Monkey Island with Uncle Dave

Thursday night Dave got into Haneda around 1015. We all went to the airport to greet him and managed to make it home around 1145. We promptly put the kiddos in bed-well, after Garytt gave him a tour and he opened his welcome bag. 

With typhoon Vongfong expected to arrive Monday or Tuesday, meaning we would lose a travel day, we decided not to give Dave a day of rest. :D W hopped right on in with a day at Sarushima, otherwise known as Monkey Island. While we waited for the boat to arrive we took a walk over in Mikasa Park. 

As soon as the boat, Sea Friend Zero, arrived we hopped on and headed over.

Once on the island we found a picnic table and had ham and cheese sandwiches with chips. 

We've been on the island before, so I was trying not to take the same pictures I did last time. My artistic eye only lasted for a couple hours before it was exhausted. 

I forgot how many steps were on this little island. 

We saw a lot of wildlife this time. 

I agree with Mackenzie, spiders creep me out!  But, this one was so pretty!  It looks like she has a lipstick kiss on her side.  I found a few pictures of it on the internet, but nothing with the actual name.

Walking down to the tide pools. 

Garytt was trying to catch a fish swimming in that hole. 

Almost...

Caves and lots of rocks to climb on. Kris and Garytt decided to take a walk on the rocks to the right of this picture. He got halfway across the first section and slipped on a slimy rock and fell into the water. Of course... Maybe a mini Clayton in our Havens family...if there's water, he falls in it. 

A future rock climber....she worked and worked here until she found just the right hand hold to pull herself up so she could look into that crevice. Once she got down, she joined the boys on the other side. She managed to get across without falling in. They found a little beach over there and my awesome beachcomber found several pretty pieces of sea glass to add to our collection. 

While we waited for the boat to come get us we walked on the main beach for a bit. Mackenzie found more sea glass and Garytt had fun trying to see if the waves could catch his shoe. 

The next day we had two soccer games starting first thing in the morning. The kids played great! Then, that night we went to CoCo's Curry for dinner. After that we went back to Mikasa Park to see the light show. 

Garytt tests for his Green Belt

Garytt and Alyssa praciticing

It's that time of year!  Karate Testing time!  Boy has been in karate now for a year and a half.  This is his third belt test and is up for a Green Belt.  Before the test, he said to Kris and I that he was nervous about this test.  I think this is the first time he's ever been nervous about a test.  I guess this is what happens the higher he goes up the ladder.  We've seen him practice over the last few weeks and we had total confidence in his abilities.  He just had to get over the nerves.  

We arrived at Fleet Rec about fifteen minutes early, just to give him a few minutes to get in the zone.  One of his friends, Alyssa, was testing for her next belt and was nervous as well.  So, they went off to a corner and did a little practicing.  

Alyssa and Garytt

At just before one, Sensei's Grandpa (the man who taught Garytt's Sensei) started warming the kids up....all in Japanese.  They all managed to follow along pretty well.

Warm up...Boy in center, blue belt

Waiting for the activities to begin

And, now he's up!  

These three kids are in Garytt's class.  All testing for their Green Belts.  I think Garytt is the youngest, by almost two years.

Garytt's kata.  Usually, he is on the front line and I have an unobstructed view.  This time, not so much.  The video is a bit shaky because I was trying to find the right spot to see him...I never found that spot.











After that part of the test, the kids had to sit on the side and do a written examination.  For the last two tests he only had to draw pictures of fists, feet positions, and hands.  This year he had to actually write words.  Oh my!  He's pretty good at sounding words out, but I'm not sure he really knows how to spell 'musubi dachi'.  That paper ought to be interesting.

The testing ran a little long, so Grandpa Sensei couldn't do his normal demonstrations for us.  He did a quick little speech (in Japanese) and then bowed to us all.  He told us that he will continue karate until the day he stops breathing.  I think this year he is 92 years old.  Impressive!

This season's testing class.

We should know in two weeks if he passed his test.  And, then he will get his next belt.  We are incredibly proud of this little martial arts master!  He works hard and listens to his Sensei and it shows in his moves.

Happy Birthday, Garytt!

Can it be possible?  Is my baby boy six?!  It seems just like it was yesterday that this stubborn boy was putting me through 36 hours of contractions and trying to be born upside down...now, he wears the same size shoe as his (almost) 8 year old sister, is a green belt in karate, and can do a whole page of math problems in just a few minutes.  Yikes!  Where has the time gone??

We started our day with pancakes (sprinkles inside, of course!), strawberries, and whipped cream.

After breakfast, we Facetimed with Mom Mom Pat and Aunt Meredith.  Then, Morgan called and talked to Garytt to wish him happy birthday.

Then, after a bit of school, we headed to Mikasa Park.  My plan was to go see a sand art exhibit in Yokohama, but our day started a little later than normal and I didn't want to fight peak train travel at the end of our day.  So, we opted for the park instead.  I'm glad we did, we all had a blast!!

The kids really like walking down this path...what's not to love...shade from the sun, not much traffic, waterfalls, and pools to for hands to do a little splashing.

The biggest reason for going to this park (other than the fact that it's only a fifteen minute walk from the house) is that there is a climbing thing for the kids to play on.  Well, half of it was under construction.  Big disappointment.  But, they just found other things to do instead.

Garytt found a friend to kick a soccer ball with...they couldn't speak to each other, but still figured out how to have fun!

