Noah's race! : )

They had a race for babies and toddlers. If you couldn't walk yet, your mom could carry you, ha ha ha! The age for this was 3 years and under. Noah and I went and did this together.


Hey, no fair! How can Noah stand a chance against a 3 year old? Ha ha ha! There was a 1 year old there racing at the same time as us. He was also born in July like Noah. His mom takes her older son to the same swimming school Branden goes to. However he can't walk completely yet, he still has a bit of trouble. Which is fine...hey they walk when they walk. Noah walks fine though, he's fast just like his brother!

There was a gift for each child at the finish line. A snoopy towel and some kids crackers. Noah picked up his prize!

Here's the other 1 year old in the background. he's a very nice little boy. He plays with Noah during swimming school, while they both wait for their big brother's to swim. : )

Funny, someday Noah and this boy will be going to the same yochien in a few years time. : )

Lunch time!!! : )

Here's our main stuff, the rest was in the Costco bag. I also froze our teas and Calpis and Aquarius drinks the night before, and by the time it was half time, they were melted and ice cold. And also, my MIL made Branden and I each a plain rice onigiri, ha ha ha. I ate it and liked it!


At the half time. Branden had won every race so far. He was happy and playful. He had no idea, he was about to win the biggest race of the day after this, here lunch.


Grandma and a sleeping Noah!


Branden and Aoi-kun. After lunch, Aoi-kun came over to our picnic area and sat. I fed him some more food even though I am sure his mom fed him a wonderful lunch already. They were giving karate chops to the Thomas bottle holder. Not sure why but it was harmless play, they were playing quietly and were laughing and having fun.



See, Noah's arm? He was awake and wanted in on the action! Ha ha ha!



Here is Noah looking on and playing with the big boys!

Aoi-kun threw his hat on Noah! Noah didn't mind one bit. In fact, I think he was happy and feeling like "just one of the guys" ha ha ha!


Soon after this, the hour lunch was over. Enough fooling around for us all. Noah gave the hat back to Aoi-kun. And Branden put *his* hat back on as well, and they all went pee-pee before the final half of undokai!

Noah cheered for his brother Branden and their friend Aoi-kun!

Stuff we packed for our lunch : )

We brought one of our big cheap 200 yen Costco bags. Because with all the food we were bringing, we needed a *big* bag and this fit the bill nicely. At half time, we were all going to stop and have an hour lunch. And it was nice. If someone were to ask me what to bring. I'd suggest bring whatever you and your family likes to eat (okay, duh! LOL). But do try to bring a good amount of food! Because everyone brings tons. And yes, everyone does peek and look and notice what everyone else brings, lol! So try to pack good stuff. We also brought small snack stuff for Branden's friends. Like those koala cookies that are filled with chocolate and also some anpanman senbei's. Because yochien kids always bring small individually wrapped stuff and trade them and share them with their friends! : )


I think you all pretty much know that my MIL owns a couple take-out restaurants in Osaka. So she brought some stuff from her shops. She brought, mini chicken cutlets. Karaage, ebi furai/fry. Hot dogs (I'm not crazy about Japanese hot dogs but I ate everything else), some Japanese egg omelete thing. It was nice of her to bring this and it saved me from having to cook a meal for undokai. Next year I would like to make, yakitori and maybe some yakisoba and stuff though. But this was good and I appreciated it a lot.


Mikan's, these were sweet. And boiled eggs. This is funny, because when my MIL passed a boiled egg to Branden during our half time/picnic lunch time. He told her in Japanese, that he didn't want to eat a boiled egg around his friends, because they stink and smell like farts! My husband actually spit out his food, he was laughing so hard! I was shocked and thought it was hilarious. Branden refused to eat granny's hard boiled eggs in front of his yochien friends! LOL! Hmmm, I think granny will *never* pack hard boiled eggs for Branden ever again after this episode! He did however eat them at home, the following morning, no problem!

These are the snacks that I bought and brought with us. The Anpanman senbei's were for Branden and his friends. Although Noah took 2 packs of them and ate them during the day which was fine, there was plenty. The choco koala cookies Branden shared. The plain senbei's were for Noah. The pepper senbei's were for anyone but they are my favorite, so I ate them with Noboru. The coconut pocky, Noah had 2 and all of us ate the rest. And chips, even Aoi-kun loved the chips. Aoi-kun is Branden's best friend.


The bread is what my MIL used before we left, she made chicken catsu sandwiches and potato salad sandwiches. We also brought cheesecake, which our family ate and I also gave Aoi-kun some cheesecake as well. He's such a cutie and a wonderful friend to both Branden and to Noah.


We also brought a dozen donuts.

Bits of everything! : )

Here's the second dance they did! I heard the words, mushi king, so I think the song had something to do with the mushi king.














The father and child race!




Here is Branden and my friend Kumi-san. She's the one who used to live in the UK. And then when she moved back to Japan, she got work at British Airways. She's very nice and speaks very good English. She is also an ALT supervisor, for one of the cities near here. And goes around to all the schools and gives the English teachers their assignments. Branden and her chat a lot and she really likes him. In English he can go on forever! She likes that, I think! Ha ha ha : )


This picture is so perfect and so good. I am going to make 2 copies and keep one and give the other to Rie-san! I know she will love it! I'm going to frame this one and put it in Branden's bedroom...hopefully I can find a frame that reads...Best Friends! : )

Branden's first race for 2006! : )

Hai~!!! Before the race they said each child's name. Last name first and then first name. That's the way they do it in Japan. Each child replies, hai! Sorta in a, yes it's me or I'm here! Sorta way! : )

I didn't care for Branden and Aoi-kun being competitors at all! I had no idea. I wondered if Rie-san knew in advance, since she is at the PTA meetings all week long. She mentioned Branden had been coming in #1. I didn't know he was racing her son though....our most favorite little guy, Aoi! Ouch, talk about feeling very awkward!


The four boys seconds before their race!

Branden took off like a rocket. The kid is just fast. Super fast actually!


All the people who came in first got to go around the gym in something called a "winners lap". Branden is walking the winner's lap and is the 3rd person from the top. The person right behind the girl in the red hat. We were very proud of Branden! : )

First dance of undokai #1

Branden doesn't just like to dance. He loves to dance! As you can tell by these pictures, he had himself a blast during the first performance! : )











In this part, they were supposed to jump into the air. Some did a tiny jump. While some kids must have had nerves which was understandable but they didn't jump. Branden meanwhile jumped so high in the air. Here, he is actually mid-air! Ha ha ha! Gosh he sure did boogie! : )


Clearly this was not a kid being forced to do something he didn't want to do. Quite the contrary, judging by the utter glee on his face! Pure excitement and 100% happy kid!

First dance of undokai! #2 : )

In this move they were supposed to do a light "show your muscles type pose" However, Branden really got into it and wanted to make sure, everyone knew he had super duper muscles! Ha ha ha! What a kid...what a funny kid!


Moving onto the next dance move...however Branden got entranced with, said muscles! Ha ha ha. He did however quickly start dancing again after he checked "said muscles" and was sure everyone, was clearly impressed by his muscle power! Ha!

We heard people commenting, saying "look how cute that little boy is showing off his muscles." Talk about a red faced moment! Ha ha ha!

Right back in dancing mode!










Yet another mid air jump!














Branden had a great time dancing! And we had a great time watching! : )

PS....I got a few more posts about undokai and my mil's stay. Please be patient. I will try to finish them tomorrow. But I will work on them in bits and pieces today when I have the chance : )