Sand Boy and Wave Girl

Since the weather has been cooperating and we are right by the ocean, we have been going to the beach for a least a few hours most days. This works out for us, because this is what we like to do on vacation anyway. Kara and Dwight are pretty much opposites when it comes to the beach. Kara really enjoys playing in the water and riding over the waves. Our beach is perfect for her. It is protected, so the waves aren't too big, but big enough to be fun for her! She doesn't care for the sand quite as much because of the sand fleas. Dwight, on the other hand, is afraid of the ocean. He won't even touch the shallowest part of the waves. But he will dig in the sand for hours. So our solution has been to build walls with little pools behind them right where the waves are coming in and build canals to bring the water in. He will get wet playing in the pools. He doesn't care so much about the sand fleas.

We had a nice "4th of July" celebration with my brother Luke's family. We had a nice meal together and did some fireworks. Luke's wife, Anna, helped the kids make decorations for a Japanese summer festival called Tanabata. They made origami and hung it on a bamboo branch. We got some nice pictures of the cousins.

A Day in Japan

Our family has been in Japan now for over a week. We are staying in a cabin by the beach. In a foreign country, even the mundane can be an adventure. A couple of days ago we took my parent's car and drove to McDonalds and then went shopping. Gary was curious about the different items in the grocery store and wanted to buy and try new things. The fish and seafood especially is abundant and resonably priced. We bought some salmon and had my dad grill it, it was delicious!

Yesterday I had a real treat for lunch. My family is friends with a woman who runs the Japanese verison of a Bed and Breakfast. She serves a very nice traditional Japanese style lunch. It is a small place that maybe seats 20 people at a time, a local word-of-mouth kind of place. She served us wonderful sashimi and fried fish. Gary said the look on my face was the same for him if we were at Old Country Buffet!

Later in the day we took kids to a park the had a big white bouncing thing and slides with rollers (kind of like you see on conveyor belts). It had a look-out tower where you could see the ocean on one side and the city and mountains on the other. The kids really enjoyed it. One of the pictures above is the view from the B & B.

Gone Fishing

This past weekend was the free fishing weekend, so we took full advantage of it yesterday (Sunday). We went fishing at a well stocked pond and caught 6 bullheads and 1 sunny fish. We bought a little Spongebob Squarepants pole for Dwight and the first time we put a worm and hook on it and he was holding it he caught his first fish almost immediately!!!!! He wanted to take it home as a pet fish, but that was not going to happen. I don't think big ugly bullheads make very good pets!!! The kids got very excited every time we or someone else caught a fish and wanted to "pet" them. I only catch fish when Gary hands the pole off to me or has to leave to go to the bathroom. Go figure. Anyway, it was a little nerve-racking for me, but everyone enjoyed being out and had fun. Gary has also gotten better at getting hooks out of fish mouths (he definitely got some practice yesterday!).

Soccer Star

We are trying a children's soccer league for the first time this spring. Kara is on a team with 5 other kids and Gary is the coach, although he doesn't know much about soccer. Kara has played 2 games so far and we try to keep it not too competetive by not keeping score, etc. There are no goalies so it's easy to make goals.

Kara is good about getting in there and being aggresive with the ball and she was able to kick several goals. Dwight is too young at this point to be on a team, but he has practiced with the team before the game. Now we just need to teach the kids how to pass!!!

Happy Easter

We had a fun and busy Easter this year. We tried to intentionally spend time almost each day last week reading about the events leading up to Jesus' crucifixion. When we told the story about Judas betraying Jesus, we used 30 dimes to illustrate it to the kids. Later on, Dwight took some of the coins and declared that he was being Judas! He later changed it to Zaccehus, much to our relief.

We also did a Seder meal and watched the Jesus film which the kids seemed to enjoy. They took turns pretending to crucify each other!! We also dyed eggs and the kids and I also made a big Easter basket to put on the wall to decorate. On Monday we went to Maquekta and Davenport so we had some fun family time.

New pictures and the coming of Spring!

After months of snow cover, it is nice to finally see some green! The kids and I met a friend at the park this morning and though it was a little chilly, it was nice to get to play outside. I have to say that taking the kids to the park has gotten eaiser now that they are a little older- I don't worry about them falling off the equipment quite as much and Dwight is not really afraid of the slide anymore. We played a little soccer too. Kara dominated, being the oldest and biggest kid. She is signed up to do soccer in a few weeks and it will be interesting to see if she likes it.

The picture is Kara all dressed up for the Daddy Daughter Dance that she and Gary attended at YMCA for Valentine's day. This friday we will be doing the Easter egg hunt as the Y as well. We have really been enjoying our membership there.

Last Sunday we celebrated Grandpa's birthday at Happy Joe's with pizza and games. The kids enjoyed helping Grandpa's blow out his candle and eat his birthday dessert. Kara is already talking about what she wants for her birthday, even though it is not until August! I want her to just enjoy being 4 for just a little bit longer........

Camping & Fishing

Two weeks ago we participated in a Fishing Derby for kids. It was a free fishing weekend, so we could fish for free. Gary has been wanting to learn how to fish so he can teach the kids. So this was a great opportunity to figure things out. The Derby took place at a well stocked pond and they gave out free worms. Unfortunately, we didn't catch anything and it started to rain so we left. However, we decided to go back the next day and see if we could do any a better.

Gary was fishing and having no luck, so he gave the pole to me and took Kara to the bathroom. Of course, as soon as he was gone, I caught a fish! I started screaming at Gary to come over quick (as a rule, I don't touch fish or worms). It was an ugly bullhead (looks like a small catfish). Gary couldn't get the hook out, so we left it in it's mouth and released it and felt really bad about. Some friends told us later that leaving the hook in is not a really big deal, I guess it will eventually rust out. We also found out that the some fins on this fish are venomous. Good thing we didn't know it at the time!

Gary was then able to catch his first fish ever. A beautiful Sunny! He successfully took the hook out and released it. It was exciting! It was a bit difficult to keep the kids happy while we fished. Dwight occupied himself for awhile by playing in the water bucket and making mud. I had to change his wet muddy, pants.

The following weekend we decided to go fishing and camping at a nearby campsite. This time we fished in the Mississippi. Gary got some bites, but didn't catch anything. I think it's more difficult to judge if you are getting a bite in the river's current.

We got Kara her own fishing pole. She was excited about casting and fishing when she first got it, but lost interest when we actually tried to go fishing.

We were having a pretty nice time until we got the kids settled in the tent for the night. Then it started to rain. We hoped that it wouldn't last long, but unfortunately it continued all night. We had water in our tent and it was a damp, uncomfortable night for Gary and I. Gary eventually went home to sleep for about an hour. At around 5:00am, it really started to pour, so he came back and we packed the kids up and went home to our warm, dry beds to sleep for the next few hours. Hopefully, we will have a better camping experience next time!!!