Sayounara eisa-sa-sa!

It wasn’t so much that we needed to come back to Ryukyu Mura one more time; it was more that I wanted the kids to paint their own little shisa souvenir and this is the place to do it.
  So we said “so long!” to the kijimuna,

and made sure we caught the morning parade.

 We even managed to get seats front and center this time

which scored us special attention from the clown.

This is definitely something we’re not going to find in the States.

I love the intensity and precision of a good eisa performance.

 

And then there was ice cream.  And it was good.

Sorry, no pictures of the painting process.  It was a weekday, so it was just me with the kids and I was too busy supervising.  The finished products look about as expected (random patches and smears of color) but artistic perfection was not the point.

First pack out was this morning and it went well.  Guess this thing is really happening, isn’t it?

In A Nutshell

I know it’s tiny but it’s an 8-frame panoramic of the view from one of the parks that is closest to our house.  Not bad, eh?

Living in a world of beauty, from the grand view down to the small details.

Look at us go!

Tackling life’s challenges

with sunny smiles, of course.

 Then we take a pause for learning

and thoughtful reflection.

 
Ah yes, and refreshments.

Pack outs start next week!

Kodomo-no-Hi (Children’s Day)

Banners start appearing in the latter half of April and by the first week of May they are EVERYWHERE.  There is a Chinese legend about a koi (carp) that swam upstream and became a dragon so, because of this mythical journey, the fish has come to symbolize virtues such as strength, courage and perseverance.  The koi banners are hung in honor of Children’s Day in hopes that the children will display those same virtues as they grow.

This particular set of banners was hanging in our neighbor’s yard.

 
We were over at their house for an impromptu pool party after church last Sunday.
 Isn’t she beautiful?
 Logan was SO full of energy and joy that day; he ran around non-stop, smiling like this the whole time.
  On Monday, after Children’s Day had passed and the crowds were gone but before they took the banners down, we headed out for one last round of our little zoo.   

Now I realize that this place is NOTHING compared to the San Diego Zoo, but it’s still been pretty spectacular, especially in terms of its convenience.

 
And there is a good deal of beauty to be found here.


One thing I like about this zoo is that you can get up-close with the animals.


Sometimes that can mean REALLY up-close.  For instance, when they are cleaning the iguana's cage and they decide to let the critter just hang out on the sidewalk.

  Last ride on the little train.

  And we bid farewell to the zoo and the fluttering fish.

Savoring the Moments

Now that the sun has come out we are starting to make some progress on our “last time” list.  There’s so much to say goodbye to.

Beaches.

   

Playgrounds.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Butterflies, flowers, and unusual trees.

Fabulous fruit-covered ice cream.

  Henry too, when the time comes.

Not that there won’t be beaches, playgrounds, butterflies and ice cream in California . . .  In fact, I anticipate lots of all of those!

Growing and Building

 

She really is getting big.  Her hair is getting long, she’s quite physically coordinated (here, she is walking on the edge of a low wall), and her vocabulary is expanding daily.

 Beautiful smiles while waiting for friends to meet us at the park.

 

Speaking of getting big . . . can you believe Logan is almost 4?!?!  His creativity is exploding and he’s excited about learning all the letters/letter sounds.


Naomi wants to know if it’s time for the picnic yet, meanwhile Logan is too busy playing to think about food.

Come on Mom, only 50 more steps to the top of the slide!

They have so much fun together :)

Yah, goofy fun like this.

Naomi’s working her cuteness—it helps offset the stubbornness. 

This was our first real beach trip of the season.  We celebrated by bringing extra digging toys.

  They cooperated very nicely on their construction project: building a duck pond.

Hope you find some sunshine this week!