an end to golden week...

Today was "boys' day," which is the last day of Golden Week. Technically all children are celebrated on this day. Around the neighborhood, people with sons hang carp windsocks in their yard, one for each son. Boys seem to be highly valued in Japan.

Below, Nitta, Lauri and Sanae join in shopping in Arita over the weekend.

I joined my buddies for a final day of shopping --- today at Hasami -- a GIANT tent city filled with china made locally. I didn't really have any expectations, but wow, what a sight! Ended up with a few more tea cups and a pot, ice cream bowls, planter and an eyeglass stand for Greg (who's forever asking me "have you seen my glasses?). Cora was very tolerant of being in the stroller all day... I think we have another shopper in the family!

OH the joys of an almost-one-year old...

Having a week off from work and being mommy full-time has been EXHAUSTING. We are having fun, but I'm learning that Cora may be fast-tracking to the terrible twos... hope these bring a smile to your face :)

She's loving gohan (rice) and really lights up when we go to the neighborhood Sushi-go-Round. They love her, too. Notice the rice all over her face and hair! I wish we had captured a picture when she grabbed a packet of wasabi (japanese horseradish) and started to suck on it --- it was priceless...

Here's Cora playing with the dried fish that we love to feed Finn and Bonny -- she's obsessed with shaking the packets and removing the tiny fish and spreading them all over the kitchen floor. Finn and Bonny are fans.

Cora has discovered the dogs' water fountain. She just got the yellow rubber duckie from our friend Erin and she promptly took it in her hand and walked over to the water bowl. She managed to splash most of the water outside the bowl and onto her (I am forever amazed at the absorptive power of disposable diapers!!!).

MORE TO COME I AM SURE!!!

Golden Week!

It's the middle of perhaps the biggest holiday week here in Japan, which translates to a holiday for Cora and Meg (sorry, Greg). Cora's school follows the Japanese holidays, so it is closed which means Meg's work is cancelled, as well until school starts once more.

The holidays include the former emporer's birthday, constitution day, greenery day (their earth day?), and boys' day (celebrated as children's day). This basically means everyone is off work, festivals prevail and merchandise is on big sale! We're excited to hit Arita and Hasami, where much of the china is made here in Japan, that's tomorrow! In the meantime, check out what we've done so far...

We began the week with a picnic at the aquarium with friends Sophia and her mom Nitta. We had fun eating PB&J sandwiches and playing with bubbles before seeing the fish.

pointing at the BIG fish!

touching a star-fish in the hands-on exhibit, ewwww!

Next we visited Nigushiyama -- which hosts tsutsuma -- mountain azaleas. I went last year with mom and Sanae; this year the hills were much easier not being 8 months pregnant! Cora seemed to enjoy the pretty flowers!

Notice the 99 islands in the background -- a different perspective than from downtown Sasebo

Cora took a few steps on her own in front of the azaleas

Cora and her Japanese grandmas Noriko-san and Sanae-san

yard update...

Yeah! The yard is coming along nicely... thanks to Greg's hard work and the cheerleaders :)

"sod squares" are such a PAIN

all tuckered out

a little motivation and support

from a darling big little girl..... GOOOOOO Red Wings!

(the jersey is a gift from Detroit.... Greg keeps saying how he thinks it's great that the first Madea with a hockey jersey personalized is his DAUGHTER!)

More firsts!

After a day in the yard, we rested on Sunday... and took a trip to Fukuoka!

Here is Cora's official Hard Rock Cafe debut... an apparent must in the Madea family...

Her first french fry... the burger was for Meghan!

At her FIRST baseball game, Cora is a little unsure with all the balloons being blown up around her (it's one of those "only in Japan" baseball traditions).

The "Beer Lady" a little unsure with all the balloons being blown up around her... notice the keg on her back...

The balloons being released in the seventh inning for the home team... each balloon has a little air valve inserted to make it whistle as it flies away... you can imagine what it sounds like with thousands being released simultaneously.

Meghan and Cora celebrating the fantastic finish... a walk off single with 2 outs to allow the Hawks to win the pitchers duel, 1-0.

Cora and Greg were happy that the home team won!

And so were the locals... so they released some more balloons...

And then set off some fireworks... they REALLY get into their baseball over here...

I don't want to talk about this first...

Enough is enough...

We miss Big Red!

For those who are unaware, "Big Red" is Greg's pickup truck (a red Ford F-150) who has been around through good times (i.e. just about anytime Greg can load up the bed and act like Red was an absolute necessary purchase) and bad times (i.e. several speeding tickets and just about every refueling stop). If you don't understand why a man would name a truck anything, don't - it probably just means you're not from the same geographic region as Greg.

Anyway, I'll admit that I wasn't always the biggest fan of Red (who is currently in a storage facility in New Jersey) at first, but this weekend we could have used her. Thus, this blog entry is to serve three purposes:

1. To show why there are so many "rock gardens" in Japan.

2. To show that since it is impossible to purchase grass seed in Japan, what one has to go through to have a lush and living yard (or in our case, what you have to go through for the second time).

3. To show life in a land with only small vehicles at your disposal...

The back of "Lil Red" (our Mazda Famila here in Japan) after removing enough sod so that we no longer had to worry about it tipping over... a disaster we experienced several times...

Cora playing "Fort" in the back seat of our formerly clean sedan. The BEST part of the way they sell sod in Japan is that it's in small little squares!

Bonny and Finn assisting Greg in replacing the grass that they helped destroy... Actually, we're pretty certain they were laughing at our futility, but I'm trying to put a positive spin on the weekend... Notice the pile of waiting sod in the background... we can't help but be shocked by how much grass is needed to cover our small yard... maybe by the time we do it for the third time, it won't come as such a surprise...