well, rainy season this year was quite long, but finally summer is here! last monday we went to uminonakamichi to meet some friends and play in the pool. we had a great time, although all the kids got slight sunburns. so impatient to get in the water, they didn't wait long enough for the sunscreen to set in! so, basically, this will be a picture post. enjoy!

today we had a great time! kuri and i decided to try ohanami at the big park on uminonakamichi. i went a bit earlier, and so we went to the aquarium first. it was fun, as always! then we went to the park, and just happened to meet up with kuri and her kids in the parking lot! then we went to the toddler's playground and had lunch. while kuri and i chatted, the kids went to the playground, one by one (except for mini-ping, of course!) eventually we joined the kids, and let the baby walk around a bit.

after a while, we walked over to the zoo, which does not cost extra. the animals were pretty cool, and the kids had a great time watching them. i particularly like the peacocks. esp. the ones that are allowed to walk around freely around the zoo grounds. i think the kids liked the flamingos the best, they were very noisy and the pinglet said they were having a party!

after finishing at the zoo, we walked the long way back to the entrance. first the kids took one turn on the roller slides, and then we went over to the new bouncy land area. there used to be amusement park rides at the park, but now there is only a ferris wheel. where the rides used to be, there are now soft bouncy trampoline-type areas, one for little kids, and one for bigger kids. they jumped and jumped and then it was time to leave!

for one more treat, we went to the new starbucks in shingu-machi. we all had a treat, and it was nice to sit and chat without walking around. the kids were pretty well-behaved with only a couple of noisy out-bursts! but they were getting pretty tired as well, and i was only to glad to take them home, though it's always hard to finish up a chat with kuri!

sadly, my cameras' batteries had died, so i have no pictures from today. am now charging batteries at this moment, and hope to never have this happen again!

well, i thought that once i got caught up, i would blog more. guess i was wrong! whoops! it's really hard, though, since i'm spending "six weeks at home alone with three small children". it's been rather hectic, actually. not with going places and doing things, just with the kids' constant bickering, hitting and all-out fighting. we're not having a lot of fun this summer.

we did go to the aquarium at uminonakamichi last week. on the very day hiro and my 'passports' expired, so that was good. and we had a pretty good day, though the sun was strong and the hike to and from the kiddie pool at the park was harsh.

now it is obon, but we have no plans for doing anything. yoshi has today and tomorrow off, so we are trading off having time to ourselves. i mean on our own as one, not alone together. which would be nice, but not gonna happen!

next week i'll be going to hyogo for a job, that should be fun! hopefully the kids won't miss me too much and give yoshi a hard time!

it's late, don't have much to say. we went to uminonakamichi today and here are some photos from that.





























more here.

(yes, i let them play near water and yes, tommy got wet straight off. that's why he's in a diaper. he eventually fell into the drink and had to walk back to the car shirtless.)

from our day at the aquarium.

today we went to the aquarium. i would post pictures, but the camera's battery died. which is strange, since i recharged it all day yesterday. guess i need to take it to the store and have them send it to the maker to see what the problem is. anyway. the aquarium was decorated for christmas, with lights everywhere and even some aquariums had decorations in them. the diving show had the diver dress up as santa. it was quite cute, they had covered up his tanks with felt which made it look like santa's bag of toys. the dolphin show (which we pretty much missed) had a christmas theme, too.

we went out to see the sea lions and seals, and gave them some fish. then the trainer came out and fed some of them and gave us some information about them (the sealions). i got a lot on video (because i couldn't adjust for the lighting) so if i ever get enough battery power i will post it.

we had a lot of melt-downs today. i guess the kids are over-excited about christmas. *sigh* they are looking forward to a visit from santa and are having a hard time keeping it together. friend are coming over, too, and they are really looking forward to that! i have a turkey to roast tomorrow, yum. i also had to work tomorrow, but (luckily?) that got canceled so i am free tomorrow!

here's hoping we have a happy and mellow christmas tomorrow!

yesterday we had a chance to meet up with lily and her family. sadly, yoshi couldn't go with us, so he missed out meeting up with lily's husband. the kids had a great time, though!

first we drove out to uminonakamichi, where we were meeting. first the kids and i went to marine world, because i don't think they would accept a trip to uminonakamichi without seeing the fish! and, of course, we headed straight for the touching pool. it was a bit crowded, but it wasn't too bad for the most part. we even fed the sea lions this time, we enjoyed that!

then we went back to the car and got our lunches, picnic bag and the double stroller. tommy insisted on sitting in the back all day. sasha got to sit in the front for the most part. then we went over to the park and went to our favorite part, the toddler's field. the splash pool was completely dry, but that was fine because it actually turned out to be a pretty cold day. it didn't rain, but it was pretty cloudy. and the wind was *cold*! first the kids and i had popcorn for a snack, but then i let them have their lunches. then lily and her family showed up, and we had a great time chatting and eating together. the kids also had a great time playing on the playground and empty pool. after a while, we decided to go to the zoo they have there.

we loved looking at all the animals, and at the furiae (??) part, the kids got to pet goats, and then hold a guinea pig. i think they really enjoyed it! we left the zoo at four, and the whole park closed at five. i have to report that the kids and i actually had to run for the exit! lol (lily's family parked at a different part of the park, so i don't know if they had to run or not.)

