Birthdays

Ok... I'm 14 days late. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NAO. Problem was Nao's birthday fell right in the middle of summer vacation. And I was lazy... Sorry! But I did make a very nice dinner and cake for her!





My birthday was good too. We went to our traditional birthday place Fujiya! Who cares that earlier this year there was some controversy over the freshness of its dessert products. They have a doll that dances to the birthday song!! That's all that matters.... Rose, Nao and I enjoyed a great dinner with some free ice cream. (Cause it's my birthday!)

Poor Man's Pool

It's been hot. Too Hot. So Rose and I put together some stuff we had around the house to make up a little pool! A plastic drawer and a tarp!! Yeah... Say it for the white trash! But we had a lot of fun hanging around the pool all day. Sitting in the shade. Relaxing with some juice or root beer. I told Nao that when she gets back from work one day she might find me drunk by the pool! Anyway Rose and I had a blast during summer vacation.

Summer Vacation is here!

Two days into the summer vacation. It's great cause I could spend my Sunday without the spectre of work on Monday hanging over my head like a piano in those old cartoons. What a great day! We went to Kumagaya the city where Nao's grandmother used to live. They had their huge fireworks display last night. The best part was we could set up some tables and chairs right outside of Nao's grandma's house and watch the show. Rose was in seventh heaven because every ten or fifteen minutes trains go roaring past so she can wave and say bye-bye to all the passengers. She liked the trains more than the fireworks!!

Today we spent most of the day cleaning Nao's grandma's house getting ready for O-bon.
It's the ghost season in Japan where you invite your ancestors to visit your house for a few days. Nao's dad is going to pick them up from the cemetary tomorrow morning. I hope they don't have to much luggage!!!

Because it's the first O-bon after Nao's grandma's passing we have to prepare some special thigns for her visit. That's basically what were setting up today. Things like fruits, lanterns, and pictures around the family shrine. It's a little sad....

Rose was happy cause she got to make a horse out of an eggplant and some chopsticks. Apparently ancestors love to ride in on vegetables!

Festivals

Last Friday night was Rose's school summer festival. For a few weeks now they have been practicing their dance techniques and carrying their little shrine. The shrine was decorated with pictures from the Japanese cartoon Anpanman. The show is all about bread people and their fight against the evil germ man. Rose's teacher said that all of the kids did great during practice. They danced and carried without any trouble. But on the night of the show all the kids got cold feet! We think it's because mom's and dad's came. So the kids would huddle around their parents! Rose wasn't immune either. She kept wanting me to pick her up! They had food, games, and some fireworks at the festival too.

On Saturday was the Oizumi Festival. Nao's sister's band came up to play. Nao was so excited and couldn't wait to see the band play, but woke up on Saturday morning feeling terrible! She had a high fever and stomachache (She feels much better now), but was disappointed because she had to stay home. So I went with Rose, Jiji, Baba, and Nao's aunt to watch the show.

Rose was very happy because she could her her favorite song. The ba-ba-ba-ba song. She's listened to it so much in the car that she can even sing along in her own way with it now. My god it's driving me crazy!!! Can't go in the car anywhere and it's Rose asking, "ba-ba-ba-ba PLEASE!" That and at home all Elmo, all the time!!!

Her are more pictures from the festivals!!!! CLICK!