First Obento of the Year

Today is the day the kids start going full days to yochien. Our yochien likes to ease them into the new school year and so they have been coming home at noon until today. This means it`s time to get back to obento making (only twice a week, thank Goodness!) which in turn means it`s time to get up a little bit earlier. :) My first obento of the year is not the masterpiece I had been planning. I actually got the day wrong (add it to my long list of blunders!) and thought the first obento wasn`t until Friday. WRONG! Good thing my yochien mom friend takes pity on me and keeps me informed. Thankfully, I had enough ingriedients on hand to make something acceptable!



So, there you have it. A healthy yet boring lunch for the kids.

The funny thing is that we are leaving tomorrow for the Golden Week holiday so the kids only get one full day of school for the entire month. We come back on May 6th and will resume yochien from the 7th. So much for "easing them in"!

Beach Day

We finally had a sunny day perfect for the beach. It has been unseasonably chilly down here for this whole month so this day has been a long time coming. There is a small man-made beach in our town that I like to go to with the kids when it`s just me and them. It has bathroom facilities, a water fountain and tap, and covered picnic areas so things are simple. We picked up some onigiri (rice balls) at the grocery store and spent the afternoon building sand castles and wading in the water.







I`m starting to feel Tigerpapa`s absence more acutely. Of course, I miss him when he is away but sometimes a short absence is kind of nice, if you know what I mean? No big dinners to cook, no one to fight with over use of the computer in the evenings, no extra laundry, and free choice for tv programs. But, after 2 weeks, it`s not so nice anymore. The kids miss him and I miss him. Thank goodness we will be going up to Yokohama this week to spend Golden Week with him and the inlaws. We may even get to take a short overnight trip somewhere without the kids. ;) Any recomendations for a nice, quiet place to go that is relatively close to Tokyo/Yokohama?

Inexpensive Fun

There are a lot of great things to see and do here on Okinawa but some of them can be quite costly especially when you factor in the gasoline, highway fees, admission prices, and eating out (because it takes all day to get there and I really don`t feel like making a bento!). So recently we have been exploring ways to have fun that are FREE! Thankfully, we have many things to choose from. A couple of weeks ago my LSF (Lovely Scottish Friend) suggested we drive to a place that is directly below the flight line of the Naha airport and watch the airplanes landing. It was fantastic and we are planning to go again this weekend!



There are lots of beaches within a 20-minute drive that we like to play at when the weather cooperates. As well as a ton of great playgrounds. Apparently our town has the best playgrounds on the whole Island and we take full advantage of them. These pictures are from the parent-student picnic last week and show one of the parks we like:





The main street in Naha is usually bustling and fun to walk along especially on the weekends when they close it to traffic. It`s a tourist hot spot and there are quite a few buskers who provide entertainment. The kids got these balloon animals created for them before their very eyes. The guy makes them for donations and I think I gave 500 yen and a can of coffee for both of them. Pretty cool, I think!





Of course the best thing we like to do is hang out with our friends and it`s so amazing that one of our favourite friends just happens to live right down the road. That would be my LSF and her handsome dh. They have a huge yard, friendly dogs, an endless suply of konyaku jellies, a huge rubber ball, and they are great company. What more could anyone want?



I`d like to post a picture of the two of them but I have to ask first. :)

Name Tags

The kids went back to yochien last week and I just finished getting all of their "gear" ready. In my defence, there is a bit of work involved. You don`t just buy the stuff and send it with them in their backpack. Oh no! You must sew (or get someone else to sew) bags, scrub indoor shoes, and label everything. And I do mean EVERYTHING:



Today was the "welcome picnic" which our yochien has every year at a huge public park in the south of part of our little city. I thought I was supposed to make a family-type bento just like last year but as usual I thought wrong. Somehow I misunderstood (story of my life) the information sheet about the picnic and made the big bento when I was supposed to make individual bentos. I knew something was amiss the moment we got to the park and saw all the other students carrying their backpacks. Tigergirl and Tigerboy did not have a backpack. Dun dun dun (music of doom). Well, what can you do?! I knew I`d just have to wait and see what I messed up this time and sure enough, I had made the wrong kind of bento:





Since Tigerpapa is away in Tokyo for the next 2 months, I know this is the first of MANY mistakes to come. Thankfully, our yochien is pretty relaxed and they do their best to help me out. I also have a lovely neighbor whose son goes to the same school who tries to keep me informed.

We had to evacuate the picnic just as we were digging into lunch anyway due to a sudden downpour of rain. Again, the cultural differences were noticeable. My kids were laughing and running into the rain whilst all the other kids were running for cover. Ha! :)

Let`s play "Dead Animals"

Make photo slide shows at onetruemedia.com

New Smile

Tigergirl has had 2 loose front teeth for the past 2 or 3 weeks and I was a tad concerned because the adult teeth were coming in way behind them. Today we had a dentist appointment and the dentist said it would be a good idea to pull the loose teeth so that the adult teeth would have more room to come in and straighten out. Tigergirl protested at first until I told her she would probably get a double rate from the Tooth Fairy! I was really proud of her actually as the second "wiggly" tooth wasn`t very wiggly and I`m sure it hurt a bit.

You can see how far back the adult teeth are here:



What`s the going rate for teeth anyway? When I lost my baby teeth, I think I got around 50 cents per tooth so with inflation I`m guessing it`s closer to 500 yen ($5)? What do you all think?

Happy Easter!

The Tiger kids in their Easter finery:



We had a really great weekend. On Saturday we enjoyed a lovely Easter brunch hosted by some good friends who live on one of the American Bases here on Okinawa. I`m so happy to have met A and her family as we share a lot of the same values and always have a good time together (plus her husband makes the BEST bbq I`ve ever had!). We were completely spoiled (as usual) with delicious food, good company, and lots of thoughtful parting gifts. Here`s A`s beautiful daugher, one of Tigergirl`s favourite friends, moments after finding her Easter basket:



We are so happy to be able to attend a bilingual Catholic church that is relatively close to where we live. Today there was a double celebration for Easter and the current priest`s transfer to another parish. There was a professional band covering all kinds of songs from the 70`s and 80`s as well as letting some of the parish members come up and sing some horrible "karaoke" style songs. The kids had soooo much fun dancing with me and my friend, C. C is an American who transferred to Okinawa last year with her Japanese (Army) husband and it`s so great to have her and her family living nearby AND attending the same church as us. I don`t have a good picture of the dancing but here`s Tigerboy after the pinata was burst. He is enjoying the first chocolate he picked up meanwhile I`m yelling for him to pick up more! He finally clued in and ended up with a full cup of candy. Of course Tigergirl needed no such encouragement and ended up with much more than a full cup! :)







Here`s our beloved priest dancing up a storm. We are going to miss him a whole lot as he is so sweet and down-to-earth.



I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend! Big hugs from the Tiger kids:

More From my Parent`s Visit

We had such a great time with my parents that I thought I`d post some more pictures. Here`s Tigergirl and Tigerboy posing with some of the decorative fish on the grounds of the aquarium:







I LOVE this picture of my mom and the kids:



And a group shot (minus Tigerpapa as he was the photographer):



Tigerboy with the sharks (don`t you love the expression on his face?!):


Although you can only see one shark in the picture, the tank is actually filled with them and there is a huge exhibit with teeth etc. to touch. I`d say this was Tigergirl`s favourite room at the aquarium.

And a good shot of Tigergirl hanging out with Grandpa:



I`ll be back soon with pictures from my brother`s wedding party (IF I`m allowed to post them on my blog. I thought I`d better check with him first!) and a post about school starting....TOMORROW! EEK!

Jane.