Sports Day Preschool Style

Each year the girls school hosts a sports day at the local dome and it is always entertaining to say the least.  This is our third year so we have a little idea of what to expect even with the entire program in Japanese.  The girls lined up with their classes then left to get a few decorations on came back and did a short program with song and dance.  After they have finished the singing portion it was onto the sports part.  First came the soccer portion followed by foot races then tug of war and finished up with a ball toss.  Once each class finished they handed out the rewards a package of snacks- nothing sweet like we are used to in the states but always fun to try.

A picture says a thousand words - the go out and have the world see her and the hide in the crowd

Group performance

Singing and Dancing

Showing off soccer skills

A little soccer help

Class race

One was done and the other getting there

Tug O War - nothing could go wrong with that right?

Girls vs. Boys

Getting prizes

The reward for a great Sports Day

Treated the girls to CC Chicken & Waffles.
So thankful for friends with great food suggestions

Crafting during naptime

She helped cut the wood and color the words

He was thankful for some leftover pallets so we could enjoy the firepit

Family Time

This past month felt more like tag team parenting and when friends mentioned they might go camping we decided it could be a great family time.  So we stole that idea and planned to go camping too.  The day came to load up the car and the weather didn't look too great but we decided to head up to the north end of the island and see if there might be some hotel rooms at the resort area.  Once we got there and noticed it was supposed to pour rain starting at 3am so we got the only cabin they had left and kept all our camping gear in the car and we "GLAMPED".  Since it was only sprinkling in the afternoon we pulled out the bikes and rode around Okuma.  We were excited to see that some other friends were there and stopped by to say hi - they invited us to come back and join them around the campfire that night and we did.  After a little excursion around grounds we got back to our cabin and started cooking dinner over our fire in the rain.  We had one of my favorite camp meals - Jambalaya rice and sausage.  The first time I realized you could have good meals while camping was on a trip with my friends Ashley, Valerie and Judith in Alaska at Denali.  Before that I assumed people just ate granola bars and peanut butter sandwiches but since then I have grown much in my camping cooking skills (ok maybe my cooking skills all together in life)

After dinner we got together all our s'more essentials and headed over to our friends campsite.  We ate lots of s'mores, roasted pumpkin marshmallows and even got to sing songs around the campfire while my friend Karyn played her guitar.  After we had stuffed ourselves with lots of sugar and had a great time singing we packed up and headed back to our cabin (or cabinet as the girls kept calling it).  Since we had a cabin with a TV & DVD we kept our Friday night family tradition and watched Barbie Mermaid adventures.

When we woke up in the morning to rain pouring down I was thankful for our call to stay in the cabin and not a tent.  Our neighbors were making a fire in the rain and trying to cook breakfast but I decided we would have microwaved scrambled eggs and bacon!  So glad some of the meals I brought could be cooked in a microwave and not just on an open flame.  After breakfast we played a few rounds of Frozen UNO which everyone could actually play. We hung out and laughed and played around and realized the rain was not going to stop at all so we loaded up our gear and came home.  Tonight we are going to meet the friends who gave us the idea for a game night eating hot dogs and talk about the camping trip that never happened. 

Surprised Molly at school pick up - Get in we are going camping!

So excited

Playing with our whistle flashlights

Trick bike

Some dry girls

Enjoying a bike ride before the downpour

exploring

Collecting shells at the beach

Frozen UNO - family game time

Movie night

Campfire, s'mores and music

roasting pumpkin marshmallows 

Dinner time