Happy 4th Birthday Noah!!! : )

This is how we winded up the evening, with all of us singing Happy Birthday to you!!! Happy Birthday dear Noah......happy birthday to you....and many more~!!!!! But let me rewind the day a bit and start at the beginning. : ) : )

Tuesday July 7th. Branden had an early day at school, he got out at 1:30pm. Noah got out at 1:50pm. So, while Noboru ran and picked up Noah, I ran and picked up B from shogako. We all met back at the house. And pretty much left the house immediately, as soon as Noah changed out of his yochien uniform into regular clothes. : ) We hopped on the highway and headed to Chiba City. Sorta near the immigration place, somewhere around there. : ) : ) Noboru had a brilliant idea...since it was Tanabata, and his birthday let's go to the planetarium and hear the story of Tanabata. Lovely story by the way. I thought hubby had a perfect idea, so we went. Once we got there we bought tickets to the planetarium showing. They have them every hour or every hour and a half maybe? Anyway, we had about 30 minutes to kill, so we got to walk around the museum parts of the science museum and planetarium.

This statue head that followed you wherever you went. Seriously whatever way I walked this head still moved facing me. When B tried it, it did the same and Noah too and hubby too. It was funny. : )

This slanted/tilted room, I have seen at other museums, it does make a person feel discombobulated when laying down and getting up. I tried it. : )

Go birthday boy, go!!!! : ) Four years old! Goodness where does the time go! : )

Noboru loves explaining things to the boys. He's a great dad. : )

And now it was time to go into the planetarium. They said to seat farthest back, to get the best look at the stars and they were right. So glad we sat so far back. Noboru said he hadn't been to a planetarium since HE was in yochien. That made me laugh. I had last been in one in uni when I had to take a science class, and I took astronomy. I loved that class! So, I was sorta excited to be at the planetarium.

They said, no pictures, no camera and no cell phones and no eating. So, this was before the show started so I quickly took these 2 pictures and then I didn't take any during the show. Sorry. : ) We LOVED the planetarium so much. We saw the big dipper, little dipper, North Star, the bear in the sky etc. It was all via that big white screen. Such a modern way to take it all in. Then the speaker started talking and telling the tale of Tanabata. How once there was a weaver princess named Orihime and a cow herder prince named Hikoboshi living in the night sky. After they got together, they were playing/goofing off all the time and forgot all about their jobs. The king was really upset with them and so he separated them on opposite sides of the Amanogawa River (the Milky Way). The king allows them to meet only once a year on July 7th. I love this story and loved hearing them explain it to us at the planetarium. This was a really cool way to spend our little Tanabata boy's birthday. No doubt. : )

After we left the planetarium we went to check out another floor of the museum, this museum is really amazing by the way. On this particular floor,they had old radios, ways we listened to music from the past and old TV's etc.

The kids were in awe over the old stuff. Ha ha ha.

Noboru and I remembered the old record players. The boys, looked and said what's that?! We both looked at each other and cracked up! "While that's a record player", I said. Noboru started listing to me the records he used to have, when he was little. I did the same....I said I had the Grease album! And my parents had lots of the Beatles and Fleetwood Mac! Oh it was really funny being there seeing all this old stuff. : )

Branden didn't even know what this was. But then remember he's from the Ipod age though. Noboru and I both said....ghetto blaster!!! LOL. Man we were cracking up so hard, on this floor. Good thing it wasn't crowded.

This sent me laughing my butt off again. I told Noboru. My dad and mom used to own a tiny TV just like that in the 70's. We took it camping. Funny how I remembered something like that. Haven't thought of that in years!

We decided to give Branden and Noah some old school, type schooling! I said, these are records and those smaller ones were 45's, they usually had 1 song on each side, lol. And the big one is an album. And that tape is a beta, way before the VHS. And up there is an 8-track. LOL. They picked out the CD, but even CD's are not really used by our family much anymore, we're all downloading stuff to Ipod, it's just easier. It was a learning experience for the kids but a trip down memory lane for Noboru and I. How funny. : )

Noboru laughed about the rice cookers. And we both checked out the toasters. : ) Anyway, we really enjoyed the Chiba City Museum a lot!!! A definite 2 thumbs up from us!! : )

After the museum, we headed to the Outback Steakhouse for Noah's birthday dinner. We kicked things off with the nachos as our appetizer. They brought out free bread and butter, so we munched nachos and bread and butter while waiting for our entrees. : )

Noah had the chicken fingers kids meal with fries and a pink lemonade. Free refills on all the drinks. : ) B had the cheeseburger kids meal with fries and a lemonade. Hubby had the ribs. Babyback ribs.

I had my usual, Alice Springs chicken and baked potatoes. You get choice of 2 sides. So, I always just pick 2 cheesy buttery potatoes. I also had a pink lemonade. Hubby had a soda.

All the wait staff came out, and shook a tambourine and sang Happy Birthday to Noah, they got the whole restaurant to sing Happy Birthday as well. And they brought out this birthday hot fudge sundae, it was lit with a candle but he blew it out by the time I took the picture. He shared it with his brother. : )

The school also gave him some homemade cookies the encho sensei makes by hand herself. And a card and a small gift. : ) They weighed him, measured how tall he was on his birthday and wrote it down behind this card, they also took a hand dipped it in paint, so he can see how big his hand was on his actual birthday. I love that they do all this cool stuff on the kids birthdays. : )

His sensei who knows him most, wrote the card. And I will tuck this away into his yochien box for when he's an adult and he can read it for himself. : )

After we got home from the planetarium and the Outback, we pulled out the ice cream cake and lit the candles and started singing to our little guy on his birthday!!! And this is how we got back to the picture at the top of this post. How was his birthday spent? Like we always spend them. Just quiet little small family affairs. No great big whoop deedoo type events. Just quiet meaningful ones. : )

And one pic of Noah unwrapping his gifts. : ) He's four years old now, you guys! Happy Birthday sweetheart!!! We love you Noah! : )