Our lazy summer days...

With Gakko behind us, I feel like summer vacation is really here!  We've been staying up later and the kids have finally taken to sleeping past 6:30am!  Life is good.

We made a quick trip to meet the Ishimatsu family at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  It had been a few years since we had visited and everyone loved the aquarium!

The kids were excited to see everything...

And the weather was a welcome change from our 100 degree heat!

The kids had a great time playing together and just hanging out.  Sho and I reminisced about how even before we had kids, we talked about taking them to Pajaro and how we'd just sit and watch them enjoy the sand and the ocean...

So it's wonderful to watch them enjoy simple things like building sand castles...

And drawing in the sand...

And  having fun with their shadows.

We are grateful for all the wonderful memories that Parajo provides us!  We will pack them in and savor them all, for soon, I know they'll want to go without us!

Sayonara to Medaka no Gakko...

Week 2 of Gakko was also a busy one... Our group split up and visited three local rest homes as part of a service project.  The kids introduced themselves in Japanese, presented a project they made and also sang the school song.  It was a nice outing and the residents really seemed to enjoy interacting with the kids.

Even Jason was comfortable to share his koi project with the residents and show them where he wrote his name, where the tape was and that this fish was for Boy's Day.

Thursday night was Open House where each class did their own thing... Kara and Ben's classes sang a few songs.  Jason's class introduced themselves and we were so proud of Jason that he introduced himself in Japanese and also introduced some of his friends who were too shy to step up to the microphone.

Saturday was the Undokai, where the kids split into two teams and competed in several events...

And though Ben wasn't feeling super well, he rallied and did a good job for his team.

Following Undokai, we decided to host a post-party at our house.  It was nice to have time where we could all just relax and enjoy each others company without having to discuss the plans for the next day.

I  know the kids loved their two weeks at Gakko... they had a lot of fun and enjoyed the time they got to spend with their cousins and friends. 

And now that Gakko is over... what do we do??  We don't have to wake up and be out of the house by 7:45!  So this morning, we pulled out the empty cardboard paper towel and toilet paper rolls... got the tape out and now everyone has their own custom-made light sabers!  Summer vacation is here!

What a week!

What a week it has been!  This was the first of two weeks for the summer session of Medaka no Gakko.  For the first time, we are all a part of Gakko.

Jason is in a preschool class at Gakko with three little friends.  He's had a great time doing all of the activities, playing with his friends and today, they had a tofu party!

Ben is enjoying his first year in Class A (the kids spend two years in each class).  He's soaking up the Japanese folk stories, learning new songs and new Japanese words and generally having a good time.  For Show & Share, he wanted to take a bottle of Ramune (Japanese soft drink) to show his class.  But then he said, to really share, he wanted to bring one for everyone to try during snack.  All of the other classes were so bummed to know that only Class A got this special treat.

Kara has moved up to Class B and is happy to spend time with her friends and cousins at Gakko.  She's learned to tell time in Japanese, which she is also teaching me, while we drive places together and have time in the car.  

The first few days, Jason's favorite part of his day, as he reported before going to sleep, was camouflaging into this little tree in the courtyard.  He has worn camouflage colored shorts and a brown or green shirt four days this week, I think.  One night I did an extra load of laundry, just so that he could be in his "gear" the next morning.  But to hear his laugh (or squeal), as people are "looking" for him and cannot find him is worth the extra washing and drying.

Gakko has always been a family affair... Grandma started Gakko way back in 1980 when we were all kids.  So it's great to see Grandma back, whether it's helping in the kitchen or just stopping by to say hello.

Sho agreed to be at Gakko for the two weeks and so I made him snack coordinator.  There is no one better to be in charge of food!!  Everyone has commented on how good all of the snacks are... which is not surprising.  But we were surprised the day that only one of the three people assigned to bring snack remembered to bring in their yakisoba!  No worries... In true Top Chef style, Sho pulled off the Quickfire Challenge of shopping for ingredients and making yakisoba to feed about 40 people in less than an hour.  He will not be eliminated from the show :)

Uncle Ross (who lives in Los Gatos... nowhere near Parlier!!) has done an amazing job as our language instructor and has found fun and interesting ways to teach Japanese to kindergarten through 7th graders. 

And then, after Uncle Ross (aka Sensei Ross earlier that morning) does his real work in the afternoon, he manages to have enough patience and energy to play with the kids and go for night swims!

And... we cannot leave out another important highlight of the week... The Warriors are NBA Champions!!  The evening of Game 6, Grandma invited us over for dinner.  So we are getting ready to sit down at the table and for the first time ever, Grandpa turns the television off.  I asked, "what are you doing?" and he replied, "I didn't think you wanted your kids to watch TV during dinner."  Ben responds, "whose kids do you think we are?" and implied "of course we're watching the game during dinner!"

I can remember when we were living in LA and Sho and I were still just dating (so about 13 or 14 years ago), people kept asking him why he wasn't a Lakers fan...and he always said his team was the Warriors.  Even when they were terrible, he was a fan.  So it was a great night when the Warriors became NBA champions and all of the kids were watching with us, pointing out Stephen Curry (Jason), clapping for every made shot (Ben) and calling the "and ones" (Kara).

It's been a great week.  And I'm glad tomorrow is Saturday :)

Water Day

Today was the annual Water Day at school.  Since siblings are invited to join, Jason has been looking forward to this all week!

Kara had a great time running around and having fun with all of her friends...

Jason had a bit of a rough start and then was hesitant to go and play.  But then in comes Ben to save Water Day.  Ben was such a good big brother, staying with Jason to make sure he was comfortable and having fun.

Fortunately Ben had a chance to hang out with some of his friends too.

Jason was excited to pack a lunch and be able sit and eat with all of the big kindergarten boys.  And since they are both slow eaters, they were around long enough to be joined by a bunch of 2nd grade girls!

I cannot believe this school year is already over. Ben had a great kindergarten year and wishes he could stay in kindergarten forever... Who can blame him?

Kara, Ben and I went to Clay's graduation this evening because they have "friends" in 8th grade and they wanted to see their friends graduate.  There was a slide show that featured all of the graduates throughout their 9 years together and we saw the same field trips and activities that our kids have have enjoyed... and when we were walking back to the car, Kara says, "That will be me up on that stage in six years" and in that  moment it felt like life just zipped by.

So we will continue to soak up all that we can from Water Days and every other ordinary day :)

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!