A Fine Fall Weekend

Seriously, if Max wasn't so funny in this video, I wouldn't have posted it, because I'm a bit embarrassed by my snorting and now I'm posting it for the world to see. One reason we love our apartment is the little backyard we have. Max can go out there on his own and likes to help water the plants, sort rocks or whatever else Daddy is doing.

He's into saying "Good job!" and tries to do a "thumbs up" but can't keep his thumb up while keeping his fist closed, so he has to manually close his fist with his other hand.

And this Basil Eating thing? He did it 4 times while we were out in the yard within about 15 minutes. I've never seen him do it before, I'm not sure if he's done it before and this is the first time we've seen him or if he was a bit hungry. I'm glad he chose the basil and not the bamboo or something else. But it's a bit weird.

The weather finally seems like it's turning and getting colder. We have a long weekend next weekend which will be well deserved after parent conferences the end of this week. I'm getting excited for the holidays with this cold weather!

FPOTW

Funny Picture(s) of the Week

Yes, I missed last week. I was going to post before we went on vacation then schedule it for Thursday, but it didn't happen. Sorry if you were just dying for last Thursday to roll around so you could see what funny thing I posted (ha). We'll see if I have enough material to keep this going. Unfortunately most funny things just happen and Max normally won't continue when I whip out the camera. I snuck in with the camera for this one. He's quite smitten with Flavius and wants to share things with him (food, his monkey, etc.) and boss him around all the time - like a big brother. Fortunately, Flavius continues to put up with A LOT.

Exhibit A: Maximo sucking his own nose to free himself of boogers:

Exhibit B: (With no prompting) Tries to suck boogers out of Flavius's nose:

iPhone Dump

John and I got iPhones when we moved to Japan. While we were in Peru, we weren't much for using our cellphones. Until Max was born, we shared one, then we just got cheapos and purchases prepay cards.

Oh, but the iPhone... It's so much more than a phone. Neither of us like talking much on the phone, and this is probably the function we use the least on our iPhones. Oh, the things you can do with it!

I can send unobtrusive text messages, take photos and video, download recipes, play word games, and view documents. I have a Japanese translation application WITH audio, so it can just speak for me. We even have Zippo lighter applications which simulate a real lighter, just in case we're at a concert and hear an awesome ballad and we just want to sway with our lighters...

Okay, anyways, my point. Although it doesn't always take the best photos, it's nice to be able to take photos whenever, since I almost always have it with me. The problem is that I don't always remember to download them.

So, here's a dump of some photos I just downloaded from my iPhone (mostly taken within the past month):
A playdate at the park. He loved the water fountain, until he fell on his head.

Max running to me as I pick him up from daycare.
When they go outside, the kids all wear these pink hats. Pretty cute.

Travel days are fairly easy because he LOVES things that GO!

Big Boy

Leaving our bungalow and heading to airport shuttle.
The cart ride may have been the highlight of Maximo's trip!

BOOBIES

Monkeying Around

After missing yesterday's Halloween celebration at Max's daycare, we made up for it today. We had a slow morning around the house, then I went out grocery shopping so we could actually eat something for lunch. On the way back from the grocery store, I saw witches, ninjas, Spidermans and pumpkins flooding the island for the Halloween Festival they have on Rokko Island. I didn't want my monkey to miss out, so I rushed home, convinced him to throw on his costume, and went back to the River Mall to meander around a bit before lunch/naptime.

Max enjoyed the music and looking at all the kids. There was a huge line for a kids' parade, but we decided to by-pass this since we only had a little time before Maximo's nap and his costume is made out of polar fleece-like material and it was a balmy 75 degrees out today.

We climbed around a bit, ate delicious meat on a stick, then boarded the bike for home.Later, we went to the faculty housing on campus for the teachers' kids Halloween party. First we stuffed a little pasta dinner down the kids' throats before they went around to the houses to trick-or-treat. Max wore regular clothes to the party because it was hot and he was going to eat spaghetti, and I soon realized this was a mistake. Maximo refused to put on his costume for a while and I thought that he may just run around in his diaper the whole night. But, before the trick-or-treating began, I coaxed him into it.He figured out the custom of saying "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You" quite quickly and really enjoyed himself. Afterwards he had a couple of M&Ms and a lollipop and was happy as a clam.Now he's gone to bed so John and I can ransack his booty and take out all the good stuff.

