Pajaro!

Pajaro is always a great time... but when you have friends with you, it's even that much better!  We've told friends about Pajaro over the years and this was the first time another family was able to join us at the beach. 

Kara LOVED having her best friend, Kiara, with her...

For selfies...

For boogey boarding...

For hanging on the beach...

For keeping warm...

And just having fun!

The boys found a pit and decided that wrestling would be a fun thing to do.  I expected there might be some tears, but they were able to keep it friendly.

The reason we planned this trip months ago was for the kids to take a Lego STEM class in Monterey.  They had fun building and learning new techniques.

Kara liked the castle she built...

Jason liked the catapult...

And Ben's favorite was the battery powered inchworm that moved across the floor.

We got a chance to see Uncle Gregg and Uncle Bill, which is always a treat.

And though it was quick, we visited the aquarium and had sandwiches from Ike's, which has become one of our favorites.

It was a great time at Pajaro... it's the kind of place that you want your kids to remember... just running through the waves and playing in the sand and enjoying being together.  For us, Pajaro is perfection.

Gakko ends with a Don!

Every year this seems to happen... at the beginning of Gakko I think, "Two weeks... how will we get through these two weeks?"  And by the end, though tired, I feel like it went by so fast.

This was Jason's last year in the Pre-Gakko class with Sensei Erin.  Jason has loved being in Pre-Gakko.  He would ask me why he had to go to regular preschool and why couldn't he just go to Gakko every day instead?  He had so much fun and did so many wonderful activities. 

I usually have to be the MC at Open House, so I don't get to take pictures of the kids, but someone was kind enough to take pictures of them and share them with me.

At Open House, Jason introduced himself in Japanese and shared with the audience his favorite Japanese food, shrimp tempura.

Ben had a great time this year as well.  On the last day, I asked him how he felt about Gakko being over and he said he felt sad... His class sang a song about the seasons and he shared his name and age in Japanese.

Kara's class not only learned about the history and how to make a taiko drum; they also learned the "notes" and that "Don" is a quarter note and "Ka-Ta-Ka-Ka" is striking the outside of the drum.  We learned a song which they performed at Open House and I somehow became the conductor for the performance and I have to say, it was awesome!

Thanks to lots of great families and community members, we had a great session of Gakko.  Already thinking about next year!