Cherry Blossom Time!

The Cherry Blossoms peaked last week.  I did not realize that they only bloom for a week or two, and then all the lovely petals fall off and are replaced by green leaves.  So the big deal is that there is a limited time to enjoy the "Sakura" or cherry blossoms.  And they were projecting lots and lots of rain for the weekend and beyond.

This year I was determined not to miss it.  Unfortunately, I had a lot of things going on last week and the rain was coming.  I finally grabbed the kids when they got home from school on Thursday and hauled them out with me to go see the blossoms.  We braved gray skies and giant crowds and dreadful traffic, but it was worth it!  We went to the Kintai, since it is famous for it's Cherry Blossoms.... and I know how to get there! 

We parked on the far side of the bridge for the first time and the girls were delighted to play on the rocky shore of the river.

See all the blossoms over there? 

Oh, they do make my heart sing! 

The pictures do no justice to the beauty.

The girls were thrilled to finally get to walk across the bridge. 

 Callie even posed for me.

Delaney decreed it the best thing ever, to be on the bridge. 

You can't even see most of the people wandering about, hanging out, and picnicking under the trees over there. 

My sweet Marian 

Silly girls having a good time. 

Working on my artistic photos!

 

Loving the blossoms.

They were so pretty.  The girls were about done by now though.  They just wanted their ice cream and chicken-on-a-stick I had agreed to.

But I can't get enough of the gorgeous blossoms! 

So pink and pretty.  Just one more photo.... 

Yep, that's me!  I was there! 

Oh yes, this angle is perfect. 

Funniest thing is you would never know, based on the pictures, that it was a mob of people and I had to wait for just the right second to click the camera! 

Taking the boats for a trial run.  

Okay, last picture of the bridge.  I promise! 

Rylee and the blooms.

No one else wanted their picture, so I took mine! 

Got a shot of Iwakuni Castle too. 

Sharing the ice cream.  We had to finish it before we could walk back across the bridge. 

Callie wanted a picture on the bridge.  You can see the castle on the left.

 

And my adorable little Rylee.  

It was a fun trip, despite the chaos, and I got my Cherry Blossom viewing done.  Good thing, because it rained most of the weekend and most of the blossoms fell like rain and the trees are a lovely shade of spring green.... but not pink blossoms any more.

Miyajima Monday

 Japanese schools have Spring Break this week, so Rylee was home from preschool all week.  Monday (March 30) was P-Day for our missionaries and I had offered to take them to Miyajima Island, and they were delighted to get permission to do so.  I drove 4 elders and our 2 sisters out to the ferry and we had a lovely day on the island.  The weather was amazing, sunny and mild and glorious.  It did mean there were a lot more people than I have ever seen there before, but it was fine.

Rylee had a blast.  She hopped, skipped and jumped everywhere.  I do not know where she gets all that energy!  It was a fun day and I practiced my artsy photographer skills and tried to get some good shots of the scenery.  The cherry blossoms are blooming and are gorgeous. The deer never get old, although Rylee nearly lost her skirt to one that was sure it was a tasty treat.

Oh, check out that second to last photo.  The sign Rylee is pointing to says "Deer Poop Ice Cream"!  Seriously!  It is actually chocolate covered rice krispies, but here, you never know for sure!

Kokeshi Doll Painting

 A talented lady here offered a "Mommy and Me Kokeshi Doll Painting" and I thought it would be fun to do with some of my girls.  I confess that I only signed up for me and Marian and Callie to do it because I really would rather have the loveliest possible outcome on the dolls, and I couldn't afford to bring all the girls.  We had a good time.  In hindsight, I should have picked a design I liked and committed to it.  As it was, I went it with several ideas, but left the options open and never really decided on anything and ended up not entirely happy with my project.

Marian knew she wanted to splatter paint hers.  It was cute and she enjoyed it, although it took her a few times to get her technique down.  Some trial runs on paper would have helped.  But she was happy with her doll.  And she really wanted me to get good pictures of her and her finished doll at the end!

Callie seemed to know exactly what she wanted and she went for it. She had some trouble with the paint though and kept getting it on the head as she was holding it.  Oops.  She ended up having to paint the face to hide the blue smudges.  Ultimately, she was pleased with her work and liked how it turned out. She did not want to hang around for pictures! She ran off to play as soon as she was done.

Delaney's Baptism.... in the Ocean.... in March!

March 28, 2015-  Must document the official date of this event!

So, we are a small branch, in a sparsely LDS area.  The options for baptism here are slim.  Well, that's not true.  There are quite a few options!   There is the ocean, there is the Kintai River, there is the base swimming pool, and there is the closest Japanese branch's font.  Now, each of these come with some issues.  The ocean is cold, salty and you need a good access point where you can get waist deep quickly. And it is pubic.  The river is also a public area, and quite cold in the winter.  The last time they did a baptism there, there was a minor incident in that uninvited spectators got concerned and called the police.  So there is a little wariness associated with the river.  Also, with the beach and river are the logistics of having a service for it and a place to change out of wet things after.

The base pool can be tricky.  We can use it, in theory, but no one has actually tried it.  Since it is open till 9pm, the decision would also have to be made about how public you wish this event to be, since I don't know that you can reserve the pool just for yourself during it's operating hours.  I'm not sure where you would have your talks and what-not, and it would be awkward with the lap swimmers hanging out with you.  The changing room would be nice though.

The last choice is the actual font.  I see you thinking that it is the logical choice. Let me tell you why it may not be.  It is an hour plus drive away. And the font is outdoors.

We did run through all the choices with Delaney.  I'm kind of inclined to go for the cool factor and do the ocean or river. But we left it up to Delaney.  She thought about it, and decided on the ocean, and we said it was okay to wait a bit till things warmed up.

2 weeks ago Delaney said she wanted to be baptized as soon as possible.  Oh.  Okay.  So we planned it for today.  Thank goodness we have an awesome family in the branch who happens to live right on the beach.  Awesomeness!  They allowed us to use their home for the service and then walked us the 100 feet to the beach access and we paraded down to their private beach (that they share with their neighbors).

 It worked out great!  I thought Delaney would balk at the frigid water, but she tromped right in.  It took Dan a minute to catch his breath before he could speak, but Delaney seemed unaffected.  And then she went under.  Her face when she came out was priceless.  She was so disoriented by the cold.  Dan scooped her to her feet and they hustled out. The smile on her face was radiant.

And then we went in and had refreshments after she changed.

Rylee, hanging out on the back porch of the sweet house we had the program in.  We had about 45 people stuffed in their home!

Walking down the street to the beach access.

The beach where Delaney got baptized. 

All excited and ready to go. 

Dipping in the toes. 

Yikes!  Getting cold now! 

Delaney, coming up. Her face was priceless.  

She couldn't quite get her bearing. 

All smiles after. (She said it wasn't that cold!)

 Happy Dan and Happy Delaney.