Children's Day? Boys' Day? Happy Day!

I have always associated May 5th with Boys' Day, but I guess it's actually Children's Day.  I decided to look it up on the internet and Wikipedia says it is "a day set aside to respect children's personalities and to celebrate their happiness".

Well, our boys being boys went outside after dinner and used their water squirters to see whose would shoot farther.

And then everyone wanted to pose for the camera.  Celebrate those personalities!

And if today is about celebrating children's happiness, then we definitely have a lot to celebrate.

Before the kids go to sleep, we often ask them about the best part of their day... and tonight, instead of asking, I told Jason that my best part of the day was this morning when, without prompting, Jason told us that his two best hobbies are snuggling and touching ears (he has a fascination with earlobes).  He then proceeded to ask everyone about their two best hobbies... Happy Children's Day indeed.

Get Your Swim On

With warmer temperatures, we decided to take the plunge (literally) and go for the first real swim of the season!

Jason was apprehensive at first to put his face in the water...

Ben was happy to swim across the pool with strong strokes and straight leg kicks.

Kara was the first to jump in, but she also enjoyed the warmth of sunbathing on the side of the pool...

And by the end of our swim, Jason was happy to put his face in, kick and swim to the steps.  He was also the one who did not want to get out of the pool and said he wanted to swim more!

Sho brought the shave ice machine out of the garage and started making syrups today... we're gearing up for summer!

Go Big!

Ben has been preparing for his Suzuki Book 1 piano recital for a few weeks and today was the big day.

Since the Run/Walk, I've been sleeping in a shirt that a donor family gave me at the event and the front reads "Go Big or Go Home" and so I have explained to the kids what this phrase means.  This morning, Ben woke up, came into our room and said, "today I'm gonna go big!"

Ben did a great job playing his 18 songs from memory and his 3 duets with his teacher.  Even when he had a little "bump", Ben remained calm and well composed and was able to recover on his own.  Sho and I told him we could not be more proud.

We are so grateful to have found such a wonderful piano teacher.  Mrs. Snyder has been amazing with Kara and Ben.  While at lunch today, someone asked about Jason's birthday and when he might start piano... hopefully Mrs. Snyder can work her magic with one more!