Spring Cleaning

You’ve probably assumed as much, but in case you didn’t, please allow me to clarify: other pre-moving projects have pushed blogging out of the top of the priority list.  Besides, as long as I’m doing boring things like weeding through recipes and cleaning out the junk drawer, there’s not as much that’s worth taking pictures of anyways.

 
These guys are always worth a picture or two though, especially when they have awesome new PERSONALIZED aprons and chefs hats, gifts from the amazing SG!  (Sorry I couldn’t get Naomi to keep her hat on.)

They were so inspired by their new cooking gear that they baked up this batch of brownies all by themselves!  And then they put them in this plastic bag and shook them up a bit for that truly authentic, fresh from the mail, as good as Grammie’s, brownie goodness.  By golly those aprons are magic!

The butterfly became a willing subject for the kid’s science lesson after it had been pounced on by the cat.  It was still alive but it seemed a little stunned.

I actually had trouble getting it off my hand and onto the butterfly bush.  Or maybe it was just grateful that I rescued it from master-hunter Henry, I don’t know.

WARNING: The following pictures are guaranteed to make you smile.

  

Are you grinning?  I thought so.

 

They also splashed the wall of our house pretty well, so I made them line up for mud/mug shots.

We probably needed to scrub that wall anyways.  Are you doing any spring cleaning around your home?

Making Tea While the Sun Shines

This has been on my list since we got here: a class on Japanese tea ceremony.

You enter through the little Zen garden, stopping to rinse your hands and mouth along the way.

 

Then you enter the tea room . . . through the tiny door . . . to show that everyone is on the same footing at the tea house.

 
We get a few instructions in the fine art of tea and the proper way to consume it.  Did you know that the tea cup has a face?  When you pass the cup to the next person you pass it so they are facing each other, but before you drink from the cup you want to turn the face away.

There are also rules for the accompanying sweets.

Additionally, we were given lessons in bowing, sitting, standing, walking and opening/closing doors. 

But the real beauty of the ceremony is just in watching the preparation of the tea.

Our sensei was actually a Christian woman who has been instructing in the art of tea for 40 years.  Where the lessons would normally include Buddhist teacings, she has substituted Bible verses!

 

At the end of the tea ceremony, you are supposed to inspect your cup—each person’s is unique.  Mine had an inscription on the bottom reading “Peace be with you”.

 

Back out through the garden and back to the real world!

Playland

We will be going here tomorrow for a birthday party.  Obviously we’ve been here and taken pictures at least twice, but for a variety of reasons I haven’t shown them to you until now.

Behold Xystus Kids Land.

There is a wise old tree that invites people into the cafe area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are small swings . . .

 

 

 

 

 

seesaw ride-ons . . .

 
ball pits with wonderful fast slides that drop into them . . .

trampolines with more balls . . .

  
and all manner of tubes, tunnels, slides, bridges, obstacles, hideouts and other fun things!

See?


There are some less active entertainments like music . . .

and origami.

There is a well-equipped infant/toddler area, not that I could actually keep my toddler in it.  Or my preschooler out of it, go figure!


And in case the parents want to get active as well they have exercise mats and a reflexology station.  For the not-so-active parents they have massage chairs.

They even have super-cool (and super-clean) bathrooms that include child-size toilets and sinks!  Yes, I’m showing you a picture of the bathroom.  It’s okay; you can laugh at me!

But you have to agree that this is genius—a little fold-down seat to pop your toddler into so that you can use the toilet without the child escaping underneath the door.

Are American places this well-equipped?  We’ll find out!