So on the evening of July 7th, Noah's birthday. After Branden's school and Kumon, we hopped in our minivan and headed to Narita mall. Boy has it been nicely revamped btw! Anyway, we arrived a bit earlier then our reservation was for, so we walked around the mall a bit. We stopped off at this store that sells home stuff. I am about to change over my kitchen table cloth and runner and floral arrangement. Will be doing that this summer. So, I went in here and found some flowers I really liked a whole lot. I plan to come back here and buy them in a few weeks.
They really had a fantastic assortment of everything I was looking for, that I can sorta mix together and get a nice arrangement for the ol' kitchen table, lol. Can't wait. However better not think about that for this week. Ha ha ha. But it is on the back burner. : )
We went into the Hard Rock and got a pretty good seat. In a private more secluded type spot. I loved where we were sitting. We ordered an appetizer of nachos. Those were actually really awesome! Noah had the chicken strips meal. Note, see the plastic cups? We actually left them at the restaurant this time, lol.
Branden had the cheeseburger combo! : )
I had the chicken fajitas! : ) And Noboru had the fish and chips! : )
Yup, the tortilla was right, that's where we were! LOL. Winks! : )
They gave us all these beanie babies. The blue ones were 4th of July ones, lol. A bit after the fact, right? Ha ha ha. : ) But the kids love all that stuff so we lugged those darn 6 beanies home. The kids favorites are the green ones, go figure! : )
After our meal, they brought a complimentary ice cream chocolate sundae it had a brownie in it! I had a bite and it was good! Both the boys split that! Don't wanna leave either kid out. And when it's B's birthday, he will share his with Noah as well. : ) The entire restaurant dimmed their lights. They made a huge announcement saying it was Noah's birthday, they even put his face on the TV monitors all around the restaurant. He was actually watching his own face in this pic! LOL. You know how loud and nice the wait staff sings and claps? They got the rest of the people eating there....into clapping and singing. It was so much fun! Noboru was clapping in this pic. And they sang Noah a happy birthday! They even made him a pin with all our faces on it! It was cool! And a great way to spend a low key family birthday for our youngest son!
So happy, after being serenaded by the whole restaurant! Ha ha ha!
We went home, and our little family of 4, went into the kitchen, all his presents were wrapped sitting and waiting. We pulled out the cake from the freezer. And got the coffee going!
I opened the card from my dad! Noah's grandpa. His card was lovely.
He kindly gave his grandson $100.00 Thanks dad, very much, I know I already told you, but seriously thanks again! We love you so much! : )
We then, turned off all the lights and we sang Happy Birthday to Noah.
He blew out the candles, made his wish. And we turned the lights back on!
Now he got to open all his presents. : )
I think by the big smile on his face it's obvious he really had a nice and wonderful birthday! All of us enjoyed it. It was just a small little family affair, none of our neighbors knew of his birthday. None one, other then just our little family of 4, our extended families and just you guys reading this, all you virtual aunties and friends, ha ha ha! Yup, a quiet but happy birthday! : )
Wednesday, we went to swimming school, same as usual! And today they were doing a testing day!
Here the woman coach was giving Branden some last minute pointers. This was before the test at the end though. This was a practice before the test.
The swimming was without any safety floatie things at all. Just going back and forth in a few techniques.
And he did it! Branden is now a level 8 now! We are so proud of our Branden. Also, regarding ichinensei swim lessons. It is also broken down into levels of swimming. Meaning how well your kid can swim will determine what level they start at. The beginners level are called the tadpoles (at our school). And most of the kids fall into that class. And I think that's okay because by the time they reach 6th grade they should be good swimmers, so no worries. Also, though the highest level of swimming is the dolphins. And of course all the different levels in between. Branden is a dolphin at ichinensei. So he's in the highest swimming class at his elementary school for first grade. So, we are proud of him with his swimming all the way around. : ) Hey nothing wrong with being a proud parent, when your kid achieves something. So, anyways, good for B! : )
And introducing the newest swimmer of the family! This is Noah's swim card! He begins swimming lessons July 19th! For the first month, he can swim unlimited and take unlimited amount of classes before switching him over to the regular swim course. But yup, he's now a member of the swim club! Swimming lessons for the next 3 years *at least* for Noah! Go get em' my little 3 year old! : ) His class will be just for 3 year olds and 4 year olds! And with his *just* turning 3, I will worry about him a lot at first! : ) We already bought him his swim cap! And for the first month he won't need to wear that dreadful swim uniform. The first month he can wear his regular swim shorts. But after that he has to switch to the uniform.
