Merry Christmas

 

Christmas meets the Year of the Rabbit. 

Apple Picking in Karuizawa

I have to say this ranks as one of my favorite days spent in Japan so far.  It was worth the months of nagging it took to finally get Naoto to agree to go, who only had a rather shabby New York experience as a point of reference on apple picking. Of course now seasonal fruit picking has become one of his MUSTS and he is already planning our next trip. The orchard was beautiful,  the people running it were so very kind and the apples were delicious, but above all it was Kai's enjoyment that made the day so memorable.

Autumn

We've been fortunate enough to have some beautiful fall weather bestowed upon us and are doing our very best to take advantage of it, which means hitting some new parks.

We stumbled upon this one which advertised itself as a zoo, the animals were fairly scarce but it did have some fun kiddie amusements that of course Kai just loved. He could have drove Naoto around all day if we would have let him.

 

These creepy spiders were everywhere. Naoto said they are the most common and typical spiders found here.  I of course squealed like an infant every time I saw one and was convinced one would land in my hair. 

 

Baby boy Ikeda makes his presence known.

Oh freakishly large guinea pigs how you scare me so.

Happy Halloween

My fierce and wild zebras

He's worn this costume on and off now for over a week but refuses to have his own picture taken, instead he insists on posing Mimi and photographing her. I think he's finally worn her down as the poor girl has become completely subservient these days. If she dare moves he really gives her a verbal lashing. But he does truly love her, she is the first one he says hello to when he enters the house and never forgets to say goodnight to her each and every night.

Sports Day

The daycare put on an adorable mini sports day recently. All the kids practiced their routines for weeks. Although I'm terribly biased I do believe my little sprout was the best darn bear and mushroom dancer of the lot.

The game face!

Baby bear makes it across the beam.

Mushrooms collected and tossed.

Staying focused for the next highly anticipated event.

The mushroom dance! Just look at my little fungi go.

His victory pose. This actually is the preferred pose of choice these days. This and the one where he pulls his eyes down, but thought I'd spare everyone that lovely visual.

He wore his Pooh-san medal all day.

Summertime

A city slicker's way of beating the excruciating heat that is upon us.

Ahoy!

First carousel ride- Naoto ultimately was the one who got sick, although you could have literally run faster than that ride was moving.

Happy 2nd Birthday Kai Finn

Good Morning Birthday Boy.



Hard to believe my baby turned two.
We celebrated the day with a trip to the zoo.
He was a bit frightened by some of the larger animals
but overall he really enjoyed it.

The elephant was by the far the animal that scared Kai the most.

This is me trying to convince Kai not to be scared and just as I'm telling him how absolutely magical elephants are, the dang thing backs his big ol' tush up and lays down some serious business, my tender moment was completely thwarted by elephant pee.

Naoto of course grasped what was going on faster than I did and was photographing the whole thing.

Mini Naoto in the making. He 'photographed' every animal at the zoo.

Sleepy wolves








Toddler on a sugar high- Watch out!

This is how he greeted me as I was brushing my teeth and getting ready to put him to bed.