What I've done on summer vacation by Ethan

This is way more fun than a bath!



I love yummy "real" food.



My first piano "lesson".




Wagon rides are the best!!


Next up....Photos of Andrew's summer fun!!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

We rode our bikes to Zushi beach and had a wonderful day!

SUMO

This past weekend was sumo day at Andrew's school. He was so darn cute in his "thong"...




He is the one with his full right "cheek" showing.




He looks so tall standing there.



In addition to the sumo events, there was a Father's Arm Wrestling Tournament...Jeff and his lanky arms did not fair well....but it was fun to watch.



It is said that if you let a Sumo Wrestler hold your infant, that your baby will grow up to be strong and healthy. As you can see we couldn't let Ethan pass up his "guarantee" of a healthly and strong future. :)

Photos

Hello All....it has been busy here. I don't have time to write but I know that photos are what you want...so here are some from last week.

It's all about the teeth

The overwhelming theme of last week was teeth. Ethan cut his first two teeth and Andrew lost his first tooth and several days later lost his second. They of course had been holding on by a thread for over a week. As you can see from the photo his new teeth are in. He actually had the two "new" growing behind his baby teeth. Andrew hates this picture. He wasn't quite awake yet and he had "bed head".




These were taken last week as well, Ethan is getting so big. Six months yesterday. I love the black and white one. What sweet boys.....

ASO SAN (Mt Aso)

These pictures were taken while we were on our trip south. Aso san is about 50 km from Kumamoto city. We stopped here on our way back to the ferry that brought us back to Yokosuka. The weather was great but Aso received 25 cm of snow 2 days prior to our visit. Andrew thought it was great. He also thought that Aso was "stinky". We took a cable car up most of the way but did have to hike a good bit (a rather steep bit) to get to the overlook.

This from an online resource.......... Mt. Aso, which lies almost in the center of the island of Kyushu, is an active composite volcano. The crater, which measures 18 kilometers (11 miles) from east to west and 24 kilometers (15 miles) from north to south, is not only the world's largest caldera; it is also said to be the most beautiful.

Lisa...I've tried to post a comment to your blog and wasn't able to. And I've not done any knitting in about 2 weeks. I've been sticking mostly to socks and baby hats these days. Small projects with patterns I know by heart. That way when I have interrupted knitting (I forget what it's like to knit uninterrupted) I can find my place easily. Also small projects allow for instant gratification.

Karen (and MA girl Lisa also)....Now that we have Clemons watch out....1st place here we come! :)

Tanya...I want to see pix of your MD purchases!

National Children's Day aka Boy's Day

May 5th is Children's day in Japan. Until recent years it was known as "Boy's Day". Tradition was to fly a carp flag for each male in the household. Now I think you fly a carp for each member of the household. I've noticed that most Japanese people on Kyushu (where the boys are from) still do it the old fashioned way (just boys). This beautiful flag set was "blackcatted" (Japanese UPS) from Andrew's baba(birth grandmother). And seeing how she's older and from Kyushu she sent a traditional set....one for each of my boys. We are the talk of the neighborhood. Most of my neighbors have out a little set(pole and carp are about 12 inches long). This set is huge. The largest flag is 2 meters long and the pole extends like 10 feet. Flying this thing the past week has made me feel like one of the "natives".


Tanya the "mystery" green knitted "item" from the last post is this beautiful handmade baby blanket (the picture doesn't do it justice) from Jenny A. She bought the yarn (don't ask I've forgotten)at Yuzawya. And thought it would be perfect for Ethan. She basically followed the dishcloth pattern until it was as wide as she wanted and then she decreased one side while increasing the other until it was the right length. Then she decreased both until the end. It is just perfect and we take it everywhere.

More April happenings

Aunt Suzie was here for the first two weeks of April. We had outstanding weather and "sakura" were in full bloom. These pictures were taken in Kamakura.




As for my failing Yankees.....it has nothing to do with horrible pitching.....it all comes down to the "curse of the babes in Boston gear". I'm convinced the Yankees would have won all four games of last weekends series had Suzie not brought this contraband in to my house!!!! So here's the photo of "high treason" at the Guerreros.

A Very Busy April

We have had a very eventful April. Aunt Sue Sue was here for two weeks and we spent a week on the island of Kyushu (where the boys were born). But when I asked Andrew what we should talk about first he replied...."tell them I can ride without the training wheels". What happened to my sweet baby? He looks so big riding his bike. His other big news he wants to share....he has a "wiggly tooth". The girl in his class got $2, 3 quarters (3 .25 cents as Andrew likes to put it) and 100 yen for her tooth. And he is sure his is worth atleast 500 yen. We are getting back in to our routine now that we are home and I'll update soon with more pictures of our trip and Suzie's visit.

WoooHoooo

Blog directions are back up in English!!!!! I have been very frustrated for over a week with this site. It made me update to it's latest version and in doing so the site "just knew" I was in Japan and changed everything to come up in Kanji. (Japanese characters).

Anyway, here are some photos from Andrew's 5th Birthday party.

Who's Who!

When I posted the photos, I didn't label them thinking everyone knew which was which. This has been fun hearing from everyone. After many emails and phone calls, there have only been two correct answers. The winners....PAPA AND AUNTIE KEBBIE!

Top photo Ethan taken last week.
Bottom photo Andrew taken May 2002.

BATHING BEAUTIES!

I love that I have pictures of both boys in the tub, in almost the same pose, at almost the same age. Darn they're cute....




And here the cuties are this past week....ah brotherly love! (I can hardly wait for the first time Ethan touches a train...)

Smiley Boy

I'm having a hard time finding time to sit down and update the blog. Imagine? :)
Here are a couple of the latest pictures of the boys. Ethan is all smiles.

MOST adorable hat....

on most adorable baby. :) This great hat arrived in the mail today from Germany! Thanks Katrina. Ethan was so happy modeling it I had to take a picture.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Two weeks in to January and we are starting to get back to a routine. Andrew returned to school on Wednesday. He was thrilled to go back and see his friends.

Ethan and I are having a lot of fun trying to establish a routine. :)

Here is a photo of the spindle I got for Christmas from my aunt. It has been slow spinning as Im having a difficult time finding time...imagine that!