Friendship Day: Part One... The Dunk Tank

May 3 was Friendship Day here on the base.  It is a super-duper-gigantic-big deal.  It consists of a static display of the planes here, plus an air show that (this year) included several different performing groups. There are also around 100 vendors, and it looked like half were Japanese, and half were American. The base shuts down to motor traffic and barricades all but the main road to the flightline and the gates are open to the Japanese for the day.  It is a huge event and this year they were expecting 250,000 visitors.  I heard rumors that we were just under 200,000, but it did rain all day long.

I know it is a huge fundraiser for a lot of the organizations here. The HS PTO made 3000+ little cakes to sell, and there were booths with burgers and other foods, and one of the units was selling washcloths with planes on them.  The Japanese are all about the little washcloths, and those were a popular item.  

The Boy Scouts booth was a Dunk Tank.  As a Scout, Joshua was expected to assist and work the booth to be able to claim some of the money to pay for Scout Camp this summer.  In a surprise move, Dan volunteered to sit in the dunk tank for a shift.  

Friendship Day was rainy.  It was a consistent light rain all day long.  Ug.  We headed out to the flightline around 1pm.  We live right off the main road and had seen a steady crowd of people walking by since 7am. And music had been blasting since 6am.  Delightful.  It took us an hour to get to the event, walking in the rain with hundreds and hundreds of other umbrella-toting people.  We got to the Dunk Tank, and I had thought I'd take the girls over to the static display, but between the relentless rain and massive number of bodies and umbrellas, I lost all motivation.  Plus, the kids were delighted to hang out by the dunk tank and encourage others to lob balls to make their dad fall in.

Dan was the last shift of the day and between the distraction of the air show, and the unending rain, it was a slow shift.  I don't think he minded.  The girls were delighted that I bought 6 throws for them and they were able to put them to good use.  Dan may have gotten a wee bit chilly there in the cold and wet. We hung out till the last air performance was over, and then joined the throngs clogging the streets, heading for the main gate.  

I loved that Dan is carrying Delaney's Barbie here.

A small view of the crowd that was heading for the fun.  And it looked like this ALL day long.

My cute girls, happy to walk in the rain.  (Callie was not happy to walk in the rain.)

Ready for some dunking!

Joshua, showing off his softball skills.

The girls are lined up for a shot at dunking Dan!

Riley had a blast.

Whoo!  Look at that throw!

Good effort, Delaney!

My 3 cutie pies, ready to do it again.

Fun with Poster-board

 The Elementary school had a "Spring Fling", which was a mini-carnival sort of thing.  They had lots of little games to play and it is their big money-maker.  I got to assist a little.  I signed up to help make 2 of the games.  I did the "Where's My Pants" game, which required 3 small buckets and a boodle of legos.  Each bucket held one mini figure, top separated from the bottom.  The point of the game was to be the first to find your lego minfig's pants.

The other game I signed on to make was the "Creeper Toss".  That was super easy as well. (Why do you think I signed up for it?!)  I needed to cut a posterboard into a Minecraft Creeper face.  They already had the beanbags for the tossing.  I thought it came out quite nicely!

Not the sturdiest thing ever, but very cute!

Green spray paint for the board, black paint for the outlining of the eyes and mouth.

I did buy poster board in bulk, since the Exchange runs out very quickly. It was fortunate, since Marian had a science project.  A pretty AWESOME project, if I do say so myself!  She posed the question of what would happen if you substituted peanut butter chips and white chocolate chips in a fudge recipe. 

 In case you are wondering, all 3 make delicious fudge (using the original recipe from the marshmallow cream jar).  It was a lot of fun and enjoying the results was quite tasty.

And this week she handed in her pasteboard for the science fair.  I have also discovered the joy of sticker paper.  It is a normal sized sheet of paper, but is sticker paper!  It is marvelous!  I print the page or photos on it and then you peel off the back and stick it where you need it.  Awesomeness!

Kokeshi Doll Painting Take 2

 Today I went and painted Kokeshi Dolls with Delaney and Rylee.  This time I did not do a doll myself, I just sat with them and tried to assist.  Both of them knew exactly what they wanted to do and they did not want any help from me.  It was an incredible trial for me to sit there and not snatch the paintbrush away and neaten everything.   Delaney did let me paint an extra layer on hers, and Rylee did let me outline her stuff in black, and I was happier after that.

Intense concentration with the first brush strokes.

 Ryle wanted a sparkly pink body.

And she was very intense with her painting. 

Having a good time. 

Looks random to me, but it is a bow and a.... I have no idea.

She did want sparkles in the hair, but she's unhappy because I put them in the wrong spot. Sigh. 

Happy girls and the dolls turned out pretty cute!  Can you tell what Delaney's doll is?! 

 Delaney's doll is a Girl Scout!  And Rylee's is a pretty pink and purple with a flower and butterfly on the front.  They had a really good time.  I was impressed that they worked so hard on these dolls for about 2 hours and did not get bored.

Me and my sweet cutie-pies!

Yochien Picnic

 Rylee's Yochien had it's annual picnic last week.  There was no school that day, just an event where they all went to Kintai for a picnic and games.  Ryle was very excited about it.  I didn't know enough to pack a treat to share, and was a little self conscious, as little kids came up to pass out little candies, and we had none ti give in return.  I also didn't know it would be wise to bring a swim suit or spare pair of clothes as the kids ran rampant in the fountains.  It was fun and Rylee had a good time, and walking back to the car soaking wet and bare-foot was not a big deal to her!

Getting ready for the class photo.

This is nearly all of Rylee's class.  I think 15 of the 16 kids are here.

Each class has a different hat color, so it is easy to tell where they belong when they are all running around the playground. 

 That's my girl!

Picnicking is serious business here.  Everyone has a ground cover and shoes must be removed before sitting down.  This is Rylee's spread.

Yummy. 

 There were bubbles, which provided untold delight!

More bubble blowing. 

Still blowing bubbles! 

Then it was racing around the fountains and in the fountains and it was a glorious and delightful time.

 There were tadpoles in there and Rylee really wanted to catch one.  They were too fast.

Posing with the pretty flowers. I love all the blooming things here!  Spring is so glorious! 

And if we are at Kintai, we must take a picture of the bridge!   

 And Rylee wanted a picture of her with her ice cream cone.  She chose grape flavor this time.

That time again....

 It was the quarterly Award Ceremony at the High School again. Josh had an above 3.5 GPA, so he rated a certificate for High Honors.  Dan and I both attended and sat in uncomfortable folding chairs for 90 minutes so we could enjoy the 90 seconds of cheering for our boy.  Why on earth am I sharing this with you?  Well, I rarely get photos of Joshua.  And he is at that stage where he's shy and growing like a weed.  (Growing like a weed meaning he has outgrown the size 30 waist pants I JUST got him 2 months ago!) I feel a need to document his growth with some pictures and the opportunities are few.

Super zoom across the gym.  There's my kid!

Aack!  He's spotted me!

 Walking down to receive his award.

Going in for the handshake.  

Love this kid!