Birthday Tidings

Okay better late than never.  Here is a little video clip from Kaz's birthday party.  The boy is three and it happened in the blink of an eye.

The Mrs. just semi-scolded me into doing a better job of keeping this up.  It is really a living scrap book and so I must get back on the horse and start it going again.  More for us than anything but for those still along for the ride you are more than welcome.

Love out.

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.

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. 

Pre-Emptive Post

I was feeling in need of a project.  So I decided to make a video of our year in Japan.  Now I know the year isn't over.  We have some great events coming up.  However, so far this is what our year has been like.  Hope you enjoy.  It runs about seven minutes. Sorry that was the best I could do.

Our latest Movie

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. 

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)

A study in Contrasts.

So the boys are more like this

The daughter however seems to be more like this.

Recently the son has been (un)fortunate enough to have a friend with a DS to spare.  He is fully into gaming.  Whether it is on the DS, online with this computer, or using the play station at home he is fully integrated.  Now being entirely susceptible to the draw of gaming myself I have great sympathy.  However, as a parent I still have to ask the question, where do I draw the line between an entertainment and over use?  I have never managed to draw the line for myself.  This is a problem.

The daughter was running with all of her classmates in the yearly grade wide distance run.  We went out and practiced for this a few times.  During the practices there was lots of walking and she really played up the fact that she wasn't very good.  Then she finishes 12th out of 38.  Which was an improvement on the 19th she had managed during PE class.  Her results were great, but beyond that there was how she managed herself leading up to and during the event.   A few times she tried to get all worked up about doing something where people would be watching.  I talked her down a few times but I don't think her heart was ever really in it. Best of all, in the end everything went fine.  It is amazing how far she has come since arriving in May.  I know she still feels like everyone is watching her all the time because she is different but she is handling it way better.  I am very proud of how far she has come and how hard she has worked.  

On a different note we are looking forward to Christmas here.  The fathers group has scheduled a Kite Making with your dad session.  Christmas morning 9:00 to 12:00.  I was going to skip it out of principle but I figured that was foolish so we will be at the school making Kites on Christmas morning.  When in Japan, eh.  Of course this means we will be able to take part in kite flying competition in early January.  Kind of a New Year's thing.

Sunny Sunday.

 This is the view from the top of what we climbed on Sunday.  It was majestic.  I tried to find an option for creating a panoramic picture or movie but with my Japanese language OS it just didn't seem to be easy.  So here is the view one at a time.

 So yeah we were at the top of the look out tower at Kenko no Mori Park.  We played Frisbee as a family for the first time and it was awesome.  The two older kids are throwing and catching.  It is the beginning of an era my friends.  Mark my words.

You can see Sakurajima (the volcano) just over the bill of my cap.  Sunday was an awesome day. After playing Frisbee, hiking up to the tower and a little walk around the park it was time for the playground.  When that was done we played a little soccer with Kazi and then had fun at the hill.

Yup it was a pretty good weekend.  Next weekend is the Miyoenji Mairi festival.  I am going for a fitting tonight.  If they can find a samurai outfit big enough I may be marching in the parade.  Keep you fingers crossed.

Almost

Well the youngest showed his first real interest in walking today. Amazing. He is almost 13 months old and up to now has not had the least inclination to give it a whirl. Sure he likes standing up while holding on to stuff but the letting go and flying off into the stratosphere, nope not his gig. I think he prefers to be carried around so I have taken to calling him little prince, a fairly rough translation of this into Japanese would be, Koji. With the "o" sound held a little bit longer. No we are not going for a late name change.

Mokatte iru.

Which basically means I'm making money. This is what we were doing today. We managed to sell almost everything that was meant to be sold. Okay, okay we gave a lot of stuff away and there were a couple of people who filled up a box for two dollars but overall people ponied up for the stuff we no longer have a need for. Case in point. We sold 7 chests of drawer/dressers today. We only bought one of them and that was at a garage sale so we are definitely up in that department. We sold a lot of stuff that had been handed down to us. We also got rid of a lot of stuff that we had garage saled to begin with. Toys were pretty popular today. Considering the bags of toys that we have received over the years from various folks it only felt right to give most of them away for a song. The madness definitely started early, 7:40 to be exact. The wave crested at 8:00 and I struggled in the rip tide for a while as various groups made their various piles of loot. By 9:00 the sea had calmed and we were left with about half of what we started with. I thought it was over but by 1:30 the scavengers had picked the remains pretty much clean. Just to refresh your memory we have the before picture from two nights ago. Then today.What was the wife doing in the mean time. She was selling the big stuff inside and baking cookies. We have to use up the sugar and white flour so she made a plan and stuck to it.
It looks like we will not have the trampoline much longer so the kids got in some quality playtime today. I put together a little bit of video. So here it is.

Damn Computers

So my blogging has kind of gone for a shit. There are many contributing factors but the largest is the fact that my computer no longer wishes to recognize my camera. At least most of the time. So this means I have to take the memory card out each time I want to download and get the pics directly off the card. If our camera didn't have to be taped shut because it was dropped within the first few weeks of us having it then that wouldn't be such a hassle. So yeah technology is getting in my way. That and the busy-ness of life. Our house is officially on the market today. With the possibility of people coming to see the place I should have been more motivated to get stuff done today but in the end I wasn't. We are packing books and trying to declutter. I need to find a new source of boxes. All in all I think it is going pretty well.

Here are some candid kid shots. They are pre-dinner. The daughter wasn't feeling up to much. Thus the hide behind the apron.The son was being helpful moving a chair back from his room (fort building) so that we could use it for dinner. Is it just me or does he look way older than he should.So this evenings dinner. Don't try to kid me I know that is what you're really here for. Well I don't plan to send you home disappointed. It was chirashi sushi, coleslaw and shake and bake chicken. Followed by dessert. Man my wife does a great job of looking after us. Huge props to the lady in my life.Why the big dinner you ask? Well we had a second birthday dinner for the littlest one today. Originally we planned to celebrate with some friends but they had something come up and we had some semi-sickies here so it didn't work out for having people over. Just meant more for us in the end. And in the more for us department the middle child managed a new record for chicken drumsticks. Seven. If the youngest ever develops a taste for human food we might be in trouble. Below is the second candle opportunity. The cake was a store bought angel food covered with whipped cream and blueberries. Very nice. The video is of the actual candle blowing out ceremony. Notice why flames and babies don't mix.

Well that is all to report from here. With one day of regular Olympics to go, I am sad, satisfied and kind of looking forward to spending less time in front of the computer. Hope all you Vancouverites have gotten your fix. Love ya.