Once Garytt's friend had to leave, we took a walk over by the water.  Then, we checked out the little stage area.  I tried to convince Mackenzie to do her recital dance for me, but she refused.  Then, I asked Garytt to do his kata for me, which he did, but he did it so fast that I couldn't get it on video.

Checking out Sarushima (Monkey Island)

The kids took a few turns rolling down the hill.  Mackenzie let Garytt do several rolls before she decided it was safe for her to try a couple.

All of a sudden, we heard music playing from around the corner.  Of all the times we've been at this park, we have somehow missed the fountain show every time.  Well, not today!  We took off for the music and got a great show!



Once the show finished, we took a relaxing (haha, with these two crazy kids...yeah right!) stroll through the park.  Up stairs....down stairs....around fountains....over streams...up more stairs....down more stairs...   Mackenzie was having so much fun, she kept saying to Garytt, "Isn't this the best birthday you ever had?"  "Wow, Garytt, this has to be the best birthday ever!"  It's the simple things that make the best memories.

A beautiful view from the top

We let the birthday boy chose where he wanted to eat his dinner...Stoneburg, Chinese at the Daiei, Tankatsu, Yakitori, sushi.  What did he chose?  Chilies.  Ugh.  Again, ugh.  So, we went to Chilies.  After dinner it was time for presents.  He was so excited about presents that when Kris parked in the Sakura parking lot, he took off running for the apartment and was waiting on us to hurry up.

First present to open....Mackenzie's.  She was so excited about this gift that she talked about it every day since she got it.  And, changed the hiding place for it a couple times a day.  It is a Lego Chima set.

Watching Garytt open presents is so much fun!  He is incredibly excited and totally in love with every package he opens.  Everything is "so awesome!"  And, it was the "best birthday Eh-Ver!"

Birthday Stegasauras Cake

So, I found out when we got back to the house after the park, that Grandma and Grandpa tried to Skype with Garytt.  We missed the call.  So, I sent a message, hoping that they would be up early enough to get my message that we would Skype at 8 pm (6 am their time).  At 8 we logged on, but no Grandma or Grandpa.  So, we waited.  Still no Grandparents.  Kris said, "let me try this..."  He logged into a camera we got them.  The camera is facing the back room where everything looked dark and we couldn't hear any sounds of activity.  All of a sudden, we saw little doggie eyes peek through the glass door and knew that someone had to be up if Ravyn was outside.  So, Kris hit the little microphone button and had Garytt say, "Grandma!  It's the Birthday Boy and he wants to talk to you."  Then, sleepy eyed, Grandma came running into the room!  Wow...technology!  Maybe not the most relaxing way to wake up in the morning...hearing strange voices coming from inside your house at that time of the morning!

After he showed all the cool things he got, we headed to the dining room for cake and ice cream.  And, as a special treat, Grandma got to sing with us!

Well, we sure had a fantastic day!  Parks, presents, cake, and phone calls from loved ones!  It was "Soooo Awesoooommmeeee!"

The Fading Sounds of a Japanese Summer

As I walked outside at 0530 this week I noticed something was missing. Something that has greeted me happily every morning, for several weeks, as if cheering me on to the tough workout I had planned. Something that easily penetrated through the windows of our apartment. Something that almost blew out my eardrums as I tried to record its power, and something that, more than a few times, sent the kids and I screaming as if Godzilla himself was chasing us. I'm talking about the sounds of the cicada. 

It all began on a hot, sunny day in early July....Garytt and I were at the Purple Park waiting for Mackenzie to finish gymnastics. We were sitting on a bench, probably complaining about the heat, when I thought a baby bird flew into my leg! Poor little guy. So, we got down to check the area around the bench to see if it could be helped. Well, the sweet creature we were looking for was nothing I would consider sweet. We both squealed and jumped back about five feet from the four-eyed, winged beast that was probably planning to eat my leg!!!! This cicada was brown and fluttered its wings around the park as if he had chugged a chu-hai before heading out that afternoon. Luckily, it was time to get Mackenzie, so we left the flying monster and headed out of the park. 

The very next day, as I was on my way back from the gym, I noticed something attached to a tree. It brought memories of warm summer days spent trying to amass a collection of exoskeletons like no other! I carefully plucked the little skin from the tree trunk and took it in the house to show the kids. They were both impressed and started telling me all about collecting these with Grandma. Both refused to touch it though. 

The next week, while Mackenzie was at gymnastics, Garytt and I, well really just I, went on a hunt with my camera to try and get a few shots of these bugs. Yes, I'm sure many people looked at me like I was a weirdo, loitering under the trees with my neck painfully leaned back, staring up into the branches. There is a spot over in front of Hachiban with a dozen trees and the near-deafening sounds of cicada songs. Garytt helped in my hunt for about five minutes before he saw a couple boys playing at the nearby park and abandoned me. I paced under the trees for about fifteen minutes before the sounds started giving me a headache. Then, I settled under a cicada-less tree by the park and read a book while Boy played. 

As the summer moved along, humidity hit its peak, the cicada songs were at ear-splitting decibels, and most trees we sought relief from the heat under were littered with cicada shells.  But, sure enough, when we noticed the first few yellow leaves, had a few chilly mornings, and discovered our dehumidifiers didn't need emptying five times a day, we also started missing the morning serenades and the evening reveilles as the cicada songs start to fade into the fall...





Ok...maybe my ears are a little thankful that the sounds of summer are fading...