Sakura Season

The cherry blossoms are gone now, replaced by the bright yellow-green of spring leaves which, frankly, look kind of out of place among the evergreen hibiscus and evergreen everything else here.  Things change and grow so fast around here, especially these two wonderful kids of ours.

 
Logan has developed a severe case of Uncle-Luke-syndrome (always having his eyes closed for pictures), but occasionally you can still get a good one of him.  Naomi, on the other hand, is already starting to figure out how to mug for the camera!

We were doing a whole lot of this a couple weeks ago.  He’s cut back some—from twice a day to twice a week or so—in favor of his new favorite activities: PUZZLES!   Preferably puzzles that still feature trains :)

Exploration further back in the street markets off Kokusai led us to a pottery village/enclave and museum.  This shisa guards the entrance to the museum while the pillar behind it shows off different types/colors of pottery glaze.

Not far from Kokusai-dori is a park where they hold one of the island’s cherry blossom festivals.  (Henry and Janet—remember that park next to the library where we took our bento when we were supposed to be on our way to the tug-of-war?  That’s the one.)  We were there the weekend before the festival when there were still lots of blossoms but far fewer crowds.

Family see-saw time at the playground.

 
Birds among the buds and blossoms.  (SG—the first picture is a couple of Japanese white eyes!  The second, I have no idea.)

It’s also fun to observe the other people as they enjoy the cherry blossoms. 

Just a final smile to send you on your way!  Have a great day!