Fall in the Park

We have been spending a lot of afternoons up walking around or feeding the ducks and carp in Takamatsu no Ike Park. On Saturday, we took advantage of a break in the typhoon rain to go wander the park as well. Here are some photos of us playing in the park… 

Brownie-making interlude...

We went back to the park after school on Halloween with some friends and were excited to see that the first of the Whooper swans had arrived!

Catie & Haruto feeding the ducks & swans

Haruto taught Catie to feed the ducks by hand

deep thoughts on the dock

yoga???

 

We had a great leaf fight under one of the maples :-)

Haruto & Catie didn't want Ichika to feel left out.

Haruto- armed and dangerous!!!

It's been fun and interesting to watch different birds visit the pond during their seasonal migration. In addition to the Whooper swans, we've recently seen a lot of these Northern Pintails (left) and Eurasian wigeons (big, brown headed duck on the right).

Zoo 2

Today was a makeup holiday at FIK and the kids didn't have school. Andy is out of town and busy with Earlham business, so when one of Catie's classmate's mom invited us to the zoo with them, I jumped at the chance! 

Mika & Anna picked us up, then we met up with Reiko & Haruto at the zoo. It was an absolutely gorgeous fall day. Low 60s and sunny. 

The kids spent most of the afternoon racing around the zoo. I was surprised to see how outgoing Catie was with the other children. Not only did she try to keep up with them running, but she was willing to go with them out of my sight. I know letting two 3-year olds run free with a barely 5-year old chaperone at a zoo would never happen in the US, but we're in Japan and this is completely normal. I'm trying to learn from the Japanese parents I know and hover less. Watching Catie run off to go pet the bunnies definitely gave me pause, but before giving chase I took a deep breath and continued walking with the moms.  

Catie right where she wants to be- in a pack of goats.

 

Halloween Party in Japan

Today was Catie’s preschool Halloween party. It was fun, but INTENSE and over 4 HOURS LONG! I couldn’t believe everyone lasted that long given how many toddlers were present. I guess Japanese children have more stamina for that sort of thing than Americans usually do.

being attacked by my jellyfish costume

Minnie Mouse!

The party started off with a cute little relay that involved rolling a plastic pumpkin around a cone and back with a little broom. Then the dreaded Family Talent Show… The talents ranged from magic tricks to dance routines, to reading stories. Some of them were terrific, others- not so much. Some of the kids were really into it, and others hid behind their parents. I was sad that Andy was not there to join us, but Catie & I survived and even performed tolerably well. My biggest gaff was announcing that my costume was karaage- 'fried chicken' and not kurage- 'jellyfish'! I caught it as soon as the word was out of my mouth and got a good laugh from everyone.   Here are a few scenes from the talent show...

Even Mikaze (the baby) had her own harmonica for this performance.

Reiko's husband arrived from work at the last minute and then proceeded to rock the talent show. He managed to keep up with the dance in spite of the fact that their 11 month old daughter was strapped to his back!

I cannot claim to really understand this performance, but these brothers always crack me up.

I wish I could explain this one, but it defied words! They were awesome- song, dance, story board in English...with Marin's grandmother as a dancing hippopotamus! They won the talent show.

Ryuju did the best Michael Jackson impersonation I've even seen!

We sang the Mickey Mouse Club song, then recited "5 Little Pumpkins" in English & Japanese

After the talent show, all the kids went in to a different room with their teachers for some stories and rest. The parents had to team up for a Jack-o-Lantern competition, which the kids later judged. The scary thing was that we only had 45 minutes to carve the pumpkins and they had 3-inch thick walls!!! I’ve never seen anything like them. 

our team's pumpkin (I may have been a little obsessive with this one)

 The last 2 events were bobbing for apples (when is the last time you saw that?) and trick-or-treating. These events both had a serious Japanese spin. Bobbing for apples involved only biting the apple stems, usually while the teachers held the apples. Trick-or treating involved the children walking around the room to 6 different moms holding baskets of treats. We all had to send the treats in last week. I couldn’t figure out why, but I believe it was to make it all anonymous. That way no one could be judged by sending in better treats than the other families. I thought it was a bit weird, but Catie loved it. In addition to the somewhat odd format, the treats themselves are a fascination! Catie got more flavored rice crackers and strange jello-like substances than candy. 

Catie treat haul. Yup, like I said. It's different here!!!

We both made it home a little after 6 PM, exhausted, but happy. Catie keeps telling me what a good time she had at the party. Not what I was expecting! I hope Andy has an equally enjoyable time at the Earlham reception in Tokyo tonight.