August 2012

Naomi's Homestay

The University of Missourit-St. Louis holds a three-week program for students from Japan.  For one weekend, local families have the opportunity to host a student.  We had Naomi Kidosaki stayed with us, and  the weekend was a great experience.

Good time at Grandpa Joe and Grandpa Julie's house

We spent one afternoon in Illinois, first at Eckert's picking apples.  Hiroki built quite a bond with Naomi, and shed tears when we dropped her off.  

Amane makes everyone smile!

Quick stop at Ravendale Farm, where Hiroki and his cousin Luke conquered a huge sand pile.

On the ride home from a busy day, everyone was KICKED!

Love love!

Did you know these two were stars in Dr. Seuss books?

Is there anything better than messing with hair in the tub?

First Day of School for Hiroki's 2nd year of preschool: no tears this year!

What happened here?

Kansas City

We packed up the car and headed to Kansas City for a few days.  Besides the hotel pool, we went to the Hallmark Center, Legoland, Sea Life Aquarium, and a bunch of parks and fountains.

Stringing together Hiro's name at the Hallmark Center.

Michiyo helped Hiroki make this.

My memories of the Hallmark Center from when I was a kid are of a simple, big white room.  These days, it looks like Alice in Wonderland--the perfect place to bring little ones (and FREE!).

LEGOLAND!!!

Here's a couple of picks put together from Legoland, pretty self-explanatory.  I can't say enough good things about this place.  It helped that we had good timing: the place was practically empty, as it was the first week of school for most families.  It's not too expensive, and has plenty to do for families with little ones for a few hours.  We will definitely come here again!

 

Sea Life Aquarium

Unfortunately, Sea Life does not merit the rave reviews that Legoland does.  There are some good photo ops, as you can see below, but this place is basically a rich person's home aquarium.  Lots and lots of pretty small fish, some mini-sharks and little stingrays.  We tried to do, see and read as much as we could, and blew through here in one hour.  McKayla was not impressed with Sea Life.  But we did get fun pics!

The guy in orange is a lucky man.

 Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Your dang right we got yelled at for climbing on the giant shuttlecocks.  Daddy  set a bad example.

After Kansas City, we came home and spent a day at Elephant Rocks State Park in Iron County, Missouri, one of my favorite places in the state. 

Off the beaten path at Elephant Rocks--this was an old train station.

End of summer pool party at a friend's house.  Aoi-chan and family came back to St. Louis from Jacksonville for a visit.

All the kiddos together in one shot.  As fast as life evolves, and as young as they are, this pic is an instant classic for this playgroup.

Yumiko came back to St. Louis from Texas, and all these Mommies and kiddos were happy to gather at our house.

We are SO lucky to have such happy kids!