found. On the grown up pizza we had both hot sausage and pepper salami. Good good stuff. The Mrs. whipped up some bean dip/salsa which was also consumed in no short order. There were also apparently veggies and humus and everyone seemed to enjoy the healthy snacks too. The guests were quite effusive about the whole affair but they were guests so it is hard to judge. I thought my dough wasn't as crisp as it could have been but the toppings seemed to get things done. Also the guests hadn't really eaten lunch so I could have served them cardboard topped with ketchup and they would have devoured it.
After some beers and conversation everyone is now safely planted in their respective bed. They are off tomorrow so it will be back to things as usual.

Hot Pizza

I am bushed. With a run this morning, taking care of ducks, visiting the dentist, making pizza, taking the kids swimming and various other activities it was one packed Friday. Saturday isn't looking much better. We are going to have a water slide play day for the daughter tomorrow. These darn kids run my life.

Anways, lets talk about the pizza. I whipped up the dough before heading to the afternoon dentists appointment. Disappointment number one was being out of flour. Oh we had whole wheat flour with which we made our biweekly four loaves of bread. But no regular old white flour. So I made whole wheat dough. A much trickier proposition as it just won't get as smooth and stretchy as the usual stuff. Way harder to get thin thus requiring a thicker crust. It was sufficient but if I am going to try and make a healthy dough there is going to be some superior experimenting or some kind of combination of whole wheat and bleached flour.

As for toppings the kids had the regular. They put one whole pie back but they weren't their usual voracious selves. Could be the heat. Could be the crust.

I branched out today and made a spicy chorizo sausage pizza with mushrooms and red peppers. I rather enjoyed it but the wife found it too spicy.

Here the Mrs. is showing off her masterwork. Notice she gets the toppings right out to the edges. She loaded on the veggies and had some ham on it as well. I rather enjoyed it and looking at the picture right now I think I deserve another slice before bed. I will say one thing for the whole wheat flour. It made for a better slip off of the pizza peal. May use that from now on to make the transfer to oven smoother.

Sorry for the lack of bread shots. Busy day.

Great Party

Well here is one of my brothers in law excitedly hiding behind a beer bottle while the food conscious sister attempts to ignore me with a serious look on her face. Classic. It was an awesome party.
Even this guy was having fun being passed around. It usually went like this. Mom gives him to me so she can get a break and eat something. Some aunt or other comes and gets him from me. Some other aunt takes him. Grand ma gets a turn. By this time he is cranky and they dish him back off to mom. Repeat.
Three cakes but I got the picture of the important one. The dinner consisted of two types of curry, fruit plates, veggie plates, seven layer dip, and a super star lineup for te-maki sushi. I thought it was an excellent team effort and everyone seemed very satisfied. It was also nice to be there with most of my family around. We were without one sis and a bro in law but hey, people have lives people. It will all work out some day. Apparently in July.
With the weekend at an end tt was a full on nine hour saga with lots of baby crying along the way to get back home. We stopped for some play at McDonalds where I was soaked for breakfast and will be much shrewder next time (yes there will be a next time, as they have a playground and it is the right distance from the city to stop for the early morning get your play on rest break). We also stopped at Manning park and donated some of our almost stale bread to the birds and the ground squirrels. I didn't take any pics but the son had it figured out and the rodents were practically crawling all over him to get his bread. Very cute. When we got home it was hot and we were tired. We finally rolled in around 5:00 ish but I didn't get dinner on the table till seven. Here is this evenings feed. Smoked turkey sausage pasta and sauce, with garlic bread and home made guacamole. This is my definition of an easy meal. Mostly because it takes very little inspiration to do well and everyone enjoys it and leaves full. Only problem was the heat it added to the house. Next time will take the wife's advice and have barbecue with salad.