In other bits and pieces Noboru bought Branden his first cell phone. It's called a Kodomobile phone. Basically it means it's a kids phone. For those of you in Japan, with kids in elementary school and enrolled in other extra curricular activities this must seem normal. But I imagine my family in America probably just fainted right over just now! I can just hear them now, "a phone for a 6 year old?!" Ha ha ha. Honestly when Branden was age 3, and he entered yochien someone mentioned to me about their older child having a phone. I thought, a kid having a phone? Absolutely no way. I don't think a kid would have the responsibility for that. Blah blah blah. It didn't make sense to me at all. Errr....okay add 3 years and now here we are Branden is age 6 and like they always say,....... never say never!!! I am *not* recommending anyone to buy one either. I only can share with you our families reasons for getting one. For starters. When Branden started Kumon back when he was in yochien. We realized that Kumon doesn't have a start time or end time. Kumon is open for example for us from 3pm to 8pm, your child can go anytime that day during that time. And they may leave when they finish the appointed homework. Okay, so often many times, I found I was waiting in the car for 15 minutes. Or having to run up the stairs and see if he was ready yet. Finally, I just started handing Branden my phone. On the manner mode obviously and when he was finished, he would walk out to the hall and phone me and say, "mommy please pick me up" and by the time he put away all his folders and work and got more new work, I was waiting downstairs. So, for the past year Noboru and I have been alternating giving B our keiteis. And that's been fine, no complaints at all. Then Branden's little friend, Saya-chan has her own phone. Since April we've been observing how responsible this little girl is with her cute little pink phone with girly stickers on it. When she arrives Branden's house, she'll call her mom and say, "I am at Branden's kun's house now, I'll call you before I leave." or she'll call her daughter on her cell. So, yeah it has been something we had been thinking about a lot. We know Branden's responsible, we know he's a good kid. He's not like one of those destructo kids, that destroys everything in it's path, yk, what I mean. LOL. And the final straw was on Tuesday Branden got off school early. Somehow Noboru misread that and we had no idea. Branden was unsure if I was going to pick him up, he shoulda walked home (clearly I was unaware of the earlier pick up time that day). But he ended up wisely going back to the sensei to the school. And they phoned us and I drove and got him immediately. I was angry at the hubby. But forgave him, hey he's human. But we concluded, if B had the phone, he coulda called us and we coulda easily just told him, "go ahead and walk with the kids today" or, "I'll be right there, stay right there" that sorta stuff. So anyway for our family we decided to get him a phone. We were sorta 99% swaying that way to begin with and with the mix up the other day, when he got out early and stuff, it gave us that tiny push we needed. It was the best idea for our family. So yup, now we are a 3 keitei family. : )
It has a light reflector, it has a GPS tracking devise in it as well. He wants to decorate it with stickers. I told him he could put 1 Spongebob sticker on it, but that's it! Ha ha ha. : )
Kid phone. : ) Anyway now when he plays on a weekend with friends, we can call him to come home or to see where he is. Next tid bit......
One of my girlfriends, our sons went to the same yochien together and we see each other at swim club every week. Anyway she brought me some fresh green beans and a carrot, she said she got everything from her garden! I thought that was very kind of her! Hmm! Seems that once I start getting more zucchini, I will start packing up some fresh zucchini's for my friends in return! And in other last minute bits! : ) Today July 10th, at around 4:50 am, my dad flew out of Guam for the last time. He is going home. Going back to Colorado permanently ( I know I briefly mentioned that earlier). He's thrilled and excited. Meanwhile we will miss him immensely on this side of the world but, we know it's what he must do. So, anyway, he flew from Guam to Narita. From there he was in transit and could not leave the airport and even I could not even see him
since he couldn't leave the international transfer area ykwim. He had to catch his next flight. His flight left to the mainland at around 10am this morning, is when I think he left Japan. So he's already left Japan and should be in the air until tonight Japan time! I am sure he'll be jet lagged but he'll be happy once he gets over that! : ) We love you so much dad!!!! : )
And in other news, our travel plans changed a whole lot. Let me catch you up. First off we are going 2 places versus 1. We are leaving to Denver in August and leaving to Guam for 4 nights/5days in July. We leave tomorrow Friday July 11th very very early in the morning. Noboru got only 5 days off work for July, so obviously flying to Denver then would be out. This was a small bummer! However silver lining is, he is taking 14 days off in August, so we will get actual more time spent in Denver so that's the actual good thing. But the only tiny sad thing is, we have to wait 3-4 more weeks. However, going to Guam for the next 5 days helps me tons. Because I can get to eat all the yummy food, we can snorkel, and swim and slide down slides and when I get back to Japan, I will feel refreshed and recharged and then the next 4 weeks won't seem so bad of a wait! So, it's not so bad. Besides, I waited 2 and a half years to go home to Denver, 4 more weeks, I can handle. And the beach in Guam is calling my name anyway. : ) And honestly, you guys know how busy I have been with B starting ichinensei, all those PTA meetings, the observation days, and even the fun observation Sunday, lol. And running here and running there. And the whole drivers license fiasco study marathon that was. And honestly......5 days, 4 nights in another bed, and 5 days of no cooking or cleaning for a change. My gosh that sounds like a real dream to me right now. I could really use the break you guys. I really could! : ) So, anyways if my blog gets a bit quiet, it's because I am gone. I'm off walking on a sandy beach someplace, not thinking of my computer and not thinking about PTA meetings, lol. I need this type of time off once in a while, to destress, relax, kick back, sit under a big umbrella, my straw hat, sunglasses and a nice frozen drink with umbrella in it. : ) I'll get back next Tuedsay night, but more then likely won't be turning this computer on until Wednesday. Anyway, our suitcase is all packed and it's in the genkan already for our 6:30am leaving of the house tomorrow. The carry-on is 80% packed, we have the portable DVD player, yes we bring this even though we have those mini TV's in front of each seat even. The DS lite is packed and charged. Camcorder and my digi camera is packed in the carry-on. I will get some last minutes snacks after I pick up B this afternoon otherwise it looks like that's it for us. Have a good couple days the rest of you, will miss you all and catch up with all of you when I get back! : )
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