Nathan's birthday

Nathan had a fun birthday that was extra special because we had visitors come to help him celebrate. Nathan's Aunt Lynn, Cousin Alison and her husband James came to see us for a few days at the end of their awesome trip to Tokyo and South Korea. We were so happy that they were here to help Nathan ring in a new year.

Nathan partied with the boys before we went out to dinner with our guests. 

We had a really great time sampling all the different options at Za Watami in downtown Sasebo. It's a place that serves small plates, like tapas, and you just keep ordering until you're full. We got many rounds of some amazing Japanese dishes. I got some escargot with mushrooms that I'm still thinking about and James' new favorite food is basashi, raw horse meat!

Nathan found the most festive drink on the menu that gave us all a good laugh.

Happy birthday, Nathan! We love you.

Wilson's 4!

Wilson turned 4 this week and celebrated with some friends. 

Thanks Grandma for the awesome pirate stuff! 

The kids had fun making spy glasses, wearing their bandanas and of course checking out Wilson's loot.

At one point, we found Leo had snuck off with his 2nd (gluten and dairy free!) chocolate cupcake. Doesn't he look guilty?

The party was right next to the popular pirate park in downtown Sasebo, so the kids had a ball playing together.

Wilson and his future wife, Lily, got in some alone time by the river.

Wilson had a really great time partying with his friends!

His actual birthday was a Tuesday and Nathan got off work early so we could catch the Sunny Ship at Huis Ten Bosch for a cruise. The kids have been asking to go since we moved here, but this was our first time on the boat.

I think it's modeled after a popular cartoon show here and there was a lot of fun stuff to do on board.

We also took out a paddle boat for some more fun.

After the boat rides, we came home and Wilson had a (gluten and dairy free!) cookie cake to top off the birthday festivities. 

The candles proved to be pretty resilient.

Leo stepped in to help.

And, eventually it took Dad's help to get his wish!

Wilson's big present this year was his very own guitar. He loves it because it's just his size and his favorite color. Lessons with Dad start soon!

Happy birthday, Wilson! 

We had a lot of fun celebrating with you.

Wilson kun

Wilson kun, as his teachers call him, began his new school year this month. He has one of his same teachers from last year, Kanako sensei, who he loves. Most of his classmates are new and although there are a few other Americans at his grade level, he's still the only one in his class. He has been a little tentative going back with all the changes and the two week break spent home with Mom and Leo, but still comes home with a smile and stories of his fun day. He adores wearing his new uniform to school almost as much as we adore seeing him in it. Who says you can't dress boys up like dolls? 

Here is a picture in his full formal outfit that he wears to school every day. 

They change from their formal to the sports uniform at school. Here is what he comes home in every day. He's trying to show off the back that says his school name, Kurinomi.

Looking good, Wilson kun! We hope you have a fun school year.

Ikitsuki Island

Ikitsuki is an island about an hour northwest of us off of Hirado Island. Both islands have bridges that go to them so they're easy to get to. Ikitsuki is pretty remote and people go there for whale watching and it's beautiful scenery. We went on a cold day last weekend and came up short on any whale sightings. We did see some beautiful scenery though.

These are the cliffs on the western side of the island that is super windy because it faces the open sea. Leo buried his head in Nathan's shoulder the whole time and I held Wilson's hand so he wasn't blown away - it was that windy! There were a few hiking trails that take you along the cliffs. We decided to come back when the weather is a bit warmer to do them.

There were many energy windmills (smart!) on the island and we found a park where you could walk right up to them. They were very large up close! 

Here is the bridge going back to Hirado Island. We really do love the beautiful islands all around us.

Thanks for the fun day, Ikitsuki Island. Now we know where to come in a few months when it's terribly hot and we could use a cool breeze!

Mount Unzen

Mount Unzen is a volcano about 2 hours south of us that last erupted in 1991. The area around the volcano is very beautiful and mountainous. We took a drive through the towns of Obama, Unzen and Shimabara and saw some pretty amazing scenery. 

Obama is a hot springs town. They call the springs the Obama Onsen and it claims to be the longest foot bath in all of Japan. We had a picnic and a great time soaking our toes,

checking out the spring,

and having some fun with the signs.

After a few miles of driving through the beautiful mountains and town of Unzen, we visited a park near Shimabara where the worst of the volcano destruction occured. They have preserved some of the homes that were buried under the lava and debris from the eruption. These homes were evacuated before they were destroyed and were quite shocking to see.

I guess I forgot I would probably blog about our day trip so I only got a few pictures from our stops. I'm sure it is a blog fail to make a post about a volcano and not have an actual picture of the volcano on it. Trust me the scenery was pretty amazing.

It was a great road trip. We'll definitely be back!

Sakura

The cherry blossoms, or sakura in Japanese, have been blooming these past few weeks and they're pretty amazing. We've been enjoying them at our favorite park in downtown Sasebo this week.

Japanese families have picnics under the cherry blossoms. At night, they're usually very festive meals involving lots of sake. You can see some picnickers above under the trees and below at night when they light up the lanterns.

This weekend we found a great waterfall park about an hour east of us that was perfect for viewing the blossoms. 

 

The petals are definitely all falling down now and Wilson said it looked like snow. We will miss them when they are gone. See you next spring, beautiful sakura!