Typhoon Songda

Before

After

There’s more, but that’s the worst of it.  Several decent-sized branches and one small, dead tree in the back also came down.  The usual brush and debris scattered about the yard.  A couple of our neighbors had their sheds explode; on a walk through the neighborhood, we saw more than a dozen of the same style sheds placed next to the curb for trash.

The broken wood is kind of pretty though, don’t you think?

Happy Days Are Here Again!

Okay, big news first: JAKE IS HOME!  (In case you haven’t already heard via Facebook or some other social media.)  He surprised me late Friday evening and we spent a quite, pleasant Saturday around the house waiting for this storm to kick up.  Right now the winds are blowing pretty fiercely around the house but we are safe and dry inside and the kids are sleeping soundly.

On a rather less windy day at the beach, Naomi explores the texture and taste of the sand.

Logan still prefers the comfort and safety of his floatie.

Naomi refuses to eat mashed baby food, even applesauce!  So I’ve had to expand the finger food menu.  This particular evening her dinner consisted of edamame, onigiri (rice ball with seaweed flecks) and banana spears.

Logan got his birthday present early and is thrilled with his “big bike”.

Indoor playground on a rainy day . . .

and another new outdoor playground with a spinny-thing that is like the Teacup Ride at Disneyland.

I’ve got great kiddos—just look at those smiles!

We had a lot of fun even though Daddy was gone, but the adventures are really going to kick up now that he’s home!

Hey! I’ve been there!

This is just a random little tidbit, but I was browsing an article on CNN and ran into something I recognized.  Check out #4 on this list of Japanese travel movies and then refer back to this post.  Not that the likelihood is very high that any of you (or me, for that matter) are going to run out and track down the movie, but still I think it’s pretty cool.  And that’s all for now!

Singing in the Rain

Haven’t felt much like blogging recently, so I’m skipping over quite a bit and bringing you this recent slice of life. 

Summer is fully upon us and with it, typhoon season.  The first typhoon blew by us on Wednesday.  It really wasn’t that bad so we went for an “umbrella walk” that afternoon.

You coming, Mom?
  Logan’s umbrella is never entirely effective.

Naomi does a pretty good job keeping ours stable though.

Puddle splashing!

My sunshine.

Trekking into Habu Canyon to watch the water run through the creek.

‘Brella walks are FUN!

Raindrops on roses . . . or hibiscus.

Still no word on when Jake might be getting home.  (3 out of 4 of you definitely lost the poll.)  But whenever I’m out with the kids in the rain, I always end up singing “Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head” and that applies in this situation as well.  
Cryin’s not for me, ‘cause
I’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining 
Do, do, do, doo, do-do, do . . .

Easter blessings

Honestly, I intentionally delayed this post.  Eight is enough for one month!  You are getting spoiled.  So that’s why Easter got kicked over to May.

I got sick on Saturday before Easter and it was no good, very bad, awful, horrendous and ugly.  Then Logan got sick too, although he didn’t have it nearly as bad; Naomi escaped unscathed.  By Sunday we were feeling better (blessing #1) but we still decided to skip church.  I was supposed to be on greeter duty but I didn’t think it was a good idea to have me shaking hands with everybody.  Our neighbors, however, had already been exposed—this bug had been making the rounds for a while—so we joined in the classic backyard Easter fun that afternoon!

Sunshine (blessing #2) on Naomi (#3) makes me smile!

Two little teeth, see?

It looks like Logan (#4) is praying (#5) with his friends (#6) but really this was just them following instructions (#7?) to wait patiently for the egg dye.

Hunting for and discovering new things—whether eggs or adventures—is always one of my favorites (#8).

This pic demonstrates both the rewards, tangible and intangible, of an adventurous spirit (#9) and the more immediate blessing of CHOCOLATE (#10).

A moment of relaxation in the shade before he runs off again.

Logan conquered one of his fears that day: he’d never really been in a bouncy castle before; he would always shy away from them at other opportunities.  Now, of course, he asks if he can jump in one nearly every day.

On a related note, due to the recent moves and subsequent give-aways of several neighbors, our yard and our immediate neighbor’s yard are now extremely well-supplied with outdoor amenities.  The bouncy castle was given to our neighbor!  Between the two houses we have also accrued an additional three ride-on toys, a small slide, a slip-n-slide and a kiddie pool.  Add those things to the existing stock of assorted bikes/tricycles, sand/water tables and large swing set, and this is the place to be all summer long!

I suppose free stuff counts as a blessing too!  (What number was I up to?)  Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!

Houseguest

Before some of you start getting excited, let me tell you that this is temporary.  A friend of ours was sent to Hawaii, with his family, for some medical issues and we are cat-sitting while they are gone.

Meet Clark.  Looks a bit like D’Artagnan but is about 1/3 the size; she really is a tiny little thing.  We were with the friends when they found her at the park; she was hanging out near the roller slide and was super-friendly and completely irresistible.  Her name is from Dr. Seuss’ One Fish, Two Fish: “Look what we found in the park in the dark.  We will take him home.  We will call him Clark.”

She’s a great little kitty, very friendly, with a surprisingly loud purr.  Both the kids love having her here.

And she is very, VERY tolerant of them!

Mini Aquarium

Technically this is a coral farm, but as you’ll see, the tanks where they grow the coral are very well supplied with fish.

We had a small amount of trouble finding the place, but on the way there we did run across some other fun sights.

There are many benefits to getting lost on a small island: 1. it’s impossible to go too far astray because you run into ocean and 2. if/when you do run into the ocean, it may very well be a lovely secluded stretch of beach like this one.

On the way back from the same little beach, there was this unusual, evidently Christian, family tomb.

Ah, now we are getting closer! This picturesque pier was mentioned in the directions we’d been (poorly) following.

This is the place!  In case you are wondering, the unusual architecture is meant to resemble pieces of bleached coral, like what you find washed up on many of the beaches here.

They had LOTS of touch tanks!

This is part of their big tank where, apparently, most of the growing is done.

I plunked my handy little underwater camera into the tank and snapped a few shots at random.  

They also had an area that descended into the tank so you could take a closer look.

Logan and Naomi were fascinated by the view.

We topped the morning off with ice cream (I haven’t done that quite as much since Naomi was born) and a quick visit to a small nearby play area.

Good smile; happy day!