then we decided to go to the closest AEON to have a snack at starbucks, lily and her family, too. it was nice to sit and chat--and warm up!--even if the shopping center was a bit crowded. then the kids and i went to dinner while the others went home. after that we drove home, where tommy fell asleep (so rare!) and hiro and sasha stayed awake (also rare!). a fun, happy day!

on wednesday, my mother was encouraging me to get a passport to marine world, the aquarium in fukuoka city. i thought it was a great idea so yesterday the kids and i went to the park at uminonakamichi. we had a great time, as we usually do. (you can read this post about our visit last year.)

on the way i picked up something to eat at a hokka-ben, and the kids insisted we eat as soon as we got to the park. so we did. then, halfway through their onigiri, hiro and sasha said they weren't hungry anymore. typical. sweet tommy ate all of his, though, because he didn't really have breakfast. poor baby! (can i just say here, though, that he wore underpants ('unpants') all day yesterday and didn't have any accidents. not even during his long nap in the car on the way home!) the weather was really cooperative, especially since rain was forecast for the afternoon. we headed over to the park, which has really changed (almost all of the amusement park rides are gone, i wonder if they're going to be replaced?) we headed over to the toddler's park and the kids splashed in the pool for a long time! we had a great day. thanks mom!

yesterday we went to uminonakamichi. we had lots of fun, although i really need to bring bentos and drinks with us when we go!! first we went to marine world, and all was going ok. we basically went straight to the touching pool which wasn't very crowded. there was a boy there, though, who was touching a ray and it must have spooked him because he jumped and splashed a lot of water. he got my arm all wet, and one of the workers there asked if we needed a towel (usually there's someone there supervising and 'teaching' about the animals you can touch in the pool) so he gave me a towel. now, only my arm was wet but the boy's shirt had some drops on it so i wiped him a bit. i think i embarrassed him, though! poor guy.

next we went to the dolphin show, though the first part is actually a seal and sea lion show. it never changes (actually, i don't think the show changes except maybe once a year...) and the kids got bored (they couldn't see well, either) and so we left before we actually got to see the dolphins (which is cool because they jump really high and stuff). we went to the large panoramic tank, which has loads of sharks.

afterward we went to the wonder world park and had loads of fun. this time i remembered to bring the swimming things and towels, and we loaded up on sunblock so we wouldn't burn. the kids had lots of fun, and i had to pretty much be in there the whole time for tommy's sake. in the end i did get burned but i think that's because i didn't do a good job reapplying sunblock to myself. don't worry, i got all the kids so only i got burned. *sigh* so, some pics of the kids enjoying the water:










we didn't have lunch before and it was so difficult dragging them back to the car (you know, because i had to get them out of the water, dry them, put their clothes back on...doing it all on my own of course!) they just wanted to play but tommy was clearly exhausted and we were all hungry, and the walk back to the parking lot is far! the toddler playground and splashing pool is kinda in the middle of the park, and we had parked closer to marine world than the park (because hiro had to go to the bathroom when we first got there, and there are toilets near marine world) so it was a long way to go with three tired and hungry children in the burning sun...but we made it to the car and tommy and sasha promptly fell asleep! i got something at hokka-ben and hiro and i shared it. later on i got onigiri for tommy and sasha.

we had a great time. i think the splashing pool would be a great place to have sasha's birthday party, so maybe next year! the problem is you have to pay for parking, then pay to get into the park (though kids not in elementary school are free to get in the park). maybe i can do it for tommy and hiro's birthdays....

on friday, i didn't have any plans. i had asked yoshi to take the day off, but then remembered that we had to take sasha to the hospital on monday, so i asked him to take that day off instead. after yoshi went to work, i got some laundry together (it rained pretty much all week) and took it to the laundromat to dry. then i decided to keep on driving, and we ended up at uminonakamichi. instead of marine world, i decided to take the kids to the wonder world park. as usual, it was not busy, though there were a few people wandering around. actually, we saw more people than usual, but many of them were carrying inner tube type toys because they were on their way to sunshine swimming pool (only open in summer). looks like a nice water park...i wish i had known about it before i had kids! lol

the field of flowers was blocked off, though, because they are working on the fall flowers. i could see some of the cosmos starting to bloom (here's a photo from last year) so i think i may go back in october (depending on baby. might have to go with my mom ;) anyway, first things first, i got some ice cream (B&R of course) and enjoyed that with hiro and sasha.



then we went to the toddler park. that was great for hiro, but hard on sasha. she wanted to play, too, but since she can't walk yet, and i am far too pregnant to take her around, i could only put her on a bouncy toy. hiro loved the slides, though.



sasha wants to share tea with everyone:



then we went to the splish splash pool. this is a toddler pool (with a scary looking suction on one side...) that you can actually get in--if you plan ahead, wear your bathing suit--and it's nice and refreshing. that day was cloudy and not too hot, very nearly a perfect summer day in fukuoka, but we still enjoyed going into the pool for a splash.



near there is a children's center. we went inside and i let the kids play on the playground. this was perfect for sasha.











after that i was pretty tired, and it was time for lunch and then nap, so we left. uminonakamichi seaside park is so big, i still haven't seen all of it! i hope to spend more time there in the next few years with the kids. it's lovely.