At school, L is learning to sing Puff the Magic Dragon. At home we’re listening to Peter, Paul, and Mary sing Puff the Magic Dragon and we’re singing along!
After going to the doctor with Dada today, L was all up for playing doctor at home. First, she sat us down in the exam chair. Then, she asked the questions to find out what happened. To Dada she said, “you fell off your bike, right?” and to Mama she said, “you fell off your chair in class, right?” Oh my! Then she looked down my throat with the golf club, took my blood pressure with a cloth book, and then gave me a plastic bag with “medicine” inside.
The first week of July has been pretty exciting! On Thursday, we went to Koshien Stadium to see the Hanshin Tigers and Chunichi Dragons baseball game. Everyone had told us that Japanese baseball fans loved to cheer! In the fan section of the stadium, there are male cheerleaders wearing white gloves who direct the cheering. Also, there are several drum players positioned throughout the stadium. L seemed to be a little scared of all the drumming! The fans have noisemakers and cheer loudly when their team is up to bat. While we were at the stadium, we watched the game, ate some fried chicken and french fries, and tried to cheer along like the fans! The rain started in the 4th inning, so we decided to leave early–early enough that we got home in time to see the last pitches on TV!!
On Saturday, we went to Mount Hiei. I read in the brochure that some people call Mount Hiei the Mount Fuji of Kyoto! On top of the mountain there are many temples, called Enryaku-ji, and it is a World Cultural Asset. We picnicked on the top of the mountain. Now, even though L is always playing picnic at home, the reality of a picnic was a little shocking — too many bugs!! We ate some rice balls, potato salad, apples, chips, and lots of yummy homemade cookies and cake
After that, we walked around, visiting about 5 temples. It was a beautiful day with bright blue sky, fresh air, and green trees–what a nice change of scenery! Too bad our camera didn’t work, but I’ll try to share some photos that our friends took. L was really showing off for the camera-she would flap her arms and fly as she went down the steps of the temple, and then do a big ta-da at the bottom! She’s certainly gonna love it when ballet class starts next week because she’s a dancer/performer at heart!!
On Saturday, we went to Mount Hiei. I read in the brochure that some people call Mount Hiei the Mount Fuji of Kyoto! On top of the mountain there are many temples, called Enryaku-ji, and it is a World Cultural Asset. We picnicked on the top of the mountain. Now, even though L is always playing picnic at home, the reality of a picnic was a little shocking — too many bugs!! We ate some rice balls, potato salad, apples, chips, and lots of yummy homemade cookies and cake
After that, we walked around, visiting about 5 temples. It was a beautiful day with bright blue sky, fresh air, and green trees–what a nice change of scenery! Too bad our camera didn’t work, but I’ll try to share some photos that our friends took. L was really showing off for the camera-she would flap her arms and fly as she went down the steps of the temple, and then do a big ta-da at the bottom! She’s certainly gonna love it when ballet class starts next week because she’s a dancer/performer at heart!! 
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear L,
Happy Birthday to you!!
Celebrating the day with a big bite of ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins 31!! The day also included her first cheeseburger, opening a huge box of presents from Grandma, and being the center of attention at school
Will there be another teacher in the family??
Well since both her parents are teachers, and both her grandmas are teachers, she must have it in her!! L is reading stories to her attentive class of Hello Kitties!
Lots of exciting stuff has been happening. Just gotta get this list of things down, and I’ll come back to post photos later.
Plants: A couple of weeks ago, we happened upon a Green Festival downtown. We heard some music playing and decided to walk over, and we saw a Japanese drum performance and a flute group! We shopped for plants and came home with some orchids and other pretty plants. Since then, L is enjoying watering the plants with her zou-san (elephant) watering can and misting them with the pink spray bottle!
New Food: After nearly 2 years of requesting chicken nuggets consistently, L decided to change it up and try a hamburger. She wanted to eat a sandwich like we do, and she really liked it!
Cooking: L made her own dinner this week — a cheese tortilla! She grated the cheese into the tortilla and then put it in the microwave! Good job
Yoga: L enjoys doing the yoga video with Rodney Yee! She rolls out her yoga mat and follows along with the pose sequence. Some of them are “really hard” but her favorite poses are forward bends and downward facing dog.
Plants: A couple of weeks ago, we happened upon a Green Festival downtown. We heard some music playing and decided to walk over, and we saw a Japanese drum performance and a flute group! We shopped for plants and came home with some orchids and other pretty plants. Since then, L is enjoying watering the plants with her zou-san (elephant) watering can and misting them with the pink spray bottle!
New Food: After nearly 2 years of requesting chicken nuggets consistently, L decided to change it up and try a hamburger. She wanted to eat a sandwich like we do, and she really liked it!
Cooking: L made her own dinner this week — a cheese tortilla! She grated the cheese into the tortilla and then put it in the microwave! Good job
Yoga: L enjoys doing the yoga video with Rodney Yee! She rolls out her yoga mat and follows along with the pose sequence. Some of them are “really hard” but her favorite poses are forward bends and downward facing dog.
Even though today wasn’t L’s birthday, she got her first birthday present — a Shrek 2 DVD! Since watching the first Shrek movie, she’s been really into Shrek, Princess Fiona, donkey and all the characters. She was even calling us Mama Shrek, Dada Shrek, and L Shrek!
Sunday night we had a panini party! L was having SO much fun having company over. The sandwiches were delicous – homemade bread, mozzarella cheese, and lots of yummy toppings, including special pesto made with basil and fava beans, and a delicious capponata made with olives, roasted red peppers, and other yummies. Of course, the meal wasn’t complete until we ate our favorite selections from 31: Lemon Sherbet for L and Love Struck Cheesecake for Mama! After dinner, L entertained the group, getting us all to join in London Bridge, ABC’s, and counting in Japanese. By the time Monday night’s dinner rolled around, L was asking, “Where are the guys? I wanna do London Bridge again!” Looks like we’ll have to plan another dinner party!
One of the holidays during Golden Week is Children’s Day. When we visited the Botanical Gardens, there were many carp streamers blowing in the breeze. To our surprise, when we went to the grocery store on this national holiday, there were people handing out balloons to all the children. L got a dog balloon and a few jellies too! She was really happy to play with the balloon when we got back home. Balloon game was a favorite around our place for a few days!
Every morning, L is so excited to go to school! She loves to sing the songs, especially Clean-up Time. She likes to play in the park with her friends. She likes to play with blocks, eat her lunch, and all the things!