R&R on the Flip Side

We played at the beach
We swam in the pool
We danced after dinner
We got massages
We drank fresh mango and pineapple juice everyday
We sometimes ordered from the bar at 10:30 - which is midday if you're up at 5:30-6:00 am
We almost missed a plane
We almost missed a bus
We ran on both travel days
We went shopping in town
We took naps everyday
We were in bed every night by 9:00 pm, okay maybe 8:30
We read books
We all got tans
We rejuvenated ourselves for our next haul until Winter Break
We had a perfect vacation

Da moon, Da moon

Maximo and Daddy on lifeguard duty

Tubin'

Maximo's first boat ride - he loved it!

It was truly the perfect vacation for where we are right now... A manageable travel day followed by sun, water and sand. The resort was also perfect for us. The staff was wonderful and knew the boys by name. It wasn't super busy so their splashing in the pool didn't disrupt anyone's romantic getaway. The bungalows were separated enough that we didn't bother anyone either and were pretty sound proof so we didn't bother each other.

Home Again Home Again

We had a wonderful week in the Philippines. I'll try to post about our week and post pictures sometime today (or tomorrow). Right now we're swimming in laundry, looking at an empty 'fridge and gearing up for a big trick and treat tonight!

The pool...

The perfect toddler beach...

Funny POTW

Funny Picture of the Week

Having iPhones allows us to quickly snap a shot as we're out and about. Living in a foreign country, life is full of lots of funnies - normally you're laughing at yourself for making a social faux-pas or using toilet cleaner on your hair or laughing so you don't cry because it sometimes can take A LOT more time to do a simple task, especially when you're not fluent in the language.

So, I've already taken a few pics, and want to share, so I will TRY (not promising) to post one a week.

This week's is:

You may have to blow it up to see it, but the third line says, "Please avoid having snakes inside."

Sometimes, there's just a funny (Babelfish) translation where most of the words are correct, but they are out of order or the context is humorous. I'm really not sure what this one means. We were in an indoor play area for kids - there were no snake-like toys anywhere and I have yet to see a Japanese walking around with a pet snake (pet turtle on the other hand, yes), so I'm at a loss here.

Family Tradition

As we visited the US before we moved to Japan, I made sure (Thanks, Mom!) that our bags were packed with all sorts of holiday paraphernalia - plastic Easter eggs, St. Patty's beads, Halloween costumes... Maximo is now more aware of the holidays around him and it's fun starting our own family traditions in our home. I was worried that we may not be able to get US holiday glam here, but I've learned quickly, that really, you can get anything you want here, but you have to pay the price.

Fortunately, a grocery store here that specializes in foreign imported goods had pumpkins, so we carved our first pumpkin. For the first week, it just sported some black duct tape. This past Wednesday we carved it and have religiously lit it every night, but tonight may have been the last because it's teeming with mold and today Max dropped it, so it's head is all mashed in.

The fangs broke off while I was cutting it. And I cut the top too small so I couldn't dig anything out, so we had to make the hole bigger... then the lid didn't fit.
Being a mom takes practice in all areas - like being crafty and holiday-ready!

When we light it, Max starts singing (his version) of Happy Birthday, mostly just saying "To You", then I am like an octopus trying to get him to stop sticking his fingers into the flame, then he blows it out - full nightly ritual: approximately two minutes.

Fall Break

One week from now, we'll be at the airport, heading here.... Oh, I can't wait. Please typhoons (and all other natural and unnatural disasters) stay away!

Happy Sports Day!

Update: This is a little late, but here's the photo gallery of Sports Day at CA. It was a great day shared by students, their families and CA staff. We can't wait until we can watch Maximo run around at Sports Day!

Today is Sports Day - a national holiday here in Japan. Businesses are closed and most families accompany their children to school so they can watch and participate in what we would recognize as a field day.

After doing a bit of research, this national holiday started after the Olympics were hosted in Tokyo in 1964, so it's to commemorate this event and to promote a healthy lifestyle. It is held on the second Monday of October.

As I write this, I have yet to experience Sports Day, so energy and time permitting, I may update this post. The kids are coming to school for a half day of events and parents are welcome to join.

I hear it's a true cultural experience to watch a "real" Japanese school on Sports Day. There's a large Japanese school across the street from Canadian Academy and it's been intriguing to watch the coaches and school workers come out to prepare the fields this past week and on Friday, while I was outside with my students, we watched them practice a choreographed opening ceremony of about 300 students.

At this point, Sports Day doesn't mean a whole lot to Max, except the fact that he doesn't go to Yume Club, because it's closed due to the national holiday. So, he'll come to CA and stay at the Peter Pan daycare on campus until I can go home at 12:15... John will soon follow at 1:00. It'll be fun once he does go to school at CA and one of us can participate in events with him!

Possibly more later!