Back To School

Open house for Mendel elementary school:

 1st day of school for 3rd grade and 6th:

 Ty walks to school with friends and walks home afterward. Lachoneus rides the bus to and from the middle school. However, Ster will soon be working in a building next door to the middle school. Then, Ster will take Luke to school sometimes.

 Before Ster left for work one morning I could hear him playing pretend with Athena in her bedroom. So I snuck in and made them say cheese.

 While the boys were in school a whole week before Athena starts I scheduled a few fun things for her week. On Thursday we met some friends at the bowling alley. We ate lunch there then bowled. And lastly we played some arcade games there.
Sterling showed up during the bowling to hand off two little kiddos for me to watch. They had just arrived in Japan with their parents so I was watching them while the parents took the drivers test.

I also had a Phoebe from our ward with me that day. After the bowling center I took all four children to my house to play for a couple of hours.

 People who joined us for bowling: Sis Auna and her boy, Sis Kartchner and her boy, Sis Fry with her two girls. We had a blast! The little kids got tired of bowling before we reached the halfway point in the game even though we took up three lanes to make it shorter wait times for the kids inbetween their turns.

 Athena and I made cherry pies on Friday. Mini pies. We took them to a work potluck that day after school. Athena is so ready to start attending school during the week! And I am even more ready!

 Saturday we went as a family to Showa Kinen Park. It was our second time there. It was supposed to be a rainy day but it was just hot.
We took our bikes...squeezed them in the back of the car. And squeezed the kids in the middle of the car. So we could ride instead of hike at the park.

 I thought this tree was really interesting with two different types of greenery growing on the trunk:

Randoms

Someone in the ward needed a cake so I did them a favor. I made a small birthday cake for Brother Cothran who was sad to miss his wife's bday. He went out of town for work and arranged for me to make a spice cake with buttercream frosting and a manatee theme. He gave me the candles he wanted for the top. LOL. Typically a woman doesn't want her number on the cake. 

I charged just $15.

 I made a sash for Athena's Japanese dress. She wore it to church one Sunday. Adorable!

 Sterling and I are primary teachers in the junior primary so we see Athena. She doesn't sit or stay quiet. And she tries to always sit with her best friend Matthew. But together they are double trouble and always hugging.

I had to take a pic Sunday when they were quietly cuddling during music time.

Beach Day

After Sterling and I experienced the beach without the children we wanted to get them to the beach before the summer’s end. So, Sterling asked for the final Wednesday of the summer off from work and they gave it to him! We took a beach day!

It took us just over an hour to get to the beach! Which is amazing because it can take up to three hours depending on traffic! I packed enough fun things for the kids and I to do in the car in case it turned into three hours there and three hours back. But, we didn’t need all of that.

We took turns reading books and we watched Sailor Moon episodes.

When we got to the beach we paid 2000yen for all day parking (just over $20).

There was a restroom and a hose for spraying sand off. There was a shower but it would have been 500yen to use it.

We arrived just after 9am which was great. The beach had just a few people on it. The forecast for the day was possible rain. So, that might have helped keep people away.

Lucky for us, it did not rain! And we had a blast!
Aside from the ocean being so salty it made you sick if it got up your nose, the waves and water were fun.

Sterling would take the kids further out to experience larger waves. But the waves that crashed up on the shore were the roughest. Ty loved those! He would sit on the sand waiting to be hit with waves.

Athena mostly played outside of the ocean but she spent a good time in the water too. Ster took her far out where she was able to see schools of fish! She was nervous going out into the water because of the waves. But daddy pushed her to overcome that fear and she loved it.

We borrowed sand toys from a friend beforehand. Athena wished we had inflated tubes but we didn’t. If we stay here in Japan or if we moved somewhere close to a beach we will definitely buy some water tubes.

We made sandwiches for lunch and ate at our vehicle. The kids were eager to get back to the ocean! They didn’t want to go home.

Sterling buried me in the sand as I sat up. Then he admitted he had never in his life experienced that! So I made him lay down and get buried. Then we buried each of our children because...everyone should know what it feels like!

Near the end of our beach time I found a clam like creature. It was so fun to watch. Athena and I put it in a bucket with a little water and a little sand and watched it buried itself in the sand. Then Sterling came and started digging deep in the sand to discover more of the creatures. With the help of a Japanese family we collected atleast 15 of them. They were fun to watch, feel and hold.

Sterling put the creatures in a drink bottle with plenty of ocean water and sand to take on the drive home.

We had been at the beach about 4 hours. And everyone had worn sunscreen...almost. Ster did not apply it to his back, chest and shoulders...big mistake. I chose not to apply it to my legs because I have not experienced burning my legs. I didn’t think it would happen. Big mistake!

The drive home was as amazing as the drive there. No bad traffic!

We got home with our clothes full of sand. We showered well and got dry clothes on. Then we went to Chili’s for an early dinner.

Sterling was in so much pain but...I made him go to activity day boys. We had a lesson to teach! Poor, miserable guy.